From n1uw at gokarns.com Sun Mar 1 00:07:22 2020 From: n1uw at gokarns.com (Frank Karnauskas) Date: Sat, 29 Feb 2020 17:07:22 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-061 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin Message-ID: <002001d5ef5d$62314210$2693c630$@gokarns.com> AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-061 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat dot org. In this edition: * Upcoming SpaceX CRS-20 Launch * FO-29 Operational Schedule * Georgia Institute of Technology GT-1 To Feature Amateur Radio Robot Operation * K7UAZ Radio Club Helps Prepare Satellite Radio Station for Space Camp at Biosphere 2 * New QO-100 Band Plan Announced * ARISS News * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-061.01 ANS-061 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 061.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 01, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-061.01 Upcoming SpaceX CRS-20 Launch The spouse of ARISS Hardware team member Ed Krome, K9EK, pointed out that the ARISS next generation radio system, the InterOperable Radio System (IORS) is prominently described as a primary payload, not secondary, on the SpaceX CRS-20 mission which will be launched no earlier than March 6, 2020 (ET). The ARISS Team wants to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone that has contributed to helping ARISS realize this major milestone It should be noted that the ARISS hardware team is still very busy on IORS development and final certification. While certified for launch and stowage on ISS, the team is still in deep into the final certification of the IORS for flight operations. Also, the build of the second flight unit is in progress in Florida and in San Diego. While CRS-20 represents the launch of SN 1001, the first flight unit, it also represents the beginning of the "ARISS factory build" and certification of all ten units. The ARISS team also notes that November 13, 2020 will represent the 20th year of ARISS continuous amateur radio operation on ISS! [ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT Vice President, Human Space Flight for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- FO-29 Operational Schedule The operation of Fuji 3 (FO-29) has been unstable, but the transmitter will be turned on in the next pass. Since the date and time are in UTC, add 9 hours to convert to Japan time. The operation is until the UVC (lower limit voltage control) operates. [Scheduled time to turn on the analog transmitter of Fuji 3 (UTC)] March 1 04:00- 14:05 March 2 04:45- 14:55 March 7 03:40- 05:25- 13:50 March 8 04:30- 06:15- 14:40 March 14 04:15- 06:00- 14:25 March 15 03:25- 05:10- 15:15 March 21 03:10- 04:55- 15:00 March 22 04:00- 05:45- 14:05 March 28 03:45- 05:30- 13:50 March 29 04:35- 06:20- 14:40 Because of data acquisition, besides this operation plan, the transmitter may be turned on for a short time. [ANS thanks JARL for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Georgia Institute of Technology GT-1 To Feature Amateur Radio Robot Operation The Glenn Lightsey Research Group, Space Systems Design Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology is sponsoring a 1U CubeSat mission. The primary function of GT-1 is to be an educational proof of concept and satellite bus demonstrator. It will use this mission as an opportunity for undergraduates to get involved in all parts of a space mission, from design to implementation and sustainment. It will test a prototype deployable antenna and solar panels, which can be used for future missions derived from the same baseline design, and with inclusion of additional experimental equipment. It will operate with AX.25 protocol to collect telemetry data. In partnership with the W4AQL Georgia Tech Amateur Radio Club, the satellite will also host a digital contact ROBOT payload, inspired by the Russian ham satellites RS-12 and RS-13. It will collect QSO information from individuals who contact the ROBOT as it orbits. The satellite will also function as a standard digipeater. Proposing a 9k6 UHF downlink using G3RUH FSK modulation. Planning a JAXA deployment from the ISS in October 2020. A downlink on 437.175 MHz has been coordinated. [ANS thanks IARU for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- K7UAZ Radio Club Helps Prepare Satellite Radio Station for Space Camp at Biosphere 2 In preparation for the upcoming Space Camp at Biosphere 2 , members of the University of Arizona K7UAZ Amateur Radio Club are helping with the placement of an Amateur Radio satellite ground station. The first step was to mount the Yaesu G-5500 el-az rotor system to a Rohn 45 tower. The complete station will include circularly polarized M2 beam antennas for 2m and 70cm, an Icom IC-9700, computers and tracking software. Curt Laumann, K7ZOO, Station Manager for the K7UAZ club reports that Space Camp management is enthusiastic about having UAZ students help with the installation and setup of the station. Student involvement will also include calibrating the rotator system, mapping the artificial horizon for the tracking software and integration and testing the tracking software with the radio. Now in its third year, Space Camp at Biosphere 2 will be held August 3-8, 2020. Space Camp at Biosphere 2 is a joint effort with the University of Arizona Biosphere 2, the Arizona NASA Space Grant Consortium, and the University of Kyoto, Japan. Students attending the camp will experience college-level curriculum and activities focusing on the biological/environmental facets of space travel. More information on Space Camp at Biosphere 2 is available at https://spacegrant.arizona.edu/research/spacecamp [ANS thanks Curt Laumann, K7ZOO for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ New QO-100 Band Plan Announced Just in time for the 1-year anniversary of the successful commissioning of the two transponders of Qatar-OSCAR 100, an encore is pending: The capacity of the NB transponder will be expanded from about 250 KHz to almost 500 KHz. In addition to extended areas for the various operating modes, more space is also being created in particular for "mixed mode" and other special operating cases. In addition to frequencies reserved for emergency radio operations, more experiments are to be made possible here. But all this only with a maximum bandwidth of 2.7 kHz. Automatic operation requires a special licence from the local licensing authorities and must be coordinated with the operator beforehand; this task is performed by AMSAT-DL on behalf of QARS and Es'hailSat. To take account of user behavior, AMSAT-DL has almost doubled the SSB range in particular. Detailed information is available at https://amsat-dl.org/en/neuer-qo-100-bandplan/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News * Upcoming Contacts River Ridge High School, New Port Richey, FL. Direct via WA3YFQ. The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA. The contact is a go for Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 15:17:44 UTC. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events. Current schedule: March 6, 2020, Irving Hamfest, Irving, TX March 14-15, 2020, Science City on University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ March 21, 2020, Midwinter Madness Hamfest, Buffalo, MN March 21, 2020, Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, Scottsdale, AZ March 28, 2020, Tucson Spring Hamfest, Tucson, AZ March 29, 2020, Vienna Wireless Winterfest, Annandale, VA May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur Radio Assoc. Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ May 15-17, Hamvention, Xenia, OH June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Con, Plano, TX [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations - Shorts Mar 14-15 DN26/36 KC7JPC Linears (and possibly FM) - Big Bend National Park (DL88) March 16-17, 2020 Ron AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will operate from Big Bend National Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details will be added here, as they come available, but you are more than welcome to keep an eye on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx, https://twitter.com/dtabor, and https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5 - #NevadaMayhem part 1: Central Nevada (DM19) March 21, 2020 David, AD7DB, will venture deep into Central Nevada to specifically activate grid DM19 on Saturday March 21. This is actually down a side road from "The Loneliest Road in America." Hardly any hams even live in that grid. It's for sure that few ever activate it. On the way there, Friday March 20, he will try to also activate some or all of: DM06, DM16, DM07, DM08, DM17 and DM18. Going home Sunday, March 22, he will try to visit them again. This will be on FM satellites only. Internet and cell coverage may be very poor up there but for updates check Twitter: https:/twitter.com/ad7db [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over AMSAT SA Space Symposium Announced * The AMSAT SA Space Symposium will be held on July 11, 2020. Prospective authors are invited to propose papers by submitting a brief synopsis to admin at amsatsa.org.za before Friday, February 28, 2020. While the call for papers is ongoing till the end of February, AMSAT SA is pleased to announce that Burns Fisher WB1FJ, of AMSAT NA will delivery two papers at the symposium: Fox-in-a-box, Fox telemetry reception using an inexpensive Raspberry Pi and a J-pole antenna including a discussion on the optimal positioning for a J-pole antenna for satellite reception and an overview of what is in orbit currently and expected in the near future and their features. More information available at http://www.sarl.org.za/ [ANS thanks SARL for the above information.] * MEMESat-1 Proposed Let's Go to Space, Inc.'s first satellite mission is the Mission for Education and Multimedia Engagement, better known as MEMESat-1. This spacecraft will be a 1U amateur radio CubeSat. It's primary mission is to serve as an FM Repeater and to downlink donor submitted memes via UHF SSTV protocol. MEMESat is also being created to engage people through the sharing of memes from space and help fund small satellite focused research. More information available at https://letsgo2space.com/memesat-1-3/ [ANS thanks Michael Frazier, KJ5Z for the above information.] * Two Commercial Satellites Link Up for First Time A Northrop Grumman robotic servicing spacecraft has hooked up with an aging Intelsat communications satellite more than 22,000 miles over the Pacific Ocean, accomplishing the first link-up between two commercial satellites in space, and the first docking with a satellite that was never designed to receive a visitor. Northrop Grumman's first commercial Mission Extension Vehicle, or MEV 1, will take over propulsion responsibilities for Intelsat 901, which is running low on fuel after more than 18 years in service relaying data and television signals. MEV 1 is the first spacecraft of its kind, and officials say the successful link-up with Intelsat 901 is a harbinger for a new era of commercial satellite servicing. The automated docking early Tuesday also marked the first connection of two satellites in geosynchronous orbit, a region high above the equator where spacecraft move at speeds that match the rate of Earth's rotation. Complete information at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-061-Grumman [ANS thanks SpaceFlightNow.com for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW n1uw at amsat dot org Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb From zmetzing at pobox.com Sun Mar 1 01:06:23 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Sat, 29 Feb 2020 19:06:23 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Husky-1 Xmit Power In-Reply-To: References: <001901d5ee5e$68f5bf90$3ae13eb0$@comcast.net> <05fe196c-38dc-4028-66fa-e94a63cf38e8@pobox.com> Message-ID: <709397c7-8d16-a325-35d8-a2f04d84d086@pobox.com> On 02/29/20 11:40, Jerry Buxton via AMSAT-BB wrote: > On 2/28/2020 12:05, Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> Has anyone tried copying the Ka-band transmissions (24 GHz, IIRC)? > That can only be active over UW footprint, so the number of stations > that could listen in is limited by that fact.? Too, unless they publish > some information on their planned operation times, there would be no way > to know what passes they may activate it. So nobody has heard it emit 24 GHz. Got it. That's all I was asking. I wasn't asking either UW or AMSAT for privileged information, nor do I expect any. My interest was purely technical curiosity, as one would expect from a member of our hobby. Much like any other (non-intelligence-organization) object in orbit, we are not prohibited from listening to any RF emitted by the satellite, even if we don't understand the content. 73, --- Zach N0ZGO From n0jy at amsat.org Sun Mar 1 03:09:03 2020 From: n0jy at amsat.org (Jerry Buxton) Date: Sat, 29 Feb 2020 21:09:03 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Husky-1 Xmit Power In-Reply-To: <709397c7-8d16-a325-35d8-a2f04d84d086@pobox.com> References: <001901d5ee5e$68f5bf90$3ae13eb0$@comcast.net> <05fe196c-38dc-4028-66fa-e94a63cf38e8@pobox.com> <709397c7-8d16-a325-35d8-a2f04d84d086@pobox.com> Message-ID: <3313b644-67d4-6710-5b67-176ed0ad383e@amsat.org> Zach, What I said was not personal, it was an explanation and extension of your question as to hearing 24 GHz.? I used your email as a reply to subject to mention several things in general that I thought might not be fully known since it is our first LTM and we're pretty used to talking whole satellites here.? All UW experiments must only be active over their ground station while operating Part 5, and we have a timer built into the code in order to switch out of Science Mode at or very near their LOS.? This is a scheme that we started with Fox-1D, in which University of Iowa could command their science mode/dump on and it would time out around their LOS.? Unfortunately, their experiment had a partial failure and the use of that feature never came to be. I apologize for making it sound or seem personal.? I climbed on your shoulders in order to shout general info at a crowd.? I will be more cognizant of the appearance of any responses I write, especially in public forums. Jerry Buxton, N?JY On 2/29/2020 19:06, Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB wrote: > So nobody has heard it emit 24 GHz. Got it. That's all I was asking. > > I wasn't asking either UW or AMSAT for privileged information, nor do > I expect any. My interest was purely technical curiosity, as one would > expect from a member of our hobby. > > Much like any other (non-intelligence-organization) object in orbit, > we are not prohibited from listening to any RF emitted by the > satellite, even if we don't understand the content. From christophe.mcr at gmail.com Sun Mar 1 10:38:30 2020 From: christophe.mcr at gmail.com (christophe.mcr) Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2020 11:38:30 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] =?utf-8?q?Report_D=C3=A9monstration_QO-100_devant_des_?= =?utf-8?q?coll=C3=A9giens?= Message-ID: *For information / pour information* *FRANCAIS* *Bonjour ? tous,* *Suite aux mauvaises pr?dictions m?t?orologiques du lundi 2 mars (pluie), nous sommes oblig?s de reporter la QSO de d?monstration QO-100 devant les coll?giens ? une date ult?rieure en mars.* *Nous sommes toujours ? la recherche d?OM/YL en FY/FR/FT/FH pour faire la d?monstration en fran?ais en dehors de la m?tropole.* *Nous esp?rons pouvoir vous communiquer une date prochainement.* *73* *Geoffrey F4FVI* *???????????????????????????* *ENGLISH* *Hello everybody,* *Because of the bad weather condition prediction of the 2nd of march (rain), we have to delay the QSO exhibition of QO-100 in front of pupils to a later date.* *We are still looking for OM/YL in FY/FR/FT/FH to make a demonstration in french language outside of France.* *We hope to comunicate you another date soon.* *73* *Geoffrey F4FVI* *???????????????????????????* *ESPA?OL* *Buenos d?as a todos,* *A causa de las malas condiciones meteorol?gicas previstas para el lunes 2 de marzo (lluvia), tenemos que aplazar el QSO de demostraci?n con el sat?lite QO-100 delante de los alumnos del colegio posteriormente.* *Todav?a estamos buscando OM/YL en FY/FR/FT/FH para hacer la demostraci?n en franc?s fuera de Francia.* *Esperamos comunicaros otra fecha pr?ximamente. * *73* *Geoffrey F4FVI* Garanti sans virus. www.avast.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> From joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com Sun Mar 1 15:04:42 2020 From: joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com (JoAnne K9JKM) Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2020 09:04:42 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Husky-1 Xmit Power In-Reply-To: References: <001901d5ee5e$68f5bf90$3ae13eb0$@comcast.net> Message-ID: <17011e87-bf19-7387-0a67-a1af8f02b82e@gmail.com> HuskySat-1 was transmitting continuous telemetry at 1455 UTC on Sunday morning. 79.3 mW on 435.800 MHz -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com From w5rkn at w5rkn.com Sun Mar 1 15:11:06 2020 From: w5rkn at w5rkn.com (Ronald Parsons) Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2020 09:11:06 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] VUCC Awards-Endorsements for March 2020 Message-ID: There was an error in this months VUCC Standings. N1PEB at 138 grids was omitted. Activity this month was low. Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period February 1, 2020 through March 1, 2020. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL Feb Mar W5RKN 702 708 W5CBF 533 564 K9UO 528 550 MI6GTY 360 459 KE8FZT 375 400 K4RGK 157 175 WA9JBQ 150 175 DL4ZAB 101 150 W4ZXT 100 150 WD9EWK (DM31) 110 127 W2ZF New 101 If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at @.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! Ron W5RKN From ki7unj at gmail.com Tue Mar 3 15:40:37 2020 From: ki7unj at gmail.com (KI7UNJ Tucker) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 07:40:37 -0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] K7U - ROVE - DN07, DN06, CN96, CN95, CN93, CN94, CN92, DN03 and DN04. Message-ID: KI7UNJ and KI7UXT will be roving DN07, DN06, CN96, CN95, CN93, CN94, CN92, DN03, and DN04. To add to the fun we will be operating as a 1x1 Call *"K7U"* Saturday and Sunday You may hear KI7UXT and KI7UNJ use own calls but this is being done for rover credit and needed grids, please use* K7U *call as that is what all logging will use. ***K7U will be logging via LoTW*** KI7UXT will use his own call for passes on Friday On Linear, we will be fixed RX -5 from the center and if we both get on a pass the 2nd op will be at +5 from center AO-7 938 +/- unless we tweet different Track us via APRS K7U-9, KI7UNJ-IOS, and KI7UXT-i APRS (KI7UNJ-IOS and KI7UXT-i) map with Grid Lines https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=13&kml=http%3A%2F%2Fbadgerflix.duckdns.org%2Fgrid%2FKI7UNJ.kml&call=w%2F0760673456%2Cw%2F6252919389&timerange=21600&tail=21600 Updates from the rove will be on twitter: https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ https://twitter.com/KI7UXT *Friday 2020-03-06 2000Z to 2020-03-07 0600Z* KI7UXT (will be using own call for this part of trip) DN07, DN06, CN96, CN95 FM/LINEAR as passes come in route to CN94 *Saturday 2020-03-07 (UTC)* DN03 CAS-4B 1552Z CAS-4A 1615Z XW-2A 1630Z *Saturday 2020-03-07 (UTC)* DN04 **AO-92 1740Z **CAS-4A 1755Z AO-91 1828Z SO-50 1847Z CAS-4B 1912Z AO-92 1913Z AO-07 1923Z CAS-4A 1936Z AO-91 2004Z SO-50 2025Z CAS-4B 2052Z AO-07 2110Z **IN ROUTE TO DN04 depends on if we have horizon on side of road *Sunday 2020-03-08 (UTC) (saturday night)* CN94 AO-92 0419Z XW-2A 0433Z SO-50 0455Z CN93 AO-92 0551Z AO-91 0615Z *Sunday 2020-03-08 (UTC)* CN92 XW-2B 1533Z CAS-4B 1541Z XW-2A 1553Z CAS-4A 1605Z AO-92 1719Z CAS-4B 1721Z XW-2A 1724Z CAS-4A 1745Z AO-91 1848Z AO-92 1852Z CAS-4B 1901Z SO-50 1910Z CAS-4A 1925Z -- *Casey Tucker KI7UNJ* AMSAT Ambassador https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ https://www.qrz.com/db/KI7UNJ http://bit.do/ki7unj From m5aka at yahoo.co.uk Tue Mar 3 17:28:51 2020 From: m5aka at yahoo.co.uk (M5AKA) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 17:28:51 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] SSTV Sat + 23cm band References: <1671630342.6011914.1583256531275.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1671630342.6011914.1583256531275@mail.yahoo.com> HSU-SAT1 CubeSat will have a Slow Scan Television (SSTV) downlink http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=719 Ham radio QFH satellite antennas built at workshop https://amsat-uk.org/2020/03/01/qfh-satellite-antenna-workshop/ AMSAT-India participated in Somaiya Space Conclave 2020 https://amsat-uk.org/2020/03/02/amsat-india-somaiya-space-conclave/ Project for school QO-100 amateur radio stations https://amsat-uk.org/2020/03/01/school-qo100-project/ UK Ofcom consultation on EMF compliance https://amsat-uk.org/2020/02/24/ofcom-consultation-on-emf-compliance/ "The 23cm band is under scrutiny" - the IARU-R1 VHF-UHF-uW newsletter notes that the Galileo GNSS constellation team "has witnessed interference from amateur TV transmissions which resulted in station shut down and has experienced interference from high power EME operations too." https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Newsletter85.pdf Trevor M5AKA---- AMSAT-UK?http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter?https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook?https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube?https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ---- From aj9n at aol.com Tue Mar 3 17:34:37 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 17:34:37 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-03 17:30 UTC References: <1141503760.2632373.1583256877026.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1141503760.2632373.1583256877026@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-03 17:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? River Ridge High School, New Port Richey, FL, direct via WA3YFQ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact was successful: Tue 2020-03-03 15:17:44 UTC 51 deg (***) ? Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, Australia. telebridge via K6DUE (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-13 08:56:53 UTC 32 deg (***) ? ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-03 17:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-03 17:30 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1385. (***) Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1318. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? From bruninga at usna.edu Tue Mar 3 18:14:16 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 13:14:16 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] APRS test using LoRa via QO-100 (geo bird over Europe) In-Reply-To: <49647f89adcf17b38261a27200802610@mail.gmail.com> References: <49647f89adcf17b38261a27200802610@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <072da9f1894126704212dce2e77b5c5b@mail.gmail.com> *Subject:* APRS test using LoRa via QO-100 (geo bird over Europe) Andy, OE3DMB reports his APRS experiments using the geostationary AMSAT, QO-100 (Es?hail 2) over Europe. It is not visible from the USA, but is a nice experiment for the Eastern Hemisphere. He uses a rooftop mobile omni antenna and 20W uplink on 2.4 GHz. I have added it to the APRS Satellite page: http://aprs.org/sats.html Bob, WB4APR From bruninga at usna.edu Tue Mar 3 18:21:02 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 13:21:02 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] PSAT3 Launch CANCELED Message-ID: Well, 4 days from Shipping PSAT3 to Kodiak for launch, the launch has been canceled. The launch was part of the DARPA LAUNCH CHALLENGE: https://darpalaunchchallenge.org/index.html The challenege (and $10m prize) was for any launch provider to deliver a rocket with only 30 days notice of what payloads they would have and where they would launch from. And then to do it again only 30 days later. We were on the second launch. But on 2 March the third attempt by the launch provider was scrubbed at T-9 minutes and was not resolved until the launch window (and DARPA challenge deadline) had passed. Therefore the CHALLENGE is over, there was no winner, and we lost the launch. So, if anyone hears of a rocket that needs a CUBESAT PPOD backup replacement, we have one: http://aprs.org/psat3.html And I get my life (nights and weekends) back! Bob, WB4APR From amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net Tue Mar 3 19:49:41 2020 From: amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net (Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 19:49:41 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT @ ScienceCity in Tucson AZ (14-15 March 2020) Message-ID: Hi! AMSAT will be supporting the University of Arizona's K7UAZ radio club during the ScienceCity science fair on 14-15 March 2020 (a Saturday and Sunday). ScienceCity will be on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona. This science fair is supported by several organizations at the university, and runs in conjunction with the Tucson Festival of Books that will also take place that weekend. More information about ScienceCity is available at: http://sciencecity.arizona.edu/ Information about the K7UAZ radio club is available at: http://k7uaz.com/ The K7UAZ radio club will have a booth in the "Science of Everyday Life" area at ScienceCity. This booth will showcase different facets of amateur radio, including amateur satellites. WD9EWK, and possibly other call signs, should be heard during demonstrations of satellite operating taking place at ScienceCity. If you hear us, please call and be a part of the demonstrations. The University of Arizona campus is in grid DM42, in Arizona's Pima County. QSLing will be determined by the call sign used for QSOs. For WD9EWK, I will upload my log to Logbook of the World, and will be happy to send QSL cards on request (please e-mail me the QSO details - no card or SASE is required to get my card). K7UAZ will confirm QSOs by QSL card, following instructions posted on QRZ.com. During the weekend, I will use my @WD9EWK Twitter account to post updates from ScienceCity. If you do not use Twitter, you can view these updates in a web browser without having a Twitter account at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK Thanks, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK From nss at mwt.net Wed Mar 4 13:50:59 2020 From: nss at mwt.net (Joe) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 07:50:59 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] VJB Cheap Yagis Message-ID: The awesome little "Cheap Yagis" https://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf Has anyone modified the 144 Mhz one up higher in the band for Sat work, AND has anyone taken the VHF and the UHF versions and put them on a single hand held boom? Elements in line or at right angles? Joe WB9SBD From jamesduffey at comcast.net Wed Mar 4 14:00:54 2020 From: jamesduffey at comcast.net (JamesDuffey) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 07:00:54 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] VJB Cheap Yagis In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Kent has done the work for you < https://www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf > The elements should be coplanar, for several reasons, but that is a secondary consideration for the FM birds at least. - Duffey James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM > On Mar 4, 2020, at 06:54, Joe via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?The awesome little "Cheap Yagis" > > https://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf > > Has anyone modified the 144 Mhz one up higher in the band for Sat work, > > AND > > has anyone taken the VHF and the UHF versions and put them on a single hand held boom? > > Elements in line or at right angles? > > Joe WB9SBD > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ka7fvv at yahoo.com Wed Mar 4 15:01:56 2020 From: ka7fvv at yahoo.com (Scott) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 07:01:56 -0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] VJB Cheap Yagis In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: These designs work great. I built the 1.2 ghz version off of these plans and mounted it on my tripod with my Arrow antenna. Scott, KA7FVV 73. Scott, KA7FVV Director - KBARA kbara.org Co-Owner WA7DRE 443.525 System Fusion Repeater Co-Owner KA7FVV 147.320 KBARA Repeater www.ka7fvv.net > On Mar 4, 2020, at 06:01, JamesDuffey via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?Kent has done the work for you > > < https://www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf > > > The elements should be coplanar, for several reasons, but that is a secondary consideration for the FM birds at least. - Duffey > > > James Duffey KK6MC > Cedar Crest NM > >> On Mar 4, 2020, at 06:54, Joe via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> >> ?The awesome little "Cheap Yagis" >> >> https://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf >> >> Has anyone modified the 144 Mhz one up higher in the band for Sat work, >> >> AND >> >> has anyone taken the VHF and the UHF versions and put them on a single hand held boom? >> >> Elements in line or at right angles? >> >> Joe WB9SBD >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ka7fvv at yahoo.com Wed Mar 4 15:01:56 2020 From: ka7fvv at yahoo.com (Scott) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 07:01:56 -0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] VJB Cheap Yagis In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: These designs work great. I built the 1.2 ghz version off of these plans and mounted it on my tripod with my Arrow antenna. Scott, KA7FVV 73. Scott, KA7FVV Director - KBARA kbara.org Co-Owner WA7DRE 443.525 System Fusion Repeater Co-Owner KA7FVV 147.320 KBARA Repeater www.ka7fvv.net > On Mar 4, 2020, at 06:01, JamesDuffey via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?Kent has done the work for you > > < https://www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf > > > The elements should be coplanar, for several reasons, but that is a secondary consideration for the FM birds at least. - Duffey > > > James Duffey KK6MC > Cedar Crest NM > >> On Mar 4, 2020, at 06:54, Joe via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> >> ?The awesome little "Cheap Yagis" >> >> https://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf >> >> Has anyone modified the 144 Mhz one up higher in the band for Sat work, >> >> AND >> >> has anyone taken the VHF and the UHF versions and put them on a single hand held boom? >> >> Elements in line or at right angles? >> >> Joe WB9SBD >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Wed Mar 4 21:41:38 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 15:41:38 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! Message-ID: K7VNE reported to me this morning that he had been on XW-2D (long since non-operational) and sigs were very good, but no one else was on. Signals were of good quality, no FM'ing of my SSB signal. I just checked it and had a pass of Max EL 2 deg to my East. It is there, it is loud. *The CW beacon is raspy*. The passband was normal level and my signal was typical: Max Sig: -64 dBm Noise Floor: -81 dBM I made an mp4 recording of the pass, with me calling CQ and announcing Elevation and signal levels. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lKYvARp4SyHUraAX9u6HQRbmnCiamJAM Download this mp4 file and play it back on any device (even a phone) and you will see and hear what I did. I have seen no announcement about not using the satellite, but will watch for same. 73, N0AN Hasan From bruninga at usna.edu Thu Mar 5 03:11:37 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 22:11:37 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hasan, In your SDR waterfall there is clearly an AM signal up the band with carrier and equal sidebands. Did you ever go listen to see what that was?Just curious. Bob, WB4APR On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 4:41 PM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > K7VNE reported to me this morning that he had been on XW-2D (long since > non-operational) and sigs were very good, but no one else was on. > > Signals were of good quality, no FM'ing of my SSB signal. > > I just checked it and had a pass of Max EL 2 deg to my East. It is there, > it is loud. *The CW beacon is raspy*. > > The passband was normal level and my signal was typical: > > Max Sig: -64 dBm > Noise Floor: -81 dBM > > I made an mp4 recording of the pass, with me calling CQ and announcing > Elevation and signal levels. > > https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lKYvARp4SyHUraAX9u6HQRbmnCiamJAM > > Download this mp4 file and play it back on any device (even a phone) and > you will see and hear what I did. > > I have seen no announcement about not using the satellite, but will watch > for same. > 73, N0AN > Hasan > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From n8hm at arrl.net Thu Mar 5 03:36:03 2020 From: n8hm at arrl.net (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 22:36:03 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Bob, I bet CAS-4B was also above the horizon at the time as that appears to be the 4k8 GMSK telemetry on 145.890 MHz. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 22:13 Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Hasan, > In your SDR waterfall there is clearly an AM signal up the band with > carrier and equal sidebands. Did you ever go listen to see what that > was?Just curious. > Bob, WB4APR > > On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 4:41 PM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > K7VNE reported to me this morning that he had been on XW-2D (long since > > non-operational) and sigs were very good, but no one else was on. > > > > Signals were of good quality, no FM'ing of my SSB signal. > > > > I just checked it and had a pass of Max EL 2 deg to my East. It is there, > > it is loud. *The CW beacon is raspy*. > > > > The passband was normal level and my signal was typical: > > > > Max Sig: -64 dBm > > Noise Floor: -81 dBM > > > > I made an mp4 recording of the pass, with me calling CQ and announcing > > Elevation and signal levels. > > > > https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lKYvARp4SyHUraAX9u6HQRbmnCiamJAM > > > > Download this mp4 file and play it back on any device (even a phone) and > > you will see and hear what I did. > > > > I have seen no announcement about not using the satellite, but will watch > > for same. > > 73, N0AN > > Hasan > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 03:41:19 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2020 21:41:19 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Correct, that is what we call the Batwing telemetry beacon for one of the cases birds. 73, N0AN Hasan On Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 9:36 PM Paul Stoetzer wrote: > Bob, > > I bet CAS-4B was also above the horizon at the time as that appears to be > the 4k8 GMSK telemetry on 145.890 MHz. > > 73, > > Paul, N8HM > > On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 22:13 Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> Hasan, >> In your SDR waterfall there is clearly an AM signal up the band with >> carrier and equal sidebands. Did you ever go listen to see what that >> was?Just curious. >> Bob, WB4APR >> >> On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 4:41 PM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >> >> > K7VNE reported to me this morning that he had been on XW-2D (long since >> > non-operational) and sigs were very good, but no one else was on. >> > >> > Signals were of good quality, no FM'ing of my SSB signal. >> > >> > I just checked it and had a pass of Max EL 2 deg to my East. It is >> there, >> > it is loud. *The CW beacon is raspy*. >> > >> > The passband was normal level and my signal was typical: >> > >> > Max Sig: -64 dBm >> > Noise Floor: -81 dBM >> > >> > I made an mp4 recording of the pass, with me calling CQ and announcing >> > Elevation and signal levels. >> > >> > https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lKYvARp4SyHUraAX9u6HQRbmnCiamJAM >> > >> > Download this mp4 file and play it back on any device (even a phone) and >> > you will see and hear what I did. >> > >> > I have seen no announcement about not using the satellite, but will >> watch >> > for same. >> > 73, N0AN >> > Hasan >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 10:06:55 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 04:06:55 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> References: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi George, (and anyone else who is interested in an easy way to evaluate your satellite rx performance) These remarks are with respective to linear birds, not FM Some of the satellite ops I work with run various SDRs (software defined radios like the FunCube Pro+). The software we use with them is called SDR Console v3 (Google SDR Radio or look at this group: main at sdr-radio.groups.io) What we do so we can compare apples to apples is the following: The software is designed to be able to measure relative signal levels at high accuracy (-dBM) 1. Connect a 50 ohm resistor to the antenna or preamp input. 2. Set the rx for maximum sensitivity (RF Gain) 3. Adjust IF Gain so that the 50 Ohm resistor produces a signal level of -95 dBM 4. This creates a common noise floor level calibration point so that we can compare local noise (environmental) as well as satellite signal levels. 5. Now disconnect 50 ohm resistor and change to "real" satellite antenna. Observe the increase in noise floor. If there isn't one, you have poor rx sensitivity. If there is an increase and it is 6 dB or more, you have local noise problems (environmental). If there is a small increase in noise, you likely have relatively low noise, and at least it exceeds the internally generated noise of your radio/preamp combo. Now, when we observe signals from the satellites, we can directly compare peak signal strength in dBm between our satellite setups. This includes, antenna polarity, antenna gain, feedline losses, differences in uplink power, differences in receiver noise figure, and locally generated noise like power line, WiFi hash, etc. All...easily and accurately done by having software that works correctly and a simple SDR Dongle using Simon's (G3ELI) software (which is free). For example: If KB7IJ has a noise floor of -76 and I have a noise floor of -90 (dBm), and he has a peak BEACON signal strength of -53 and I have a peak strength of --60, we can see two things; (these are real and typical measurements, btw) 1. His ambient noise is 14 dB higher than mine. He lives south of Dallas, Tx, and has to shoot thru the city to see sats. Lots of environmental noise! I live in rural Iowa. Much quieter. 2. His rx system has 7 dB greater gain than mine (antennas). That makes sense as he has 2x7 EL yagis and I have a single 5 EL Yagi. So all else being equal (and it almost never is), he should always see the birds 7 dB louder than I do (actual signal level, not SNR) Now look at SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio):...a much different story. How well do we hear the birds? His SNR (best): -76 dBm noise floor - (-53) signal = 23 dB SNR (signal is 23 above noise, loud!) My SNR (best ): -90 dBm noise floor - (-60) signal = 30 dB SNR So when we are both getting a satellite at our best signal level, I am hearing the bird 7 dB better than he is, even though his rx antennas are much better. Look what happens when the ssb signal is much weaker: If I am seeing the SSB signal at an SNR of 10 dB (the lowest signal strength that an SSB signal can be understood at): He is seeing it at only 3 dB SNR which is unreadable. In general, I nearly always hear both him and myself way better than he does, because my noise floor is so much better than his. Keep in mind, these are all RELATIVE measurements not ABSOLUTE. They are not meant to be lab grade, they are meant to be able to understand and measure reasonably well, how a satellite station is performing in the real world. Common calibration between stations allows us to compare how our systems are working. It's not perfect, but it is useful. (There are other factors, like the practical limit of SNR from any bird based on passband noise). If you can consistently see/hear passband noise, you are good. If you only hear it now and then, your rx system needs work) p.s. The software from Simon, also allows us to make MP4 recording (video and audio) of our satellite qsos, which can demonstrate some of the very dramatic ways to improve or ruin your ability to use satellites efficiently. That is to say, receive properly and not overdrive the satellite with excessive uplink power, because you can't hear worth a darn and don't know it. (Just continue to increase transmit power so you can hear yourself, taking more than your share of what is available, because it is a shared resource). I have hours or recordings of assorted stations doing exactly this (running excessive uplink power and thus producing downlink signals 6 dB or more louder than the CW beacon) and therefore stealing the available downlink power of others, driving them down into the noise floor. It's embarrassing. *The rule is simple: you should NEVER be louder than the CW beacon, period.* 73, N0AN Hasan On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 7:48 PM George Sakai wrote: > Thanks for the info Hasan. What do you use to measure signal levels in > dBm? > > George N3GS > > On Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 03:43:43 PM CST, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > K7VNE reported to me this morning that he had been on XW-2D (long since > non-operational) and sigs were very good, but no one else was on. > > Signals were of good quality, no FM'ing of my SSB signal. > > I just checked it and had a pass of Max EL 2 deg to my East. It is there, > it is loud. *The CW beacon is raspy*. > > The passband was normal level and my signal was typical: > > Max Sig: -64 dBm > Noise Floor: -81 dBM > > I made an mp4 recording of the pass, with me calling CQ and announcing > Elevation and signal levels. > > https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lKYvARp4SyHUraAX9u6HQRbmnCiamJAM > > Download this mp4 file and play it back on any device (even a phone) and > you will see and hear what I did. > > I have seen no announcement about not using the satellite, but will watch > for same. > 73, N0AN > Hasan > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From christophe.mcr at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 11:05:14 2020 From: christophe.mcr at gmail.com (christophe.mcr) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 12:05:14 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_=5BNouvel_article=5D_Rencontre_Spatia?= =?utf-8?q?l_Radioamateur_7_=26_8_mars_2020_=E2=80=93_Dernier_jour_?= =?utf-8?q?pour_vous_inscrire_!?= In-Reply-To: <110473721.116970.0@wordpress.com> References: <110473721.116970.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: Nouvel article sur *AMSAT Francophone* Rencontre Spatial Radioamateur 7 & 8 mars 2020 ? Dernier jour pour vous inscrire ! par Xtophe La cloture des inscriptions aux journ?es sera faite le *5 mars 2020 ? 14h*. Elle nous permettra de mettre en place la logistique n?cessaire notamment pour les Il ne reste que quelques places disponibles. La capacit? du lieu ou se situe l'?v?nement est limit?e. *Pour r?server vos places, utilisez le lien ci dessous : * https://www.billetweb.fr/troisieme-rencontre-spatial-radioamateur *Xtophe * | 4 mars 2020 ? 10 h 33 min | U From skristof at etczone.com Thu Mar 5 15:30:58 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2020 10:30:58 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Wide or Narrow? Message-ID: When aiming at the APRS satellites (ISS, AISat, any others?) should I use Wide or Narrow FM? I vaguely recall reading that narrow is good, but I can't find the reference.? Your assistance is appreciated! Steve AI9IN ? From scott23192 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 15:47:21 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 10:47:21 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Wide or Narrow? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hey Steve! I've found that AISAT-1 works better with FM-Narrow. It's my understanding that the other APRS sats have always worked fine with regular FM... that's what I use for all but AISAT-1. Unfortunately, for quite a while now the only active 2m APRS satellite has been AISAT-1. However, it has not been heard since 3-Mar. Certainly hope that's temporary! Of course we all look forward to the day that the ISS digipeater is back online, too. -Scott, K4KDR ======================== On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:34 AM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > When aiming at the APRS satellites (ISS, AISat, any others?) should I use > Wide or Narrow FM? I vaguely recall reading that narrow is good, but I > can't find the reference. > Your assistance is appreciated! > Steve AI9IN > From scott23192 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 16:07:17 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 11:07:17 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Wide or Narrow? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Of course I spoke too soon - thankfully AISAT-1 was working great on the 1600utc pass today (05-Mar) and saw packets from AI9IN-7, too! -------------------------------- 20200305160047 : KE4AZZ]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15::K4KDR-6 :de ke4azz el87{020 20200305160044 : AISAT-1]CQ,qAO,K4KDR-15:From AMSAT INDIA & Exseed Space |302|49|47|1118{019 20200305160042 : K4KDR-6]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15::AI9IN-7 :73 from VA Steve!{018 20200305160014 : K4KDR-6]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15::AI9IN-7 :Heard you via AISAT-1 in Montpelier, VA FM17es{017 20200305155959 : K4KDR-6]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15::KE4AZZ :QSL - 73!!{016 20200305155952 : AI9IN-7]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15:=3920.41N/08512.14W-/A=000797 Hello from AI9IN EM79{015 20200305155943 : AISAT-1]CQ,qAO,K4KDR-15:From AMSAT INDIA & Exseed Space |242|49|48|1118{013 20200305155942 : K4KDR-6]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15::KE4AZZ :Heard you via AISAT-1 in Montpelier, VA FM17es{012 20200305155928 : KE4AZZ]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15:=2702.06N/08209.93W-de KE4AZZ el87 {UISS54}{010 20200305155921 : K4KDR-6]CQ,AISAT*,qAO,K4KDR-15:=3747.66N/07736.67W`de K4KDR scott23192 at gmail.com Virginia FM17es{009 -------------------------------- -Scott, K4KDR ================================= On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:47 AM Scott wrote: > Hey Steve! > > I've found that AISAT-1 works better with FM-Narrow. It's my > understanding that the other APRS sats have always worked fine with regular > FM... that's what I use for all but AISAT-1. > > Unfortunately, for quite a while now the only active 2m APRS satellite has > been AISAT-1. However, it has not been heard since 3-Mar. Certainly hope > that's temporary! > > Of course we all look forward to the day that the ISS digipeater is back > online, too. > > -Scott, K4KDR > > ======================== > > On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:34 AM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> >> When aiming at the APRS satellites (ISS, AISat, any others?) should I use >> Wide or Narrow FM? I vaguely recall reading that narrow is good, but I >> can't find the reference. >> Your assistance is appreciated! >> Steve AI9IN >> > From zmetzing at pobox.com Thu Mar 5 16:18:41 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 10:18:41 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: References: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: On 2020-03-05 04:06, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Keep in mind, these are all RELATIVE measurements not ABSOLUTE. Indeed. I suggest not using the unit dBm, as that is decibels relative to 1 milliwatt. This is an absolute unit. It is common to refer to some other standard when comparing relative power, such as dbFS (decibels relative to full scale, usually a negative number) for an ADC. Perhaps dBANF might work, which would be dB relative to Agreed Noise Floor. I don't think I'd use "dBNF", as that might be confused with Noise Figure in dB. --- Zach N0ZGO From skristof at etczone.com Thu Mar 5 16:26:37 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2020 11:26:37 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] APRSdroid Message-ID: Those of you who said that APRSdroid works were right. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I got it working without much fuss. I just confirmed on AISAT-1 that it works on my phone hooked up to my HT. So, I agree, don't believe all the bad reviews you see on the app Play Store. Steve AI9IN ? From zmetzing at pobox.com Thu Mar 5 16:38:52 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 10:38:52 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: References: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <35fa5982-a20c-e50a-de14-d6feee1aa6a6@pobox.com> On 2020-03-05 04:06, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB wrote: > 1. Connect a 50 ohm resistor to the antenna or preamp input. > 2. Set the rx for maximum sensitivity (RF Gain) > 3. Adjust IF Gain so that the 50 Ohm resistor produces a signal level of > -95 dBM > 4. This creates a common noise floor level calibration point so that we can > compare local noise (environmental) as well as satellite signal levels. Hello Hasan, Ah, noticed one more thing. This is only true if the measured thermal noise power bandwidth is the same on both setups. Thermal noise power is k*T*B, where k is Boltzmann's constant (1.38E-23 J/K), K is "temperature" of your source in Kelvins (290 is about room temp), and B is the bandwidth of the noise in Hertz (1/seconds). We assume that there is no current flowing through the resistor for this example. (1.38E-23 J/K)(290 K)(1 Hz) = 4.002E-21 Watts [Kelvins cancel out, leaving Joules/seconds, which is Watts -- math is cool!] However, this is an annoying figure to remember, so we convert it to dBm: (4.002E-21 W)(1000 mW/W) = 4.002E-18 mW 10 * log10(4.002E-18 mW / 1 mW) ~= -174 dBm (~= is "approximately equal", rounded) Now that's an easy number to remember, and all radio amateurs should! Notice that we initially computed this noise floor with Bandwidth of 1 Hz. Not even the slowest CW would fit in that, so let's make it something more reasonable like 3kHz for voice. Instead of doing all that math again, we can use logarithms to fix this up. Multiplication becomes addition when we're in a log scale (mmm, slide rules..), so: -174 dBm + log(3000 Hz / 1 Hz) ~= -170 dBm This is the thermal noise floor in a 3 kHz bandwidth from a noise source at 290 Kelvin (62 deg F). Anyway, all of that was to show that bandwidth is very important when comparing noise power of two receivers. If anyone is interested in learning more about noise floor, noise figure, or required SNR, here's a great article: https://tinyurl.com/t7o4n34 --- Zach N0ZGO From ko6th.greg at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 18:29:43 2020 From: ko6th.greg at gmail.com (Greg D) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 10:29:43 -0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] Wide or Narrow? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <231db53b-0a87-57bf-6573-82e82f850e1d@gmail.com> Hi Scott, Quick question... AISAT-1 is which catalog number? I recall some discussion a while back, and I've got #44104 configured in Gpredict. But I also see AISAT (40054), AISSAT 1 (36797), AISSAT 2 (40075), and a few others with similar names. Which is AISAT-1 (one "S", with the dash)? Thanks, Greg KO6TH Scott via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Hey Steve! > > I've found that AISAT-1 works better with FM-Narrow. It's my understanding > that the other APRS sats have always worked fine with regular FM... that's > what I use for all but AISAT-1. > > Unfortunately, for quite a while now the only active 2m APRS satellite has > been AISAT-1. However, it has not been heard since 3-Mar. Certainly hope > that's temporary! > > Of course we all look forward to the day that the ISS digipeater is back > online, too. > > -Scott, K4KDR > > ======================== > > On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:34 AM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> When aiming at the APRS satellites (ISS, AISat, any others?) should I use >> Wide or Narrow FM? I vaguely recall reading that narrow is good, but I >> can't find the reference. >> Your assistance is appreciated! >> Steve AI9IN >> > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From scott23192 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 18:45:22 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 13:45:22 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Wide or Narrow? In-Reply-To: <231db53b-0a87-57bf-6573-82e82f850e1d@gmail.com> References: <231db53b-0a87-57bf-6573-82e82f850e1d@gmail.com> Message-ID: Yes, I show that as 44104. Keep in mind that it's attached to a platform with several other objects, so depending on your TLE source, it might show up as "PSLV R/B" or something similar. -Scott, K4KDR =============== On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 1:29 PM Greg D wrote: > Hi Scott, > > Quick question... AISAT-1 is which catalog number? I recall some > discussion a while back, and I've got #44104 configured in Gpredict. > But I also see AISAT (40054), AISSAT 1 (36797), AISSAT 2 (40075), and a > few others with similar names. > > Which is AISAT-1 (one "S", with the dash)? > > Thanks, > > Greg KO6TH > > > Scott via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Hey Steve! > > > > I've found that AISAT-1 works better with FM-Narrow. It's my > understanding > > that the other APRS sats have always worked fine with regular FM... > that's > > what I use for all but AISAT-1. > > > > Unfortunately, for quite a while now the only active 2m APRS satellite > has > > been AISAT-1. However, it has not been heard since 3-Mar. Certainly > hope > > that's temporary! > > > > Of course we all look forward to the day that the ISS digipeater is back > > online, too. > > > > -Scott, K4KDR > > > > ======================== > > > > On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:34 AM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > >> When aiming at the APRS satellites (ISS, AISat, any others?) should I > use > >> Wide or Narrow FM? I vaguely recall reading that narrow is good, but I > >> can't find the reference. > >> Your assistance is appreciated! > >> Steve AI9IN > >> > From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 19:00:37 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 13:00:37 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: <35fa5982-a20c-e50a-de14-d6feee1aa6a6@pobox.com> References: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> <35fa5982-a20c-e50a-de14-d6feee1aa6a6@pobox.com> Message-ID: Hi Zach, Since we were speaking of SSB SNR, the bandwidth would be similar. In our cases we use 2.2 kHz. I forgot to even mention it. The ...and the point of the whole process was to keep it simple. The more precise, the more complex and the less likely anyone is going to bother. The perfect is the enemy of the good. Suffice it to say, with hours and hours of measurements using the approach indicated, it is clear that if the antenna gain is increased by x dB or the uplink power is changed by x dB, the reference calibration between two setups holds nicely. There are a ton of other factors at any given moment that one can get lost in, but wash out with repeated measurement. Using the approach I described, can a minimally equipped (test) station determine whether they have adequate sensitivity for their sat ops, or if they have improved their setup? Of course they can and they won't be stuck doing math they don't understand and has little bearing on the real world performance of their satellite station. Many, many years ago Amsat Journal published an article on Link Budget Analysis that did all the math and painstaking analytics you describe. How many people made use of it....next to none. I know, because I wrote it. What I was aiming at was a simple, quick and dirty "rough estimate" of : 1. Is my system sufficiently sensitive 2. Am I running too much power. Boltzman is not needed for that. We aren't doing EME. Sat ops are a relatively strong signal mode. It says a lot that many receive setups are performing so poorly that "rough and dirty" (and simple) approaches like I outlined can make a big difference in overall efficiency. I just hope that it helps people hear better. (and subsequently reduce their uplink power) 73, N0AN Hasan On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 11:16 AM Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > On 2020-03-05 04:06, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > 1. Connect a 50 ohm resistor to the antenna or preamp input. > > 2. Set the rx for maximum sensitivity (RF Gain) > > 3. Adjust IF Gain so that the 50 Ohm resistor produces a signal level of > > -95 dBM > > 4. This creates a common noise floor level calibration point so that we > can > > compare local noise (environmental) as well as satellite signal levels. > > Hello Hasan, > > Ah, noticed one more thing. This is only true if the measured thermal > noise power bandwidth is the same on both setups. > > Thermal noise power is k*T*B, where k is Boltzmann's constant (1.38E-23 > J/K), K is "temperature" of your source in Kelvins (290 is about room > temp), and B is the bandwidth of the noise in Hertz (1/seconds). > > We assume that there is no current flowing through the resistor for this > example. > > (1.38E-23 J/K)(290 K)(1 Hz) = 4.002E-21 Watts > > [Kelvins cancel out, leaving Joules/seconds, which is Watts -- math is > cool!] > > However, this is an annoying figure to remember, so we convert it to dBm: > > (4.002E-21 W)(1000 mW/W) = 4.002E-18 mW > > 10 * log10(4.002E-18 mW / 1 mW) ~= -174 dBm > > (~= is "approximately equal", rounded) > > Now that's an easy number to remember, and all radio amateurs should! > > Notice that we initially computed this noise floor with Bandwidth of 1 > Hz. Not even the slowest CW would fit in that, so let's make it > something more reasonable like 3kHz for voice. > > Instead of doing all that math again, we can use logarithms to fix this > up. Multiplication becomes addition when we're in a log scale (mmm, > slide rules..), so: > > -174 dBm + log(3000 Hz / 1 Hz) ~= -170 dBm > > This is the thermal noise floor in a 3 kHz bandwidth from a noise source > at 290 Kelvin (62 deg F). > > Anyway, all of that was to show that bandwidth is very important when > comparing noise power of two receivers. > > If anyone is interested in learning more about noise floor, noise > figure, or required SNR, here's a great article: > > https://tinyurl.com/t7o4n34 > > --- Zach > N0ZGO > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 19:11:51 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 13:11:51 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] APRSdroid In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Steve, I have used it just with its internet side on my Samsung S7 and it has worked flawlessly for years. I use it when I don't have a radio with me. The internet function makes it act as if a radio is connected, but none is needed if all you want to do it see where you are, have been and the network topography itself. 73, N0AN Hasan On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:30 AM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > Those of you who said that APRSdroid works were right. I'm not the > sharpest knife in the drawer, but I got it working without much fuss. I > just confirmed on AISAT-1 that it works on my phone hooked up to my HT. So, > I agree, don't believe all the bad reviews you see on the app Play Store. > Steve AI9IN > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From framirezferrer at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 19:21:16 2020 From: framirezferrer at gmail.com (Fernando Ramirez) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 12:21:16 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] APRSdroid In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I use it to work APRS enabled sats along with a Mobilinkd TNC3. Currently testing the new 9600 bps capabilities of the TNC with Falconsat. It's a work in progress but have already decoded packets from the satellite. To make exchanges easier I recommend a keyboard app like CanalRun Macro Keys (Android). You can store messages and send them with just a couple of keystrokes, instead of typing everything. Have fun! Fernando, KF7R On Thu, Mar 5, 2020, 12:14 PM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Steve, > I have used it just with its internet side on my Samsung S7 and it has > worked flawlessly for years. I use it when I don't have a radio with me. > The internet function makes it act as if a radio is connected, but none is > needed if all you want to do it see where you are, have been and the > network topography itself. > 73, N0AN > Hasan > > > On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 10:30 AM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > > > Those of you who said that APRSdroid works were right. I'm not the > > sharpest knife in the drawer, but I got it working without much fuss. I > > just confirmed on AISAT-1 that it works on my phone hooked up to my HT. > So, > > I agree, don't believe all the bad reviews you see on the app Play Store. > > Steve AI9IN > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From zmetzing at pobox.com Thu Mar 5 19:22:47 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 13:22:47 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: <35fa5982-a20c-e50a-de14-d6feee1aa6a6@pobox.com> References: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> <35fa5982-a20c-e50a-de14-d6feee1aa6a6@pobox.com> Message-ID: <4150b3a8-6068-6c23-f173-e0355b237da5@pobox.com> On 2020-03-05 10:38, Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB wrote: > -174 dBm + log(3000 Hz / 1 Hz) ~= -170 dBm > > This is the thermal noise floor in a 3 kHz bandwidth from a noise source > at 290 Kelvin (62 deg F). Thanks go to WB4APR for spotting my math error; I added Bels to deciBels. At the time, I thought "that seems a bit low", but never went back to check my work. :-) The correct answer is: -174 dBm + 10*log(3000 Hz / 1 Hz) ~= -139 dBm --- Zach N0ZGO From zmetzing at pobox.com Thu Mar 5 19:30:33 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 13:30:33 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: References: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> <35fa5982-a20c-e50a-de14-d6feee1aa6a6@pobox.com> Message-ID: <88e81c7b-ad3b-a782-103f-d3cd67e6de3e@pobox.com> On 2020-03-05 13:00, Hasan al-Basri wrote: > Since we were speaking of SSB SNR, the bandwidth would be similar. In > our cases we use 2.2 kHz. I forgot to even mention it. > > The ...and the point of the whole process was to keep it simple. The > more precise, the more complex and the less likely anyone is going to > bother. Hello Hasan, I definitely applaud your efforts to measure relative system performance, but I did want to make it clear to others on the list that there was another factor which needed to be taken into account when doing an apples-to-apples. This additional factor isn't too hard, when you understand why it matters. > Boltzman is not needed for that. We aren't doing EME. Sat ops are a > relatively strong signal mode. It says a lot that many receive setups > are performing so poorly that "rough and dirty"? (and simple) approaches > like I outlined can make a big difference in overall efficiency. I just > hope that it helps people hear better. > (and subsequently reduce their uplink power) I also completely agree with you on the need for fewer alligators on the satellites. With GOLF, where we're building bigger vehicles with larger orbits and footprints, excessive uplink power becomes an even bigger issue for more simultaneous users. That said, GOLF satellites will also incur more path loss, so getting LEO operators more familiar with the "down in the noise" issues will make for better MEO/HEO operators, too. Keep up the good work! I enjoyed your video. 73, --- Zach N0ZGO From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Thu Mar 5 19:54:53 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 13:54:53 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] XW-2D Returns to Life! In-Reply-To: <88e81c7b-ad3b-a782-103f-d3cd67e6de3e@pobox.com> References: <316393382.561140.1583372896537@mail.yahoo.com> <35fa5982-a20c-e50a-de14-d6feee1aa6a6@pobox.com> <88e81c7b-ad3b-a782-103f-d3cd67e6de3e@pobox.com> Message-ID: My pleasure, Zach. KB7IJ and I have logged probably 1000 hours of measurements to arrive at the "rough and dirty" approach listed and despite all the confounding variables like: 1. Rotating Polarization 2. Faraday 3. Satellite Body Shading 4. Broken sats (Like XW-2F with it's 20 dB tumble) etc., etc. it became apparent that if we were running the same software, same bandwidth (as you noted), and calibrated to a simple dummy load, we could isolate variables quite quickly and see if what we "did" made a predictable difference. Having the ability to record both video and audio and play back with announcements of the "real time' change, is quite an advantage. Operating sats without an SDR or a 9700 is operating blindfolded. Once a person can "see" the entire passband in full duplex in real time, a new world of what is going on opens up. Of special importance is the ability to see the beacon 100% of the time and adjust uplink power accordingly. It is quite interesting to see the CAS series (4A/4B) with not only their CW beacon, but also the Batwing PSK beacon. Seeing that beacon fade 20 dB on one polarization and then return to full strength immediately upon changing to another polarization is quite awakening. There are also profound pre and post TCA (Zenith) signal strength patterns that can be strikingly correlated to the "nature of the pass". Very Shallow, Shallow, Medium, Overhead etc. There are so many variables involved, even the 3 dB worst case loss from linear to circular does not hold ...in fact it is very rare that my 2m EggBeater is within 3 dB of my 5 EL vertically polarized yagi. Close in vegetation loss, ordinary obstruction loss (EB is only up 7', Yagi up 65') Of course at very high elevations the EB shines...but only for a very few minutes. Bob Bruninga hit on a great find with his Fixed Elevation of 15 degrees for LEO birds. You can look at my pix on my qrz page and see what his approach looks like. The performance has been phenomenal and no elevation rotor is required. I routinely work every one of the Mode B LEO birds down to an elevation of -0.7 degrees with that setup, and only at EL > 60 deg do I see the EB outperforming Bob's simple suggestion. Sats are fun for the curious. Anyone who loves satellites, get an SDR ...you will never go back. 73, N0AN Hasan On Thu, Mar 5, 2020 at 1:33 PM Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > On 2020-03-05 13:00, Hasan al-Basri wrote: > > Since we were speaking of SSB SNR, the bandwidth would be similar. In > > our cases we use 2.2 kHz. I forgot to even mention it. > > > > The ...and the point of the whole process was to keep it simple. The > > more precise, the more complex and the less likely anyone is going to > > bother. > > Hello Hasan, > > I definitely applaud your efforts to measure relative system > performance, but I did want to make it clear to others on the list that > there was another factor which needed to be taken into account when > doing an apples-to-apples. This additional factor isn't too hard, when > you understand why it matters. > > > Boltzman is not needed for that. We aren't doing EME. Sat ops are a > > relatively strong signal mode. It says a lot that many receive setups > > are performing so poorly that "rough and dirty" (and simple) approaches > > like I outlined can make a big difference in overall efficiency. I just > > hope that it helps people hear better. > > (and subsequently reduce their uplink power) > > I also completely agree with you on the need for fewer alligators on the > satellites. With GOLF, where we're building bigger vehicles with larger > orbits and footprints, excessive uplink power becomes an even bigger > issue for more simultaneous users. > > That said, GOLF satellites will also incur more path loss, so getting > LEO operators more familiar with the "down in the noise" issues will > make for better MEO/HEO operators, too. > > Keep up the good work! I enjoyed your video. > > 73, > > --- Zach > N0ZGO > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From n8hm at arrl.net Thu Mar 5 20:25:44 2020 From: n8hm at arrl.net (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2020 15:25:44 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-065 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Academy to be Held Prior to Dayton Hamvention Message-ID: AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-065 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT Academy to be Held Prior to Dayton Hamvention SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065 ANS-065 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 5, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-065.01 Come join us the day before Hamvention, for AMSAT? Academy ? a unique opportunity to learn all about amateur radio in space and working FM, linear transponder, and digital satellites currently in orbit. AMSAT? Academy will be held Thursday, May 14, 2020, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, at the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Clubhouse, loc- ated at 6619 Bellefontaine Rd, Dayton, Ohio. The $85 registration fee includes: ? Full day of instruction, designed for both beginners and advanced amateur radio satellite operators, and taught by some of the most accomplished AMSAT operators. ? Digital copy of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites, 2020 Edi- tion ($15 value) ? One-Year, AMSAT? Basic Membership ($44 value) ? Pizza Buffet Lunch ? Invitation to the Thursday night AMSAT? get together at Ticket Pub and Eatery in Fairborn. Registration closes May 8, 2020. No sign ups at the door. No refunds, no cancellations. Registrations may be purchased on the AMSAT store at https://www.amsat.org/product/2020-amsat-academy-registration/ [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, Vice President - User Services for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org From hans.bx2abt at msa.hinet.net Fri Mar 6 12:23:25 2020 From: hans.bx2abt at msa.hinet.net (Hans BX2ABT) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 20:23:25 +0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] Sequencer advice needed Message-ID: I haven't worked with sequencers before as all my LNAs and SDRs have been used for receive only. But now that I have a Airspy HF+ I want to get going with APRS on 145.825 and use this on HF as well. So receiving with the SDR, transmitting with a transceiver. I also want to experiment with LNAs, so another reason to use a sequencer. I did a lot of googling, learned some, but still not sure what I need to look out for when buying one. I prefer a kit or assembled product as a first try. Below is a list of what I found on line. From a distance the VHF Design is cheap and has detailed information, so I am leaning towards purchasing that. Later, for a DIY project, I like the OZ1BXM design because it uses an Arduino for control, which brings some flexiblity. Can you all please give me some input on what to look for in sequencers or comment on the choices below? Any other kits/assemblies I have missed and should be considered? Cheers, Hans BX2ABT Minikits from Austalia's EME166: AU$45 (=US$27.75) https://www.minikits.com.au/Sequencer?search=Sequencer This is the only one that indicates a frequency range: 28 to 500 MHz, so this will cover the 2m band, but not HF. Also RF input is 4 Watts maximum, which seems low, so how is this usable? W6PQL's sequencer (US$20 for kit, US$37.50 assembled) http://www.w6pql.com/relay_sequencer.htm No info on frequency range or input power. Not much info on the website. VHF Design (US$20 assembled) https://vhfdesign.com/other/sequencer-pcb.html Website has good information, diagrams and PCB layouts. Again no info on frequency range, etc. Downeast Microwave (US$25~80) https://www.downeastmicrowave.com/searchresults.asp?Search=sequencer&Submit= 3 and 4 step sequencers both in solid state and with relays based on a design by W5LUA. Which better: solid state or relays? Little indept info. G3SEK - (DIY) http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/dx-book/sequencer/ Basically only a schematic, so need to build it from the ground up. OZ1BXM (DIY) http://oz1bxm.dk/seq/sequencer.html Another DIY project based on the W6PLQ design. This uses an Arduino as MCU, so should be flexible. No kits and no PCB designs. SM2CEW (DIY) http://sm2cew.com/sequencer/sequencer.html This one looks very simple to make with very few components. It was designed for HF, so will it work on VHF? From hans.bx2abt at msa.hinet.net Fri Mar 6 12:26:08 2020 From: hans.bx2abt at msa.hinet.net (Hans BX2ABT) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 20:26:08 +0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] Where best to purchase LMR-240UF in the US? Message-ID: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> As in title. Need some 200 feet. Mail order is fine, delivery in Houston. Will be hand delivered to me in Taiwan, because I can't get the stuff locally. Cheers --Hans From k9qho67622 at comcast.net Fri Mar 6 12:58:53 2020 From: k9qho67622 at comcast.net (MICHAEL WILLIAMS) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 07:58:53 -0500 (EST) Subject: [amsat-bb] sequencer Message-ID: <261434636.638594.1583499533733@connect.xfinity.com> Check out W1GHZ's "A Simple, Yet Fool-Resistant Sequencer" at http://www.w1ghz.org/small_proj/Simple_yet_Fool-Resistant_Sequencer_Rev_B.pdf GL, K9QHO From rolf.krogstad at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 13:44:24 2020 From: rolf.krogstad at gmail.com (Rolf Krogstad) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 07:44:24 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Where best to purchase LMR-240UF in the US? In-Reply-To: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> References: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> Message-ID: DX Engineering. Great service. $1.08 per foot. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/tmv-lmr-240ultra 73 Rolf NR0T EN34 On Fri, Mar 6, 2020, 6:45 AM Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB wrote: > As in title. Need some 200 feet. Mail order is fine, delivery in > Houston. Will be hand delivered to me in Taiwan, because I can't get the > stuff locally. Cheers --Hans > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From kb2mjeff at att.net Fri Mar 6 14:14:56 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 09:14:56 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Where best to purchase LMR-240UF in the US? In-Reply-To: References: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> Message-ID: <02a101d5f3c1$9e5d73e0$db185ba0$@att.net> Or here, 200 foot at .97 a foot. https://www.rfparts.com/lmr240uf.html Also look around on Amazon for a Chinese copy. I tried some and it was good quality... 73 Jeff kb2m -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Rolf Krogstad via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, March 06, 2020 8:44 To: Hans BX2ABT Cc: AMSAT Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Where best to purchase LMR-240UF in the US? DX Engineering. Great service. $1.08 per foot. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/tmv-lmr-240ultra 73 Rolf NR0T EN34 On Fri, Mar 6, 2020, 6:45 AM Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB wrote: > As in title. Need some 200 feet. Mail order is fine, delivery in > Houston. Will be hand delivered to me in Taiwan, because I can't get > the stuff locally. Cheers --Hans > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From scott23192 at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 16:42:35 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 11:42:35 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Where best to purchase LMR-240UF in the US? In-Reply-To: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> References: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> Message-ID: I have always been very pleased with: https://usacoax.com/custom.html -Scott, K4KDR ================================= On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 7:45 AM Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB wrote: > As in title. Need some 200 feet. Mail order is fine, delivery in > Houston. Will be hand delivered to me in Taiwan, because I can't get the > stuff locally. Cheers --Hans > From ai7rogerroger at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 16:45:33 2020 From: ai7rogerroger at gmail.com (Roger - W7TZ) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 08:45:33 -0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] Sequencer advice needed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I've used the W6PQL (built and tested) unit for 6m and 1.25m very successfully for several years. 73, Roger W7TZ CN83ia On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 4:26 AM Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I haven't worked with sequencers before as all my LNAs and SDRs have > been used for receive only. But now that I have a Airspy HF+ I want to > get going with APRS on 145.825 and use this on HF as well. So receiving > with the SDR, transmitting with a transceiver. I also want to experiment > with LNAs, so another reason to use a sequencer. I did a lot of > googling, learned some, but still not sure what I need to look out for > when buying one. I prefer a kit or assembled product as a first try. > > Below is a list of what I found on line. From a distance the VHF Design > is cheap and has detailed information, so I am leaning towards > purchasing that. Later, for a DIY project, I like the OZ1BXM design > because it uses an Arduino for control, which brings some flexiblity. > > Can you all please give me some input on what to look for in sequencers > or comment on the choices below? Any other kits/assemblies I have missed > and should be considered? Cheers, > > Hans > BX2ABT > > > > Minikits from Austalia's EME166: AU$45 (=US$27.75) > > https://www.minikits.com.au/Sequencer?search=Sequencer > > This is the only one that indicates a frequency range: 28 to 500 MHz, so > this will cover the 2m band, but not HF. Also RF input is 4 Watts > maximum, which seems low, so how is this usable? > > > > W6PQL's sequencer (US$20 for kit, US$37.50 assembled) > > http://www.w6pql.com/relay_sequencer.htm > > No info on frequency range or input power. Not much info on the website. > > > > VHF Design (US$20 assembled) > > https://vhfdesign.com/other/sequencer-pcb.html > > Website has good information, diagrams and PCB layouts. Again no info on > frequency range, etc. > > > > Downeast Microwave (US$25~80) > > > https://www.downeastmicrowave.com/searchresults.asp?Search=sequencer&Submit= > > 3 and 4 step sequencers both in solid state and with relays based on a > design by W5LUA. Which better: solid state or relays? Little indept info. > > > > G3SEK - (DIY) > > http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/dx-book/sequencer/ > > Basically only a schematic, so need to build it from the ground up. > > > > OZ1BXM (DIY) > > http://oz1bxm.dk/seq/sequencer.html > > Another DIY project based on the W6PLQ design. This uses an Arduino as > MCU, so should be flexible. No kits and no PCB designs. > > > > SM2CEW (DIY) > > http://sm2cew.com/sequencer/sequencer.html > > This one looks very simple to make with very few components. It was > designed for HF, so will it work on VHF? > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From johnnykludt at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 17:08:20 2020 From: johnnykludt at gmail.com (John Kludt) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 12:08:20 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Sequencer advice needed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Roger, I am a little confused by your comment on frequency range and power as those are characterists of the relays themselves and not the sequencer. The purpose of the sequencer is to switch equipment and feedlines from receive to transmit and back in a orderly sequence such that RF is the last thing applied on transmit and the first thing removed on receive. As such a sequencer is an electrical device and not a RF device. On my 1296 system I use the Demi solid state sequencer. Step 1 removes preamp power. Step 2 switches the preamp out of line by activating two coaxial relays (where I spent real money!). Step 3 grounds the PTT on the W6PQL power amplifier and then Step 4 grounds the PTT on the transceiver and applies RF. There are other switching schemes but this is a fairly common one. Hope that helps. Johnny On Fri, Mar 6, 2020, 11:50 Roger - W7TZ via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I've used the W6PQL (built and tested) unit for 6m and 1.25m very > successfully for several years. > > 73, Roger > W7TZ > CN83ia > > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 4:26 AM Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > I haven't worked with sequencers before as all my LNAs and SDRs have > > been used for receive only. But now that I have a Airspy HF+ I want to > > get going with APRS on 145.825 and use this on HF as well. So receiving > > with the SDR, transmitting with a transceiver. I also want to experiment > > with LNAs, so another reason to use a sequencer. I did a lot of > > googling, learned some, but still not sure what I need to look out for > > when buying one. I prefer a kit or assembled product as a first try. > > > > Below is a list of what I found on line. From a distance the VHF Design > > is cheap and has detailed information, so I am leaning towards > > purchasing that. Later, for a DIY project, I like the OZ1BXM design > > because it uses an Arduino for control, which brings some flexiblity. > > > > Can you all please give me some input on what to look for in sequencers > > or comment on the choices below? Any other kits/assemblies I have missed > > and should be considered? Cheers, > > > > Hans > > BX2ABT > > > > > > > > Minikits from Austalia's EME166: AU$45 (=US$27.75) > > > > https://www.minikits.com.au/Sequencer?search=Sequencer > > > > This is the only one that indicates a frequency range: 28 to 500 MHz, so > > this will cover the 2m band, but not HF. Also RF input is 4 Watts > > maximum, which seems low, so how is this usable? > > > > > > > > W6PQL's sequencer (US$20 for kit, US$37.50 assembled) > > > > http://www.w6pql.com/relay_sequencer.htm > > > > No info on frequency range or input power. Not much info on the website. > > > > > > > > VHF Design (US$20 assembled) > > > > https://vhfdesign.com/other/sequencer-pcb.html > > > > Website has good information, diagrams and PCB layouts. Again no info on > > frequency range, etc. > > > > > > > > Downeast Microwave (US$25~80) > > > > > > > https://www.downeastmicrowave.com/searchresults.asp?Search=sequencer&Submit= > > > > 3 and 4 step sequencers both in solid state and with relays based on a > > design by W5LUA. Which better: solid state or relays? Little indept info. > > > > > > > > G3SEK - (DIY) > > > > http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/dx-book/sequencer/ > > > > Basically only a schematic, so need to build it from the ground up. > > > > > > > > OZ1BXM (DIY) > > > > http://oz1bxm.dk/seq/sequencer.html > > > > Another DIY project based on the W6PLQ design. This uses an Arduino as > > MCU, so should be flexible. No kits and no PCB designs. > > > > > > > > SM2CEW (DIY) > > > > http://sm2cew.com/sequencer/sequencer.html > > > > This one looks very simple to make with very few components. It was > > designed for HF, so will it work on VHF? > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net Fri Mar 6 17:12:50 2020 From: amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net (Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 17:12:50 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] WD9EWK @ DM51/DM52 next Friday (13 March 2020) Message-ID: Hi! I will head to the DM51/DM52 grid boundary in southeastern Arizona next Friday (13 March 2020), where I plan to spend a few hours working various satellite passes. I hope to be on the air from DM51/DM52 for the AO-92 pass just after 1700 UTC, but might be on earlier passes if traffic through Phoenix and Tucson - and the weather - cooperates. I will park at a spot I have visited many times over the years, west of US-191 and south of I-10, near the town of Sunsites in Arizona's Cochise County. During my time out at DM51/DM52, I will post updates on my @WD9EWK Twitter account. These updates are visible in a web browser without a Twitter account at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK In addition, I will run APRS as WD9EWK-9 during that day. My travels should show up online at sites like: http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 All QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World. If anyone wishes to receive a QSL card confirming a QSO with WD9EWK at DM51/DM52, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. No need to first send me a card or an SASE. If you're in the log, I will send a QSL card. This is not the only time I might be in this area over the next couple of months. I have two other trips between late March and early May which may allow me to visit other grid boundaries in southeastern Arizona or even southwestern New Mexico. Stay tuned... :-) 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK From mikesprenger at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 17:24:33 2020 From: mikesprenger at gmail.com (Mike Sprenger) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 12:24:33 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Where best to purchase LMR-240UF in the US? In-Reply-To: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> References: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> Message-ID: <848C4EB2-E0C3-4443-9298-CD3EDA2DE395@gmail.com> No affiliation just a happy customer. I use these guys plus they will connector the cables for you (not free but great work). https://rfconnection.com/belden-9913f7-cable/coaxial-cable/ LMR-240UF $ .86/FT $80.00/100? .044 Cu stranded center conductor with micro-cell foam dielectric & type IIIA jacket. Nominal impedance 50 Ohms; velocity of propagation 83%; Outer diameter .240; 100% Al Mylar tape & 95% tinned Cu braid. REAL TIMES MICROWAVE CABLE Thanks, Mike Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 6, 2020, at 7:45 AM, Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?As in title. Need some 200 feet. Mail order is fine, delivery in Houston. Will be hand delivered to me in Taiwan, because I can't get the stuff locally. Cheers --Hans > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ny4i at ny4i.com Fri Mar 6 17:49:24 2020 From: ny4i at ny4i.com (Thomas Schaefer) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 12:49:24 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Center of the rotator Message-ID: <47C7D44C-F50E-4473-92D6-2C8E4DF59B7E@ny4i.com> Hello all. Please forgive the novice question but I am new to dealing with Az/El rotator systems for satellites (always been the Armstrong method). I am finishing up the planning for my rotators. On my bench, I have my Az rotator and my elevations rotator (separate units?both AlfaSpids). I am using a Green Heron RT21 AzEl controller. I have PSTRotator in between SatPC32 and the Green Heron since SatPC32 does not control the GH AzEl directly. When I was testing, I went though a pass and when the Azimuth direction was 0, the rotator spun all away around since 0 was the bottom. That is no doubt a configuration point but it brings me to my question. When I have used various rotor controllers for HF beams, 180 degrees is always the bottom which works for us in the northern Hemisphere. But with the current fleet of workable satellites, is there a direction that makes more sense to use at the ?bottom? of the rotator? I can rotate the AlfaSpid more than 360 degrees allowing for the coax loop. Is that the generally preferred way for maximum flexibility if one?s rotor supports it? Put another way, if I pick 180 as the ?bottom?, will I have as many passes that the rotator will have to turn all the way around to get from 179 degrees to 181 degrees as I would have to go from 359 degrees to 1 degree? I am also using the Az rotator for a 6m beam so the usual sweep of 180 to 180 in a continuous arc is desirable but I was curious if I should allow an extra 90 degrees (to 470) for flexibility. The Green Heron will take care of not going too far from where it is programmed even though the AlfaSpid does not have limit switches in the Az rotator (but does in the elevation rotator). I hope that makes sense. Thanks, Tom NY4I Tom Schaefer, NY4I Blog: www.ny4i.com Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) From ny4i at ny4i.com Fri Mar 6 18:08:16 2020 From: ny4i at ny4i.com (Thomas Schaefer) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 13:08:16 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Where best to purchase LMR-240UF in the US? In-Reply-To: <848C4EB2-E0C3-4443-9298-CD3EDA2DE395@gmail.com> References: <9b996c89-469a-a4d5-51e2-6ff98e63ac38@msa.hinet.net> <848C4EB2-E0C3-4443-9298-CD3EDA2DE395@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1CD4D309-89A1-4304-BF73-49E222CC5C12@ny4i.com> Get yourself a Tessco Account (tessco.com). It is free and they sell real LMR-240UF for $0.83 a foot. You do pay shipping and tax but still cheaper than 1.08 a foot with DXEngineering?s free shipping. I buy all my cables and connectors from Tessco. They carry the full RF Parts connector line as well as real Times Microwave connectors (which I use for tower side connectors). They have a very useful catalog system on their website too. The RF Connection price is quite good at $0.86 a foot as that is just 3 cents more than Tessco (you still pay shipping). Tom Schaefer, NY4I Blog: www.ny4i.com Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) > On Mar 6, 2020, at 12:24 PM, Mike Sprenger via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > No affiliation just a happy customer. > > I use these guys plus they will connector the cables for you (not free but great work). > > https://rfconnection.com/belden-9913f7-cable/coaxial-cable/ > > LMR-240UF > $ .86/FT > $80.00/100? > > .044 Cu stranded center conductor with micro-cell foam dielectric & type IIIA jacket. Nominal impedance 50 Ohms; velocity of propagation 83%; Outer diameter .240; 100% Al Mylar tape & 95% tinned Cu braid. > > REAL TIMES MICROWAVE CABLE > > > > Thanks, > Mike > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On Mar 6, 2020, at 7:45 AM, Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> >> ?As in title. Need some 200 feet. Mail order is fine, delivery in Houston. Will be hand delivered to me in Taiwan, because I can't get the stuff locally. Cheers --Hans >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu Fri Mar 6 18:24:12 2020 From: mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu (Mark D. Johns) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 12:24:12 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Center of the rotator In-Reply-To: <47C7D44C-F50E-4473-92D6-2C8E4DF59B7E@ny4i.com> References: <47C7D44C-F50E-4473-92D6-2C8E4DF59B7E@ny4i.com> Message-ID: For satellites, there's no perfect direction for the azimuth stop, because most LEOs in near-polar orbits tend to pass along an arc to the east or or an arc to the west, and only relatively rarely right overhead. For me, living in Minneapolis, I use a north stop because a lot of things happen south of me. For example, passes of CAS-4A and CAS-4B almost always go from west-southwest, through south, and on to the southeast from my QTH. A south stop would require a flip or a complete turn for every CAS-4x pass. For you, down in Florida, a 180 degree stop may be of slight advantage. You'd probably have to do a plot of several birds you plan to use over a period of a couple weeks, and see how many of those passes would require flipping. -- Mark D. Johns, K?JM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 11:50 AM Thomas Schaefer via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Hello all. Please forgive the novice question but I am new to dealing with Az/El rotator systems for satellites (always been the Armstrong method). > > I am finishing up the planning for my rotators. On my bench, I have my Az rotator and my elevations rotator (separate units ?both AlfaSpids). I am using a Green Heron RT21 AzEl controller. > > I have PSTRotator in between SatPC32 and the Green Heron since SatPC32 does not control the GH AzEl directly. > > When I was testing, I went though a pass and when the Azimuth direction was 0, the rotator spun all away around since 0 was the bottom. That is no doubt a configuration point but it brings me to my question. > > When I have used various rotor controllers for HF beams, 180 degrees is always the bottom which works for us in the northern Hemisphere. But with the current fleet of workable satellites, is there a direction that makes more sense to use at the ?bottom? of the rotator? I can rotate the AlfaSpid more than 360 degrees allowing for the coax loop. Is that the generally preferred way for maximum flexibility if one?s rotor supports it? Put another way, if I pick 180 as the ?bottom?, will I have as many passes that the rotator will have to turn all the way around to get from 179 degrees to 181 degrees as I would have to go from 359 degrees to 1 degree? > > I am also using the Az rotator for a 6m beam so the usual sweep of 180 to 180 in a continuous arc is desirable but I was curious if I should allow an extra 90 degrees (to 470) for flexibility. The Green Heron will take care of not going too far from where it is programmed even though the AlfaSpid does not have limit switches in the Az rotator (but does in the elevation rotator). > > I hope that makes sense. > > Thanks, > > Tom NY4I > Tom Schaefer, NY4I > Blog: www.ny4i.com > Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From scott23192 at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 18:56:13 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 13:56:13 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Center of the rotator In-Reply-To: References: <47C7D44C-F50E-4473-92D6-2C8E4DF59B7E@ny4i.com> Message-ID: <2C3B0E0236AC4C7D9186CA2965B70257@CSI9020> I'm not familiar with your exact hardware, but I use PSTRotator with a G-5500 and practically speaking, there is no "stop". Depending on whether the path of a satellite will cross the 0 or 180 degree compass mark, PSTRotator will auto-set to "flip" mode and adjust the pointing accordingly. If needed to avoid the hardware limit of my rotator, PSTRotator will flip the elevation of my array 180 degrees and reverse the AZ settings so that the end result is proper tracking throughout the entire pass while avoiding the rotation stop of the AZ rotator. Sure is nice to never have to give any thought to that issue when planning a pass. -Scott, K4KDR =========================== -----Original Message----- From: Mark D. Johns via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, March 06, 2020 1:24 PM To: Thomas Schaefer Cc: amsat-bb Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Center of the rotator For satellites, there's no perfect direction for the azimuth stop, because most LEOs in near-polar orbits tend to pass along an arc to the east or or an arc to the west, and only relatively rarely right overhead. For me, living in Minneapolis, I use a north stop because a lot of things happen south of me. For example, passes of CAS-4A and CAS-4B almost always go from west-southwest, through south, and on to the southeast from my QTH. A south stop would require a flip or a complete turn for every CAS-4x pass. For you, down in Florida, a 180 degree stop may be of slight advantage. You'd probably have to do a plot of several birds you plan to use over a period of a couple weeks, and see how many of those passes would require flipping. -- Mark D. Johns, K?JM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 11:50 AM Thomas Schaefer via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Hello all. Please forgive the novice question but I am new to dealing with > Az/El rotator systems for satellites (always been the Armstrong method). > > I am finishing up the planning for my rotators. On my bench, I have my Az > rotator and my elevations rotator (separate units ?both AlfaSpids). I am > using a Green Heron RT21 AzEl controller. > > I have PSTRotator in between SatPC32 and the Green Heron since SatPC32 > does not control the GH AzEl directly. > > When I was testing, I went though a pass and when the Azimuth direction > was 0, the rotator spun all away around since 0 was the bottom. That is no > doubt a configuration point but it brings me to my question. > > When I have used various rotor controllers for HF beams, 180 degrees is > always the bottom which works for us in the northern Hemisphere. But with > the current fleet of workable satellites, is there a direction that makes > more sense to use at the ?bottom? of the rotator? I can rotate the > AlfaSpid more than 360 degrees allowing for the coax loop. Is that the > generally preferred way for maximum flexibility if one?s rotor supports > it? Put another way, if I pick 180 as the ?bottom?, will I have as many > passes that the rotator will have to turn all the way around to get from > 179 degrees to 181 degrees as I would have to go from 359 degrees to 1 > degree? > > I am also using the Az rotator for a 6m beam so the usual sweep of 180 to > 180 in a continuous arc is desirable but I was curious if I should allow > an extra 90 degrees (to 470) for flexibility. The Green Heron will take > care of not going too far from where it is programmed even though the > AlfaSpid does not have limit switches in the Az rotator (but does in the > elevation rotator). > > I hope that makes sense. > > Thanks, > > Tom NY4I > Tom Schaefer, NY4I > Blog: www.ny4i.com > Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) From ny4i at ny4i.com Fri Mar 6 19:00:58 2020 From: ny4i at ny4i.com (Thomas Schaefer) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 14:00:58 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Center of the rotator In-Reply-To: <2C3B0E0236AC4C7D9186CA2965B70257@CSI9020> References: <47C7D44C-F50E-4473-92D6-2C8E4DF59B7E@ny4i.com> <2C3B0E0236AC4C7D9186CA2965B70257@CSI9020> Message-ID: <84DC62FD-90D3-4841-B996-240F66EEC623@ny4i.com> Unless you have a wireless connection between your radio and antenna, the coax is usually the stop for the loop. Tom Schaefer, NY4I Blog: www.ny4i.com Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) > On Mar 6, 2020, at 1:56 PM, Scott via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > I'm not familiar with your exact hardware, but I use PSTRotator with a G-5500 and practically speaking, there is no "stop". > > Depending on whether the path of a satellite will cross the 0 or 180 degree compass mark, PSTRotator will auto-set to "flip" mode and adjust the pointing accordingly. > > If needed to avoid the hardware limit of my rotator, PSTRotator will flip the elevation of my array 180 degrees and reverse the AZ settings so that the end result is proper tracking throughout the entire pass while avoiding the rotation stop of the AZ rotator. Sure is nice to never have to give any thought to that issue when planning a pass. > > -Scott, K4KDR > > =========================== > > > > -----Original Message----- From: Mark D. Johns via AMSAT-BB > Sent: Friday, March 06, 2020 1:24 PM > To: Thomas Schaefer > Cc: amsat-bb > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Center of the rotator > > For satellites, there's no perfect direction for the azimuth stop, > because most LEOs in near-polar orbits tend to pass along an arc to > the east or or an arc to the west, and only relatively rarely right > overhead. > > For me, living in Minneapolis, I use a north stop because a lot of > things happen south of me. For example, passes of CAS-4A and CAS-4B > almost always go from west-southwest, through south, and on to the > southeast from my QTH. A south stop would require a flip or a complete > turn for every CAS-4x pass. > > For you, down in Florida, a 180 degree stop may be of slight > advantage. You'd probably have to do a plot of several birds you plan > to use over a period of a couple weeks, and see how many of those > passes would require flipping. > -- > Mark D. Johns, K?JM > AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor > Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd > ----------------------------------------------- > "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, > you would stay out and your dog would go in." > ---Mark Twain > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 11:50 AM Thomas Schaefer via AMSAT-BB > wrote: >> >> Hello all. Please forgive the novice question but I am new to dealing with Az/El rotator systems for satellites (always been the Armstrong method). >> >> I am finishing up the planning for my rotators. On my bench, I have my Az rotator and my elevations rotator (separate units ?both AlfaSpids). I am using a Green Heron RT21 AzEl controller. >> >> I have PSTRotator in between SatPC32 and the Green Heron since SatPC32 does not control the GH AzEl directly. >> >> When I was testing, I went though a pass and when the Azimuth direction was 0, the rotator spun all away around since 0 was the bottom. That is no doubt a configuration point but it brings me to my question. >> >> When I have used various rotor controllers for HF beams, 180 degrees is always the bottom which works for us in the northern Hemisphere. But with the current fleet of workable satellites, is there a direction that makes more sense to use at the ?bottom? of the rotator? I can rotate the AlfaSpid more than 360 degrees allowing for the coax loop. Is that the generally preferred way for maximum flexibility if one?s rotor supports it? Put another way, if I pick 180 as the ?bottom?, will I have as many passes that the rotator will have to turn all the way around to get from 179 degrees to 181 degrees as I would have to go from 359 degrees to 1 degree? >> >> I am also using the Az rotator for a 6m beam so the usual sweep of 180 to 180 in a continuous arc is desirable but I was curious if I should allow an extra 90 degrees (to 470) for flexibility. The Green Heron will take care of not going too far from where it is programmed even though the AlfaSpid does not have limit switches in the Az rotator (but does in the elevation rotator). >> >> I hope that makes sense. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Tom NY4I >> Tom Schaefer, NY4I >> Blog: www.ny4i.com >> Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kd2nfc at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 21:17:50 2020 From: kd2nfc at gmail.com (Joe KD2NFC) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 16:17:50 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! Message-ID: I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be patient with a satellite beginner. Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to learn :) Joe KD2NFC Sent from my iPhone From jeff30339 at gmail.com Fri Mar 6 21:21:53 2020 From: jeff30339 at gmail.com (Jeff Johns) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 15:21:53 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6F9EF7D5-8CA9-4619-A76F-1D8AF4D43F92@gmail.com> How much power were you using? SSB or CW? On SSB I usually use 2.5 watts and haven?t had any issues making contacts. Jeff WE4B > On Mar 6, 2020, at 3:19 PM, Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be patient with a satellite beginner. > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to learn :) > > Joe > KD2NFC > > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From va3mw at portcredit.net Fri Mar 6 21:23:55 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 16:23:55 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <34DE68C8-5D8A-405A-BC33-B14F0B5DD7FE@portcredit.net> Hi Joe Once you hear yourself start dialling down your power until you don?t hear yourself. then, increase it slightly. Make sure you were wearing headphones. Mike va3mw > On Mar 6, 2020, at 4:18 PM, Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be patient with a satellite beginner. > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to learn :) > > Joe > KD2NFC > > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu Fri Mar 6 21:26:30 2020 From: mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu (Mark D. Johns) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 15:26:30 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: AO-7 is a sick old bird. You can literally break it with too much power. Not just affect other operators, but force it to change modes so that no one can use it. Maybe better to start with a different linear until you get your feet wet. And anything beyond 5 watts if overkill. Usually less. -- Mark D. Johns, K?JM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 3:18 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be patient with a satellite beginner. > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to learn :) > > Joe > KD2NFC > > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From gary_mayfield at hotmail.com Fri Mar 6 21:34:00 2020 From: gary_mayfield at hotmail.com (Gary) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 21:34:00 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: <34DE68C8-5D8A-405A-BC33-B14F0B5DD7FE@portcredit.net> References: <34DE68C8-5D8A-405A-BC33-B14F0B5DD7FE@portcredit.net> Message-ID: Power is meaningless without antenna information.... -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, March 6, 2020 3:24 PM To: Joe KD2NFC ; amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! Hi Joe Once you hear yourself start dialling down your power until you don?t hear yourself. then, increase it slightly. Make sure you were wearing headphones. Mike va3mw > On Mar 6, 2020, at 4:18 PM, Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be patient with a satellite beginner. > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m > here to learn :) > > Joe > KD2NFC > > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From zmetzing at pobox.com Fri Mar 6 21:36:33 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2020 15:36:33 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: <34DE68C8-5D8A-405A-BC33-B14F0B5DD7FE@portcredit.net> References: <34DE68C8-5D8A-405A-BC33-B14F0B5DD7FE@portcredit.net> Message-ID: On 2020-03-06 15:23, Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Once you hear yourself start dialling down your power until you don?t hear yourself. > > then, increase it slightly. > > Make sure you were wearing headphones. This seems wrong. 1. Listen for the beacon, which is warbly, but audible. If you can't hear that, don't transmit. Listen for others on the bird, as that can also give you a sense of what you expect to hear. 2. Make sure you use the one true rule for Doppler correction (stationary frequency at satellite transponder input). Computer correction is probably the best bet here, as it can tune as you do other things. 3. Start at your rig's lowest power, and increase gradually until you can hear yourself. As others have said, if you exceed 5W into a yagi, there's probably something wrong with your setup. 4. Even a cheap SDR on the down-link, gives you ultimate situational awareness. You can see the beacon, other people's signals, and your own. You can then judge your relative power to the beacon. Also see: https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-to-work-ssb-satellites/ and N0AN just posted his recording (working XW-2D) a few days on this list. Here is his video URL: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lKYvARp4SyHUraAX9u6HQRbmnCiamJAM Grain of salt: I haven't worked linear birds in more than two decades. However, time is freeing up now and I'm getting my own Az/El setup going. Perhaps we'll make a contact on AO-7 soon! --- Zach N0ZGO From christophe.mcr at gmail.com Sat Mar 7 07:08:46 2020 From: christophe.mcr at gmail.com (christophe.mcr) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 08:08:46 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_=5BNouvel_article=5D_Rencontre_Spatia?= =?utf-8?q?l_Radioamateur_7_et_8_mars_2020_=E2=80=93_Diffusion_des_?= =?utf-8?q?conf=C3=A9rences_sur_Internet_=26_sur_le_satellite_g?= =?utf-8?q?=C3=A9ostationnaire_QO_100?= In-Reply-To: <110473721.116986.0@wordpress.com> References: <110473721.116986.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: Xtophe a publi? :" Les conf?rences seront diffus?es en directe sur internet et sur le satellite G?ostationnaire QO100 Diffusion sur des conf?rences sur internet : https://www.youtube.com/user/ElectrolabFr Diffusion des conf?rences sur QO100 " Nouvel article sur *AMSAT Francophone* Rencontre Spatial Radioamateur 7 et 8 mars 2020 ? Diffusion des conf?rences sur Internet & sur le satellite g?ostationnaire QO 100 par Xtophe Les conf?rences seront diffus?es en directe sur internet et sur le satellite G?ostationnaire QO100 Diffusion sur des conf?rences sur internet : - https://www.youtube.com/user/ElectrolabFr Diffusion des conf?rences sur QO100 - *Mode de transmission : DVB S2,* - *Modulation : QPSK* - *D?bit : 1M symboles/seconde,* - *FEC : 1/2* - *Format 720 p * *Xtophe * | 7 mars 2020 ? 7 h 30 min | Cat?gories : 2020 - Troisi?me rencontre spatial radioamateur | URL : https://wp.me/p7txgd-uqS Commentaire Voir tous les commentaires R?silier l'abonnement From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Sat Mar 7 11:22:41 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 05:22:41 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Joe, (and other inexperienced sat operators). When I use the term 'you' in this post it is not to be taken personally. If the shoe fits...well, then yes, take it personally, otherwise just take it as a way to describe an operating guide. 1. Yes running too much EIRP aka Effective Radiated Power, (power plus antenna gain - feedline loss) ruins operations for other operators. It may also cause a malfunction of AO-7, to include FM'ing on SSB or shutting down the xponder entirely. AO-7 is a particularly sensitive case. So, let's set it to the side for the moment. On the other linear (SSB/CW) birds like CAS-4A, 4B, XW-2A, 2B, 2D (again), and 2F here are the issues: The downlink power (the sat's transmitter) is shared. It is shared in proportion to the strength of the uplink signal from each individual station. So, if a station is running *excessive EIRP,* they capture the vast majority of the available downlink power and everyone else's signal is driven into the noise floor. This happens at a syllabic rate on voices (heard by others running proper power levels as a pumping up and down of their signal at the speech rate of the offending signal). On cw, it is even worse, with each keyed character driving all the other signals into the noise floor at the keying rate. Saying, "I'm only running 5 watts" is NOT an acceptable answer. It also demonstrates that those saying it have no idea how to considerately operate on a satellite. *There is one simple rule: You should never be louder on the downlink than the strength of the CW beacon, period.* It is the ops responsibility to stay within this limit. No excuses, no explanations, just do it. Unfortunately, this pumping/power robbing happens frequently on all birds, because operators either: 1. Have no idea what they are doing....or 2. Don't care that they are ruining the operation for others. I have many hours of 15 minute pass MP4 recordings of these situations and have been tempted to publish them. I have resisted publishing them because so many of them seem to be the result of "innocent" mistakes. So, what is excessive EIRP and how do we avoid it? For simplicity's sake, I'm going to refer to EIRP as power. You should adjust your uplink power so that it *NEVER *exceeds the strength of the CW beacon you are hearing *AT THAT TIME*. Simply looking at the beacon once in an entire 15 minute pass does not reflect what is happening throughout the pass. The beacon reference needs to be repeatedly checked during the pass to see if you need to power down. It's a LOT easier to tell if you have enough power (you can hear yourself), but a lot harder to pay attention to the fact you are too loud. I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed a QSO where one op tells the other, "*You have a great signal*"....yeah, 8 dB above the beacon, stealing the downlink power from the considerate operators who have kept their uplink power low enough to stay no stronger than the beacon. Yes, they are loud. But on this shared resource we call a satellite downlink passband, being an Alligator (big mouth, poor ears) is not something to be proud of, nor should we be complimenting operators for this lack of either 1) awareness; or 2) consideration, for the other operators. Also, you may sound weak because of poor receiver performance on your end, so you are tempted to turn up your transmit power to make up for your poor ears. *This is a constant problem on the birds as they are being used lately. *Many ops seem unaware of how poorly they are hearing and it has little or nothing to do with their bright and shiny new rig. :-) Someone else mentioned, that if you can't hear the beacon, don't transmit. *Truer words were never spoken*. If your rx performance is so bad that you cannot hear a signal that is easily 15 to 25 dB above the noise, then don't transmit, all you are going to do is power rob others. The truth is, all of the linear birds on mode B (2m downlink), have beacons that consistently run 15 to 25 dB above the noise floor. If you don't hear them that strong, fix your receiver setup. Add a preamp, use better coax, increase your receiver antenna gain. etc. Another simple test: do you hear passband noise from the satellite? When it comes into view, you should be able to hear a marked increase in your receive noise. At the peak of the pass you should be able to hear it easily. If you don't, your rx performance is poor. 9700 and SDR users will see a marked 'hump' shape of the passband if they are set to a wide panoramic view. Turning up your transmit power is not the solution and you will, indeed, ruin other people's qsos. In another post, I mentioned a simple and dirty way to tell if you have adequate receiver performance. It requires no test equipment. 1. Disconnect your antenna. 2. Connect a 50 ohm dummy load (a simple 47 Ohm resistor works fine) to the antenna input of your radio. You will not be transmitting. 3. If you can turn the agc off in your rx, do so. If not, set it to Fast. 4. Noise Blanker or Noise Reduction OFF 5. Now....turn up the volume so the noise coming out of the speaker is quite obvious, but not ear splitting. Remember how loud it sounds. 6. Quickly disconnect the resistor and replace it with your satellite antenna. Did the noise jump up considerably compared to the noise caused by the 50 ohm resistor? If not, your rx performance is poor. You need to fix it, as above. If it did jump up, at least a bit, you are probably in a relatively quiet RF location for noise and that is really good...and the fact that you can hear environmental noise above your receiver's internally generated noise is very good. If it jumped up a very large amount, then your locally generated environmental noise is high, which is NOT good, because you will end up turning up your transmit power (uplink) to the birds to overcome it...and of course, the rest of the people using the satellite will be driven down into the noise floor, or power modulated by your speech rate or cw keying. So, what do we do about all of this? 1. Exercise some real care about your operating practices. Take time to learn how your station performance varies by the nature of a pass (shallow, moderate, very high) and during a pass ((current elevation and polarization fading). Using linear birds considerately requires skill and operator attentiveness. This is completely different than FM birds and is much more demanding of operator intervention. *Most importantly, during the pass itself check the beacon strength several times and adjust your uplink power such that your received signal does not exceed the strength of the CW beacon.* Those with the nice shiny new Icom 9700 have no excuse for ever being stronger than the beacon. They can simultaneously monitor the beacon level and their own signal (as well as others in the passband) with the panadapter feature of the 9700. Set your rx width on the panadaptor to +/- 25 kHz and center it so the PSK beacon is at the left edge of the display and the right edge is above the op of the satellite passband (and you will see the CW beacon just above (to the right) of the PSK beacon and the normal passband just above (further to the right) of the CW beacon). This should be on your display all the time. Then you can always see if you are too strong. It will be obvious. 2. If you have access to an SDR dongle like the FunCube Pro +, run software like SDR Console v3 (free). You will be able to see every signal in the passband in real time from the PSKBeacon to the CW Beacon to your signal and all the others. When you can see what poor operating practices do to the satellite passband and everyone trying use it, you will be amazed. Since more and more of the serious satellite ops are getting 9700s and SDRs, I find that the first thing I tell someone when I'm working them is how strong their signal is (in relative dBm) and how strong the beacon is (in relative dBm) . If they are exceeding he beacon, I ask them to reduce power. It's that simple. I'd really like to not have to: 1. Chase people all over the birds asking them to reduce their signal because they are 6 to 10 dB over the beacon and are "power modulating" every signal on the satellite. 2. Get on their freq and politely call them....only to have to chase them all over the passband because they can't hear themselves and they continue to transmit anyway. As the popularity of satellites, especially the linear birds, has increased, we are coming under more and more pressure to clean up our operating habits. These are NOT FM birds. *Getting on one freq and capturing the downlink with one signal with all the juice you can put out is not an acceptable operating technique on the linear birds*. It is inconsiderate and destructive. Hopefully, the directness of these explanations will help and not offend new satellite ops. It has gotten bad enough, that something needed to be said. We want all of you on the birds, just play nicely. 73, N0AN Hasan On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 3:19 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one > person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be > patient with a satellite beginner. > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the > linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good > amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to > learn :) > > Joe > KD2NFC > > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From jamesduffey at comcast.net Sat Mar 7 15:21:54 2020 From: jamesduffey at comcast.net (JamesDuffey) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 08:21:54 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hasan-This is a good post. I would add a couple of small points: 1. Use full duplex. it is easier to tell how loud one is on full duplex and if you are running so much power as to modulate the passband. I think it good practice to use duplex all the time on the satellites, FM or linear, but that is a topic for another time. 2. Use a gain antenna, like a Yagi. Even a two or three element Yagi will help a lot to bring the satellite received signal and satellite noise floor above your local noise floor. I think an antenna with the elements for both bands all in a plane, like the cheap Yagis, the DK7ZB duoband antennas. or a log periodic like the Elk is better than an antenna where the elements for the two bands are orthogonal. Again, antennas are a topic for another time, but they are the easiest and cheapest way to improve your signal. Some may say only way. 3. If you are new to linear satellites, tell those who you contact you are new to the linear satellites and ask how your signal compares to the beacon or to other responsible ops. 4. If you are reluctant to tell someone they are running too much power or don?t think you can do so tactfully, give reports relative to the beacon strength and hope that the op who receives a report that their signal is 10dB over the beacon will take the hint and reduce their power. Best case, they will ask what that means and why it is important. 5. Realize that the satellite passband is a shared resource. It is not always easy to share. Recognize that and try to behave in the passband the way that you would like others to behave in the passband. Although we tend to think of sharing in terms of who gets the kindergarten and preschool toys, or who gets the last piece of cake or pie, or who gets to ride shotgun, it is more like the ?Tragedy of the Commons? that you learned about in freshman econ. To refresh your memory read: < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons > and act accordingly. 6. If someone consistently runs too much power on the satellites, it is often out of ignorance rather than malicious intent. Mentoring locals that are operating with poor receive capability or poor antennas, and offering help, can go a long ways towards helping reduce alligators. When someone moves up from the FM birds and wants to improve their station, they are often amazed that replacing that run of RG58 with LMR400 or even RG213 and putting up a cheap Yagi makes a big difference. And if they operate duplex they can hear the difference. I hope this helps. The problem is an electro-psychological one, where attitude is as important to the solution as is technology. Few of us readily change our behavior without a wake up call. - Duffey James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM > On Mar 7, 2020, at 04:23, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?Joe, (and other inexperienced sat operators). When I use the term 'you' in > this post it is not to be taken personally. If the shoe fits...well, then > yes, take it personally, otherwise just take it as a way to describe an > operating guide. > > 1. Yes running too much EIRP aka Effective Radiated Power, (power plus > antenna gain - feedline loss) ruins operations for other operators. It may > also cause a malfunction of AO-7, to include FM'ing on SSB or shutting down > the xponder entirely. > > AO-7 is a particularly sensitive case. So, let's set it to the side for the > moment. > > On the other linear (SSB/CW) birds like CAS-4A, 4B, XW-2A, 2B, 2D (again), > and 2F here are the issues: > > The downlink power (the sat's transmitter) is shared. It is shared in > proportion to the strength of the uplink signal from each individual > station. So, if a station is running *excessive EIRP,* they capture the > vast majority of the available downlink power and everyone else's signal is > driven into the noise floor. This happens at a syllabic rate on voices > (heard by others running proper power levels as a pumping up and down of > their signal at the speech rate of the offending signal). On cw, it is even > worse, with each keyed character driving all the other signals into the > noise floor at the keying rate. > > Saying, "I'm only running 5 watts" is NOT an acceptable answer. It also > demonstrates that those saying it have no idea how to considerately operate > on a satellite. > > *There is one simple rule: You should never be louder on the downlink than > the strength of the CW beacon, period.* > > It is the ops responsibility to stay within this limit. No excuses, no > explanations, just do it. > > Unfortunately, this pumping/power robbing happens frequently on all birds, > because operators either: > > 1. Have no idea what they are doing....or > 2. Don't care that they are ruining the operation for others. > > I have many hours of 15 minute pass MP4 recordings of these situations and > have been tempted to publish them. I have resisted publishing them because > so many of them seem to be the result of "innocent" mistakes. > > So, what is excessive EIRP and how do we avoid it? For simplicity's sake, > I'm going to refer to EIRP as power. > > You should adjust your uplink power so that it *NEVER *exceeds the strength > of the CW beacon you are hearing *AT THAT TIME*. Simply looking at the > beacon once in an entire 15 minute pass does not reflect what is happening > throughout the pass. The beacon reference needs to be repeatedly checked > during the pass to see if you need to power down. It's a LOT easier to tell > if you have enough power (you can hear yourself), but a lot harder to pay > attention to the fact you are too loud. > > I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed a QSO where one op tells > the other, "*You have a great signal*"....yeah, 8 dB above the beacon, > stealing the downlink power from the considerate operators who have kept > their uplink power low enough to stay no stronger than the beacon. Yes, > they are loud. But on this shared resource we call a satellite downlink > passband, being an Alligator (big mouth, poor ears) is not something to be > proud of, nor should we be complimenting operators for this lack of either > 1) awareness; or 2) consideration, for the other operators. > > Also, you may sound weak because of poor receiver performance on your end, > so you are tempted to turn up your transmit power to make up for your poor > ears. *This is a constant problem on the birds as they are being used > lately. *Many ops seem unaware of how poorly they are hearing and it has > little or nothing to do with their bright and shiny new rig. :-) > > Someone else mentioned, that if you can't hear the beacon, don't > transmit. *Truer > words were never spoken*. If your rx performance is so bad that you cannot > hear a signal that is easily 15 to 25 dB above the noise, then don't > transmit, all you are going to do is power rob others. > > The truth is, all of the linear birds on mode B (2m downlink), have beacons > that consistently run 15 to 25 dB above the noise floor. If you don't > hear them that strong, fix your receiver setup. Add a preamp, use better > coax, increase your receiver antenna gain. etc. > > Another simple test: do you hear passband noise from the satellite? When it > comes into view, you should be able to hear a marked increase in your > receive noise. At the peak of the pass you should be able to hear it > easily. If you don't, your rx performance is poor. 9700 and SDR users will > see a marked 'hump' shape of the passband if they are set to a wide > panoramic view. > > Turning up your transmit power is not the solution and you will, indeed, > ruin other people's qsos. > > In another post, I mentioned a simple and dirty way to tell if you have > adequate receiver performance. It requires no test equipment. > > 1. Disconnect your antenna. > 2. Connect a 50 ohm dummy load (a simple 47 Ohm resistor works fine) to the > antenna input of your radio. You will not be transmitting. > 3. If you can turn the agc off in your rx, do so. If not, set it to Fast. > 4. Noise Blanker or Noise Reduction OFF > 5. Now....turn up the volume so the noise coming out of the speaker is > quite obvious, but not ear splitting. > > Remember how loud it sounds. > > 6. Quickly disconnect the resistor and replace it with your satellite > antenna. > > Did the noise jump up considerably compared to the noise caused by the 50 > ohm resistor? > > If not, your rx performance is poor. You need to fix it, as above. > > If it did jump up, at least a bit, you are probably in a relatively quiet > RF location for noise and that is really good...and the fact that you can > hear environmental noise above your receiver's internally generated noise > is very good. > > If it jumped up a very large amount, then your locally generated > environmental noise is high, which is NOT good, because you will end up > turning up your transmit power (uplink) to the birds to overcome it...and > of course, the rest of the people using the satellite will be driven down > into the noise floor, or power modulated by your speech rate or cw keying. > > So, what do we do about all of this? > > 1. Exercise some real care about your operating practices. Take time to > learn how your station performance varies by the nature of a pass (shallow, > moderate, very high) and during a pass ((current elevation and polarization > fading). > > Using linear birds considerately requires skill and operator attentiveness. > This is completely different than FM birds and is much more demanding of > operator intervention. > > *Most importantly, during the pass itself check the beacon strength several > times and adjust your uplink power such that your received signal does not > exceed the strength of the CW beacon.* > > Those with the nice shiny new Icom 9700 have no excuse for ever being > stronger than the beacon. They can simultaneously monitor the beacon level > and their own signal (as well as others in the passband) with the > panadapter feature of the 9700. Set your rx width on the panadaptor to +/- > 25 kHz and center it so the PSK beacon is at the left edge of the display > and the right edge is above the op of the satellite passband (and you will > see the CW beacon just above (to the right) of the PSK beacon and the > normal passband just above (further to the right) of the CW beacon). This > should be on your display all the time. Then you can always see if you are > too strong. It will be obvious. > > 2. If you have access to an SDR dongle like the FunCube Pro +, run software > like SDR Console v3 (free). You will be able to see every signal in the > passband in real time from the PSKBeacon to the CW Beacon to your signal > and all the others. > > When you can see what poor operating practices do to the satellite passband > and everyone trying use it, you will be amazed. > > Since more and more of the serious satellite ops are getting 9700s and > SDRs, I find that the first thing I tell someone when I'm working them is > how strong their signal is (in relative dBm) and how strong the beacon is > (in relative dBm) . If they are exceeding he beacon, I ask them to reduce > power. It's that simple. > > I'd really like to not have to: > > 1. Chase people all over the birds asking them to reduce their signal > because they are 6 to 10 dB over the beacon and are "power modulating" > every signal on the satellite. > > 2. Get on their freq and politely call them....only to have to chase them > all over the passband because they can't hear themselves and they continue > to transmit anyway. > > As the popularity of satellites, especially the linear birds, has > increased, we are coming under more and more pressure to clean up our > operating habits. These are NOT FM birds. *Getting on one freq and > capturing the downlink with one signal with all the juice you can put out > is not an acceptable operating technique on the linear birds*. > > It is inconsiderate and destructive. > > Hopefully, the directness of these explanations will help and not offend > new satellite ops. It has gotten bad enough, that something needed to be > said. We want all of you on the birds, just play nicely. > > 73, N0AN > Hasan > > >> On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 3:19 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB >> wrote: >> >> I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one >> person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be >> patient with a satellite beginner. >> >> Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the >> linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good >> amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? >> >> FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to >> learn :) >> >> Joe >> KD2NFC >> >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Sat Mar 7 15:30:55 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 09:30:55 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Excellent follow up, James, just super.! 73, N0AN Hasan On Sat, Mar 7, 2020 at 9:22 AM JamesDuffey wrote: > Hasan-This is a good post. I would add a couple of small points: > > 1. Use full duplex. it is easier to tell how loud one is on full duplex > and if you are running so much power as to modulate the passband. I think > it good practice to use duplex all the time on the satellites, FM or > linear, but that is a topic for another time. > > 2. Use a gain antenna, like a Yagi. Even a two or three element Yagi will > help a lot to bring the satellite received signal and satellite noise floor > above your local noise floor. I think an antenna with the elements for > both bands all in a plane, like the cheap Yagis, the DK7ZB duoband > antennas. or a log periodic like the Elk is better than an antenna where > the elements for the two bands are orthogonal. Again, antennas are a topic > for another time, but they are the easiest and cheapest way to improve your > signal. Some may say only way. > > 3. If you are new to linear satellites, tell those who you contact you are > new to the linear satellites and ask how your signal compares to the beacon > or to other responsible ops. > > 4. If you are reluctant to tell someone they are running too much power or > don?t think you can do so tactfully, give reports relative to the beacon > strength and hope that the op who receives a report that their signal is > 10dB over the beacon will take the hint and reduce their power. Best case, > they will ask what that means and why it is important. > > 5. Realize that the satellite passband is a shared resource. It is not > always easy to share. Recognize that and try to behave in the passband the > way that you would like others to behave in the passband. Although we tend > to think of sharing in terms of who gets the kindergarten and preschool > toys, or who gets the last piece of cake or pie, or who gets to ride > shotgun, it is more like the ?Tragedy of the Commons? that you learned > about in freshman econ. To refresh your memory read: > < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons > and act > accordingly. > > 6. If someone consistently runs too much power on the satellites, it is > often out of ignorance rather than malicious intent. Mentoring locals that > are operating with poor receive capability or poor antennas, and offering > help, can go a long ways towards helping reduce alligators. When someone > moves up from the FM birds and wants to improve their station, they are > often amazed that replacing that run of RG58 with LMR400 or even RG213 and > putting up a cheap Yagi makes a big difference. And if they operate duplex > they can hear the difference. > > I hope this helps. The problem is an electro-psychological one, where > attitude is as important to the solution as is technology. Few of us > readily change our behavior without a wake up call. - Duffey > > James Duffey KK6MC > Cedar Crest NM > > On Mar 7, 2020, at 04:23, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > ?Joe, (and other inexperienced sat operators). When I use the term 'you' > in > this post it is not to be taken personally. If the shoe fits...well, then > yes, take it personally, otherwise just take it as a way to describe an > operating guide. > > 1. Yes running too much EIRP aka Effective Radiated Power, (power plus > antenna gain - feedline loss) ruins operations for other operators. It may > also cause a malfunction of AO-7, to include FM'ing on SSB or shutting down > the xponder entirely. > > AO-7 is a particularly sensitive case. So, let's set it to the side for the > moment. > > On the other linear (SSB/CW) birds like CAS-4A, 4B, XW-2A, 2B, 2D (again), > and 2F here are the issues: > > The downlink power (the sat's transmitter) is shared. It is shared in > proportion to the strength of the uplink signal from each individual > station. So, if a station is running *excessive EIRP,* they capture the > vast majority of the available downlink power and everyone else's signal is > driven into the noise floor. This happens at a syllabic rate on voices > (heard by others running proper power levels as a pumping up and down of > their signal at the speech rate of the offending signal). On cw, it is even > worse, with each keyed character driving all the other signals into the > noise floor at the keying rate. > > Saying, "I'm only running 5 watts" is NOT an acceptable answer. It also > demonstrates that those saying it have no idea how to considerately operate > on a satellite. > > *There is one simple rule: You should never be louder on the downlink than > the strength of the CW beacon, period.* > > It is the ops responsibility to stay within this limit. No excuses, no > explanations, just do it. > > Unfortunately, this pumping/power robbing happens frequently on all birds, > because operators either: > > 1. Have no idea what they are doing....or > 2. Don't care that they are ruining the operation for others. > > I have many hours of 15 minute pass MP4 recordings of these situations and > have been tempted to publish them. I have resisted publishing them because > so many of them seem to be the result of "innocent" mistakes. > > So, what is excessive EIRP and how do we avoid it? For simplicity's sake, > I'm going to refer to EIRP as power. > > You should adjust your uplink power so that it *NEVER *exceeds the strength > of the CW beacon you are hearing *AT THAT TIME*. Simply looking at the > beacon once in an entire 15 minute pass does not reflect what is happening > throughout the pass. The beacon reference needs to be repeatedly checked > during the pass to see if you need to power down. It's a LOT easier to tell > if you have enough power (you can hear yourself), but a lot harder to pay > attention to the fact you are too loud. > > I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed a QSO where one op tells > the other, "*You have a great signal*"....yeah, 8 dB above the beacon, > stealing the downlink power from the considerate operators who have kept > their uplink power low enough to stay no stronger than the beacon. Yes, > they are loud. But on this shared resource we call a satellite downlink > passband, being an Alligator (big mouth, poor ears) is not something to be > proud of, nor should we be complimenting operators for this lack of either > 1) awareness; or 2) consideration, for the other operators. > > Also, you may sound weak because of poor receiver performance on your end, > so you are tempted to turn up your transmit power to make up for your poor > ears. *This is a constant problem on the birds as they are being used > lately. *Many ops seem unaware of how poorly they are hearing and it has > little or nothing to do with their bright and shiny new rig. :-) > > Someone else mentioned, that if you can't hear the beacon, don't > transmit. *Truer > words were never spoken*. If your rx performance is so bad that you cannot > hear a signal that is easily 15 to 25 dB above the noise, then don't > transmit, all you are going to do is power rob others. > > The truth is, all of the linear birds on mode B (2m downlink), have beacons > that consistently run 15 to 25 dB above the noise floor. If you don't > hear them that strong, fix your receiver setup. Add a preamp, use better > coax, increase your receiver antenna gain. etc. > > Another simple test: do you hear passband noise from the satellite? When it > comes into view, you should be able to hear a marked increase in your > receive noise. At the peak of the pass you should be able to hear it > easily. If you don't, your rx performance is poor. 9700 and SDR users will > see a marked 'hump' shape of the passband if they are set to a wide > panoramic view. > > Turning up your transmit power is not the solution and you will, indeed, > ruin other people's qsos. > > In another post, I mentioned a simple and dirty way to tell if you have > adequate receiver performance. It requires no test equipment. > > 1. Disconnect your antenna. > 2. Connect a 50 ohm dummy load (a simple 47 Ohm resistor works fine) to the > antenna input of your radio. You will not be transmitting. > 3. If you can turn the agc off in your rx, do so. If not, set it to Fast. > 4. Noise Blanker or Noise Reduction OFF > 5. Now....turn up the volume so the noise coming out of the speaker is > quite obvious, but not ear splitting. > > Remember how loud it sounds. > > 6. Quickly disconnect the resistor and replace it with your satellite > antenna. > > Did the noise jump up considerably compared to the noise caused by the 50 > ohm resistor? > > If not, your rx performance is poor. You need to fix it, as above. > > If it did jump up, at least a bit, you are probably in a relatively quiet > RF location for noise and that is really good...and the fact that you can > hear environmental noise above your receiver's internally generated noise > is very good. > > If it jumped up a very large amount, then your locally generated > environmental noise is high, which is NOT good, because you will end up > turning up your transmit power (uplink) to the birds to overcome it...and > of course, the rest of the people using the satellite will be driven down > into the noise floor, or power modulated by your speech rate or cw keying. > > So, what do we do about all of this? > > 1. Exercise some real care about your operating practices. Take time to > learn how your station performance varies by the nature of a pass (shallow, > moderate, very high) and during a pass ((current elevation and polarization > fading). > > Using linear birds considerately requires skill and operator attentiveness. > This is completely different than FM birds and is much more demanding of > operator intervention. > > *Most importantly, during the pass itself check the beacon strength several > times and adjust your uplink power such that your received signal does not > exceed the strength of the CW beacon.* > > Those with the nice shiny new Icom 9700 have no excuse for ever being > stronger than the beacon. They can simultaneously monitor the beacon level > and their own signal (as well as others in the passband) with the > panadapter feature of the 9700. Set your rx width on the panadaptor to +/- > 25 kHz and center it so the PSK beacon is at the left edge of the display > and the right edge is above the op of the satellite passband (and you will > see the CW beacon just above (to the right) of the PSK beacon and the > normal passband just above (further to the right) of the CW beacon). This > should be on your display all the time. Then you can always see if you are > too strong. It will be obvious. > > 2. If you have access to an SDR dongle like the FunCube Pro +, run software > like SDR Console v3 (free). You will be able to see every signal in the > passband in real time from the PSKBeacon to the CW Beacon to your signal > and all the others. > > When you can see what poor operating practices do to the satellite passband > and everyone trying use it, you will be amazed. > > Since more and more of the serious satellite ops are getting 9700s and > SDRs, I find that the first thing I tell someone when I'm working them is > how strong their signal is (in relative dBm) and how strong the beacon is > (in relative dBm) . If they are exceeding he beacon, I ask them to reduce > power. It's that simple. > > I'd really like to not have to: > > 1. Chase people all over the birds asking them to reduce their signal > because they are 6 to 10 dB over the beacon and are "power modulating" > every signal on the satellite. > > 2. Get on their freq and politely call them....only to have to chase them > all over the passband because they can't hear themselves and they continue > to transmit anyway. > > As the popularity of satellites, especially the linear birds, has > increased, we are coming under more and more pressure to clean up our > operating habits. These are NOT FM birds. *Getting on one freq and > capturing the downlink with one signal with all the juice you can put out > is not an acceptable operating technique on the linear birds*. > > It is inconsiderate and destructive. > > Hopefully, the directness of these explanations will help and not offend > new satellite ops. It has gotten bad enough, that something needed to be > said. We want all of you on the birds, just play nicely. > > 73, N0AN > Hasan > > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 3:19 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB > > wrote: > > I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one > > person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be > > patient with a satellite beginner. > > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the > > linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good > > amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to > > learn :) > > > Joe > > KD2NFC > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > From propgrinder at gmail.com Sat Mar 7 16:02:02 2020 From: propgrinder at gmail.com (Bob Hammond) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 08:02:02 -0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hasan, that is a great post. Thanks. I made the mistake of having my IC-9700 power at 100% when I first got set up. I had never given TX power any thought since I'd only used a handheld and Arrow antenna before (when I started in satellites in the 1990s). Bob W7OTJ On Sat, Mar 7, 2020 at 3:32 AM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Joe, (and other inexperienced sat operators). When I use the term 'you' in > this post it is not to be taken personally. If the shoe fits...well, then > yes, take it personally, otherwise just take it as a way to describe an > operating guide. > > 1. Yes running too much EIRP aka Effective Radiated Power, (power plus > antenna gain - feedline loss) ruins operations for other operators. It may > also cause a malfunction of AO-7, to include FM'ing on SSB or shutting down > the xponder entirely. > > AO-7 is a particularly sensitive case. So, let's set it to the side for the > moment. > > On the other linear (SSB/CW) birds like CAS-4A, 4B, XW-2A, 2B, 2D (again), > and 2F here are the issues: > > The downlink power (the sat's transmitter) is shared. It is shared in > proportion to the strength of the uplink signal from each individual > station. So, if a station is running *excessive EIRP,* they capture the > vast majority of the available downlink power and everyone else's signal is > driven into the noise floor. This happens at a syllabic rate on voices > (heard by others running proper power levels as a pumping up and down of > their signal at the speech rate of the offending signal). On cw, it is even > worse, with each keyed character driving all the other signals into the > noise floor at the keying rate. > > Saying, "I'm only running 5 watts" is NOT an acceptable answer. It also > demonstrates that those saying it have no idea how to considerately operate > on a satellite. > > *There is one simple rule: You should never be louder on the downlink than > the strength of the CW beacon, period.* > > It is the ops responsibility to stay within this limit. No excuses, no > explanations, just do it. > > Unfortunately, this pumping/power robbing happens frequently on all birds, > because operators either: > > 1. Have no idea what they are doing....or > 2. Don't care that they are ruining the operation for others. > > I have many hours of 15 minute pass MP4 recordings of these situations and > have been tempted to publish them. I have resisted publishing them because > so many of them seem to be the result of "innocent" mistakes. > > So, what is excessive EIRP and how do we avoid it? For simplicity's sake, > I'm going to refer to EIRP as power. > > You should adjust your uplink power so that it *NEVER *exceeds the strength > of the CW beacon you are hearing *AT THAT TIME*. Simply looking at the > beacon once in an entire 15 minute pass does not reflect what is happening > throughout the pass. The beacon reference needs to be repeatedly checked > during the pass to see if you need to power down. It's a LOT easier to tell > if you have enough power (you can hear yourself), but a lot harder to pay > attention to the fact you are too loud. > > I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed a QSO where one op tells > the other, "*You have a great signal*"....yeah, 8 dB above the beacon, > stealing the downlink power from the considerate operators who have kept > their uplink power low enough to stay no stronger than the beacon. Yes, > they are loud. But on this shared resource we call a satellite downlink > passband, being an Alligator (big mouth, poor ears) is not something to be > proud of, nor should we be complimenting operators for this lack of either > 1) awareness; or 2) consideration, for the other operators. > > Also, you may sound weak because of poor receiver performance on your end, > so you are tempted to turn up your transmit power to make up for your poor > ears. *This is a constant problem on the birds as they are being used > lately. *Many ops seem unaware of how poorly they are hearing and it has > little or nothing to do with their bright and shiny new rig. :-) > > Someone else mentioned, that if you can't hear the beacon, don't > transmit. *Truer > words were never spoken*. If your rx performance is so bad that you cannot > hear a signal that is easily 15 to 25 dB above the noise, then don't > transmit, all you are going to do is power rob others. > > The truth is, all of the linear birds on mode B (2m downlink), have beacons > that consistently run 15 to 25 dB above the noise floor. If you don't > hear them that strong, fix your receiver setup. Add a preamp, use better > coax, increase your receiver antenna gain. etc. > > Another simple test: do you hear passband noise from the satellite? When it > comes into view, you should be able to hear a marked increase in your > receive noise. At the peak of the pass you should be able to hear it > easily. If you don't, your rx performance is poor. 9700 and SDR users will > see a marked 'hump' shape of the passband if they are set to a wide > panoramic view. > > Turning up your transmit power is not the solution and you will, indeed, > ruin other people's qsos. > > In another post, I mentioned a simple and dirty way to tell if you have > adequate receiver performance. It requires no test equipment. > > 1. Disconnect your antenna. > 2. Connect a 50 ohm dummy load (a simple 47 Ohm resistor works fine) to the > antenna input of your radio. You will not be transmitting. > 3. If you can turn the agc off in your rx, do so. If not, set it to Fast. > 4. Noise Blanker or Noise Reduction OFF > 5. Now....turn up the volume so the noise coming out of the speaker is > quite obvious, but not ear splitting. > > Remember how loud it sounds. > > 6. Quickly disconnect the resistor and replace it with your satellite > antenna. > > Did the noise jump up considerably compared to the noise caused by the 50 > ohm resistor? > > If not, your rx performance is poor. You need to fix it, as above. > > If it did jump up, at least a bit, you are probably in a relatively quiet > RF location for noise and that is really good...and the fact that you can > hear environmental noise above your receiver's internally generated noise > is very good. > > If it jumped up a very large amount, then your locally generated > environmental noise is high, which is NOT good, because you will end up > turning up your transmit power (uplink) to the birds to overcome it...and > of course, the rest of the people using the satellite will be driven down > into the noise floor, or power modulated by your speech rate or cw keying. > > So, what do we do about all of this? > > 1. Exercise some real care about your operating practices. Take time to > learn how your station performance varies by the nature of a pass (shallow, > moderate, very high) and during a pass ((current elevation and polarization > fading). > > Using linear birds considerately requires skill and operator attentiveness. > This is completely different than FM birds and is much more demanding of > operator intervention. > > *Most importantly, during the pass itself check the beacon strength several > times and adjust your uplink power such that your received signal does not > exceed the strength of the CW beacon.* > > Those with the nice shiny new Icom 9700 have no excuse for ever being > stronger than the beacon. They can simultaneously monitor the beacon level > and their own signal (as well as others in the passband) with the > panadapter feature of the 9700. Set your rx width on the panadaptor to +/- > 25 kHz and center it so the PSK beacon is at the left edge of the display > and the right edge is above the op of the satellite passband (and you will > see the CW beacon just above (to the right) of the PSK beacon and the > normal passband just above (further to the right) of the CW beacon). This > should be on your display all the time. Then you can always see if you are > too strong. It will be obvious. > > 2. If you have access to an SDR dongle like the FunCube Pro +, run software > like SDR Console v3 (free). You will be able to see every signal in the > passband in real time from the PSKBeacon to the CW Beacon to your signal > and all the others. > > When you can see what poor operating practices do to the satellite passband > and everyone trying use it, you will be amazed. > > Since more and more of the serious satellite ops are getting 9700s and > SDRs, I find that the first thing I tell someone when I'm working them is > how strong their signal is (in relative dBm) and how strong the beacon is > (in relative dBm) . If they are exceeding he beacon, I ask them to reduce > power. It's that simple. > > I'd really like to not have to: > > 1. Chase people all over the birds asking them to reduce their signal > because they are 6 to 10 dB over the beacon and are "power modulating" > every signal on the satellite. > > 2. Get on their freq and politely call them....only to have to chase them > all over the passband because they can't hear themselves and they continue > to transmit anyway. > > As the popularity of satellites, especially the linear birds, has > increased, we are coming under more and more pressure to clean up our > operating habits. These are NOT FM birds. *Getting on one freq and > capturing the downlink with one signal with all the juice you can put out > is not an acceptable operating technique on the linear birds*. > > It is inconsiderate and destructive. > > Hopefully, the directness of these explanations will help and not offend > new satellite ops. It has gotten bad enough, that something needed to be > said. We want all of you on the birds, just play nicely. > > 73, N0AN > Hasan > > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 3:19 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB > > wrote: > > > I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one > > person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be > > patient with a satellite beginner. > > > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the > > linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a > good > > amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here > to > > learn :) > > > > Joe > > KD2NFC > > > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From ki6wj at yahoo.com Sat Mar 7 17:45:38 2020 From: ki6wj at yahoo.com (James Brown) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 17:45:38 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] email address References: <1096184103.2013617.1583603138382.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1096184103.2013617.1583603138382@mail.yahoo.com> To moderator. I have previously tried to change my email address.Please change from ki6wj at att.net? to?? ki6wj at yahoo.com ThanksJim KI6WJ From devin at thecabal.org Sat Mar 7 20:00:30 2020 From: devin at thecabal.org (Devin L. Ganger) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 20:00:30 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! In-Reply-To: References: , Message-ID: Very nice write-up ? clearly describes the problems AND how to fix them. Appreciated! -- Devin L. Ganger (WA7DLG) email: devin at thecabal.org web: Devin on Earth cell: +1 425.239.2575 ________________________________ From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, March 7, 2020 3:22:41 AM To: Joe KD2NFC Cc: AMSAT-BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Lower your power!!! Joe, (and other inexperienced sat operators). When I use the term 'you' in this post it is not to be taken personally. If the shoe fits...well, then yes, take it personally, otherwise just take it as a way to describe an operating guide. 1. Yes running too much EIRP aka Effective Radiated Power, (power plus antenna gain - feedline loss) ruins operations for other operators. It may also cause a malfunction of AO-7, to include FM'ing on SSB or shutting down the xponder entirely. AO-7 is a particularly sensitive case. So, let's set it to the side for the moment. On the other linear (SSB/CW) birds like CAS-4A, 4B, XW-2A, 2B, 2D (again), and 2F here are the issues: The downlink power (the sat's transmitter) is shared. It is shared in proportion to the strength of the uplink signal from each individual station. So, if a station is running *excessive EIRP,* they capture the vast majority of the available downlink power and everyone else's signal is driven into the noise floor. This happens at a syllabic rate on voices (heard by others running proper power levels as a pumping up and down of their signal at the speech rate of the offending signal). On cw, it is even worse, with each keyed character driving all the other signals into the noise floor at the keying rate. Saying, "I'm only running 5 watts" is NOT an acceptable answer. It also demonstrates that those saying it have no idea how to considerately operate on a satellite. *There is one simple rule: You should never be louder on the downlink than the strength of the CW beacon, period.* It is the ops responsibility to stay within this limit. No excuses, no explanations, just do it. Unfortunately, this pumping/power robbing happens frequently on all birds, because operators either: 1. Have no idea what they are doing....or 2. Don't care that they are ruining the operation for others. I have many hours of 15 minute pass MP4 recordings of these situations and have been tempted to publish them. I have resisted publishing them because so many of them seem to be the result of "innocent" mistakes. So, what is excessive EIRP and how do we avoid it? For simplicity's sake, I'm going to refer to EIRP as power. You should adjust your uplink power so that it *NEVER *exceeds the strength of the CW beacon you are hearing *AT THAT TIME*. Simply looking at the beacon once in an entire 15 minute pass does not reflect what is happening throughout the pass. The beacon reference needs to be repeatedly checked during the pass to see if you need to power down. It's a LOT easier to tell if you have enough power (you can hear yourself), but a lot harder to pay attention to the fact you are too loud. I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed a QSO where one op tells the other, "*You have a great signal*"....yeah, 8 dB above the beacon, stealing the downlink power from the considerate operators who have kept their uplink power low enough to stay no stronger than the beacon. Yes, they are loud. But on this shared resource we call a satellite downlink passband, being an Alligator (big mouth, poor ears) is not something to be proud of, nor should we be complimenting operators for this lack of either 1) awareness; or 2) consideration, for the other operators. Also, you may sound weak because of poor receiver performance on your end, so you are tempted to turn up your transmit power to make up for your poor ears. *This is a constant problem on the birds as they are being used lately. *Many ops seem unaware of how poorly they are hearing and it has little or nothing to do with their bright and shiny new rig. :-) Someone else mentioned, that if you can't hear the beacon, don't transmit. *Truer words were never spoken*. If your rx performance is so bad that you cannot hear a signal that is easily 15 to 25 dB above the noise, then don't transmit, all you are going to do is power rob others. The truth is, all of the linear birds on mode B (2m downlink), have beacons that consistently run 15 to 25 dB above the noise floor. If you don't hear them that strong, fix your receiver setup. Add a preamp, use better coax, increase your receiver antenna gain. etc. Another simple test: do you hear passband noise from the satellite? When it comes into view, you should be able to hear a marked increase in your receive noise. At the peak of the pass you should be able to hear it easily. If you don't, your rx performance is poor. 9700 and SDR users will see a marked 'hump' shape of the passband if they are set to a wide panoramic view. Turning up your transmit power is not the solution and you will, indeed, ruin other people's qsos. In another post, I mentioned a simple and dirty way to tell if you have adequate receiver performance. It requires no test equipment. 1. Disconnect your antenna. 2. Connect a 50 ohm dummy load (a simple 47 Ohm resistor works fine) to the antenna input of your radio. You will not be transmitting. 3. If you can turn the agc off in your rx, do so. If not, set it to Fast. 4. Noise Blanker or Noise Reduction OFF 5. Now....turn up the volume so the noise coming out of the speaker is quite obvious, but not ear splitting. Remember how loud it sounds. 6. Quickly disconnect the resistor and replace it with your satellite antenna. Did the noise jump up considerably compared to the noise caused by the 50 ohm resistor? If not, your rx performance is poor. You need to fix it, as above. If it did jump up, at least a bit, you are probably in a relatively quiet RF location for noise and that is really good...and the fact that you can hear environmental noise above your receiver's internally generated noise is very good. If it jumped up a very large amount, then your locally generated environmental noise is high, which is NOT good, because you will end up turning up your transmit power (uplink) to the birds to overcome it...and of course, the rest of the people using the satellite will be driven down into the noise floor, or power modulated by your speech rate or cw keying. So, what do we do about all of this? 1. Exercise some real care about your operating practices. Take time to learn how your station performance varies by the nature of a pass (shallow, moderate, very high) and during a pass ((current elevation and polarization fading). Using linear birds considerately requires skill and operator attentiveness. This is completely different than FM birds and is much more demanding of operator intervention. *Most importantly, during the pass itself check the beacon strength several times and adjust your uplink power such that your received signal does not exceed the strength of the CW beacon.* Those with the nice shiny new Icom 9700 have no excuse for ever being stronger than the beacon. They can simultaneously monitor the beacon level and their own signal (as well as others in the passband) with the panadapter feature of the 9700. Set your rx width on the panadaptor to +/- 25 kHz and center it so the PSK beacon is at the left edge of the display and the right edge is above the op of the satellite passband (and you will see the CW beacon just above (to the right) of the PSK beacon and the normal passband just above (further to the right) of the CW beacon). This should be on your display all the time. Then you can always see if you are too strong. It will be obvious. 2. If you have access to an SDR dongle like the FunCube Pro +, run software like SDR Console v3 (free). You will be able to see every signal in the passband in real time from the PSKBeacon to the CW Beacon to your signal and all the others. When you can see what poor operating practices do to the satellite passband and everyone trying use it, you will be amazed. Since more and more of the serious satellite ops are getting 9700s and SDRs, I find that the first thing I tell someone when I'm working them is how strong their signal is (in relative dBm) and how strong the beacon is (in relative dBm) . If they are exceeding he beacon, I ask them to reduce power. It's that simple. I'd really like to not have to: 1. Chase people all over the birds asking them to reduce their signal because they are 6 to 10 dB over the beacon and are "power modulating" every signal on the satellite. 2. Get on their freq and politely call them....only to have to chase them all over the passband because they can't hear themselves and they continue to transmit anyway. As the popularity of satellites, especially the linear birds, has increased, we are coming under more and more pressure to clean up our operating habits. These are NOT FM birds. *Getting on one freq and capturing the downlink with one signal with all the juice you can put out is not an acceptable operating technique on the linear birds*. It is inconsiderate and destructive. Hopefully, the directness of these explanations will help and not offend new satellite ops. It has gotten bad enough, that something needed to be said. We want all of you on the birds, just play nicely. 73, N0AN Hasan On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 3:19 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I was just on AO-7 and was told to lower my power from more then one > person. Sorry about that folks, just getting adjusted here, please be > patient with a satellite beginner. > > Now that we are here I was curious what a lot of power in does to the > linear birds, does it ruin the passband for others? Also how much is a good > amount of power to start with or one shouldn?t exceed? > > FM birds probably have similar operating rules as well right. I?m here to > learn :) > > Joe > KD2NFC > > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ki7unj at gmail.com Sun Mar 8 00:01:01 2020 From: ki7unj at gmail.com (KI7UNJ Tucker) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 16:01:01 -0800 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-068 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins Message-ID: AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-068 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Welcome Back XW-2D * PSAT3 Launch CANCELED * AMSAT Academy to be Held Prior to Dayton Hamvention * The 23cm Satellite Band is Under Scrutiny in Europe * Replacing the International Space Station? * FO-29 Operational Schedule * ARISS News * AMSAT Will be at ScienceCity in Tucson, March 14-15 * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-068.01 ANS-068 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 068.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2020 Mar 08 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-068.01 Welcome Back XW-2D XW-2D has come back from its apparent issues and is back in action. No official report for the satellite owner, but reports from operators all over the world have shown the satellite is back in operation: Frequency: UPLINK LSB 435.210 MHz to 435.230 MHZ DOWNLINK USB 145.860 MHz to 145.880 MHZ Make sure to post your reception reports for all satellites at https://www.amsat.org/status/ [ANS thanks Hasan Schiers, N0AN, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- PSAT3 Launch CANCELED Four days from Shipping PSAT3 to Kodiak for launch, the launch has been canceled. The launch was part of the DARPA LAUNCH CHALLENGE: https://darpalaunchchallenge.org/index.html The challenge (and $10m prize) was for any launch provider to deliver a rocket with only 30 days notice of what payloads they would have and where they would launch from. And then to do it again only 30 days later. We were on the second launch. But on 2 March the third attempt by the launch provider was scrubbed at T-9 minutes and was not resolved until the launch window (and DARPA challenge deadline) had passed. Therefore the CHALLENGE is over, there was no winner, and we lost the launch. So, if anyone hears of a rocket that needs a CUBESAT PPOD backup replacement, we have one: http://aprs.org/psat3.html [ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Academy to be Held Prior to Dayton Hamvention Come join us the day before Hamvention, for AMSAT? Academy ? a unique opportunity to learn all about amateur radio in space and working FM, linear transponder, and digital satellites currently in orbit. AMSAT? Academy will be held Thursday, May 14, 2020, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, at the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Clubhouse, loc- ated at 6619 Bellefontaine Rd, Dayton, Ohio. The $85 registration fee includes: ? Full day of instruction, designed for both beginners and advanced amateur radio satellite operators, and taught by some of the most accomplished AMSAT operators. ? Digital copy of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites, 2020 Edi- tion ($15 value) ? One-Year, AMSAT? Basic Membership ($44 value) ? Pizza Buffet Lunch ? Invitation to the Thursday night AMSAT? get together at Ticket Pub and Eatery in Fairborn. Registration closes May 8, 2020. No sign ups at the door. No refunds, no cancellations. Registrations may be purchased on the AMSAT store at https://www.amsat.org/product/2020-amsat-academy-registration/ [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, Vice President - User Services for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- The 23cm Satellite Band is Under Scrutiny in Europe The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 committee is al- ready actively participating in the regulatory work taking place in the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administra- tions (CEPT) to consider coexistence between the secondary amateur and amateur satellite services and the primary radio navigation satellite service, in the 1.2 GHz band. The principal issue is Europe's Galileo system of global navigation satellites. The Galileo services are delivered in a number of bands and one occu- pies the 1260-1300 MHz band. The Galileo team has witnessed interfer- ence from amateur TV transmissions which resulted in station shut down and has experienced interference from high power EME operations too. Work is at an early stage and the IARU will continue to try tp mini- mise the impact on amateur operations however it is likely that some changes will be necessary to the way we use the band. The topic is closely related to the agenda of the next World Radio- communication Conference coming up in 2013 (WRC-23) at which represen- tatives of the United Nations countries who are members of the Inter- national Telecommunication Union will agree on coordinated radio regu- lations. For more information, see https://tinyurl.com/tcrdm4j [ANS thanks Jacques Verleijen, ON4AVJ, and the IARU Region 1 Newsletter for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Replacing the International Space Station? Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), humanity has managed to maintain an uninterrupted foothold in low Earth orbit for just shy of 20 years. But as the saying goes, what goes up must eventually come down. The ISS is at too low of an altitude to remain in orbit indef- initely, and core modules of the structure are already operating years beyond their original design lifetimes. As difficult a decision as it might be for the countries involved, in the not too distant future the $150 billion orbiting outpost will have to be abandoned. Naturally there?s some debate as to how far off that day is. NASA of- ficially plans to support the Station until at least 2024, and an ex- tension to 2028 or 2030 is considered very likely. However, one commer- cial partner is betting on a longer-term future. Axiom has been select- ed by NASA to develop a new habitable module for the U.S. side of the Station by 2024. While the agreement technically only covers a single module, Axiom hasn?t been shy about their plans going forward. Once that first module is installed and operational, they plan on getting NASA approval to launch several new modules branching off of it. Ultimately, they hope that their ?wing? of the ISS can be detached and become its own inde- pendent commercial station by the end of the decade. Read the full article at https://bit.ly/39tsc6V [ANS thanks Hackaday for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ FO-29 Operational Schedule The operation of Fuji 3 (FO-29) has been unstable, but the transmitter will be turned on in the next pass. Since the date and time are in UTC, add 9 hours to convert to Japan time. The operation is until the UVC (lower limit voltage control) operates. [Scheduled time to turn on the analog transmitter of Fuji 3 (UTC)] March 8 04:30- 06:15- 14:40 March 14 04:15- 06:00- 14:25 March 15 03:25- 05:10- 15:15 March 21 03:10- 04:55- 15:00 March 22 04:00- 05:45- 14:05 March 28 03:45- 05:30- 13:50 March 29 04:35- 06:20- 14:40 Because of data acquisition, besides this operation plan, the transmitter may be turned on for a short time. [ANS thanks JARL for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News An International Space Station (ISS) school contact with an Australian school on 13 March will be audible in USA! The ISS will be over North America at the time, and the Australians will link to it by land line "Telebridge" via a U.S. amateur radio station. The contact will be with the Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, but via Telebridge Station K6DUE in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS and the scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan, KI5AAA. The contact is scheduled at 08:56 UTC with downlink signals from ISS heard above Maryland and nearby areas on 145.800 MHz narrowband FM. [ANS thanks Rudy Parisio, IW2BSF, and Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, of the ARISS Operation Team, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT Will be at ScienceCity in Tucson, March 14-15 AMSAT will be supporting the University of Arizona's K7UAZ radio club during the ScienceCity science fair on 14-15 March 2020 (a Saturday and Sunday). ScienceCity will be on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona. This science fair is supported by several organizations at the university, and runs in conjunction with the Tucson Festival of Books that will also take place that weekend. More information about ScienceCity is available at: http://sciencecity.arizona.edu/ Information about the K7UAZ radio club is available at: http://k7uaz.com/ The K7UAZ radio club will have a booth in the "Science of Everyday Life" area at ScienceCity. This booth will showcase different facets of amateur radio, including amateur satellites. WD9EWK, and possibly other call signs, should be heard during demonstrations of satellite operating taking place at ScienceCity. If you hear us, please call and be a part of the demonstrations. The University of Arizona campus is in grid DM42, in Arizona's Pima County. QSLing will be determined by the call sign used for QSOs. WD9EWK will upload to Logbook of the World, and will be happy to send QSL cards on request (please e-mail Patrick the QSO details - no card or SASE is required to get a card). K7UAZ will confirm QSOs by QSL card, following instructions posted on QRZ.com. During the weekend, the @WD9EWK Twitter account will be used to post updates from ScienceCity. If you do not use Twitter, you can view these updates in a web browser without having a Twitter account at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, AMSAT Board Member, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events. Current schedule: March 14-15, 2020, Science City on University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (see above) March 21, 2020, Midwinter Madness Hamfest, Buffalo, MN March 21, 2020, Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, Scottsdale, AZ March 28, 2020, Tucson Spring Hamfest, Tucson, AZ March 29, 2020, Vienna Wireless Winterfest, Annandale, VA May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur Radio Assoc. Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ May 15-17, Hamvention, Xenia, OH June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Con, Plano, TX [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations - Shorts Mar 14-15 DN26/36 KC7JPC Linears (and possibly FM) - K7U ROVE March 7-8, 2020 Casey KI7UNJ and Kel KI7UXT will be operating as K7U from CN93, CN94, DN03, DN04 a CN92. Details are posted on QRZ https://www.qrz.com/db/k7u Updates from the road on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ and https://twitter.com/KI7UXT - Big Bend National Park (DL88) March 16-17, 2020 Ron AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will operate from Big Bend National Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details will be added here, as they come available, but you are more than welcome to keep an eye on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx, https://twitter.com/dtabor, and https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5 - #NevadaMayhem part 1: Central Nevada (DM19) March 21, 2020 David, AD7DB, will venture deep into Central Nevada to specifically activate grid DM19 on Saturday March 21. This is actually down a ide road from "The Loneliest Road in America." Hardly any hams even live in that grid. It's for sure that few ever activate it. On the way there, Friday March 20, he will try to also activate some or all of: DM06, DM16, DM07, DM08, DM17 and DM18. Going home Sunday, March 22, he will try to visit them again. This will be on FM satellites only. Internet and cell coverage may be very poor up there but for updates check Twitter: https:/twitter.com/ad7db [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) has completed frequency coordination HSU-SAT1, a 1U CubeSat to be released from the ISS sometime in the coming year. The satellite will include capability of a camera image dowlinked by Slow Scan Television (SSTV). The camera will take a photograph of the Earth at image pixel size 320x240. The photograph taken will then be converted into analog SSTV signal, and sent by FM-SSTV downlink on 437.280 MHz. This be part of the satellite's main mission, test of a three-axis attitude control system. More info at shorturl.at/dizP0 and shorturl.at/puNW7 (ANS thanks IARU and AMSAT-UK for the above information) + The Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) reports that a number of ama- teur radio events planned for March have been cancelled as a result of coronavirus warnings. JARL, in line with government policy, has requested that all events scheduled for the next two weeks be can- celed or postponed for the time being. Also, Dayton Hamvention offi- cials say they are closely following the coronavirus (COVID-19) sit- uation. Show organizers will post updates as the May 15 ? 17 event nears, but they?re optimistic that coronavirus will not be an issue. (ANS thanks Southgate ARC and ARRL for the above information) + SpaceX-20, a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station launched at 0449 GMT Saturday from Cape Canaveral?s Complex 40 launch pad. The mission carrying, as a primary payload, the Interoperable Radio System (IORS). The IORS is the foundational element of the ARISS next-generation radio system on ISS. If all goes according to plan, the Dragon cargo capsule will dock with the space station on Monday, 9 March. (ANS thanks SpaceflightNow for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, Casey Tucker, KI7UNJ ki7unj at amsat dot org From g0kla at arrl.net Sun Mar 8 00:37:19 2020 From: g0kla at arrl.net (Chris Thompson) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2020 19:37:19 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Sequencer advice needed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: W6PQL works great. That is how I sequence my station. It protects my FCD while my radio transmits to FS-3. 73 Chris On Fri, Mar 6, 2020, 12:14 John Kludt via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Roger, > > I am a little confused by your comment on frequency range and power as > those are characterists of the relays themselves and not the sequencer. > The purpose of the sequencer is to switch equipment and feedlines from > receive to transmit and back in a orderly sequence such that RF is the last > thing applied on transmit and the first thing removed on receive. As such > a sequencer is an electrical device and not a RF device. > > On my 1296 system I use the Demi solid state sequencer. Step 1 removes > preamp power. Step 2 switches the preamp out of line by activating two > coaxial relays (where I spent real money!). Step 3 grounds the PTT on the > W6PQL power amplifier and then Step 4 grounds the PTT on the transceiver > and applies RF. There are other switching schemes but this is a fairly > common one. > > Hope that helps. > > Johnny > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2020, 11:50 Roger - W7TZ via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > I've used the W6PQL (built and tested) unit for 6m and 1.25m very > > successfully for several years. > > > > 73, Roger > > W7TZ > > CN83ia > > > > > > On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 4:26 AM Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > > > I haven't worked with sequencers before as all my LNAs and SDRs have > > > been used for receive only. But now that I have a Airspy HF+ I want to > > > get going with APRS on 145.825 and use this on HF as well. So receiving > > > with the SDR, transmitting with a transceiver. I also want to > experiment > > > with LNAs, so another reason to use a sequencer. I did a lot of > > > googling, learned some, but still not sure what I need to look out for > > > when buying one. I prefer a kit or assembled product as a first try. > > > > > > Below is a list of what I found on line. From a distance the VHF Design > > > is cheap and has detailed information, so I am leaning towards > > > purchasing that. Later, for a DIY project, I like the OZ1BXM design > > > because it uses an Arduino for control, which brings some flexiblity. > > > > > > Can you all please give me some input on what to look for in sequencers > > > or comment on the choices below? Any other kits/assemblies I have > missed > > > and should be considered? Cheers, > > > > > > Hans > > > BX2ABT > > > > > > > > > > > > Minikits from Austalia's EME166: AU$45 (=US$27.75) > > > > > > https://www.minikits.com.au/Sequencer?search=Sequencer > > > > > > This is the only one that indicates a frequency range: 28 to 500 MHz, > so > > > this will cover the 2m band, but not HF. Also RF input is 4 Watts > > > maximum, which seems low, so how is this usable? > > > > > > > > > > > > W6PQL's sequencer (US$20 for kit, US$37.50 assembled) > > > > > > http://www.w6pql.com/relay_sequencer.htm > > > > > > No info on frequency range or input power. Not much info on the > website. > > > > > > > > > > > > VHF Design (US$20 assembled) > > > > > > https://vhfdesign.com/other/sequencer-pcb.html > > > > > > Website has good information, diagrams and PCB layouts. Again no info > on > > > frequency range, etc. > > > > > > > > > > > > Downeast Microwave (US$25~80) > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.downeastmicrowave.com/searchresults.asp?Search=sequencer&Submit= > > > > > > 3 and 4 step sequencers both in solid state and with relays based on a > > > design by W5LUA. Which better: solid state or relays? Little indept > info. > > > > > > > > > > > > G3SEK - (DIY) > > > > > > http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/dx-book/sequencer/ > > > > > > Basically only a schematic, so need to build it from the ground up. > > > > > > > > > > > > OZ1BXM (DIY) > > > > > > http://oz1bxm.dk/seq/sequencer.html > > > > > > Another DIY project based on the W6PLQ design. This uses an Arduino as > > > MCU, so should be flexible. No kits and no PCB designs. > > > > > > > > > > > > SM2CEW (DIY) > > > > > > http://sm2cew.com/sequencer/sequencer.html > > > > > > This one looks very simple to make with very few components. It was > > > designed for HF, so will it work on VHF? > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From scott.xot at gmail.com Sun Mar 8 16:22:28 2020 From: scott.xot at gmail.com (Scott Richardson) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2020 12:22:28 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ham radio on CSLI missions Message-ID: The 11th round of candidate selections has been made for the CubeSat Launch Initiative. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-announces-next-round-of-candidates-for-cubesat-space-missions The brief descriptions shared in the NASA release don't include specific mention of any amateur radio applications. Does this mean that none of these cubesats will carry a repeater/transponder, or that *if* they will (or might) that fact is not mentioned? Or, to ask another way, if a CSLI applicant decides it wants to incorporate an amateur repeater or transponder, is it "too late" if that mission element is not included in the original application? 73, Scott N1AIA From jeff30339 at gmail.com Sun Mar 8 18:40:54 2020 From: jeff30339 at gmail.com (Jeff Johns) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2020 13:40:54 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L Band Schedule Message-ID: When will the L band activation of AO-92 be moving from Wednesdays and back to the weekends? It was my understanding that Wednesday activations were temporary but it seems that it has become permanent. It seems that usage of the L band uplink has waned since it was moved to Wednesdays. Just curious... Jeff WE4B From joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com Sun Mar 8 18:54:23 2020 From: joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com (JoAnne K9JKM) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2020 13:54:23 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ham radio on CSLI missions In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3b6c71ee-79bc-c0ca-e6ec-be470247d32c@gmail.com> > The brief descriptions shared in the NASA release don't > include specific mention of any amateur radio applications. One source to find satellites with amateur radio content are the IARU coordination pages posted by the satellite's name and sponsors at: http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/ -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com From g0kla at arrl.net Mon Mar 9 00:46:54 2020 From: g0kla at arrl.net (Chris Thompson) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2020 20:46:54 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Minor bug fixes for FoxTelem Message-ID: I have updated FoxTelem and the latest version is here: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/ This is not a mandatory upgrade. It fixes some minor bugs that caused crashes and corrects the calculation of the bit SNR for the Dot Product BPSK detector. If you use the Dot Product detector and you care about the measured bit signal to noise ratio, then you want to upgrade. Note that if you use Find Signal in IQ mode then the bit SNR level is used to determine if the signal is found. Because the level has changed you will need to adjust the threshold value. Email me if you need more information. Please let me know if you see any issues, or log them on github here: https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/issues 73 Chris -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson at gmail.com g0kla at arrl.net From kb2mjeff at att.net Mon Mar 9 14:23:56 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 10:23:56 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> Message-ID: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone know what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no reason to collect any more data. 73 Jeff kb2m From marklhammond at gmail.com Mon Mar 9 14:38:53 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 10:38:53 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> Message-ID: Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > know > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > reason to collect any more data. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From kladuke1144 at msn.com Mon Mar 9 15:06:50 2020 From: kladuke1144 at msn.com (KERRY LA*DUKE) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 15:06:50 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net>, Message-ID: Mark, Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders board. 73 WC7V Kerry ________________________________ From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff Cc: Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > know > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > reason to collect any more data. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kb2mjeff at att.net Mon Mar 9 15:31:01 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 11:31:01 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> Message-ID: <012d01d5f627$be2c9d50$3a85d7f0$@att.net> Thanks Alan and Mark for your replies. I?m collecting AND updating in realtime, and I was running ver 1.08z3. I just updated to ver 1.08z5, next HuskySat-1 pass here is in about 12 hours I will let you know how it goes?. 73 Jeff kb2m From: Mark L. Hammond Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 10:39 To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff Cc: Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone know what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no reason to collect any more data. 73 Jeff kb2m _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From kb2mjeff at att.net Mon Mar 9 15:31:01 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 11:31:01 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> Message-ID: <012d01d5f627$be2c9d50$3a85d7f0$@att.net> Thanks Alan and Mark for your replies. I?m collecting AND updating in realtime, and I was running ver 1.08z3. I just updated to ver 1.08z5, next HuskySat-1 pass here is in about 12 hours I will let you know how it goes?. 73 Jeff kb2m From: Mark L. Hammond Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 10:39 To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff Cc: Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone know what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no reason to collect any more data. 73 Jeff kb2m _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From marklhammond at gmail.com Mon Mar 9 15:59:53 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 11:59:53 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> Message-ID: Kerry and Jeff, Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Mark, > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders > board. > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of Mark L. Hammond > via AMSAT-BB > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff > Cc: Amsat - BBs > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > Mark N8MH > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > this > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > know > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From marklhammond at gmail.com Mon Mar 9 16:02:54 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 12:02:54 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> Message-ID: Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond wrote: > Kerry and Jeff, > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... > > Mark N8MH > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> Mark, >> >> Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to >> latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders >> board. >> >> 73 >> WC7V >> Kerry >> ________________________________ >> From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of Mark L. Hammond >> via AMSAT-BB >> Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM >> To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff >> Cc: Amsat - BBs >> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry >> >> Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd >> update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 >> >> http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ >> >> Mark N8MH >> >> On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB >> wrote: >> >> > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my >> > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see >> this >> > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry >> site, >> > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone >> > know >> > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no >> > reason to collect any more data. >> > >> > >> > >> > 73 Jeff kb2m >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> >> >> -- >> Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Mon Mar 9 16:08:15 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 12:08:15 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: <012d01d5f627$be2c9d50$3a85d7f0$@att.net> References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <012d01d5f627$be2c9d50$3a85d7f0$@att.net> Message-ID: Folks, one thing to check: Be sure that your computer clock is set correctly (within a few seconds if possible). Also, make sure that your computer's time zone is correct. In other words, if the time zone is of by an hour, but the clock setting is also off by an hour, it might look right, but will be sending the wrong UTC. If it just started, maybe it had something to do with Daylight Savings Time? Whatever the case, the time being sent to the server needs to be close to the correct UTC. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 12:04 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Thanks Alan and Mark for your replies. I?m collecting AND updating in > realtime, and I was running ver 1.08z3. I just updated to ver 1.08z5, > next HuskySat-1 pass here is in about 12 hours I will let you know how it > goes?. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 10:39 > To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff > Cc: Amsat - BBs > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > know > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > reason to collect any more data. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From kb2mjeff at att.net Mon Mar 9 16:21:32 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 12:21:32 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> Message-ID: <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install directory, I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows 73 Jeff kb2m From: Mark L. Hammond Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 To: KERRY LA*DUKE ; jeff ; Alan ; Chris Thompson Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > wrote: Kerry and Jeff, Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB > wrote: Mark, Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders board. 73 WC7V Kerry ________________________________ From: AMSAT-BB > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM To: kb2mjeff at att.net >; Jeff > Cc: Amsat - BBs > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > know > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > reason to collect any more data. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From kb2mjeff at att.net Mon Mar 9 16:23:06 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 12:23:06 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <012d01d5f627$be2c9d50$3a85d7f0$@att.net> Message-ID: <022301d5f62f$044a4650$0cded2f0$@att.net> This issue started before the time change. 73 Jeff kb2m From: Burns Fisher Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:08 To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff Cc: Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Folks, one thing to check: Be sure that your computer clock is set correctly (within a few seconds if possible). Also, make sure that your computer's time zone is correct. In other words, if the time zone is of by an hour, but the clock setting is also off by an hour, it might look right, but will be sending the wrong UTC. If it just started, maybe it had something to do with Daylight Savings Time? Whatever the case, the time being sent to the server needs to be close to the correct UTC. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 12:04 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: Thanks Alan and Mark for your replies. I?m collecting AND updating in realtime, and I was running ver 1.08z3. I just updated to ver 1.08z5, next HuskySat-1 pass here is in about 12 hours I will let you know how it goes?. 73 Jeff kb2m From: Mark L. Hammond > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 10:39 To: kb2mjeff at att.net >; Jeff > Cc: Amsat - BBs > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > wrote: I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone know what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no reason to collect any more data. 73 Jeff kb2m _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kb2mjeff at att.net Mon Mar 9 16:54:50 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 12:54:50 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> Message-ID: <027d01d5f633$7397f080$5ac7d180$@att.net> My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install directory, I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows Also worth mentioning is I?m having no issues uploading data to the rest of the Fox telemetry birds. Also FT8 is working? 73 Jeff kb2m From: Mark L. Hammond > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 To: KERRY LA*DUKE >; jeff >; Alan >; Chris Thompson > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > wrote: Kerry and Jeff, Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB > wrote: Mark, Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders board. 73 WC7V Kerry ________________________________ From: AMSAT-BB > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM To: kb2mjeff at att.net >; Jeff > Cc: Amsat - BBs > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ Mark N8MH On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see this > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > know > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > reason to collect any more data. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Mon Mar 9 17:15:02 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 13:15:02 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> Message-ID: We probably have to wait for Chris to check. Is it that your packets are not showing up on the leaderboard? Thanks for collecting telemetry anyway. We need to figure this out. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:10 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install directory, > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > To: KERRY LA*DUKE ; jeff ; Alan < > wa4sca at gmail.com>; Chris Thompson > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > wrote: > > Kerry and Jeff, > > > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > > Mark, > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders > board. > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: AMSAT-BB amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > To: kb2mjeff at att.net kb2m at arrl.net> >; Jeff > > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > Mark N8MH > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > wrote: > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > this > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > know > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Mon Mar 9 18:08:51 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 14:08:51 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: <027d01d5f633$7397f080$5ac7d180$@att.net> References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <027d01d5f633$7397f080$5ac7d180$@att.net> Message-ID: Ok, I understand: Time change not an issue. Computer clock not an issue. Other birds besides HuskySat not an issue. HuskySat is a special case because of a workaround in FoxTelem for the way that the time works on HS-1. But please do let us know just what is the symptom? Are your packets from HuskySat not showing up on the leaderboard? Also, what is the latest time (Realtime: resets/seconds) shown for HuskySat on your system? What is the Groundstation name that you are using (in FoxTelem preferences)? The latter is so Chris can look up the packets you have sent in if we can't figure it out otherwise. Thanks and 73, Burns WB1FJ On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:28 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install directory, > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > > Also worth mentioning is I?m having no issues uploading data to the rest > of the Fox telemetry birds. Also FT8 is working? > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond marklhammond at gmail.com> > > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > To: KERRY LA*DUKE >; > jeff >; Alan >; Chris Thompson g0kla at arrl.net> > > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > wrote: > > Kerry and Jeff, > > > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > > Mark, > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders > board. > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: AMSAT-BB amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > To: kb2mjeff at att.net kb2m at arrl.net> >; Jeff > > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > Mark N8MH > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > wrote: > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > this > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > know > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From n8deu at outlook.com Mon Mar 9 18:18:51 2020 From: n8deu at outlook.com (Tim N8DEU) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 18:18:51 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] CP antenna feed Message-ID: There was an article written several years about feeding the cable off the end of a CP antenna versus running the cable up the boom the center with the results. Does anybody recall what edition of the Amsat Journal this was published? I am looking to forward this is to new satellite operator to help with his decision. I spent 4 hours looking for that article and came up empty. Thanks in advance, Tim - N8DEU From kladuke1144 at msn.com Mon Mar 9 18:47:32 2020 From: kladuke1144 at msn.com (KERRY LA*DUKE) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 18:47:32 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <027d01d5f633$7397f080$5ac7d180$@att.net>, , Message-ID: Burns, I mistakenly said fsk packets. Its psk packets for HuskySat that are not incrimenting. 73 WC7V Kerry ________________________________ From: KERRY LA*DUKE Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 12:20 PM To: Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry correct screen shot 73 WC7V Kerry ________________________________ From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 12:08 PM To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff Cc: Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry Ok, I understand: Time change not an issue. Computer clock not an issue. Other birds besides HuskySat not an issue. HuskySat is a special case because of a workaround in FoxTelem for the way that the time works on HS-1. But please do let us know just what is the symptom? Are your packets from HuskySat not showing up on the leaderboard? Also, what is the latest time (Realtime: resets/seconds) shown for HuskySat on your system? What is the Groundstation name that you are using (in FoxTelem preferences)? The latter is so Chris can look up the packets you have sent in if we can't figure it out otherwise. Thanks and 73, Burns WB1FJ On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:28 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install directory, > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > > Also worth mentioning is I?m having no issues uploading data to the rest > of the Fox telemetry birds. Also FT8 is working? > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond marklhammond at gmail.com> > > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > To: KERRY LA*DUKE >; > jeff >; Alan >; Chris Thompson g0kla at arrl.net> > > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > wrote: > > Kerry and Jeff, > > > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > > Mark, > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders > board. > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: AMSAT-BB amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > To: kb2mjeff at att.net kb2m at arrl.net> >; Jeff > > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > Mark N8MH > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > wrote: > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > this > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > know > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net Mon Mar 9 19:59:45 2020 From: amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net (Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 19:59:45 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] CANCELLED - AMSAT at ScienceCity in Tucson AZ (14-15 March 2020) Message-ID: Hi. Last week, I mentioned AMSAT would be supporting the K7UAZ radio club's presence at the ScienceCity science fair next weekend (Saturday and Sunday, 14-15 March 2020) on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson. I have just received a notice that ScienceCity has been cancelled, due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation. 73. Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK From johnbrier at gmail.com Mon Mar 9 20:01:20 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 16:01:20 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISS contact mentioned in article about W. VA radio quiet zone Message-ID: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/us/green-bank-west-virginia-quiet-zone.html I love it when I'm reading a random article and ARISS is mentioned. "The observatory has long worked to share its scientific and engineering expertise with local schools, a partnership that has paid off most recently with the announcement that the Green Bank Elementary-Middle School was one of 10 schools nationwide selected to host HAM radio contacts with International Space Station crew members later this year." The text in the article also links to an ARRL page about the selected schools: http://www.arrl.org/news/view/ariss-announces-hosts-for-space-station-ham-radio-contacts 73, John Brier KG4AKV From amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net Mon Mar 9 20:12:02 2020 From: amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net (Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 20:12:02 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] DM51/DM52 on Friday (13 March) is still on... Message-ID: Hi! Although my planned trip to Tucson for the ScienceCity science fair next weekend has been cancelled, my plans to operate from the DM51/DM52 grid boundary in southeastern Arizona on Friday (13 March 2020) are unchanged. I still plan on making the drive to that grid boundary, as previously mentioned here on the AMSAT-BB list: https://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2020-March/076547.html 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK From aj9n at aol.com Mon Mar 9 21:14:40 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 21:14:40 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-09 21:00 UTC References: <1651296865.1521189.1583788480304.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1651296865.1521189.1583788480304@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-09 21:00 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, Australia. telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-13 08:56:53 UTC 32 deg ? Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for Option #4: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg (***) ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-09 21:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-03 17:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1385. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1318. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? ? ? ? From jeff30339 at gmail.com Tue Mar 10 06:31:35 2020 From: jeff30339 at gmail.com (Jeff Johns) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 01:31:35 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L band on the weekends Message-ID: When can we expect to see AO-92 L band activations on the weekend again? When it was moved to Wednesdays, it was touted as temporary. How long is temporary? Usage of L band on Wednesdays is minimal at best. AO-92 (to the best of my knowledge) is the only amateur satellite with an L band uplink. I would think as more amateurs get Icom 9700s that they might like to give it a try. I understand not everyone can be pleased but a majority of people work during the week or have other family duties, such as childrens? school nights that might limit their access to the satellite during the week. Can we expect the ?temporary? Wednesday activations to return to the weekends any time soon? After all, all AMSAT members should have a fair chance at using the L band uplink to test/use their equipment. It can always go back to Wednesdays after a while. Jeff WE4B From jhjipping at gmail.com Tue Mar 10 06:42:22 2020 From: jhjipping at gmail.com (James Jipping) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 02:42:22 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] FOX LEADERBOARD Message-ID: Good Morning! ?What do the headings "TOTAL"? and "LAST 7 DAYS" mean on the FOX TELEM LEADERBOARD.? "LAST 7 DAYS" is obvious.? My numbers keep bouncing around,? that's expected.?? But, NOW, ? my? "TOTAL" number bounces around too.? Shouldn't they be constantly increasing.? Also at the end of? February I had number about 12500 after several months of ever increasing numbers.? But on March 3, I had only 8600 and they have been bouncing ever since. On March 10 I have 8533 after 1845 frames/payloads. In March, thanks to the kind and expert help of Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, I started using a FIAB setup.?? Does that have anything to do the drop and bounce ?? Thanks, I'm going back to bed. Jim JIpping, W8MRR From joevk5ei at gmail.com Tue Mar 10 07:56:15 2020 From: joevk5ei at gmail.com (Joe Pereira) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 18:26:15 +1030 Subject: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <027d01d5f633$7397f080$5ac7d180$@att.net> Message-ID: Certainly something wrong with the Fox server receiving HuskySat-1 "live" data I just received and uploaded 65 frames and the Leaderboard did not update at all ?? Its been like this for a few days now. 73 On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 5:21 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Burns, > > I mistakenly said fsk packets. Its psk packets for HuskySat that > are not incrimenting. > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: KERRY LA*DUKE > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 12:20 PM > To: Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry > > correct screen shot > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of Burns Fisher via > AMSAT-BB > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 12:08 PM > To: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff > Cc: Amsat - BBs > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] FW: HuskySat telemetry > > Ok, I understand: Time change not an issue. Computer clock not an issue. > Other birds besides HuskySat not an issue. HuskySat is a special case > because of a workaround in FoxTelem for the way that the time works on > HS-1. > > But please do let us know just what is the symptom? Are your packets from > HuskySat not showing up on the leaderboard? Also, what is the latest time > (Realtime: resets/seconds) shown for HuskySat on your system? What is the > Groundstation name that you are using (in FoxTelem preferences)? The > latter is so Chris can look up the packets you have sent in if we can't > figure it out otherwise. > > Thanks and 73, > > Burns WB1FJ > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:28 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete > > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install > directory, > > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > > > > Also worth mentioning is I?m having no issues uploading data to the rest > > of the Fox telemetry birds. Also FT8 is working? > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond > marklhammond at gmail.com> > > > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > > To: KERRY LA*DUKE >; > > jeff >; Alan < > wa4sca at gmail.com > > >; Chris Thompson > g0kla at arrl.net> > > > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > > > > > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > > > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > > wrote: > > > > Kerry and Jeff, > > > > > > > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't > know... > > > > > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > > > > Mark, > > > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on > leaders > > board. > > > > 73 > > WC7V > > Kerry > > ________________________________ > > From: AMSAT-BB > amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > > To: kb2mjeff at att.net > kb2m at arrl.net> >; Jeff > > > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > > > wrote: > > > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > > this > > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry > site, > > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > > know > > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wa4sca at gmail.com Tue Mar 10 10:31:57 2020 From: wa4sca at gmail.com (Alan) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 05:31:57 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] FOX LEADERBOARD In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000301d5f6c7$20ac3860$6204a920$@gmail.com> Morning Jim, The key word is "Monthly" at the top. The window is a sliding one, and the "TOTAL" and other columns are for frames in that monthly window. For clarity, it should perhaps read "Monthly TOTAL," but the columns are a bit crowded. At the bottom left, if you click on "Show all-time leaderboard" you will see numbers which only increase. 73, Alan WA4SCA <-----Original Message----- I want to share something for those new operators. Old farts can jump in with 'I told you so!' LOL I know this has been stressed before, but I wanted to share an uplink power experience. I am using a 7 Element Quad on UHF. There are times that I have to dial down the UHF uplink power on the IC-9700 to 1% and even then I think that is too much signal. Case in point was this morning working CAS-4A. For those IC-9700 operators, I highly suggest that you keep the Multi-Knob focussed on RF power and adjust as required. This will of course limit your ability to use the RIT since it is hard to use both at the same time. It is unfortunate that I can't seem to use the waterfall on the IC-9700 to also see the beacon in the panadapter. It isn't a 'width' issue but a gain issue. I already have my REF set to +12db. I'm always open to suggestions. Mike va3mw From g0kla at arrl.net Tue Mar 10 12:49:50 2020 From: g0kla at arrl.net (Chris Thompson) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 08:49:50 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> Message-ID: I just want to acknowledge that I have seen the messages here and will investigate as soon as I can. No telemetry is lost. If the frames were rejected in error then they are still on the server and I will process them if I can. 73 Chris On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:38 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB wrote: > We probably have to wait for Chris to check. Is it that your packets are > not showing up on the leaderboard? > > Thanks for collecting telemetry anyway. We need to figure this out. > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:10 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete > > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install > directory, > > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond > > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > > To: KERRY LA*DUKE ; jeff ; Alan < > > wa4sca at gmail.com>; Chris Thompson > > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > > > > > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > > > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > > wrote: > > > > Kerry and Jeff, > > > > > > > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't > know... > > > > > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > > > > Mark, > > > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on > leaders > > board. > > > > 73 > > WC7V > > Kerry > > ________________________________ > > From: AMSAT-BB > amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > > To: kb2mjeff at att.net > kb2m at arrl.net> >; Jeff > > > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > > > wrote: > > > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > > this > > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry > site, > > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > > know > > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson at gmail.com g0kla at arrl.net From ny4i at NY4I.com Tue Mar 10 14:08:39 2020 From: ny4i at NY4I.com (Tom Schaefer) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:08:39 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Get SatPC32 back to center Message-ID: <3328A188-2FC7-4759-A064-5BE297C7E57D@NY4I.com> If I turn the VFO manually (via VFO knob), is there an easy way to get SatPC32 back to the center of the passband? Is there a button that cancels the effects of the manual tuning? This would be for full Doppler tuning. Thanks Tom NY4I Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727-437-2771 From af5at.radio at gmail.com Tue Mar 10 14:19:39 2020 From: af5at.radio at gmail.com (Mike Wilhelm) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 09:19:39 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] New operator on uplink power In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello, I'd like to get involved with satellite work and haven't gotten on the air yet. After reading the recent messages about being careful with power, I've been tempted to set up my IC-9700 with a pair of coax switches and an attenuator, so that I can get some attenuation on transmit and straight thru on receive. That way I would have more control over how low I could reduce Tx power. Any thoughts? 73! Mike AF5AT On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 7:51 AM Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > I want to share something for those new operators. Old farts can jump in > with 'I told you so!' LOL > > I know this has been stressed before, but I wanted to share an uplink power > experience. > > I am using a 7 Element Quad on UHF. There are times that I have to dial > down the UHF uplink power on the IC-9700 to 1% and even then I think that > is too much signal. Case in point was this morning working CAS-4A. > > For those IC-9700 operators, I highly suggest that you keep the Multi-Knob > focussed on RF power and adjust as required. This will of course limit > your ability to use the RIT since it is hard to use both at the same time. > > It is unfortunate that I can't seem to use the waterfall on the IC-9700 to > also see the beacon in the panadapter. It isn't a 'width' issue but a gain > issue. I already have my REF set to +12db. > > I'm always open to suggestions. > > Mike va3mw > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From seb at wintek.com Tue Mar 10 14:21:51 2020 From: seb at wintek.com (Stephen E. Belter) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 14:21:51 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Get SatPC32 back to center In-Reply-To: <3328A188-2FC7-4759-A064-5BE297C7E57D@NY4I.com> References: <3328A188-2FC7-4759-A064-5BE297C7E57D@NY4I.com> Message-ID: Tom, There may be a better way to get back to the center of the passband, but the trick I use is to choose another satellite (one of the A-Z buttons along the bottom), then choose the satellite of interest again. 73, Steve N9IP -- Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com ?On 3/10/20, 10:11 AM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB" wrote: If I turn the VFO manually (via VFO knob), is there an easy way to get SatPC32 back to the center of the passband? Is there a button that cancels the effects of the manual tuning? This would be for full Doppler tuning. Thanks Tom NY4I Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727-437-2771 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From va3mw at portcredit.net Tue Mar 10 14:24:08 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:24:08 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] New operator on uplink power In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike It depends on the gain of your uplink antenna. When I get down to about 5 watts, I just don't speak as loud. :) It happens pretty quickly. Mike va3mw On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 10:19 AM Mike Wilhelm wrote: > Hello, > I'd like to get involved with satellite work and haven't gotten on the air > yet. After reading the recent messages about being careful with power, > I've been tempted to set up my IC-9700 with a pair of coax switches and an > attenuator, so that I can get some attenuation on transmit and straight > thru on receive. That way I would have more control over how low I could > reduce Tx power. Any thoughts? > 73! > Mike AF5AT > > On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 7:51 AM Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> I want to share something for those new operators. Old farts can jump in >> with 'I told you so!' LOL >> >> I know this has been stressed before, but I wanted to share an uplink >> power >> experience. >> >> I am using a 7 Element Quad on UHF. There are times that I have to dial >> down the UHF uplink power on the IC-9700 to 1% and even then I think that >> is too much signal. Case in point was this morning working CAS-4A. >> >> For those IC-9700 operators, I highly suggest that you keep the >> Multi-Knob >> focussed on RF power and adjust as required. This will of course limit >> your ability to use the RIT since it is hard to use both at the same time. >> >> It is unfortunate that I can't seem to use the waterfall on the IC-9700 to >> also see the beacon in the panadapter. It isn't a 'width' issue but a >> gain >> issue. I already have my REF set to +12db. >> >> I'm always open to suggestions. >> >> Mike va3mw >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From va3mw at portcredit.net Tue Mar 10 14:27:36 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:27:36 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Get SatPC32 back to center In-Reply-To: References: <3328A188-2FC7-4759-A064-5BE297C7E57D@NY4I.com> Message-ID: Hi Tom It does work. I do it all the time to switch back and forth between the transponder and the beacon. Mike On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 10:26 AM Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Tom, > > There may be a better way to get back to the center of the passband, but > the trick I use is to choose another satellite (one of the A-Z buttons > along the bottom), then choose the satellite of interest again. > > 73, Steve N9IP > -- > Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com > > > ?On 3/10/20, 10:11 AM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB" < > amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > If I turn the VFO manually (via VFO knob), is there an easy way to get > SatPC32 back to the center of the passband? Is there a button that cancels > the effects of the manual tuning? This would be for full Doppler tuning. > > Thanks > > Tom NY4I > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From marklhammond at gmail.com Tue Mar 10 14:29:41 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:29:41 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Get SatPC32 back to center In-Reply-To: References: <3328A188-2FC7-4759-A064-5BE297C7E57D@NY4I.com> Message-ID: Actually, it's easier, Steve :) I'm pretty sure that if you just click again on the active satellite "letter" at the bottom of the screen, it will do it directly--put it back to the first frequency listed in the Doppler.SQF for that satellite. Mark On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 10:27 AM Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Tom, > > There may be a better way to get back to the center of the passband, but > the trick I use is to choose another satellite (one of the A-Z buttons > along the bottom), then choose the satellite of interest again. > > 73, Steve N9IP > -- > Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com > > > ?On 3/10/20, 10:11 AM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB" < > amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > If I turn the VFO manually (via VFO knob), is there an easy way to get > SatPC32 back to the center of the passband? Is there a button that cancels > the effects of the manual tuning? This would be for full Doppler tuning. > > Thanks > > Tom NY4I > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From ke4al at yahoo.com Tue Mar 10 15:22:47 2020 From: ke4al at yahoo.com (Robert Bankston) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 15:22:47 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] No Attachments References: <1426414528.7206811.1583853767652.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1426414528.7206811.1583853767652@mail.yahoo.com> Just a reminder that AMSAT-BB is a text-based mailing system.? You cannot include pictures or any other attachments with your posts. When you attach an image, your post ends up in our spam/reject file.? A moderator must then go in and manually reject your post, thus, delaying delivery of your message. Apologies for the inconvenience. 73, Robert Bankston, KE4ALVice-President, User ServicesRadio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) From ny4i at ny4i.com Tue Mar 10 18:16:11 2020 From: ny4i at ny4i.com (Thomas Schaefer) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 14:16:11 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Get SatPC32 back to center In-Reply-To: References: <3328A188-2FC7-4759-A064-5BE297C7E57D@NY4I.com> Message-ID: <3045ED6F-C197-40F8-B491-E5F3C17C9A59@ny4i.com> I?m heading into the shack to try those steps now. Thanks, Tom Schaefer, NY4I Blog: www.ny4i.com Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) > On Mar 10, 2020, at 10:29 AM, Mark L. Hammond wrote: > > Actually, it's easier, Steve :) I'm pretty sure that if you just click again on the active satellite "letter" at the bottom of the screen, it will do it directly--put it back to the first frequency listed in the Doppler.SQF for that satellite. > > Mark > > On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 10:27 AM Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > Tom, > > There may be a better way to get back to the center of the passband, but the trick I use is to choose another satellite (one of the A-Z buttons along the bottom), then choose the satellite of interest again. > > 73, Steve N9IP > -- > Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com > > > ?On 3/10/20, 10:11 AM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB" on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > > If I turn the VFO manually (via VFO knob), is there an easy way to get SatPC32 back to the center of the passband? Is there a button that cancels the effects of the manual tuning? This would be for full Doppler tuning. > > Thanks > > Tom NY4I > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From ny4i at ny4i.com Tue Mar 10 18:36:07 2020 From: ny4i at ny4i.com (Thomas Schaefer) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 14:36:07 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Get SatPC32 back to center In-Reply-To: References: <3328A188-2FC7-4759-A064-5BE297C7E57D@NY4I.com> Message-ID: <3D021F02-EEA5-4701-9758-470B7D04FDCE@ny4i.com> Partial success. Clicking on the letter of the satellite at the bottom of the screen works. It sets it back to the frequency in in the DOPPLER.SQF file. Clicking on the frequency in the CAT dialog does not change it. I clicked on the CW entry but the frequency does not change back (I spun the dial a bunch). When there was a single entry for just FM (SO-50), it did work. But on a linear transponder with a SSB and CW entry, it did not work. I am using the latest version to handle the 9700 and the Spectrum scope. Thanks, Tom Schaefer, NY4I Blog: www.ny4i.com Madeira Beach, FL (Grid: EL87ot) > On Mar 10, 2020, at 10:29 AM, Mark L. Hammond wrote: > > Actually, it's easier, Steve :) I'm pretty sure that if you just click again on the active satellite "letter" at the bottom of the screen, it will do it directly--put it back to the first frequency listed in the Doppler.SQF for that satellite. > > Mark > > On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 10:27 AM Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > Tom, > > There may be a better way to get back to the center of the passband, but the trick I use is to choose another satellite (one of the A-Z buttons along the bottom), then choose the satellite of interest again. > > 73, Steve N9IP > -- > Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com > > > ?On 3/10/20, 10:11 AM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB" on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > > If I turn the VFO manually (via VFO knob), is there an easy way to get SatPC32 back to the center of the passband? Is there a button that cancels the effects of the manual tuning? This would be for full Doppler tuning. > > Thanks > > Tom NY4I > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From marklhammond at gmail.com Wed Mar 11 01:44:36 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:44:36 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L/v at 0143 11 March 2020 for 24 hrs Message-ID: <20200311014437.9C23C8819@lansing182.amsat.org> Happy L-band! 73, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From va3mw at portcredit.net Wed Mar 11 01:45:55 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:45:55 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L/v at 0143 11 March 2020 for 24 hrs In-Reply-To: <20200311014437.9C23C8819@lansing182.amsat.org> References: <20200311014437.9C23C8819@lansing182.amsat.org> Message-ID: Darn, now I need to install the antenna. :) Mike va3mw On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 9:45 PM Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Happy L-band! > > 73, > > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com Wed Mar 11 02:09:36 2020 From: yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com (P. Suryono Adisoemarta) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 02:09:36 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] New operator on uplink power In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <2105045282.1997748.1583892576031@mail.yahoo.com> This abuse on uplink power is getting bad on IO-86 satellite it made an operator dominating the whole pass and prevents other stations with portable setup to qso with others (IO-86 satellite was specifically designed for emergency communication in mind utilizing a simple setup of HT and a hand-held directional antenna). On the next satellite that AMSAT-ID is working on, also equatorial one, we are going to add RSSI detector, and the over powered station will be replaced with a tone on the downlink. 73 de Yono YD0NXXAMSAT-ID Technical Team On Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 07:53:38 PM GMT+7, Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB wrote: I want to share something for those new operators.? Old farts can jump in with 'I told you so!'? LOL I know this has been stressed before, but I wanted to share an uplink power experience. I am using a 7 Element Quad on UHF.? There are times that I have to dial down the UHF uplink power on the IC-9700 to 1% and even then I think that is too much signal.? Case in point was this morning working CAS-4A. For those IC-9700 operators, I highly suggest that you? keep the Multi-Knob focussed on RF power and adjust as required.? This will of course limit your ability to use the RIT since it is hard to use both at the same time. It is unfortunate that I can't seem to use the waterfall on the IC-9700 to also see the beacon in the panadapter.? It isn't a 'width' issue but a gain issue.? ? I already have my REF set to +12db. I'm always open to suggestions. Mike va3mw _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From niederwil1388 at gmail.com Wed Mar 11 03:03:23 2020 From: niederwil1388 at gmail.com (niederwil1388 at gmail.com) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:03:23 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Operating Instructions manual for PacComm PSK-1 Packet Satellite Modem Message-ID: <05f101d5f751$a0b7f640$e227e2c0$@gmail.com> I have one original "Operating Instructions" manual for the PacComm PSK-1 Packet Satellite Modem. It's in excellent condition. If you want it, please email me and you can have it for the cost of postage. 73, Ron VA7VW From zmetzing at pobox.com Wed Mar 11 15:18:39 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 10:18:39 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] New operator on uplink power In-Reply-To: <2105045282.1997748.1583892576031@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2105045282.1997748.1583892576031@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5993f82c-a6ff-b33e-3584-8fc364587785@pobox.com> On 03/10/20 21:09, P. Suryono Adisoemarta via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > This abuse on uplink power is getting bad on IO-86 satellite it made an operator dominating the whole pass and prevents other stations with portable setup to qso with others (IO-86 satellite was specifically designed for emergency communication in mind utilizing a simple setup of HT and a hand-held directional antenna). > On the next satellite that AMSAT-ID is working on, also equatorial one, we are going to add RSSI detector, and the over powered station will be replaced with a tone on the downlink. > 73 de Yono YD0NXXAMSAT-ID Technical Team Sounds like the return of LEILA. https://web.archive.org/web/20060610040908/http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/ao40/ao40-faq.html#LEILA --- Zach N0ZGO From aj9n at aol.com Wed Mar 11 18:01:49 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 18:01:49 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-11 18:00 UTC References: <2056177470.2203913.1583949709072.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2056177470.2203913.1583949709072@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-11 18:00 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, Australia. telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-13 08:56:53 UTC 32 deg ? Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for Option #4: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-11 18:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-03 17:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1385. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1318. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? From n8hm at amsat.org Wed Mar 11 18:33:29 2020 From: n8hm at amsat.org (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 14:33:29 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L-Band Schedule Poll Message-ID: In September, weekly L-Band operation on AO-92 moved from Sunday UTC to Wednesday UTC. We have posted polls on our Twitter account and Facebook group to get a sense of the membership's opinion regarding the schedule preference. Along with command station availability, these polls will inform AMSAT Operations regarding the L-band schedule. The Twitter poll can be found at: https://twitter.com/AMSAT/status/1237806162197741570 The Facebook group poll can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AMSATNA/permalink/1230503697138239/ Results will be finalized on Friday. AMSAT Operations will advise on the future scheduling plans afterwards. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Executive Vice President Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) From niederwil1388 at gmail.com Wed Mar 11 21:17:05 2020 From: niederwil1388 at gmail.com (niederwil1388 at gmail.com) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 14:17:05 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Operating Instructions manual for PacComm PSK-1 Packet Satellite Modem Message-ID: <067a01d5f7ea$6a68aaf0$3f3a00d0$@gmail.com> I have one original "Operating Instructions" manual for the PacComm PSK-1 Packet Satellite Modem. It's in excellent condition. If you want it, please email me and you can have it for the cost of postage. 73, Ron VA7VW From nna6us at gmail.com Wed Mar 11 21:50:44 2020 From: nna6us at gmail.com (Dwayne Sinclair) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:50:44 -1000 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 15, Issue 77 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1D945979-91B3-48FB-9316-45DF668CC283@gmail.com> Sounds like we need to add an external pad to the transmit path on high power transceivers such as the 9700? to provide more granular power control. Maybe a software tweak needed? Dwayne NA6US > For those IC-9700 operators, I highly suggest that you? keep the Multi-Knob > focussed on RF power and adjust as required.? This will of course limit > your ability to use the RIT since it is hard to use both at the same time. > > It is unfortunate that I can't seem to use the waterfall on the IC-9700 to > also see the beacon in the panadapter.? It isn't a 'width' issue but a gain > issue.? ? I already have my REF set to +12db. > > I'm always open to suggestions. > > Mike va3mw From g0kla at arrl.net Thu Mar 12 01:15:47 2020 From: g0kla at arrl.net (Chris Thompson) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 21:15:47 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> Message-ID: I have investigated the issue with processing HuskySat telemetry and implemented a fix. For this spacecraft we have some more stringent time keeping considerations, hence the request for data to be "real time". The check to make sure that data was real time was failing because the spacecraft clock has drifted further than expected. The drift in the clock should not have been an issue but I had a logic error. The error is fixed and I am re-processing missed telemetry. That may take a while, but already I have loaded about 9000 frames. Feel free to email me if you see any issues. 73 Chris On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 8:49 AM Chris Thompson wrote: > I just want to acknowledge that I have seen the messages here and will > investigate as soon as I can. No telemetry is lost. If the frames were > rejected in error then they are still on the server and I will process them > if I can. > > 73 > Chris > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:38 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> We probably have to wait for Chris to check. Is it that your packets are >> not showing up on the leaderboard? >> >> Thanks for collecting telemetry anyway. We need to figure this out. >> >> On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:10 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB >> wrote: >> >> > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a >> > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I >> delete >> > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install >> directory, >> > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows >> > >> > >> > >> > 73 Jeff kb2m >> > >> > >> > >> > From: Mark L. Hammond >> > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 >> > To: KERRY LA*DUKE ; jeff ; Alan >> < >> > wa4sca at gmail.com>; Chris Thompson >> > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB >> > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry >> > >> > >> > >> > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some >> > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from >> > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. >> > >> > >> > >> > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > > > wrote: >> > >> > Kerry and Jeff, >> > >> > >> > >> > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores >> > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't >> know... >> > >> > >> > >> > Mark N8MH >> > >> > >> > >> > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < >> > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: >> > >> > Mark, >> > >> > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to >> > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on >> leaders >> > board. >> > >> > 73 >> > WC7V >> > Kerry >> > ________________________________ >> > From: AMSAT-BB > > amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via >> AMSAT-BB < >> > amsat-bb at amsat.org > >> > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM >> > To: kb2mjeff at att.net > > kb2m at arrl.net> >; Jeff > >> > Cc: Amsat - BBs > >> > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry >> > >> > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd >> > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 >> > >> > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ >> > >> > Mark N8MH >> > >> > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > > >> > wrote: >> > >> > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my >> > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see >> > this >> > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry >> site, >> > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does >> anyone >> > > know >> > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no >> > > reason to collect any more data. >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > 73 Jeff kb2m >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > >> > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > >> > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > > > -- > Chris E. Thompson > chrisethompson at gmail.com > g0kla at arrl.net > -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson at gmail.com g0kla at arrl.net From marklhammond at gmail.com Thu Mar 12 01:23:21 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 21:23:21 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> Message-ID: Thank you Chris for yet another amazing feat!!! 73, Mark N8MH On Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 9:19 PM Chris Thompson via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > I have investigated the issue with processing HuskySat telemetry and > implemented a fix. For this spacecraft we have some more stringent time > keeping considerations, hence the request for data to be "real time". The > check to make sure that data was real time was failing because the > spacecraft clock has drifted further than expected. The drift in the clock > should not have been an issue but I had a logic error. The error is fixed > and I am re-processing missed telemetry. That may take a while, but > already I have loaded about 9000 frames. > > Feel free to email me if you see any issues. > > 73 > Chris > > On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 8:49 AM Chris Thompson wrote: > > > I just want to acknowledge that I have seen the messages here and will > > investigate as soon as I can. No telemetry is lost. If the frames were > > rejected in error then they are still on the server and I will process > them > > if I can. > > > > 73 > > Chris > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:38 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > >> We probably have to wait for Chris to check. Is it that your packets > are > >> not showing up on the leaderboard? > >> > >> Thanks for collecting telemetry anyway. We need to figure this out. > >> > >> On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:10 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > >> wrote: > >> > >> > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > >> > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I > >> delete > >> > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install > >> directory, > >> > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > 73 Jeff kb2m > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > From: Mark L. Hammond > >> > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > >> > To: KERRY LA*DUKE ; jeff ; > Alan > >> < > >> > wa4sca at gmail.com>; Chris Thompson > >> > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > >> > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > >> > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > >> > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond < > marklhammond at gmail.com > >> > > wrote: > >> > > >> > Kerry and Jeff, > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it > ignores > >> > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't > >> know... > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Mark N8MH > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > >> > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: > >> > > >> > Mark, > >> > > >> > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > >> > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on > >> leaders > >> > board. > >> > > >> > 73 > >> > WC7V > >> > Kerry > >> > ________________________________ > >> > From: AMSAT-BB >> > amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via > >> AMSAT-BB < > >> > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > >> > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > >> > To: kb2mjeff at att.net >> > kb2m at arrl.net> >; Jeff > > >> > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > >> > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > >> > > >> > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > >> > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > >> > > >> > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > >> > > >> > Mark N8MH > >> > > >> > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB >> > > > >> > wrote: > >> > > >> > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently > my > >> > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I > see > >> > this > >> > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry > >> site, > >> > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does > >> anyone > >> > > know > >> > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see > no > >> > > reason to collect any more data. > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > 73 Jeff kb2m > >> > > > >> > > _______________________________________________ > >> > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > > >> > > >> > > >> > -- > >> > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > -- > >> > > >> > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > -- > >> > > >> > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > > > > > -- > > Chris E. Thompson > > chrisethompson at gmail.com > > g0kla at arrl.net > > > > > -- > Chris E. Thompson > chrisethompson at gmail.com > g0kla at arrl.net > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From kb2mjeff at att.net Thu Mar 12 02:50:21 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 22:50:21 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> Message-ID: <0a5c01d5f818$fa5f97d0$ef1ec770$@att.net> This doesn?t explain why some data was getting uploaded from the same 4 or so ground stations. Can you please elaborate on why only these stations were able to post data and no one else? 73 Jeff kb2m From: Chris Thompson Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 21:16 To: Burns Fisher Cc: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff ; Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry I have investigated the issue with processing HuskySat telemetry and implemented a fix. For this spacecraft we have some more stringent time keeping considerations, hence the request for data to be "real time". The check to make sure that data was real time was failing because the spacecraft clock has drifted further than expected. The drift in the clock should not have been an issue but I had a logic error. The error is fixed and I am re-processing missed telemetry. That may take a while, but already I have loaded about 9000 frames. Feel free to email me if you see any issues. 73 Chris On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 8:49 AM Chris Thompson > wrote: I just want to acknowledge that I have seen the messages here and will investigate as soon as I can. No telemetry is lost. If the frames were rejected in error then they are still on the server and I will process them if I can. 73 Chris On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:38 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB > wrote: We probably have to wait for Chris to check. Is it that your packets are not showing up on the leaderboard? Thanks for collecting telemetry anyway. We need to figure this out. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:10 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install directory, > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond > > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > To: KERRY LA*DUKE >; jeff >; Alan < > wa4sca at gmail.com >; Chris Thompson > > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > > > wrote: > > Kerry and Jeff, > > > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > wrote: > > Mark, > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders > board. > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: AMSAT-BB amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org > > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > To: kb2mjeff at att.net > kb2m at arrl.net > >; Jeff > > > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > Mark N8MH > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > > > wrote: > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > this > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > know > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson at gmail.com g0kla at arrl.net -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson at gmail.com g0kla at arrl.net From kb2mjeff at att.net Thu Mar 12 02:50:21 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 22:50:21 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$.ref@att.net> <00a301d5f61e$5e9f5610$1bde0230$@att.net> <020f01d5f62e$cc6446f0$652cd4d0$@att.net> Message-ID: <0a5c01d5f818$fa5f97d0$ef1ec770$@att.net> This doesn?t explain why some data was getting uploaded from the same 4 or so ground stations. Can you please elaborate on why only these stations were able to post data and no one else? 73 Jeff kb2m From: Chris Thompson Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 21:16 To: Burns Fisher Cc: kb2mjeff at att.net ; Jeff ; Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry I have investigated the issue with processing HuskySat telemetry and implemented a fix. For this spacecraft we have some more stringent time keeping considerations, hence the request for data to be "real time". The check to make sure that data was real time was failing because the spacecraft clock has drifted further than expected. The drift in the clock should not have been an issue but I had a logic error. The error is fixed and I am re-processing missed telemetry. That may take a while, but already I have loaded about 9000 frames. Feel free to email me if you see any issues. 73 Chris On Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 8:49 AM Chris Thompson > wrote: I just want to acknowledge that I have seen the messages here and will investigate as soon as I can. No telemetry is lost. If the frames were rejected in error then they are still on the server and I will process them if I can. 73 Chris On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:38 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB > wrote: We probably have to wait for Chris to check. Is it that your packets are not showing up on the leaderboard? Thanks for collecting telemetry anyway. We need to figure this out. On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:10 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > My PC clock is set by a time derived GPS setup. Right now I?m seeing a > major -1.106 Millisecond error ? Also when I install the update I delete > the old directory completely and run from the new fresh install directory, > I.E. FoxTelem_1.08z5_windows > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Mark L. Hammond > > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2020 12:03 > To: KERRY LA*DUKE >; jeff >; Alan < > wa4sca at gmail.com >; Chris Thompson > > Cc: Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > > > Oh, another thought---there was more than just a .jar update at some > point. I suggest backing up first ;) then try removing HuskSat-1 from > FoxTLM, then adding it back....should catch the other files. > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59 AM Mark L. Hammond > > > wrote: > > Kerry and Jeff, > > > > Totally guessing here---Are your clocks accurate? I think it ignores > frames based on that. Chris will have to weigh in here, I don't know... > > > > Mark N8MH > > > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:26 AM KERRY LA*DUKE via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > wrote: > > Mark, > > Having same problem here with data for HuskySat. Updated to > latest version yesterday but still not seeing my data reflected on leaders > board. > > 73 > WC7V > Kerry > ________________________________ > From: AMSAT-BB amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org > > on behalf of Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > > Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 8:38 AM > To: kb2mjeff at att.net > kb2m at arrl.net > >; Jeff > > > Cc: Amsat - BBs > > > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry > > Jeff, only guessing here---are you running latest FoxTLM release? I'd > update that first and see if that fixes it. Currently 1.08z5 > > http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/ > > Mark N8MH > > On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > > > > wrote: > > > I've been collecting HuskySat-1 telemetry for a while and recently my > > collected data isn't being accepted by the Fox Telemetry site. I see > this > > 'Only real time data being processed' message the the Fox Telemetry site, > > but see 4 or 5 other stations getting their data uploaded. Does anyone > > know > > what's going on here? As my, others data isn't being accepted I see no > > reason to collect any more data. > > > > > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > > > -- > > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson at gmail.com g0kla at arrl.net -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson at gmail.com g0kla at arrl.net From michael at n4dcw.com Thu Mar 12 03:32:08 2020 From: michael at n4dcw.com (Michael Whitman) Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 23:32:08 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] EM87 | 3/19-24 Message-ID: Grid chasers, I?m making another multi-day trek to the Red River Gorge area of Eastern Kentucky (EM87) March 19-24, 2020. This trip will include a SOTA activation of W4K/EC-184 Pilot?s Knob. Please watch my Twitter feed for pass information: www.twitter.com/mwimages EU ops - this will be my first linear-ready trip to this grid and I?ll post specific AO-7 passes for you. Western US ops - While this is rugged terrain, I?ll have very good Western aspects, specifically in the afternoon passes of FM/SSB birds. 73, Michael, N4DCW -- Michael Whitman michael at n4dcw.com Home Grid: EM78 From n4csitwo at bellsouth.net Thu Mar 12 05:04:01 2020 From: n4csitwo at bellsouth.net (n4csitwo at bellsouth.net) Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 01:04:01 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS contact with Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, Australia References: <075139B9687D40E49CAAE2FF18B1E976.ref@DHJ> Message-ID: <075139B9687D40E49CAAE2FF18B1E976@DHJ> An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, Australia on 13 March. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:56 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and K6DUE. The contact should be audible over the east coast of the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Story: The Australian Air League (AAL) is a volunteer youth organisation focused at supporting and encouraging young people's interest in aerospace. The Air League was formed on 18th July 1934 becoming known as the 'primary school of aviation'. The AAL provides a comprehensive educational program for its cadets which is based on theory instruction as well as practical experience. The AAL is a uniformed organisation and proud of its history and traditions. The AAL educational program is aerospace focused and extends to the Diploma level. Practical experience includes flying experience and training in gliders and powered aircraft. A number of former AAL cadets have progressed into the aerospace sector as pilots, technicians, scientists and academics. The AAL comprises approximately 1300 cadets in Australia. The SA Wing comprises approximately 100 cadets and arranged into three Squadrons. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. With all the training you did before going to space which part was most useful? 2. Would the space station be able to support marine life? 3. What would you like to achieve that you have not yet achieved? 4. What do you do in your spare time on the space station? 5. What jobs do you have to do on the space station? 6. Is it true that due to the lack of gravity, an astronaut's sleep pattern changes and you don't need as much sleep? 7. How long does it take to get to the space station? 8. Do your emotions change in space? 9. How do you entertain yourself on the space station? 10. If you could take any souvenir down from the station what would it be? 11. What is the coolest or weirdest thing you have seen while on the station? 12. What time zone do you use in space? 13. If you could have something delivered from earth what would it be? 14. Do your muscles stop working because you don't use them in zero gravity? 15. How do you find direction in space if the compass is based on north and south on earth? 16. What is the most interesting science experiment that you have done in space and what did you learn from it? 17. What inspired you to want to live on the space station? 18. How do obtain a straight flight path? 19. How does the underwater training in the pools compare with really living in space? 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. Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for Option #4: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 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 ISS National Lab 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 public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus From johnbrier at gmail.com Thu Mar 12 13:48:38 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 09:48:38 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] New ARRL book: Amateur Radio Satellites for Beginners Message-ID: http://www.arrl.org/news/outer-space-is-your-next-radio-frontier http://www.arrl.org/shop/Amateur-Radio-Satellites-for-Beginners/ 73, John Brier KG4AKV From nna6us at gmail.com Thu Mar 12 16:56:21 2020 From: nna6us at gmail.com (Dwayne Sinclair) Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 06:56:21 -1000 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L band on the weekends Message-ID: <3033F119-848C-4BF7-BAE5-229EC14B83D9@gmail.com> I travel with work during the week and have an arrow and d72 in my carryon luggage. The switch to L Band takes me off the air and limits satellite opportunities down to at worse, a single fm bird late in the evening. As a new satellite op, I was not even aware that adhoc changes to uplink band were being made. I have 23cm antennas ordered for home and I?m looking forward to ?giving it a go? but much prefer the weekend for changing bands. There are not that many Fm satellites suitable for portable ops and making the change is a big impact availability... It?s tough QSO?ing at BL11. Regards Dwayne (310) 849-2036 From kb2mjeff at att.net Thu Mar 12 17:07:41 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 13:07:41 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L band on the weekends In-Reply-To: <3033F119-848C-4BF7-BAE5-229EC14B83D9@gmail.com> References: <3033F119-848C-4BF7-BAE5-229EC14B83D9@gmail.com> Message-ID: <033e01d5f890$be5358d0$3afa0a70$@att.net> I second the motion. I miss most passes due to club meetings, doctor visits, wife's doctor visits all on a Wednesday. Let's move it back to the weekend ? 73 Jeff kb2m -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Dwayne Sinclair via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2020 12:56 To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 L band on the weekends I travel with work during the week and have an arrow and d72 in my carryon luggage. The switch to L Band takes me off the air and limits satellite opportunities down to at worse, a single fm bird late in the evening. As a new satellite op, I was not even aware that adhoc changes to uplink band were being made. I have 23cm antennas ordered for home and I?m looking forward to ?giving it a go? but much prefer the weekend for changing bands. There are not that many Fm satellites suitable for portable ops and making the change is a big impact availability... It?s tough QSO?ing at BL11. Regards Dwayne (310) 849-2036 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From aj9n at aol.com Thu Mar 12 22:16:10 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2020 22:16:10 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-12 22:00 UTC References: <1912694865.2690408.1584051370147.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1912694865.2690408.1584051370147@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-12 22:00 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-13 08:56:53 UTC 32 deg ? Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for Option #4: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-12 22:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-03 17:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1385. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1318. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? From royldean at gmail.com Fri Mar 13 11:17:36 2020 From: royldean at gmail.com (Roy Dean) Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 07:17:36 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-84 (PSAT) PSK Transponder Sick? Message-ID: https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1856207/ I started noticing observations on my home SatNogs station like this and just figured it was local qrm. However after looking at observations around the world, it appears that this type of signal is indeed coming from the NO-84 PSK transponder. --Roy K3RLD From aj9n at aol.com Fri Mar 13 16:24:09 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 16:24:09 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-13 16:30 UTC References: <1214163064.2939041.1584116649963.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1214163064.2939041.1584116649963@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-13 16:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Australian Air League - South Australia Wing, Parafield, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact was successful: Fri 2020-03-13 08:56:53 UTC 32 deg (***) ? Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for Option #4: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-13 16:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-13 16:30 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1386. (***) Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1319. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? From bruninga at usna.edu Fri Mar 13 21:02:01 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 17:02:01 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-84 (PSAT) PSK Transponder - limited time left? Message-ID: <1f6fba70280121b5a2c1475947ce250a@mail.gmail.com> Before PSAT (NO-84) dies, don?t miss out on trying out its HF 28.120 PSK31 uplink transponder (435.350 MHz FM downlink). Apparently its battery is weakening and cannot make it through some eclipses. And the orbit only has 2 years left (Battery probably wont last that long). But in the sun, it should work fine. PSK31 Xponder is always enabled, all it needs is to see PSK31 on the Ten-meter uplink. It will also send down an SSTV image (in the same waterfall) once every 2 minutes if the sun power is good. WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: Tom?? Urbanec - Brno University (PSK31 xponder designer)... Subject: Re: FW: [amsat-bb] NO-84 (PSAT) PSK Transponder Sick? Yes, it looks like NO-84. The pass was during eclipse, but not even in the half of it. The first transmission is ok, but it states battery voltage 3.95V , next transmission probably gets TX on and then processor hangs up on low voltage. It does not have any undervoltage protection implemented so it fights and loses. This pass shows it working: https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1854205/ But the battery should be charged, it is just before eclipse and long time above the sea, nevertheless, first transmission shows battery voltage 7.6V, the next one just 5.34V so the battery capacity is practically nonexistent. It still has some lifetime as decay prediction shows to it some 2 years http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?page_id=43437 Tomas OK2PNQ > -----Original Message----- > From: Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB > Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-84 (PSAT) PSK Transponder Sick? > > https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1856207/ > > I started noticing observations on my home SatNogs station like this and > just figured it was local qrm. However after looking at observations > around the world, it appears that this type of signal is indeed coming > from the NO-84 PSK transponder. > > --Roy > K3RLD From pconver at gmail.com Fri Mar 13 21:56:55 2020 From: pconver at gmail.com (Pedro Converso) Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 18:56:55 -0300 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ni-Cd Batteries on Satellites Message-ID: LO-19 (aka LUSAT) after 30 years in space is emitting day and night a strong carrier. What is amazing that after over 2 millions charge/discharge cycles its vintage NI-CD batteries are still able to receive and hold charge. It is known that Lithium based batteries usually halve charge capacity after +/- 400 cycles, probably you noticed that on your portable device. https://batteryuniversity.com/_img/content/lithium2.jpg This is just a comment for future satellite plans if long duration is part of the objective. 73, lu7abf, Pedro From johnv at frontier.com Fri Mar 13 22:04:19 2020 From: johnv at frontier.com (johnv at frontier.com) Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2020 22:04:19 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 at 1900utc this morning local References: <1709865644.5349387.1584137059880.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1709865644.5349387.1584137059880@mail.yahoo.com> Thank you both N6IA, Doug and WD9EWK, Patrick for the contacts this morning. ?? I got a couple of new grids. ? But, (there always a But)? I forgot to turn on the tape recorder and I mist the complete call of the young lady with the KJ7K??.???? Even with hearing aids I still need the back up. If someone has the callsign , please let me know. And I hope everyone and their families are well as you read this on the bulletin board. Thank you, John N7AME Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. From shorenicehere at gmail.com Sat Mar 14 10:19:28 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 06:19:28 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Thank you AMSAT from a beginner Message-ID: A short note to all those here who helped and advised me. I started from scratch 5 weeks ago with the goal of learning about LEO satellite communication. And after studying and listening for 4 weeks, I just recorded my first QSL through SO-50 using my 5w HT and handheld antenna. From here in NC to Missouri, through a satellite repeater is remarkable. >From my very first email to this BB, I have been graciously responded to by many of you, including very helpful members, several VP's, group leaders, and I even got to meet an AMSAT ambassador. Because of this warm welcome, I joined AMSAT. My future goal is to assist young people to learn about satellites, ISS and STEM, starting with my 11 yr old granddaughter who tests for her license next week. Thanks to all of you for a great AMSAT organization. Isaac W4ITC Wilmington, NC FM14 From kb2ysi at gmail.com Sat Mar 14 11:03:48 2020 From: kb2ysi at gmail.com (Don KB2YSI) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 07:03:48 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Thank you AMSAT from a beginner In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Awesome Isaac! Welcome to the birds, it can be very rewarding! On Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 06:20 Isaac C via AMSAT-BB wrote: > A short note to all those here who helped and advised me. I started from > scratch 5 weeks ago with the goal of learning about LEO satellite > communication. > And after studying and listening for 4 weeks, I just recorded my first QSL > through SO-50 using my 5w HT and handheld antenna. From here in NC to > Missouri, through a satellite repeater is remarkable. > > From my very first email to this BB, I have been graciously responded to by > many of you, including very helpful members, several VP's, group leaders, > and I even got to meet an AMSAT ambassador. Because of this warm welcome, I > joined AMSAT. > > My future goal is to assist young people to learn about satellites, ISS and > STEM, starting with my 11 yr old granddaughter who tests for her license > next week. > Thanks to all of you for a great AMSAT organization. > > Isaac > W4ITC > Wilmington, NC > FM14 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From k5bcn at windstream.net Sat Mar 14 13:51:33 2020 From: k5bcn at windstream.net (Coy Johnson) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 08:51:33 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Tracking SSB Birds Message-ID: <2381C23C401A47E6A1FC89703654B65C@radioroom> Hello: My name is Coy, Call, K5BCN EM34 I just got into Satellites about 5 weeks ago. I have really been enjoying the FM Birds, but having Trouble Tracking the SSB Birds. I have A new Icom 9700 Radio. The Birds seem to Just run off and leave me . My radio won?t Track fast enough. I open the Cat window and put the Speed on X10, and that helped some, but still not fast enough. As you can already see that I?m new to this, But would like to work the SSB Birds. I need to talk to someone who has an Icom 9700 , that can track the SSB Birds. I?m using SATPC32. I would like any help I can get. I do Belong to AMSAT I?m having fun, but would be more fun If I could Track the SSB Birds. Thanks 73?s Coy K5BCN EM34 From db at db.net Sat Mar 14 13:49:10 2020 From: db at db.net (Diane Bruce) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 09:49:10 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ni-Cd Batteries on Satellites In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20200314134910.GD61119@night.db.net> On Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 06:56:55PM -0300, Pedro Converso via AMSAT-BB wrote: > LO-19 (aka LUSAT) after 30 years in space is emitting day and night a > strong carrier. > > What is amazing that after over 2 millions charge/discharge cycles its > vintage NI-CD batteries are still able to receive and hold charge. > > It is known that Lithium based batteries usually halve charge capacity > after +/- 400 cycles, probably you noticed that on your portable > device. https://batteryuniversity.com/_img/content/lithium2.jpg > > This is just a comment for future satellite plans if long duration is > part of the objective. Super capacitors are very quickly maturing and are a possiblity in future missions. https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/whats_the_role_of_the_supercapacitor Also from 2018 https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/will-supercapacitors-supersede-batteries-2018-11/ If a satellite was limited to use only in Sunlight with a small supercap for periods in eclipse to hold config etc. this might be a practical solution now. It's a rapidly changing field. > > 73, lu7abf, Pedro 73, VA3DB, Diane -- - db at FreeBSD.org db at db.net http://www.db.net/~db From va3mw at portcredit.net Sat Mar 14 16:32:50 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 12:32:50 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Tracking SSB Birds In-Reply-To: References: <2381C23C401A47E6A1FC89703654B65C@radioroom> Message-ID: Hi Coy *** To the admins -- it would be incredibly helpful if we could include screen shots with emails. It would really help with explaining things. Can we get the overall size of the email payload increased? *** Make sure you have your IC-9700 set up correctly. SSB/CW in the CAT menua should be set to about 30 or so. Leave the speed a x1. (insert screen shot here -- oh, that doesn't work) LOL In the upper left of SatPC32, look for the window with all the single letters in it. Click on the C so it is C+ (not C-) Does the display brightness flip back and forth as the commands are set to the radio? If so, that is good. If not, that isn't good. First, test on the beacon. Make sure you can hear it and the pitch sounds about the same during the pass. If that works, then you have that part set correctly (at least to get going). Not all hams follow the same procedure and they will continue to slide across the passpand. They are not following the 'one true rule' :). I hope that helps some. Mike va3mw On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 10:09 AM Coy Johnson via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Hello: My name is Coy, Call, K5BCN EM34 > I just got into Satellites about 5 weeks ago. > I have really been enjoying the FM Birds, but having Trouble Tracking the > SSB Birds. > I have A new Icom 9700 Radio. > The Birds seem to Just run off and leave me . My radio won?t Track fast > enough. > I open the Cat window and put the Speed on X10, and that helped some, but > still not fast enough. > As you can already see that I?m new to this, But would like to work the > SSB Birds. > I need to talk to someone who has an Icom 9700 , that can track the SSB > Birds. > I?m using SATPC32. > I would like any help I can get. > I do Belong to AMSAT > I?m having fun, but would be more fun If I could Track the SSB Birds. > Thanks 73?s Coy K5BCN EM34 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From johnbrier at gmail.com Sat Mar 14 16:52:25 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 12:52:25 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Tracking SSB Birds In-Reply-To: References: <2381C23C401A47E6A1FC89703654B65C@radioroom> Message-ID: https://imgur.com is a free image host you can use as an alternative to attaching images. 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 12:35 Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Hi Coy > > *** To the admins -- it would be incredibly helpful if we could include > screen shots with emails. It would really help with explaining things. > Can we get the overall size of the email payload increased? *** > > Make sure you have your IC-9700 set up correctly. SSB/CW in the CAT menua > should be set to about 30 or so. Leave the speed a x1. > > (insert screen shot here -- oh, that doesn't work) LOL > > In the upper left of SatPC32, look for the window with all the single > letters in it. Click on the C so it is C+ (not C-) > > Does the display brightness flip back and forth as the commands are set to > the radio? If so, that is good. If not, that isn't good. > > First, test on the beacon. Make sure you can hear it and the pitch sounds > about the same during the pass. If that works, then you have that part set > correctly (at least to get going). > > Not all hams follow the same procedure and they will continue to slide > across the passpand. They are not following the 'one true rule' :). > > I hope that helps some. > > Mike va3mw > > > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 10:09 AM Coy Johnson via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > Hello: My name is Coy, Call, K5BCN EM34 > > I just got into Satellites about 5 weeks ago. > > I have really been enjoying the FM Birds, but having Trouble Tracking the > > SSB Birds. > > I have A new Icom 9700 Radio. > > The Birds seem to Just run off and leave me . My radio won?t Track fast > > enough. > > I open the Cat window and put the Speed on X10, and that helped some, but > > still not fast enough. > > As you can already see that I?m new to this, But would like to work the > > SSB Birds. > > I need to talk to someone who has an Icom 9700 , that can track the SSB > > Birds. > > I?m using SATPC32. > > I would like any help I can get. > > I do Belong to AMSAT > > I?m having fun, but would be more fun If I could Track the SSB Birds. > > Thanks 73?s Coy K5BCN EM34 > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From zmetzing at pobox.com Sat Mar 14 16:53:38 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 11:53:38 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] amsat-bb attachments In-Reply-To: References: <2381C23C401A47E6A1FC89703654B65C@radioroom> Message-ID: On March 14, 2020 11:32:50 AM CDT, Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB wrote: > >*** To the admins -- it would be incredibly helpful if we could include >screen shots with emails. It would really help with explaining things. >Can we get the overall size of the email payload increased? *** Mark me down as opposing this action. I've watched email go from information-filled posts with some real thought behind them to just a bunch of screenshots (multi-megabytes) or worse. There are plenty of free hosting sites (https://imgur.com/ for example) for this type of content. Many email clients will automatically retrieve these images and display them in-line. --- Zach N0ZGO From bruninga at usna.edu Sat Mar 14 16:53:25 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 12:53:25 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ni-Cd's on Satellites and MASS advantage! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: We have used NiCds on all of my 4 satellites with no battery problems. They are robust, and survive all student mistakes and require no Battery management system when paired with a matching solar panel design. IE, as th batteries approach full charge is the same point where the solar panel voltage maxes. Also NiCd's can be safely overcharged at 10% indefinitely with no concern. (you only get an hour in the sun and then 35 minutes eclipse)... Yes, they are twice as heavy as Lithium, but the advantages FAR outweigh the criticality of Lithium concerns and complexity of the BMS and total failure on overcharge or undercharge. And MASS is an advantage! PSAT and BRICSAT-1 are identical 1.5U cubesats launched at the same time in May 2015. But PSAT with big C cell NiCd's was made heavier with lead ballast to 2.3kg. BRICSAT (1.7 kg) with lightweight Lithiums has already decayed in November. PSAT is predicted to last 2 more years! Same thing for identical RAFT and MARSCOM cubesats back in 2006. RAFT was ballasted up and lasted TWICE as long as MARSCOM. For comm satellites, there is no reason to come in under mass. Always ballast up to the maximum the launcher will allow! Bob, WB4APR On Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 5:58 PM Pedro Converso via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > LO-19 (aka LUSAT) after 30 years in space is emitting day and night a > strong carrier. > > What is amazing that after over 2 millions charge/discharge cycles its > vintage NI-CD batteries are still able to receive and hold charge. > > It is known that Lithium based batteries usually halve charge capacity > after +/- 400 cycles, probably you noticed that on your portable > device. https://batteryuniversity.com/_img/content/lithium2.jpg > > This is just a comment for future satellite plans if long duration is > part of the objective. > > 73, lu7abf, Pedro > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Sat Mar 14 17:31:06 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 12:31:06 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Tracking SSB Birds In-Reply-To: References: <2381C23C401A47E6A1FC89703654B65C@radioroom> Message-ID: Someone needs to work with Coy off list and perhaps on the telephone. If you aren't familiar with the SATPC32 interface, it can be quite daunting. I don't use it, or I would call him or have him call me. He needs help, badly. I heard and attempted to work him this morning on one of the linear birds and he was all over the place desperately trying, but not properly configured. I called him and each time he replied, he was in a different place, so we could not make any progress. Please, someone familiar with SatPC32 get him on the phone and talk him through it with the screens in front of each of you...or have him install TeamViewer and do it for him. 73, N0AN Hasan On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 11:35 AM Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Hi Coy > > *** To the admins -- it would be incredibly helpful if we could include > screen shots with emails. It would really help with explaining things. > Can we get the overall size of the email payload increased? *** > > Make sure you have your IC-9700 set up correctly. SSB/CW in the CAT menua > should be set to about 30 or so. Leave the speed a x1. > > (insert screen shot here -- oh, that doesn't work) LOL > > In the upper left of SatPC32, look for the window with all the single > letters in it. Click on the C so it is C+ (not C-) > > Does the display brightness flip back and forth as the commands are set to > the radio? If so, that is good. If not, that isn't good. > > First, test on the beacon. Make sure you can hear it and the pitch sounds > about the same during the pass. If that works, then you have that part set > correctly (at least to get going). > > Not all hams follow the same procedure and they will continue to slide > across the passpand. They are not following the 'one true rule' :). > > I hope that helps some. > > Mike va3mw > > > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 10:09 AM Coy Johnson via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > Hello: My name is Coy, Call, K5BCN EM34 > > I just got into Satellites about 5 weeks ago. > > I have really been enjoying the FM Birds, but having Trouble Tracking the > > SSB Birds. > > I have A new Icom 9700 Radio. > > The Birds seem to Just run off and leave me . My radio won?t Track fast > > enough. > > I open the Cat window and put the Speed on X10, and that helped some, but > > still not fast enough. > > As you can already see that I?m new to this, But would like to work the > > SSB Birds. > > I need to talk to someone who has an Icom 9700 , that can track the SSB > > Birds. > > I?m using SATPC32. > > I would like any help I can get. > > I do Belong to AMSAT > > I?m having fun, but would be more fun If I could Track the SSB Birds. > > Thanks 73?s Coy K5BCN EM34 > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net Sat Mar 14 17:51:12 2020 From: amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net (Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 17:51:12 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 at 1900utc this morning local In-Reply-To: <1709865644.5349387.1584137059880@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1709865644.5349387.1584137059880.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1709865644.5349387.1584137059880@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi John! The pass around 1900 UTC yesterday... I think you are referring to an AO-91 pass at that time. Washington state was well represented, with you and a few others who showed up. Thanks for the contact! I have posted my recording from that pass, and other passes I worked yesterday from the DM51/DM52 boundary in southeastern Arizona, in my Dropbox space: http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ Go to the "Satellite_Audio-2020" folder, and scroll down. Look for a file with a name starting with "20200313-1856UTC-AO91". As for that other station, I think you are looking for KJ7KOJ, who was in CN87. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK On Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 10:05 PM johnv--- via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Thank you both N6IA, Doug and WD9EWK, Patrick for the contacts this > morning. I got a couple of new grids. But, (there always a But) I > forgot to turn on the tape recorder and I mist the complete call of the > young lady with the KJ7K??. > > Even with hearing aids I still need the back up. > If someone has the callsign , please let me know. > And I hope everyone and their families are well as you read this on the > bulletin board. > > Thank you, > > John > N7AME > > From walterh at k5wh.net Sat Mar 14 18:55:21 2020 From: walterh at k5wh.net (walterh at k5wh.net) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 13:55:21 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Tracking SSB Birds In-Reply-To: References: <2381C23C401A47E6A1FC89703654B65C@radioroom> Message-ID: <019101d5fa32$1d8c9940$58a5cbc0$@k5wh.net> I just worked with him a little while ago on my Zoom channel, so he's all set up now with SatPC32. We are just waiting now for a good enough pass for him to light up the bird. ? Walter/K5WH -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2020 12:31 PM To: Michael Walker ; AMSAT-BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Tracking SSB Birds Someone needs to work with Coy off list and perhaps on the telephone. If you aren't familiar with the SATPC32 interface, it can be quite daunting. I don't use it, or I would call him or have him call me. He needs help, badly. I heard and attempted to work him this morning on one of the linear birds and he was all over the place desperately trying, but not properly configured. I called him and each time he replied, he was in a different place, so we could not make any progress. Please, someone familiar with SatPC32 get him on the phone and talk him through it with the screens in front of each of you...or have him install TeamViewer and do it for him. 73, N0AN Hasan On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 11:35 AM Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Hi Coy > > *** To the admins -- it would be incredibly helpful if we could > include screen shots with emails. It would really help with explaining things. > Can we get the overall size of the email payload increased? *** > > Make sure you have your IC-9700 set up correctly. SSB/CW in the CAT menua > should be set to about 30 or so. Leave the speed a x1. > > (insert screen shot here -- oh, that doesn't work) LOL > > In the upper left of SatPC32, look for the window with all the single > letters in it. Click on the C so it is C+ (not C-) > > Does the display brightness flip back and forth as the commands are > set to the radio? If so, that is good. If not, that isn't good. > > First, test on the beacon. Make sure you can hear it and the pitch > sounds about the same during the pass. If that works, then you have > that part set correctly (at least to get going). > > Not all hams follow the same procedure and they will continue to slide > across the passpand. They are not following the 'one true rule' :). > > I hope that helps some. > > Mike va3mw > > > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 10:09 AM Coy Johnson via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > Hello: My name is Coy, Call, K5BCN EM34 > > I just got into Satellites about 5 weeks ago. > > I have really been enjoying the FM Birds, but having Trouble > > Tracking the SSB Birds. > > I have A new Icom 9700 Radio. > > The Birds seem to Just run off and leave me . My radio won?t Track > > fast enough. > > I open the Cat window and put the Speed on X10, and that helped > > some, but still not fast enough. > > As you can already see that I?m new to this, But would like to work > > the SSB Birds. > > I need to talk to someone who has an Icom 9700 , that can track the > > SSB Birds. > > I?m using SATPC32. > > I would like any help I can get. > > I do Belong to AMSAT > > I?m having fun, but would be more fun If I could Track the SSB Birds. > > Thanks 73?s Coy K5BCN EM34 > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From jim at coloradosatellite.com Sat Mar 14 20:53:01 2020 From: jim at coloradosatellite.com (Jim White) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 14:53:01 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ni-Cd's on Satellites and MASS advantage! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Another data point. Falconsat 3 has F size Sanyo NiCads that have survived several instances of being pulled down to less than 1V causing a CPU reset during more than 12 years on orbit.? Last time I looked at the telemetry the peak charged voltage was less than .1V / cell below the original voltage.? They just keep taking abuse and going, going. Jim On 3/14/2020 10:53 AM, Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB wrote: > We have used NiCds on all of my 4 satellites with no battery problems. > > They are robust, and survive all student mistakes and require no Battery > management system when paired with a matching solar panel design. IE, as > th batteries approach full charge is the same point where the solar panel > voltage maxes. Also NiCd's can be safely overcharged at 10% indefinitely > with no concern. (you only get an hour in the sun and then 35 minutes > eclipse)... > > Yes, they are twice as heavy as Lithium, but the advantages FAR outweigh > the criticality of Lithium concerns and complexity of the BMS and total > failure on overcharge or undercharge. > > And MASS is an advantage! PSAT and BRICSAT-1 are identical 1.5U cubesats > launched at the same time in May 2015. But PSAT with big C cell NiCd's was > made heavier with lead ballast to 2.3kg. BRICSAT (1.7 kg) with lightweight > Lithiums has already decayed in November. PSAT is predicted to last 2 more > years! Same thing for identical RAFT and MARSCOM cubesats back in 2006. > RAFT was ballasted up and lasted TWICE as long as MARSCOM. > > For comm satellites, there is no reason to come in under mass. Always > ballast up to the maximum the launcher will allow! > > Bob, WB4APR > > On Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 5:58 PM Pedro Converso via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> LO-19 (aka LUSAT) after 30 years in space is emitting day and night a >> strong carrier. >> >> What is amazing that after over 2 millions charge/discharge cycles its >> vintage NI-CD batteries are still able to receive and hold charge. >> >> It is known that Lithium based batteries usually halve charge capacity >> after +/- 400 cycles, probably you noticed that on your portable >> device. https://batteryuniversity.com/_img/content/lithium2.jpg >> >> This is just a comment for future satellite plans if long duration is >> part of the objective. >> >> 73, lu7abf, Pedro >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From jhill_81 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 14 21:28:58 2020 From: jhill_81 at yahoo.com (Mr B r a d) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 21:28:58 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] adding pics and nicads in space References: <259401620.729563.1584221338753.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <259401620.729563.1584221338753@mail.yahoo.com> 3rd party pics?Imgur?test and perhaps nicads in space don't get the gunk build up on the vent that we see on failed units on earth??has anyone seen the gunk on a failed nicad from space ? | | | | | | | | | | | Imgur Imgur working LEO Ham Sats with a 5 watt H/T | | | photo from a 20m sstv qso ko6kL From skristof at etczone.com Sat Mar 14 21:37:08 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 17:37:08 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Knwd TH-D74A question Message-ID: <2bb6bd4921799d181fc3f5f888874bd0@etczone.com> I just got a Kenwood TH-D74A. I'm trying to enter my callsign so I can do APRS. I got the AI9IN part, but how do I enter the - (dash) that goes before the SSID? I can't find the instructions for that anywhere. (I admit to finding the programming of this radio to be a little overwhelming. I can't even get past entering my callsign.) Steve AI9IN ? From skristof at etczone.com Sat Mar 14 21:50:13 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 17:50:13 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Knwd TH-D74A question In-Reply-To: <2bb6bd4921799d181fc3f5f888874bd0@etczone.com> References: <2bb6bd4921799d181fc3f5f888874bd0@etczone.com> Message-ID: Never mind. I figured it out. (Still a little overwhelming.) Steve AI9IN ? ----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) Date: 03/14/20 17:38 To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Knwd TH-D74A question I just got a Kenwood TH-D74A. I'm trying to enter my callsign so I can do APRS. I got the AI9IN part, but how do I enter the - (dash) that goes before the SSID? I can't find the instructions for that anywhere. (I admit to finding the programming of this radio to be a little overwhelming. I can't even get past entering my callsign.) Steve AI9IN _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From k9jkm at comcast.net Sat Mar 14 23:26:17 2020 From: k9jkm at comcast.net (JoAnne K9JKM) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 18:26:17 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Knwd TH-D74A question In-Reply-To: <2bb6bd4921799d181fc3f5f888874bd0@etczone.com> References: <2bb6bd4921799d181fc3f5f888874bd0@etczone.com> Message-ID: <5E6D6819.5020206@comcast.net> Hello Steve, > I just got a Kenwood TH-D74A ... There are a couple of Kenwood TH-D74A articles posted at: https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm at amsat.org From n8hm at arrl.net Sun Mar 15 00:08:04 2020 From: n8hm at arrl.net (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 17:08:04 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-075 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins Message-ID: AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-075 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Announced * Update from the AMSAT President * ARISS Video of SpaceX CRS-20 Launch Carrying IORS * Minor Update to FoxTelem Released * Use the NO-84 PSK31 Transponder Now! * ARISS News * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-075.01 ANS-075 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 075.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 15, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-075.01 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Announced AMSAT is pleased to announce that the 38th Annual AMSAT Space Sym- posium and Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, October 16th - Sunday, October 18th at the Crowne Plaza Suites: MSP Airport - Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Crowne Plaza Suites is conveniently located adjacent to the Amer- ican Blvd station on the Metro Blue Line, providing easy access to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, downtown Minneapolis, and the Mall of America. The AMSAT Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday, October 14th and Thursday, October 15th at the hotel. Further details, including hotel reservation information, tours, and other events will be shared in the coming months. [ANS thanks the 2020 AMSAT Symposium Committee for the above infor- mation] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Update from the AMSAT President The past six weeks since becoming AMSAT President has flown by with great speed. Thankfully I?m not travelling at 27,000 km/hour like our popular satellite AO-91. Speaking with many of our volunteers and members, I?ve felt the level of excitement and enthusiasm for the great launch opportunities ahead. As mentioned in ANS-047, one of my tasks was to speak with the Directors and convene a meeting to conduct AMSAT corporate business. Tuesday, March 3, AMSAT held an informal working session for the Board of Directors. We are moving forward with a called Board of Directors meeting scheduled on Tuesday, March 17. The next meeting will allow Directors to put forward motions for new business, hear a status update from our officers, and set future trajectory. The amateur radio community has felt the impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) with the cancellation of some regional events. Even as this health emergency has been raised to World Health Organization (WHO)?s highest level, its Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus remains hopeful that COVID-19 can be curtailed. AMSAT is closely monitoring the upcoming 2020 Hamvention being held over 60 days away in Xenia, Ohio. The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) has publicly stated they are following guidance from the State of Ohio and Greene County. Barring further information from DARA, AMSAT will continue to make plans for our representation at the 2020 Hamvention. AMSAT officers are also working on contingency plans if Hamvention is canceled. These plans include virtual presentations and other real- time online activities during Hamvention weekend. Our next edition of the AMSAT Journal will be going through the editing review process soon. It will contain more detailed information about the health of AMSAT, its mission status, and share exciting news for 2020. If you?re not a member receiving the Journal, please consider joining at our website www.amsat.org. 73, Clayton W5PFG AMSAT President [ANS thanks AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, for the above in- formation] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ ARISS Video of SpaceX CRS-20 Launch Carrying IORS On Friday, March 6, 2020 at 11:50 EST, SpaceX CRS-20 was successfully launched from Pad 40 at Kennedy Space Center. This was also a signif- icant launch for ARISS since this cargo mission was carrying our Interoperable Radio System to the International Space Station. This system will greatly enhance our capabilities on board Station involving our school contacts with the crew and both our current and planned future educational experiments. A special thanks to all who have donated and continue to donate to our ARISS Next-Generation Hard- ware Upgrade Fundrazr at our website www.ariss.org. You are making it all happen!! I was able to attend the launch along with several other ARISS volun- teers and have created a short video of the experience from our view- ing location at the Banana Creek ViewPoint. Please note that you will hear two moderators on the video. One is actually at our site, announcing the launch. Another audio feed is coming from the PA system there and is delayed 30 seconds from real time, so try not to get too confused as you listen in. Hope you enjoy the video. Dave, AA4KN, ARISS PR The video can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-075-ARISS [ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS Public Relations for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Minor Update to FoxTelem Released FoxTelem has been updated to version 1.08z5 and the latest version is here: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/ This is not a mandatory upgrade. It fixes some minor bugs that caused crashes and corrects the calculation of the bit SNR for the Dot Pro- duct BPSK detector. If you use the Dot Product detector and you care about the measured bit signal to noise ratio, then you want to upgrade. Note that if you use Find Signal in IQ mode then the bit SNR level is used to determine if the signal is found. Because the level has changed you will need to adjust the threshold value. Email Chris Thompson at g0kla at arrl.net if you need more information. Please let me know if you see any issues, or log them on GitHub here: https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/issues [ANS thanks Chris Thompson, AC2CZ/G0KLA, AMSAT FoxTelem Developer for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Use the NO-84 PSK31 Transponder Now! Amid reports that NO-84's battery is weakening, Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, shared the following message: Before PSAT (NO-84) dies, don?t miss out on trying out its HF 28.120 PSK31 uplink transponder (435.350 MHz FM downlink). Apparently its battery is weakening and cannot make it through some eclipses. And the orbit only has 2 years left (Battery probably wont last that long). But in the sun, it should work fine. PSK31 Xponder is always enabled, all it needs is to see PSK31 on the Ten-meter uplink. It will also send down an SSTV image (in the same waterfall) once every 2 minutes if the sun power is good. [ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for Option #4: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, of the ARISS Operations Team, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events. Note: Due to the COVID-19 situation, please check these events' web- sites for up-to-date status information. Current schedule: March 21, 2020, Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, Scottsdale, AZ March 28, 2020, Tucson Spring Hamfest, Tucson, AZ April 4, 2020 River Bend Wireless and Mechanical Society Presentation Faribault, MN April 18, 2020 Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, Brainerd, MN May 2, 2020 Arrowhead Radio Amateurs Club Hamfest, Superior, WI May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur Radio Assoc. Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ May 15-17, Hamvention, Xenia, OH June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Con, Plano, TX The following events scheduled to have an AMSAT presence have been CANCELED: March 21, 2020, Midwinter Madness Hamfest, Buffalo, MN March 29, 2020, Vienna Wireless Winterfest, Annandale, VA [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations - Big Bend National Park (DL88) March 16-17, 2020 Ron AD0DX and Doug N6UA will operate from Big Bend National Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details will be added here, as they come available, but you are more than welcome to keep an eye on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx and https://twitter.com/dtabor - Red River Gorge, KY (EM87) March 19-24, 2020 Michael, N4DCW will be in Red River Gorge, Kentucy, March 19th through 24th. Watch Michael?s Twitter feed for more info https://twitter.com/MWimages - Midwinter Madness Rove: (EN24, EN25, EN34) March 20-21, 2020 Mitch, AD0HJ, will roving three central Minnesota grids just prior to the Midwinter Madness Hobby Electronics Show in Buffalo, MN on March 21st, 2020. Look for him to activate grids EN24/EN25/EN35 on the eve- ning of March 20th through the evening of March 21st, 2020. Check Mitch?s Twitter feed for updates on his planned satellite pass sche- dule: https://twitter.com/AD0HJ - River Bend Wireless Rove (EN22, EN33, EN34, EN42, EN43, EN44) April 2-4, 2020 Mitch AD0HJ is looking to add six more grids to his rover basket just before the April 4th AMSAT presentation/demonstration at the River Bend Wireless and Mechanical Society in Faribault, MN. Mitch will be activating the EN43/EN44 grid line on April 2nd, the EN32/EN42 grid line on April 3rd, and the EN33/EN34 grid line on April 4th, 2020. Watch Mitch?s Twitter feed as the dates approach for a detailed sche- dule. https://twitter.com/AD0HJ - From the Mountains to the Bay (CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02,10, 11,20,21) April 12-21, 2020 RJ, WY7AA, is hitting the asphalt again, roving from Wyoming to Vaca- ville, CA. He?s attending a class from April 15-19, so most of the roving will be outside of this time. Grids to be covered include: CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21. Specific pass details will be posted on WY7AA QRZ page and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WY7AA) as the trip approaches. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + A Doppler.sqf file posted on the AMSAT-UK website listed FM freq- uencies for several satellites carrying linear transponders. Operators are reminded that FM is not to be used on linear transponders. (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for this information) + On March 10th, March 10, 2020, the AMSAT-SM group was formed in connection with the closure of the AMSAT-SM organization. The process of creating AMSAT-SM for the future began after the 2019 annual meet- ing and now we are ready to continue with AMSAT-SM in a new and simp- ler way. All activities that were part of the old AMSAT-SM are now transferred to the new group. The website will be updated in March with new steering guidelines and other relevant information. Welcome with us into the future. AMSAT-SM is Amateur Radio via Satellite! (ANS thanks SM0TGU from AMSAT-SM for this information) + ARRL has announced a new book entitled "Amateur Radio Satellites for Beginners" by Steve Ford, WB8IMY. It can be purchased at http://www.arrl.org/shop/Amateur-Radio-Satellites-for-Beginners/ (ANS thanks the ARRL for this information) + The CAS-4B beacon is again sending telemetry after sending only a continuous tone for the past few weeks. (ANS thanks John Papay, K8YSE, for this information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org From n0jy at amsat.org Sun Mar 15 03:01:22 2020 From: n0jy at amsat.org (Jerry Buxton) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 22:01:22 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ni-Cd's on Satellites and MASS advantage! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <19a96437-e9fa-8176-c4e2-2cb26fa9d619@amsat.org> Amen. Jerry Buxton, N?JY On 3/14/2020 11:53, Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB wrote: > We have used NiCds on all of my 4 satellites with no battery problems. > > They are robust, and survive all student mistakes and require no Battery > management system when paired with a matching solar panel design. IE, as > th batteries approach full charge is the same point where the solar panel > voltage maxes. Also NiCd's can be safely overcharged at 10% indefinitely > with no concern. (you only get an hour in the sun and then 35 minutes > eclipse)... > > Yes, they are twice as heavy as Lithium, but the advantages FAR outweigh > the criticality of Lithium concerns and complexity of the BMS and total > failure on overcharge or undercharge. > > And MASS is an advantage! PSAT and BRICSAT-1 are identical 1.5U cubesats > launched at the same time in May 2015. But PSAT with big C cell NiCd's was > made heavier with lead ballast to 2.3kg. BRICSAT (1.7 kg) with lightweight > Lithiums has already decayed in November. PSAT is predicted to last 2 more > years! Same thing for identical RAFT and MARSCOM cubesats back in 2006. > RAFT was ballasted up and lasted TWICE as long as MARSCOM. > > For comm satellites, there is no reason to come in under mass. Always > ballast up to the maximum the launcher will allow! > > Bob, WB4APR > > From johnbrier at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 03:29:43 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 23:29:43 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] adding pics and nicads in space In-Reply-To: <259401620.729563.1584221338753@mail.yahoo.com> References: <259401620.729563.1584221338753.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <259401620.729563.1584221338753@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Don't see the URL to imgur. Try copy and paste from the address bar? 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 17:30 Mr B r a d via AMSAT-BB wrote: > 3rd party pics Imgur test > and perhaps nicads in space don't get the gunk build up on the vent that > we see on failed units on earth? has anyone seen the gunk on a failed nicad > from space ? > > > | > | > | > | | | > > | > > | > | > | | > Imgur > > Imgur > > working LEO Ham Sats with a 5 watt H/T > | > > | > > | > > photo from a 20m sstv qso > ko6kL > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From jplanner at sbcglobal.net Sun Mar 15 14:12:09 2020 From: jplanner at sbcglobal.net (Gerald Witalec) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 14:12:09 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] KENWOOD TH-D74A References: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> JoAnne,I believe the TH-D74A is NOT duplex receive so how is that working out for you contacting the SATS? Jerry...W8RQM From k9jkm at comcast.net Sun Mar 15 14:15:21 2020 From: k9jkm at comcast.net (JoAnne K9JKM) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 09:15:21 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] KENWOOD TH-D74A In-Reply-To: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5E6E3879.9090000@comcast.net> Hello Jerry, > I believe the TH-D74A is NOT duplex receive so how is that > workiing out for you contacting the SATS? I don't own a TH-D74A so I can't really tell you. I was passing along a reminder to Steve where AMSAT has posted the information. It might help others too. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm at amsat.org From corlissbs at aol.com Sun Mar 15 18:15:39 2020 From: corlissbs at aol.com (Brad Smith) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 18:15:39 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> I have been working satellites since 2013. Today, I was roving on a grid line and worked the two East birds, AO-91 and 92. After I gave out my call and said "grid line" and gave the grids, guys tried to call me but no one would let them in on either bird, nor let me take them. The power was so high that my portable rig didn't have a chance. The entire pass, was this way. I have never seen such rudeness and greed on the birds. One particular guy dominated both passes. There was not one break at all. Is this what we have become? A free for all? Anybody who heard me and needs the grids, pleas email me. Brad KC9UQR grid line EN54/64.? From jeff30339 at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 18:48:08 2020 From: jeff30339 at gmail.com (Jeff Johns) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 13:48:08 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> Brad, are you linear capable? Here lately my daughter and I have converted to working linear birds 95% of the time and FM 5% of the time. It?s greatly reduced heartache and lowered stress levels. FM satellites have always been ?interesting? but since the launch of AO-91, things seem to have gotten much worse. The general public seems to want more FM satellites, but organizations don?t seem to be building them and getting them into orbit fast enough to keep up with demand. There are several threads posted every week on sites such as Reddit that mostly contain inaccurate info about using FM satellites which leads to a lot of the problems. Maybe in the future there will be more FM birds, until then, linear satellites offer a more relaxing way to make some fun contacts. Jeff WE4B > On Mar 15, 2020, at 1:19 PM, Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?I have been working satellites since 2013. Today, I was roving on a grid line and worked the two East birds, AO-91 and 92. After I gave out my call and said "grid line" and gave the grids, guys tried to call me but no one would let them in on either bird, nor let me take them. The power was so high that my portable rig didn't have a chance. The entire pass, was this way. I have never seen such rudeness and greed on the birds. One particular guy dominated both passes. There was not one break at all. Is this what we have become? A free for all? Anybody who heard me and needs the grids, pleas email me. Brad KC9UQR grid line EN54/64. > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kontakt at sp3qfe.net Sun Mar 15 18:42:29 2020 From: kontakt at sp3qfe.net (Armand SP3QFE) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 19:42:29 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] KENWOOD TH-D74A In-Reply-To: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1b3a7ad0e0970f1af8bd51e3c8a7296e@sp3qfe.net> Hello, As far I know Kenwood handy radios with APRS only TH-D7A/E and TH-D72A/E can work in duplex mode - after turn on this feature. 73, Armand SP3QFE W dniu 2020-03-15 15:12, Gerald Witalec via AMSAT-BB napisa?(a): > JoAnne,I believe the TH-D74A is NOT duplex receive so how is that > working out for you contacting the SATS? > Jerry...W8RQM From kb2ysi at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 19:00:10 2020 From: kb2ysi at gmail.com (Don KB2YSI) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 15:00:10 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> Message-ID: I will say that there is still some of the same issues on some linear passes. It is much less of an issue, but with the learning curve being what it is on them, it does help discourage new people from learning how to operate them. On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 2:50 PM Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Brad, are you linear capable? Here lately my daughter and I have converted > to working linear birds 95% of the time and FM 5% of the time. It?s greatly > reduced heartache and lowered stress levels. FM satellites have always been > ?interesting? but since the launch of AO-91, things seem to have gotten > much worse. The general public seems to want more FM satellites, but > organizations don?t seem to be building them and getting them into orbit > fast enough to keep up with demand. There are several threads posted every > week on sites such as Reddit that mostly contain inaccurate info about > using FM satellites which leads to a lot of the problems. Maybe in the > future there will be more FM birds, until then, linear satellites offer a > more relaxing way to make some fun contacts. > > Jeff WE4B > > > On Mar 15, 2020, at 1:19 PM, Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > > ?I have been working satellites since 2013. Today, I was roving on a > grid line and worked the two East birds, AO-91 and 92. After I gave out my > call and said "grid line" and gave the grids, guys tried to call me but no > one would let them in on either bird, nor let me take them. The power was > so high that my portable rig didn't have a chance. The entire pass, was > this way. I have never seen such rudeness and greed on the birds. One > particular guy dominated both passes. There was not one break at all. Is > this what we have become? A free for all? Anybody who heard me and needs > the grids, pleas email me. Brad KC9UQR grid line EN54/64. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- 73, Don KB2YSI https://www.hamqth.com/kb2ysi From bernd1peters at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 19:01:55 2020 From: bernd1peters at gmail.com (bernd1peters at gmail.com) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 12:01:55 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] KENWOOD TH-D74A In-Reply-To: <1b3a7ad0e0970f1af8bd51e3c8a7296e@sp3qfe.net> References: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> <1b3a7ad0e0970f1af8bd51e3c8a7296e@sp3qfe.net> Message-ID: <0cc401d5fafc$32f4e330$98dea990$@gmail.com> The TH-D72 is full duplex, the TH-D74 is not. If you do APRS, the 74 can work in full duplex mode 73, Bernd - KB7AK -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Armand SP3QFE via AMSAT-BB Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2020 11:42 AM To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] KENWOOD TH-D74A Hello, As far I know Kenwood handy radios with APRS only TH-D7A/E and TH-D72A/E can work in duplex mode - after turn on this feature. 73, Armand SP3QFE W dniu 2020-03-15 15:12, Gerald Witalec via AMSAT-BB napisa?(a): > JoAnne,I believe the TH-D74A is NOT duplex receive so how is that > working out for you contacting the SATS? > Jerry...W8RQM _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kb2ysi at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 19:03:29 2020 From: kb2ysi at gmail.com (Don KB2YSI) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 15:03:29 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] KENWOOD TH-D74A In-Reply-To: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I have logged well over a 2000 satellite QSOs all full duplex using a TH-D74a on RX, both FM and SSB satellites. So what is your question? On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 10:13 AM Gerald Witalec via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > JoAnne,I believe the TH-D74A is NOT duplex receive so how is that working > out for you contacting the SATS? > Jerry...W8RQM > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- 73, Don KB2YSI https://www.hamqth.com/kb2ysi From shorenicehere at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 19:14:39 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 15:14:39 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I assume the call sign of that "one particular guy" is known. Is it possible he doesn't know the etiquette involved? May we hope he would appreciate a notice? I would. Isaac W4ITC (5w HT, FM only so far) On Sunday, March 15, 2020, Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I have been working satellites since 2013. Today, I was roving on a grid > line and worked the two East birds, AO-91 and 92. After I gave out my call > and said "grid line" and gave the grids, guys tried to call me but no one > would let them in on either bird, nor let me take them. The power was so > high that my portable rig didn't have a chance. The entire pass, was this > way. I have never seen such rudeness and greed on the birds. One particular > guy dominated both passes. There was not one break at all. Is this what we > have become? A free for all? Anybody who heard me and needs the grids, > pleas email me. Brad KC9UQR grid line EN54/64. > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From jeff30339 at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 19:58:37 2020 From: jeff30339 at gmail.com (Jeff Johns) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 14:58:37 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <192E811A-7520-4B83-995D-F7EF68D40ABB@gmail.com> To a point yes, but it?s not nearly as bad as FM. It?s not such the cost to entry but the fact that it does take a bit more effort, especially operating portable. Base stations with automated tuning makes life a lot easier. To be honest, I love the challenge of doing it portable as a QRP station. Every satellite contact for me is a thrill. For me, it?s radio for radio?s sake and not just to get grids although those are fun as well. Hope to catch you on a linear soon, Don, so I can send you another QSL card :) Jeff WE4B > On Mar 15, 2020, at 2:00 PM, Don KB2YSI wrote: > > ? > I will say that there is still some of the same issues on some linear passes. > > It is much less of an issue, but with the learning curve being what it is on them, it does help discourage new people from learning how to operate them. > >> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 2:50 PM Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> Brad, are you linear capable? Here lately my daughter and I have converted to working linear birds 95% of the time and FM 5% of the time. It?s greatly reduced heartache and lowered stress levels. FM satellites have always been ?interesting? but since the launch of AO-91, things seem to have gotten much worse. The general public seems to want more FM satellites, but organizations don?t seem to be building them and getting them into orbit fast enough to keep up with demand. There are several threads posted every week on sites such as Reddit that mostly contain inaccurate info about using FM satellites which leads to a lot of the problems. Maybe in the future there will be more FM birds, until then, linear satellites offer a more relaxing way to make some fun contacts. >> >> Jeff WE4B >> >> > On Mar 15, 2020, at 1:19 PM, Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> > >> > ?I have been working satellites since 2013. Today, I was roving on a grid line and worked the two East birds, AO-91 and 92. After I gave out my call and said "grid line" and gave the grids, guys tried to call me but no one would let them in on either bird, nor let me take them. The power was so high that my portable rig didn't have a chance. The entire pass, was this way. I have never seen such rudeness and greed on the birds. One particular guy dominated both passes. There was not one break at all. Is this what we have become? A free for all? Anybody who heard me and needs the grids, pleas email me. Brad KC9UQR grid line EN54/64. >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > -- > 73, > Don KB2YSI > https://www.hamqth.com/kb2ysi From af5cc2 at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 21:43:58 2020 From: af5cc2 at gmail.com (John Geiger) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 16:43:58 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: <192E811A-7520-4B83-995D-F7EF68D40ABB@gmail.com> References: <192E811A-7520-4B83-995D-F7EF68D40ABB@gmail.com> Message-ID: Most of the newer linear satellites have a 20khz passband so more than 1 QSO can take place at a time. Some of the older ones like FO29 and AO7 can handle dozens of QSOs at once. I have been on the satellites off and on since 2002 and the FM satellites didn't use to be this much of a mess. 73 John W5TD On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 3:01 PM Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB wrote: > To a point yes, but it?s not nearly as bad as FM. It?s not such the cost > to entry but the fact that it does take a bit more effort, especially > operating portable. Base stations with automated tuning makes life a lot > easier. To be honest, I love the challenge of doing it portable as a QRP > station. Every satellite contact for me is a thrill. For me, it?s radio for > radio?s sake and not just to get grids although those are fun as well. Hope > to catch you on a linear soon, Don, so I can send you another QSL card :) > > Jeff WE4B > > > On Mar 15, 2020, at 2:00 PM, Don KB2YSI wrote: > > > > ? > > I will say that there is still some of the same issues on some linear > passes. > > > > It is much less of an issue, but with the learning curve being what it > is on them, it does help discourage new people from learning how to operate > them. > > > >> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 2:50 PM Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> Brad, are you linear capable? Here lately my daughter and I have > converted to working linear birds 95% of the time and FM 5% of the time. > It?s greatly reduced heartache and lowered stress levels. FM satellites > have always been ?interesting? but since the launch of AO-91, things seem > to have gotten much worse. The general public seems to want more FM > satellites, but organizations don?t seem to be building them and getting > them into orbit fast enough to keep up with demand. There are several > threads posted every week on sites such as Reddit that mostly contain > inaccurate info about using FM satellites which leads to a lot of the > problems. Maybe in the future there will be more FM birds, until then, > linear satellites offer a more relaxing way to make some fun contacts. > >> > >> Jeff WE4B > >> > >> > On Mar 15, 2020, at 1:19 PM, Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> > > >> > ?I have been working satellites since 2013. Today, I was roving on a > grid line and worked the two East birds, AO-91 and 92. After I gave out my > call and said "grid line" and gave the grids, guys tried to call me but no > one would let them in on either bird, nor let me take them. The power was > so high that my portable rig didn't have a chance. The entire pass, was > this way. I have never seen such rudeness and greed on the birds. One > particular guy dominated both passes. There was not one break at all. Is > this what we have become? A free for all? Anybody who heard me and needs > the grids, pleas email me. Brad KC9UQR grid line EN54/64. > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > -- > > 73, > > Don KB2YSI > > https://www.hamqth.com/kb2ysi > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From zmetzing at pobox.com Sun Mar 15 21:48:23 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 16:48:23 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> Message-ID: On 03/15/20 13:48, Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB wrote: > The general public seems to want more FM satellites, but organizations don?t seem to be building them and getting them into orbit fast enough to keep up with demand. The single-channel, repeater-in-the-sky model was always destined for this sort of abuse (or simple ignorance). I've seen this happen on a local repeater, with a footprint of less than 50 miles. Why wouldn't it be expected on something with a footprint 100-1000 times as large? Hams clamor for FM satellites because it reduces the cost of user equipment. Beofeng hasn't yet come out with a $30 2m/440 all-mode HT. Linear satellites would work better for capacity, and better utilize the amount of bandwidth "lifted" to orbit by a launch vehicle. However, AMSAT can't alienate the $30 FM users, so it is a delicate balance. Adding a linear transponder right alongside the FM card might work, but that incurs additional solar/power requirements which drives up system complexity, cost, testing, etc. There are many variables, and it is impossible to optimize for them all. That's the engineering trade-off that I imagine AMSAT must face. Here are a few of my thoughts: Some enterprising soul should design, using common, off-the-shelf ICs, a simple PCB that is a SSB/CW 2m/440 duplex radio. Make the plans available freely on the WWW, etc. Get a groundswell behind it, and then watch the Asian clone makers swoop in and commercialize it (while also optimizing every last penny spent). Presto, lots of 2m/440 linear operators. Worked for nanoVNA, mikrocontroller's transistortester, etc. Should work for our crowd. Also, donate early, donate often to AMSAT. Building, testing, and launching satellites isn't cheap, and your donations help put more birds into space. "Cheap, fast, good. Pick any two." --- Zach N0ZGO From zmetzing at pobox.com Sun Mar 15 21:56:30 2020 From: zmetzing at pobox.com (Zach Metzinger) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 16:56:30 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> Message-ID: On 03/15/20 16:48, Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB wrote: > The single-channel, repeater-in-the-sky model was always destined for > this sort of abuse (or simple ignorance). I've seen this happen on a > local repeater, with a footprint of less than 50 miles. Why wouldn't it > be expected on something with a footprint 100-1000 times as large? (*) slight correction -- Earth has a radius of ~3963 miles, so my "100-1000 times" statement was a little superlative. Let's go with 10-100 times. ;-) --- Zach N0ZGO From maccody at att.net Sun Mar 15 22:52:32 2020 From: maccody at att.net (Mac A. Cody) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 17:52:32 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> Message-ID: Zach, I've been contemplating a single band, transmit-only version of the QCX-SSB, developed by Guido PE1NNZ: ??? QCX-SSB: SSB with your QCX transceiver (modification) ??? https://github.com/threeme3/QCX-SSB This is based on his work on Class-E driven SSB transceiver: ??? Direct SSB generation by frequency modulating a PLL: http://pe1nnz.nl.eu.org/2013/05/direct-ssb-generation-on-pll.html I saw something similar that was being done with a Teensy board, but that link appears to have broken. I don't see a reason why this couldn't be adapted to 2m/70cm band operation by replacing the SI5351 PLL with one of the high- frequency versions of an SI570 PLL and a higher-frequency Class-E amplifier.? I would keep it simple by having the transmitter filter for either 70cm or 2m.? SSB reception could be done with any number of analog or SDR receivers. I wish I had the time to work on this idea. 73, Mac Cody / AE5PH On 3/15/20 4:48 PM, Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB wrote: > On 03/15/20 13:48, Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Here are a few of my thoughts: > > Some enterprising soul should design, using common, off-the-shelf ICs, > a simple PCB that is a SSB/CW 2m/440 duplex radio. Make the plans > available freely on the WWW, etc. Get a groundswell behind it, and > then watch the Asian clone makers swoop in and commercialize it (while > also optimizing every last penny spent). Presto, lots of 2m/440 linear > operators. Worked for nanoVNA, mikrocontroller's transistortester, > etc. Should work for our crowd. > > > --- Zach > N0ZGO > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Sun Mar 15 23:34:07 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 18:34:07 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] High Power and Rudeness In-Reply-To: References: <350589021.987762.1584296139513@mail.yahoo.com> <0A41C6F8-6029-4C30-B950-7D21A49D9675@gmail.com> Message-ID: Linear birds have more room but are being compromised significantly by poor receiving setups (low sensitivity) and transmitting with too much power, to be sure. (see my other post on this issue). An additional problem that is causing just as much trouble on the linear birds is *failing to use doppler correction properly*. People come on and slide all over the passband and can't find themselves. Once they do, they cannot maintain a stable frequency relationship with respect to others on the birds. As a result, they occupy multiple frequencies during the pass, covering up existing qsos that are practicing proper doppler discipline. *Basically, we are going through a period of transition where new operators have no idea what they are doing because they came from a single channel FM environment where doppler was practically non-existent, and making oneself as "full quieting" as possible has been rewarded with "yet another grid". * The FM birds make 20 meter DX'ing seem like a picnic of social workers, especially on the weekends. These FM birds encouraged and basically trained people into some horrible operating practices and at the same time failed to educate those same people how much different linear bird operation needs to be. We need more Elmers. We need to provide feedback. When we observe these poor practices, we need to: 1. Look up their email (QRZ if available does nicely) 2. Write them a helpful note that explains: (in a straightforward, yet polite fashion) a. What the problem is. b. Why it's problem c. How to cure it d. What the consequences are for the other ops and eventually for themselves if they continue to operate in these objectionable ways. I do this a few times a week and include a link to an MP4 recording of the offending operation, so they can see and hear what their operating practices are doing t everyone else. Let's lend a helping hand by making the extra effort to educate our fellow sat ops, so that this wonderful resource of linear birds is not turned into the wasteland that the FM birds have become (on weekends). Who knows, it might help the FM birds as well. 73, N0AN Hasan On Sun, Mar 15, 2020, 4:58 PM Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > On 03/15/20 16:48, Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > The single-channel, repeater-in-the-sky model was always destined for > > this sort of abuse (or simple ignorance). I've seen this happen on a > > local repeater, with a footprint of less than 50 miles. Why wouldn't it > > be expected on something with a footprint 100-1000 times as large? > > (*) slight correction -- Earth has a radius of ~3963 miles, so my > "100-1000 times" statement was a little superlative. Let's go with > 10-100 times. ;-) > > --- Zach > N0ZGO > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From k9jkm at comcast.net Mon Mar 16 00:36:15 2020 From: k9jkm at comcast.net (JoAnne K9JKM) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 19:36:15 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] KENWOOD TH-D74A In-Reply-To: <1b3a7ad0e0970f1af8bd51e3c8a7296e@sp3qfe.net> References: <1738936939.877515.1584281529222.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1738936939.877515.1584281529222@mail.yahoo.com> <1b3a7ad0e0970f1af8bd51e3c8a7296e@sp3qfe.net> Message-ID: <5E6EC9FF.5040202@comcast.net> On 3/15/2020 1:42 PM, Armand SP3QFE via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Hello, > > As far I know Kenwood handy radios with APRS only TH-D7A/E and TH-D72A/E > can work in duplex mode - after turn on this feature. > > 73, Armand SP3QFE > > W dniu 2020-03-15 15:12, Gerald Witalec via AMSAT-BB napisa?(a): >> JoAnne,I believe the TH-D74A is NOT duplex receive so how is that >> working out for you contacting the SATS? Again, I never said what is duplex or not duplex. I was offering a link to AMSAT's posted information on the https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ page. Please keep your facts straight. Blind posting without context about what was said are stupid. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm at amsat.org From wandtosborne at gmail.com Mon Mar 16 02:52:31 2020 From: wandtosborne at gmail.com (Wendy and Terry Osborne) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 15:52:31 +1300 Subject: [amsat-bb] Next Rocket Lab launch Message-ID: <175442ae-3da6-f164-f90e-fcc11a935238@gmail.com> Next Launch window 27th March see: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/ They should be streaming it from their web site as usual. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC From af5at.radio at gmail.com Mon Mar 16 03:47:05 2020 From: af5at.radio at gmail.com (Mike Wilhelm) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2020 22:47:05 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ni-Cd's on Satellites and MASS advantage! In-Reply-To: <19a96437-e9fa-8176-c4e2-2cb26fa9d619@amsat.org> References: <19a96437-e9fa-8176-c4e2-2cb26fa9d619@amsat.org> Message-ID: Stumbled on this paper by accident: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1998ESASP.416..715C -Mike On Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 10:02 PM Jerry Buxton via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Amen. > > Jerry Buxton, N?JY > > On 3/14/2020 11:53, Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > We have used NiCds on all of my 4 satellites with no battery problems. > > > > They are robust, and survive all student mistakes and require no Battery > > management system when paired with a matching solar panel design. IE, as > > th batteries approach full charge is the same point where the solar panel > > voltage maxes. Also NiCd's can be safely overcharged at 10% indefinitely > > with no concern. (you only get an hour in the sun and then 35 minutes > > eclipse)... > > > > Yes, they are twice as heavy as Lithium, but the advantages FAR outweigh > > the criticality of Lithium concerns and complexity of the BMS and total > > failure on overcharge or undercharge. > > > > And MASS is an advantage! PSAT and BRICSAT-1 are identical 1.5U > cubesats > > launched at the same time in May 2015. But PSAT with big C cell NiCd's > was > > made heavier with lead ballast to 2.3kg. BRICSAT (1.7 kg) with > lightweight > > Lithiums has already decayed in November. PSAT is predicted to last 2 > more > > years! Same thing for identical RAFT and MARSCOM cubesats back in 2006. > > RAFT was ballasted up and lasted TWICE as long as MARSCOM. > > > > For comm satellites, there is no reason to come in under mass. Always > > ballast up to the maximum the launcher will allow! > > > > Bob, WB4APR > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From nna6us at gmail.com Mon Mar 16 07:20:37 2020 From: nna6us at gmail.com (Dwayne Sinclair) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 00:20:37 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 15, Issue 82 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I also have the D72 and D74. Full duplex in the context of these radios means while PTT is enabled and you are speaking into the mic, receive on the second band is also enabled and ideally you can also hear yourself on the downlink simultaneously. D74 does not have this. Regards Dwayne NA6US > > I have logged well over a 2000 satellite QSOs all full duplex using a > TH-D74a on RX, both FM and SSB satellites. > > So what is your question? From jim at coloradosatellite.com Mon Mar 16 13:00:04 2020 From: jim at coloradosatellite.com (Jim White) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 07:00:04 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Ni-Cd's on Satellites and MASS advantage! In-Reply-To: References: <19a96437-e9fa-8176-c4e2-2cb26fa9d619@amsat.org> Message-ID: This is a good catch Mike.? I'm saving it to provide to the uni's I work with. Jim On 3/15/2020 9:47 PM, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Stumbled on this paper by accident: > > http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1998ESASP.416..715C > > -Mike > > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 10:02 PM Jerry Buxton via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> Amen. >> >> Jerry Buxton, N?JY >> >> On 3/14/2020 11:53, Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB wrote: >>> We have used NiCds on all of my 4 satellites with no battery problems. >>> >>> They are robust, and survive all student mistakes and require no Battery >>> management system when paired with a matching solar panel design. IE, as >>> th batteries approach full charge is the same point where the solar panel >>> voltage maxes. Also NiCd's can be safely overcharged at 10% indefinitely >>> with no concern. (you only get an hour in the sun and then 35 minutes >>> eclipse)... >>> >>> Yes, they are twice as heavy as Lithium, but the advantages FAR outweigh >>> the criticality of Lithium concerns and complexity of the BMS and total >>> failure on overcharge or undercharge. >>> >>> And MASS is an advantage! PSAT and BRICSAT-1 are identical 1.5U >> cubesats >>> launched at the same time in May 2015. But PSAT with big C cell NiCd's >> was >>> made heavier with lead ballast to 2.3kg. BRICSAT (1.7 kg) with >> lightweight >>> Lithiums has already decayed in November. PSAT is predicted to last 2 >> more >>> years! Same thing for identical RAFT and MARSCOM cubesats back in 2006. >>> RAFT was ballasted up and lasted TWICE as long as MARSCOM. >>> >>> For comm satellites, there is no reason to come in under mass. Always >>> ballast up to the maximum the launcher will allow! >>> >>> Bob, WB4APR >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From g.shirville at btinternet.com Mon Mar 16 15:18:42 2020 From: g.shirville at btinternet.com (Graham Shirville) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 15:18:42 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-UK FUNcube TLM Antenna References: Message-ID: Hi All, Sorry for the advert but if you are interested in obtaining one of our FUNcube Telemetry antenna assemblies, see here for details https://shop.amsat-uk.org/FUNCube_TLM_Receive_Antenna/p3815740_15628535.aspx Now may be the right time...we have plenty in stock but our "distribution manager" for this item may shortly be confined to barracks and not permitted to go down to the post office.:-) 73 Graham G3VZV From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Mon Mar 16 16:26:27 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 11:26:27 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] K8BL Grid Ops CAS-4B Recording Message-ID: Included in this message is a URL to my Google Drive MP4 recording of Bob's operation on CAS-4B a few minutes ago. At the very end of the pass, my elevation was -0.5 degrees, yes, that's right, negative horizon! Note for Bob: I didn't have your email address, so I'm posting the mp4 url here. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HPz8o-ttEfZURT-XFge2IUVbazB_j2FX Just click on this link to download the mp4 file,. It is both video and audio. It is a standard MP4 file and will play on virtually any device, even a phone. Anyone is welcome to view/listen to it. File is about 95 MB, so with today's speeds, it should download quite quickly. The video shows: 1. On the far left the CAS-4B Batwing PSK Beacon (very useful for observing polarity shifts during a pass). 2. The CW Beacon for reference of the maximum signal strength your signal should be 3. Bob's signal Notice that Bob did a nice job of keeping his power down to reasonable levels and how difficult it is to do manual doppler, which he also did a nice job with. 73, N0AN Hasan From aj9n at aol.com Mon Mar 16 18:42:47 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 18:42:47 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-16 18:30 UTC References: <1975535330.3822530.1584384167358.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1975535330.3822530.1584384167358@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-16 18:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg ? SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-27 09:47:49 UTC 36 deg (***) ? ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? (***) ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-16 18:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-13 16:30 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1386. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1319. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? From burrell at teleport.com Tue Mar 17 04:42:55 2020 From: burrell at teleport.com (Allen) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 21:42:55 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Message-ID: I have been collecting telemetry since early Feb, and for the last week or so I notice that the leaderboard totals for my uploads are being received and incremented with each pass, only to have the totals reset to a lower number during the 15 hour period of inactivity. Example 14Mar begin/end totals 8618/8913; 15Mar 8497/8817; 16Mar 8347/8680; 17Mar 8258/. Same occurrence whether using Ver 1.08y, 1.08z3 or 1.08z5. Any ideas? Thanks, Allen KI7RM From documike at comcast.net Tue Mar 17 06:33:02 2020 From: documike at comcast.net (Mike Lucas) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2020 23:33:02 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Verification HuskySat Telem Message-ID: <007501d5fc25$e950bdf0$bbf239d0$@comcast.net> Just had a HuskySat-1 high elevation pass (0620 UTC) but did not hear the telemetry signal at all. Been away for a couple of weeks. Wanted to validate BPSK receive Is LSB on the downlink correct? Mike N7ASZ From marklhammond at gmail.com Tue Mar 17 07:33:13 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 03:33:13 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Verification HuskySat Telem In-Reply-To: <007501d5fc25$e950bdf0$bbf239d0$@comcast.net> References: <007501d5fc25$e950bdf0$bbf239d0$@comcast.net> Message-ID: Was/is in SAFE mode. So only sending like 2 frame every several minutes. Mark N8MH On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 2:34 AM Mike Lucas via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Just had a HuskySat-1 high elevation pass (0620 UTC) but did not hear the > telemetry signal at all. Been away for a couple of weeks. Wanted to > validate BPSK receive Is LSB on the downlink correct? > > Mike N7ASZ > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From joevk5ei at gmail.com Tue Mar 17 07:41:41 2020 From: joevk5ei at gmail.com (Joe Pereira) Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 18:11:41 +1030 Subject: [amsat-bb] Verification HuskySat Telem In-Reply-To: References: <007501d5fc25$e950bdf0$bbf239d0$@comcast.net> Message-ID: Mike use USB, I just captured the signal 0711UTC and it appears the beacon has changed to a short tx burst. The guys from UW CubeSat team report via FB "its in safe mode" and they are "trouble shooting" On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 6:05 PM Mark L. Hammond via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Was/is in SAFE mode. So only sending like 2 frame every several minutes. > > Mark N8MH > > On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 2:34 AM Mike Lucas via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > Just had a HuskySat-1 high elevation pass (0620 UTC) but did not hear the > > telemetry signal at all. Been away for a couple of weeks. Wanted to > > validate BPSK receive Is LSB on the downlink correct? > > > > Mike N7ASZ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > -- > Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From g0kla at arrl.net Tue Mar 17 16:38:03 2020 From: g0kla at arrl.net (Chris Thompson) Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 12:38:03 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Allen, It is a monthly average that gets recalculated at the end of each day. It you want to see you complete totals select the link for the "All time leaderboard" which is bottom left. 73 Chris On Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 00:44 Allen via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I have been collecting telemetry since early Feb, and for the last week or > so I notice that the leaderboard totals for my uploads are being received > and incremented with each pass, only to have the totals reset to a lower > number during the 15 hour period of inactivity. Example 14Mar begin/end > totals 8618/8913; 15Mar 8497/8817; 16Mar 8347/8680; 17Mar 8258/. Same > occurrence whether using Ver 1.08y, 1.08z3 or 1.08z5. Any ideas? > Thanks, Allen KI7RM > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From burrell at teleport.com Tue Mar 17 17:30:29 2020 From: burrell at teleport.com (Allen) Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 10:30:29 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <110D52E3FCA74BB6B9130C136D94F217@LenovoDesktop> That solves it! Thanks Chris. 73, Allen KI7RM From: Chris Thompson Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2020 09:38 To: Allen Cc: AMSAT Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HuskySat telemetry Allen, It is a monthly average that gets recalculated at the end of each day. It you want to see you complete totals select the link for the "All time leaderboard" which is bottom left. 73 Chris On Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 00:44 Allen via AMSAT-BB wrote: I have been collecting telemetry since early Feb, and for the last week or so I notice that the leaderboard totals for my uploads are being received and incremented with each pass, only to have the totals reset to a lower number during the 15 hour period of inactivity. Example 14Mar begin/end totals 8618/8913; 15Mar 8497/8817; 16Mar 8347/8680; 17Mar 8258/. Same occurrence whether using Ver 1.08y, 1.08z3 or 1.08z5. Any ideas? Thanks, Allen KI7RM _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From n4csitwo at bellsouth.net Wed Mar 18 14:30:08 2020 From: n4csitwo at bellsouth.net (n4csitwo at bellsouth.net) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 10:30:08 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS contact with Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey References: Message-ID: An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey on 19 March. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:59 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W5RRR. The contact should be audible over the state of Texas and adjacent areas. U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. As a space and science education center, Space Camp Turkey is primarily focused on motivating young people from around the world to pursue careers in science, math, and technology. Through interactive, space-related simulations, both youth and adults learn about communication, teamwork, and leadership in a dynamic, fun-filled environment. Programs at Space Camp Turkey focus on simulators to give participants the sensations of working and living in space. At Space Camp Turkey, we pack years of mission training into 2 to 6 day programs. Space Camp Turkey is one of only two Space Camps in the world. We are proud to have the only such facility in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. It is located in the Aegean Free Zone, a high-tech industrial park in Izmir, operated by ESBAS. Izmir is a vibrant Aegean city on the western coast of Turkey with a population of over 4 million. Education and entertainment center Space Camp Turkey, which was opened on June 12, 2000 has been visited by more than 250 thousand young people and adults from over 60 countries. Our state-of-the-art facility offers an ideal environment where young people from different nations can come together to build long-term friendships and understand other cultures. Our counselor staff (Turkish and International) consists of college graduates and undergraduates. Some are education majors while others are pursuing masters and doctorate degrees in astronomy or have certificates in various education programs. All program staff members receive training in the following areas: space education, Space Camp Turkey activities, and safety for simulator operations. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What does a launch feel like? 2. How long did you have to train before you actually flew to space? 3. What changes did you feel in your body as a result of microgravity? 4. What do you do when you aren't on a space mission? 5. What is the coolest thing you have seen while on the space station? 6. How would sneezing be different in weightlessness? 7. Do we age faster in space? 8. What is the most interesting thing about the Artemis mission? 9. Does your appetite change in space? 10. When you were younger, did you think about becoming an astronaut in the future? 11. Can you hear any sound in space? 12. Do you ever feel like you are upside down in space? 13. Who controls the space station? 14. What does space smell like? 15. What are the three things that you miss back on Earth? 16. How do you grow vegetables and fruits in space? 17. How can I visit the planets? 18. How do you see stars from space? 19. What would you like to take with you from home for your space travel? I would take my plush kangaroo. 20. This year we are celebrating our 20th anniversary of Space Camp Turkey. We would love to hear your message to our campers listening to you right now. 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. SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-27 09:47 UTC 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 ISS National Lab 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 public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus From kb2mjeff at att.net Wed Mar 18 15:33:58 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 11:33:58 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 D/L References: <099101d5fd3a$a5182090$ef4861b0$.ref@att.net> Message-ID: <099101d5fd3a$a5182090$ef4861b0$@att.net> Just tried to work the end of the AO-92 L/V pass and there was a very load signal covering up the d/l here. The noise seemed to be on the d/l signal itself. I never heard this before. I did manage to barely work WB8OTH, and NS3L as their signals where solid. Anyone else notice it? 73 Jeff kb2m From skristof at etczone.com Wed Mar 18 16:17:25 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 12:17:25 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AISat1? Message-ID: <7c42fdbe8ce57bf9fdf211e6d2a16e4e@etczone.com> What happened to AISat? We have no more functioning APRS satellites? Steve AI9IN ? From scott23192 at gmail.com Wed Mar 18 16:31:03 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 12:31:03 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AISat1? In-Reply-To: <7c42fdbe8ce57bf9fdf211e6d2a16e4e@etczone.com> References: <7c42fdbe8ce57bf9fdf211e6d2a16e4e@etczone.com> Message-ID: AISAT-1 has not been digipeating for a couple of days now, unfortunately. There was a downlink beacon from it on 3/16, but no digipeats on that pass. I haven't even heard beacons since that orbit. For those who are 9600 full-duplex capable and in range of the southerly orbit, don't forget that FalconSat-3 continues to do well both for APRS and the store-and-forward BBS. -Scott, K4KDR ====================== On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 12:18 PM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > What happened to AISat? We have no more functioning APRS satellites? > Steve AI9IN > From royldean at gmail.com Wed Mar 18 16:38:27 2020 From: royldean at gmail.com (Roy Dean) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 12:38:27 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-92 D/L Message-ID: > > Anyone else notice it? Just checked the recent AO-92 observation and it looked normal. Any chance this was local? --Roy K3RLD From aj9n at aol.com Wed Mar 18 17:36:56 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 17:36:56 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-18 17:30 UTC References: <300469859.213816.1584553016793.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <300469859.213816.1584553016793@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-18 17:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg ? SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-27 09:47:49 UTC 36 deg ? ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. (***) ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-18 17:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-13 16:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1386. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1319. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? From bruninga at usna.edu Wed Mar 18 17:55:10 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 13:55:10 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AISat1? and other APRS sats? Message-ID: <0887509cdd757ae14106106b2dd4e2dc@mail.gmail.com> Also, what about the APRS Laban-Orari (AO86) (YBOX-1) also in a near equatorial orbit and usable throughout the low latitudes? I have not seen any users on the pcsat.findu.com live downlink page though its telemetry is there and numerous SATGATES are linking it to the FINDU pages. All APRS Sats: http://aprs.org/sats.html Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Scott via AMSAT-BB Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 12:31 PM To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AISat1? AISAT-1 has not been digipeating for a couple of days now, unfortunately. There was a downlink beacon from it on 3/16, but no digipeats on that pass. I haven't even heard beacons since that orbit. For those who are 9600 full-duplex capable and in range of the southerly orbit, don't forget that FalconSat-3 continues to do well both for APRS and the store-and-forward BBS. -Scott, K4KDR ====================== On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 12:18 PM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > What happened to AISat? We have no more functioning APRS satellites? > Steve AI9IN > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From bkeating1954 at gmail.com Wed Mar 18 19:26:59 2020 From: bkeating1954 at gmail.com (Bob Keating) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 12:26:59 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux Message-ID: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> I'm sure those of you that were on the SO-50 pass this morning at 16:38 utc heard that rude operator who repeatedly threw out his call sign and called "CQ satellite".? He was stomping over everyone and apparently didn't hear those of us who responded to his call, myself and Doug N6UA had responded to him among others .My thought was this is a "newbie" that has never worked the birds before, so I figured I would look him up on QRZ and send him a friendly email offering some help and suggestions. Low and behold this guy's QRZ page is papered with scads of award certificates including, get this, a VUCC satellite award! You'd think he'd know better! I did kindly offer some suggestions and help including not calling "CQ satellite" and referred him to AMSAT's web site.? In addition, he was keeping operators from a QSO with N6UA who is roving right now.? I don't know if he was operating full duplex or maybe he didn't have his downlink frequency correct. Regardless, his signal was so strong and overpowering, i sincerely question if he was putting out just 5 watts. We had a much better pass on AO-91 at 19:07. 73, Bob N6REK From yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com Wed Mar 18 22:59:09 2020 From: yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com (Yono Adisoemarta) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 05:59:09 +0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AISat1? and other APRS sats? In-Reply-To: <0887509cdd757ae14106106b2dd4e2dc@mail.gmail.com> References: <0887509cdd757ae14106106b2dd4e2dc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: APRS on IO-86 is still working fine, active according to the published schedule. Typically there are 2-3 keyboard users trying to send APRS messages to each other. 73 de Yono - YD0NXX Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 19, 2020, at 12:58 AM, Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?Also, what about the APRS Laban-Orari (AO86) (YBOX-1) also in a near > equatorial orbit and usable throughout the low latitudes? > > I have not seen any users on the pcsat.findu.com live downlink page though > its telemetry is there and numerous SATGATES are linking it to the FINDU > pages. > > All APRS Sats: http://aprs.org/sats.html > > Bob, WB4APR > > -----Original Message----- > From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Scott via > AMSAT-BB > Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 12:31 PM > To: amsat-bb at amsat.org > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AISat1? > > AISAT-1 has not been digipeating for a couple of days now, unfortunately. > There was a downlink beacon from it on 3/16, but no digipeats on that > pass. I haven't even heard beacons since that orbit. > > For those who are 9600 full-duplex capable and in range of the southerly > orbit, don't forget that FalconSat-3 continues to do well both for APRS > and the store-and-forward BBS. > > -Scott, K4KDR > > ====================== > >> On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 12:18 PM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >> >> >> What happened to AISat? We have no more functioning APRS satellites? >> Steve AI9IN >> > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com Wed Mar 18 22:59:09 2020 From: yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com (Yono Adisoemarta) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 05:59:09 +0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AISat1? and other APRS sats? In-Reply-To: <0887509cdd757ae14106106b2dd4e2dc@mail.gmail.com> References: <0887509cdd757ae14106106b2dd4e2dc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: APRS on IO-86 is still working fine, active according to the published schedule. Typically there are 2-3 keyboard users trying to send APRS messages to each other. 73 de Yono - YD0NXX Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 19, 2020, at 12:58 AM, Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?Also, what about the APRS Laban-Orari (AO86) (YBOX-1) also in a near > equatorial orbit and usable throughout the low latitudes? > > I have not seen any users on the pcsat.findu.com live downlink page though > its telemetry is there and numerous SATGATES are linking it to the FINDU > pages. > > All APRS Sats: http://aprs.org/sats.html > > Bob, WB4APR > > -----Original Message----- > From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Scott via > AMSAT-BB > Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 12:31 PM > To: amsat-bb at amsat.org > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AISat1? > > AISAT-1 has not been digipeating for a couple of days now, unfortunately. > There was a downlink beacon from it on 3/16, but no digipeats on that > pass. I haven't even heard beacons since that orbit. > > For those who are 9600 full-duplex capable and in range of the southerly > orbit, don't forget that FalconSat-3 continues to do well both for APRS > and the store-and-forward BBS. > > -Scott, K4KDR > > ====================== > >> On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 12:18 PM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >> >> >> What happened to AISat? We have no more functioning APRS satellites? >> Steve AI9IN >> > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From va3mw at portcredit.net Thu Mar 19 02:05:52 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2020 22:05:52 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux In-Reply-To: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> References: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi Bob It does take all kinds. What was his callsign? That way none of us will work him when we hear him. Mike va3mw On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 3:28 PM Bob Keating via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I'm sure those of you that were on the SO-50 pass this morning at 16:38 > utc heard that rude operator who repeatedly threw out his call sign and > called "CQ satellite". He was stomping over everyone and apparently > didn't hear those of us who responded to his call, myself and Doug N6UA > had responded to him among others .My thought was this is a "newbie" > that has never worked the birds before, so I figured I would look him up > on QRZ and send him a friendly email offering some help and suggestions. > Low and behold this guy's QRZ page is papered with scads of award > certificates including, get this, a VUCC satellite award! You'd think > he'd know better! I did kindly offer some suggestions and help including > not calling "CQ satellite" and referred him to AMSAT's web site. In > addition, he was keeping operators from a QSO with N6UA who is roving > right now. I don't know if he was operating full duplex or maybe he > didn't have his downlink frequency correct. Regardless, his signal was > so strong and overpowering, i sincerely question if he was putting out > just 5 watts. > > We had a much better pass on AO-91 at 19:07. > > 73, > > Bob N6REK > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From va3mw at portcredit.net Thu Mar 19 12:02:00 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 08:02:00 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux In-Reply-To: References: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi Bob I just want to say that if you want to share the store and solve it, then you really do need to share the entire story with all the facts. If you want to publicly shame an operator, then please do tell the entire story with the operators call sign. If you are not able to tell the entire story then it is not really worth mentioning it at all. I barely work the FM birds and it is clear that they are a waste of time and investment money, at least over North America. No different than 27.185Mhz. We have a repeater like that here in Toronto where there is no control. Hopefully, we have seen the last of the FM repeaters in the sky since this part of the hobby is partially out of control. I would like to know the callsign in case he shows up on the Linear birds and I know how to treat this operator. Also, if I knew the callsign, I have no issue listening for him on an FM bird and then emailing him privately to see what he has to say. Maybe there is a misunderstanding as there are 2 sides to every story. But, without the callsign, I won't waste my time. OK, rant over and I apologize for my rant. I would just like more of the facts and that is all I am saying -- with full respect of course. many 73 Mike va3mw On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 11:43 PM Bob Keating wrote: > Hi Mike, > > Believe me, you will have no problem hearing him. In the interest of > privacy, I am not going to give his full call, but the prefix was XE2. > > 73, > > Bob N6REK > On 3/18/2020 7:05 PM, Michael Walker wrote: > > Hi Bob > > It does take all kinds. > > What was his callsign? That way none of us will work him when we hear him. > > Mike va3mw > > > > > On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 3:28 PM Bob Keating via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> I'm sure those of you that were on the SO-50 pass this morning at 16:38 >> utc heard that rude operator who repeatedly threw out his call sign and >> called "CQ satellite". He was stomping over everyone and apparently >> didn't hear those of us who responded to his call, myself and Doug N6UA >> had responded to him among others .My thought was this is a "newbie" >> that has never worked the birds before, so I figured I would look him up >> on QRZ and send him a friendly email offering some help and suggestions. >> Low and behold this guy's QRZ page is papered with scads of award >> certificates including, get this, a VUCC satellite award! You'd think >> he'd know better! I did kindly offer some suggestions and help including >> not calling "CQ satellite" and referred him to AMSAT's web site. In >> addition, he was keeping operators from a QSO with N6UA who is roving >> right now. I don't know if he was operating full duplex or maybe he >> didn't have his downlink frequency correct. Regardless, his signal was >> so strong and overpowering, i sincerely question if he was putting out >> just 5 watts. >> >> We had a much better pass on AO-91 at 19:07. >> >> 73, >> >> Bob N6REK >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From walterh at k5wh.net Thu Mar 19 12:34:18 2020 From: walterh at k5wh.net (walterh at k5wh.net) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 07:34:18 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux In-Reply-To: References: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> Message-ID: <000f01d5fdea$b621f130$2265d390$@k5wh.net> I absolutely agree with Mike completely here. I work with MANY people on every given day on a various number of radio operational issues, with satellites just being one of the many modes. And I have seen several times that someone getting this wrong is usually making an honest effort but just may not have the skills down yet on how to do this properly, and just needs a little assistance a lot more than slamming for their lack of knowledge. Every one of us have made a mistake or two, or even more in my case in the many great years I have been a ham. And no doubt I will make more in the future on something. But if we have someone struggling with how to make this work, please feel free to send me a private message with their callsign and I will be MORE than happy to reach out to them to see where I can help them get on the right path. Let's not discourage a wonderful ham from using an exciting mode like this, let's embrace their enthusiasm so they may be able to help others in the same way. And most importantly, it should be the responsibility of ALL of us to be Mentors in this hobby. We don't even have to be an expert to be a good Mentor. And never fail to remember that every one of us had to be mentored at some point ourselves, as where would we be in this great hobby if that never happened for us? Let's not forget, this is supposed to be FUN. So let's make it so. OK, stepping off my soap box now. ? Walter/K5WH -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2020 7:02 AM To: AMSAT Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux Hi Bob I just want to say that if you want to share the store and solve it, then you really do need to share the entire story with all the facts. If you want to publicly shame an operator, then please do tell the entire story with the operators call sign. If you are not able to tell the entire story then it is not really worth mentioning it at all. I barely work the FM birds and it is clear that they are a waste of time and investment money, at least over North America. No different than 27.185Mhz. We have a repeater like that here in Toronto where there is no control. Hopefully, we have seen the last of the FM repeaters in the sky since this part of the hobby is partially out of control. I would like to know the callsign in case he shows up on the Linear birds and I know how to treat this operator. Also, if I knew the callsign, I have no issue listening for him on an FM bird and then emailing him privately to see what he has to say. Maybe there is a misunderstanding as there are 2 sides to every story. But, without the callsign, I won't waste my time. OK, rant over and I apologize for my rant. I would just like more of the facts and that is all I am saying -- with full respect of course. many 73 Mike va3mw On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 11:43 PM Bob Keating < bkeating1954 at gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Mike, > > Believe me, you will have no problem hearing him. In the interest of > privacy, I am not going to give his full call, but the prefix was XE2. > > 73, > > Bob N6REK > On 3/18/2020 7:05 PM, Michael Walker wrote: > > Hi Bob > > It does take all kinds. > > What was his callsign? That way none of us will work him when we hear him. > > Mike va3mw > > > > > On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 3:28 PM Bob Keating via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> I'm sure those of you that were on the SO-50 pass this morning at >> 16:38 utc heard that rude operator who repeatedly threw out his call >> sign and called "CQ satellite". He was stomping over everyone and >> apparently didn't hear those of us who responded to his call, myself >> and Doug N6UA had responded to him among others .My thought was this is a "newbie" >> that has never worked the birds before, so I figured I would look him >> up on QRZ and send him a friendly email offering some help and suggestions. >> Low and behold this guy's QRZ page is papered with scads of award >> certificates including, get this, a VUCC satellite award! You'd think >> he'd know better! I did kindly offer some suggestions and help >> including not calling "CQ satellite" and referred him to AMSAT's web >> site. In addition, he was keeping operators from a QSO with N6UA who >> is roving right now. I don't know if he was operating full duplex or >> maybe he didn't have his downlink frequency correct. Regardless, his >> signal was so strong and overpowering, i sincerely question if he was >> putting out just 5 watts. >> >> We had a much better pass on AO-91 at 19:07. >> >> 73, >> >> Bob N6REK >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From skristof at etczone.com Thu Mar 19 13:00:49 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:00:49 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux In-Reply-To: References: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> Message-ID: <6e0d74d8bfa937b432398f540cfcedfc@etczone.com> If you barely work the FM birds then you don't have a lot of credibility criticizing them. ALL aspects of amateur radio have the occasional rude participant. Yes, there are times, especially weekends, when the FM birds are analogous to 50 people trying to get through a door at once. But most of the time it is possible to get in a couple of contacts with a little practice.? Not everyone can afford the thousands of dollars needed for a computer-driven SSB satellite ground station. The FM birds allow those of us on a limited budget to experience the excitement of using our own budget limited equipment to make a contact via satellite.? Hopefully, AMSAT and other entities will continue to make available FM satellites as well as more SSB satellites and APRS satellites, so everyone who wants to participate will have that opportunity. Steve AI9IN ? ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) I barely work the FM birds and it is clear that they are a waste of time and investment money, at least over North America. ?No different than 27.185Mhz. ?We have a repeater like that here in Toronto where there is no control. ? Hopefully, we have seen the last of the FM repeaters in the sky since this part of the hobby is partially out of control. From shorenicehere at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 13:15:32 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:15:32 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux In-Reply-To: <6e0d74d8bfa937b432398f540cfcedfc@etczone.com> References: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> <6e0d74d8bfa937b432398f540cfcedfc@etczone.com> Message-ID: As a new LEO operator, with just 2 FM QSO/QSL logged, let me agree with previous poster in that the satisfaction of using my two 5w HTs and copper wire homebuilt antenna to communicate with a satellite is unbounded, especially with my intended goal to introduce this STEM activity to my granddaughter as soon as she gets her license. (her tech exam was cancelled this week.) Keep the FM birds, but lose the rudeness. I even recorded a ham whistling on a SO-50 pass this week. Isaac W4ITC On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > If you barely work the FM birds then you don't have a lot of credibility > criticizing them. ALL aspects of amateur radio have the occasional rude > participant. Yes, there are times, especially weekends, when the FM birds > are analogous to 50 people trying to get through a door at once. But most > of the time it is possible to get in a couple of contacts with a little > practice. > Not everyone can afford the thousands of dollars needed for a > computer-driven SSB satellite ground station. The FM birds allow those of > us on a limited budget to experience the excitement of using our own budget > limited equipment to make a contact via satellite. > Hopefully, AMSAT and other entities will continue to make available FM > satellites as well as more SSB satellites and APRS satellites, so everyone > who wants to participate will have that opportunity. > Steve AI9IN > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) > > > I barely work the FM birds and it is clear that they are a waste of time > and investment money, at least over North America. No different than > 27.185Mhz. We have a repeater like that here in Toronto where there is no > control. Hopefully, we have seen the last of the FM repeaters in the sky > since this part of the hobby is partially out of control. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From propgrinder at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 13:15:23 2020 From: propgrinder at gmail.com (Bob Hammond) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 06:15:23 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-50 question Message-ID: I worked several operators last night on SO-50 at about 0115 UT and then......pffft. I couldn't get into the satellite at all after it passed overhead and to the SE. Does SO-50 shut down if there's too much use? I was hoping to work the young woman who kept calling me but she was having trouble or getting stepped on or whatever. She'd get out "W7O...." and then nothing. Just curious, Bob W7OTJ From propgrinder at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 13:19:59 2020 From: propgrinder at gmail.com (Bob Hammond) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 06:19:59 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-50 question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hmmm, I wonder if this is what happened: " SO-50 also has a 10 minute timer that must be armed before use. Transmit a 2 second carrier with a PL tone of 74.4 to arm the timer." Bob W7OTJ On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:15 AM Bob Hammond wrote: > I worked several operators last night on SO-50 at about 0115 UT and > then......pffft. I couldn't get into the satellite at all after it passed > overhead and to the SE. > > Does SO-50 shut down if there's too much use? > > I was hoping to work the young woman who kept calling me but she was > having trouble or getting stepped on or whatever. She'd get out "W7O...." > and then nothing. > > Just curious, > > Bob W7OTJ > From johnbrier at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 13:53:10 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:53:10 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-50 question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Very likely. And a lot of people don't realize it turns off after 10min regardless of whether it is being used or not. So it will turn off at some point in the pass. 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Thu, Mar 19, 2020, 09:26 Bob Hammond via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Hmmm, I wonder if this is what happened: " SO-50 also has a 10 minute > timer that must be armed before use. Transmit a 2 second carrier with a PL > tone of 74.4 to arm the timer." > > Bob W7OTJ > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:15 AM Bob Hammond wrote: > > > I worked several operators last night on SO-50 at about 0115 UT and > > then......pffft. I couldn't get into the satellite at all after it > passed > > overhead and to the SE. > > > > Does SO-50 shut down if there's too much use? > > > > I was hoping to work the young woman who kept calling me but she was > > having trouble or getting stepped on or whatever. She'd get out > "W7O...." > > and then nothing. > > > > Just curious, > > > > Bob W7OTJ > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From propgrinder at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 14:00:42 2020 From: propgrinder at gmail.com (Bob Hammond) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 07:00:42 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-50 question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I had not experienced that before. There's always something new to learn in ham radio! thanks John, Bob W7OTJ On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:53 AM John Brier wrote: > Very likely. And a lot of people don't realize it turns off after 10min > regardless of whether it is being used or not. So it will turn off at some > point in the pass. > > 73, John Brier KG4AKV > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020, 09:26 Bob Hammond via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> Hmmm, I wonder if this is what happened: " SO-50 also has a 10 minute >> timer that must be armed before use. Transmit a 2 second carrier with a PL >> tone of 74.4 to arm the timer." >> >> Bob W7OTJ >> >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:15 AM Bob Hammond >> wrote: >> >> > I worked several operators last night on SO-50 at about 0115 UT and >> > then......pffft. I couldn't get into the satellite at all after it >> passed >> > overhead and to the SE. >> > >> > Does SO-50 shut down if there's too much use? >> > >> > I was hoping to work the young woman who kept calling me but she was >> > having trouble or getting stepped on or whatever. She'd get out >> "W7O...." >> > and then nothing. >> > >> > Just curious, >> > >> > Bob W7OTJ >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From penguin359 at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 14:11:52 2020 From: penguin359 at gmail.com (Loren M. Lang) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 07:11:52 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-50 question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Most satellites I have 5 presets for with +/- 0/5/10 kHz offsets from center on the 70 cm band. With SO-50, it's 6 with 5 being setup with the usual PL tone of 67 Hz and one marked with an A for activation and set to transmit the 74.4 Hz PL tone to quickly select it if I don't hear people. On Thu, Mar 19, 2020, 07:05 Bob Hammond via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I had not experienced that before. There's always something new to learn > in ham radio! > > thanks John, > > Bob W7OTJ > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:53 AM John Brier wrote: > > > Very likely. And a lot of people don't realize it turns off after 10min > > regardless of whether it is being used or not. So it will turn off at > some > > point in the pass. > > > > 73, John Brier KG4AKV > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020, 09:26 Bob Hammond via AMSAT-BB > > > wrote: > > > >> Hmmm, I wonder if this is what happened: " SO-50 also has a 10 minute > >> timer that must be armed before use. Transmit a 2 second carrier with a > PL > >> tone of 74.4 to arm the timer." > >> > >> Bob W7OTJ > >> > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:15 AM Bob Hammond > >> wrote: > >> > >> > I worked several operators last night on SO-50 at about 0115 UT and > >> > then......pffft. I couldn't get into the satellite at all after it > >> passed > >> > overhead and to the SE. > >> > > >> > Does SO-50 shut down if there's too much use? > >> > > >> > I was hoping to work the young woman who kept calling me but she was > >> > having trouble or getting stepped on or whatever. She'd get out > >> "W7O...." > >> > and then nothing. > >> > > >> > Just curious, > >> > > >> > Bob W7OTJ > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From johnnykludt at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 14:12:16 2020 From: johnnykludt at gmail.com (John Kludt) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 10:12:16 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rude Operator, part deux In-Reply-To: References: <5df292a7-cbdd-fd02-4f60-7f60a7796b1c@gmail.com> Message-ID: Guys, I know it is a problem but please assume positive intent. He probably needs some coaching not shunning. We need more not fewer satellite operators. John K4SQC On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 10:08 PM Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Hi Bob > > It does take all kinds. > > What was his callsign? That way none of us will work him when we hear him. > > Mike va3mw > > > > > On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 3:28 PM Bob Keating via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > I'm sure those of you that were on the SO-50 pass this morning at 16:38 > > utc heard that rude operator who repeatedly threw out his call sign and > > called "CQ satellite". He was stomping over everyone and apparently > > didn't hear those of us who responded to his call, myself and Doug N6UA > > had responded to him among others .My thought was this is a "newbie" > > that has never worked the birds before, so I figured I would look him up > > on QRZ and send him a friendly email offering some help and suggestions. > > Low and behold this guy's QRZ page is papered with scads of award > > certificates including, get this, a VUCC satellite award! You'd think > > he'd know better! I did kindly offer some suggestions and help including > > not calling "CQ satellite" and referred him to AMSAT's web site. In > > addition, he was keeping operators from a QSO with N6UA who is roving > > right now. I don't know if he was operating full duplex or maybe he > > didn't have his downlink frequency correct. Regardless, his signal was > > so strong and overpowering, i sincerely question if he was putting out > > just 5 watts. > > > > We had a much better pass on AO-91 at 19:07. > > > > 73, > > > > Bob N6REK > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From propgrinder at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 14:16:27 2020 From: propgrinder at gmail.com (Bob Hammond) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 07:16:27 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-50 question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks Loren. Good advice. Bob W70TJ From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Thu Mar 19 14:34:09 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 10:34:09 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-50 question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I use MacDoppler which allows me to specify which "mode" of the satellite I want to use. I have a special one for the 10-minute timer. When it disappears, I just flip to that mode, hit it with a couple seconds of 74.4, then go back to 67 Hz tone. Also, this is not what you were experiencing, but unlike the Foxes, the 67Hz tone does not turn it on for a fixed time so that others without the tone can "coattail" in. You really need to have the 67 Hz tone when you are using it. Burns On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 10:06 AM Bob Hammond via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > I had not experienced that before. There's always something new to learn > in ham radio! > > thanks John, > > Bob W7OTJ > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:53 AM John Brier wrote: > > > Very likely. And a lot of people don't realize it turns off after 10min > > regardless of whether it is being used or not. So it will turn off at > some > > point in the pass. > > > > 73, John Brier KG4AKV > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020, 09:26 Bob Hammond via AMSAT-BB > > > wrote: > > > >> Hmmm, I wonder if this is what happened: " SO-50 also has a 10 minute > >> timer that must be armed before use. Transmit a 2 second carrier with a > PL > >> tone of 74.4 to arm the timer." > >> > >> Bob W7OTJ > >> > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:15 AM Bob Hammond > >> wrote: > >> > >> > I worked several operators last night on SO-50 at about 0115 UT and > >> > then......pffft. I couldn't get into the satellite at all after it > >> passed > >> > overhead and to the SE. > >> > > >> > Does SO-50 shut down if there's too much use? > >> > > >> > I was hoping to work the young woman who kept calling me but she was > >> > having trouble or getting stepped on or whatever. She'd get out > >> "W7O...." > >> > and then nothing. > >> > > >> > Just curious, > >> > > >> > Bob W7OTJ > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From ke4al at yahoo.com Thu Mar 19 14:49:04 2020 From: ke4al at yahoo.com (Robert Bankston) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:49:04 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] May 1st - New Online AMSAT Member Management Portal References: <690532849.845502.1584629344730.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <690532849.845502.1584629344730@mail.yahoo.com> I wanted to give AMSAT members a heads up that, on May 1st, we go live with AMSAT's new online member management portal.? This will put you in charge of your membership account and allow you to make real-time updates.? ?? ? Full instructions on how to get signed up and logged in will appear in the March/April issue of The AMSAT Journal. ?? We hope you are as excited as we are. 73, ?? Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) From corlissbs at aol.com Thu Mar 19 15:00:59 2020 From: corlissbs at aol.com (Brad Smith) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:00:59 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] We Need FM Birds References: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396@mail.yahoo.com> I echo what Steve said. Those of us who love to rove and work outdoors enjoy the FM birds. We may not have the huge, rotatable and elevating, computer controlled antenna system, connected to a 9700 in a permanent shack, with SDR and thus to some hams may be just "little people," but we have fun with the FM birds. When it ceases to become fun, I get another hobby. I am a minimalist and love working portable, with an D72 or other smaller radio. I do not understand why any manufacturer would have made a radio that put out 75-100 watts in FM satellite mode. I have worked the birds since 2013, both linear and FM. The FM birds are just plain FUN and can get a person a lot of new grids, which is fun too. Please, guys, keep your power down, so we portables can have a chance to get in and mostly, give us a space to get in.? Brad KC9UQR From bkeating1954 at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 15:08:32 2020 From: bkeating1954 at gmail.com (Bob Keating) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 08:08:32 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] We Need FM Birds In-Reply-To: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1515905476.841064.1584630059396@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <40c4edfc-c1ed-a141-6bd9-54160366d8ae@gmail.com> Couldn't agree more with you Brad! Bob N6REK On 3/19/2020 8:00 AM, Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > I echo what Steve said. Those of us who love to rove and work outdoors enjoy the FM birds. We may not have the huge, rotatable and elevating, computer controlled antenna system, connected to a 9700 in a permanent shack, with SDR and thus to some hams may be just "little people," but we have fun with the FM birds. When it ceases to become fun, I get another hobby. I am a minimalist and love working portable, with an D72 or other smaller radio. I do not understand why any manufacturer would have made a radio that put out 75-100 watts in FM satellite mode. I have worked the birds since 2013, both linear and FM. The FM birds are just plain FUN and can get a person a lot of new grids, which is fun too. Please, guys, keep your power down, so we portables can have a chance to get in and mostly, give us a space to get in.? Brad KC9UQR > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From aj9n at aol.com Thu Mar 19 15:35:57 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:35:57 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-19 15:30 UTC References: <49527839.565129.1584632157662.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <49527839.565129.1584632157662@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-19 15:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact was successful: Thu 2020-03-19 08:59:54 UTC 37 deg (***) In an ARISS first due to COVID-19, all of the questions were pre-recorded by the students and no students were on site during the contact. (***) ? SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-27 09:47:49 UTC 36 deg ? ? Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J??? (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Possible contact on Tue 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC ? ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. (***) ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-19 15:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-19 15:30 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1387. (***) Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1320. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? From n1uw at gokarns.com Thu Mar 19 16:00:55 2020 From: n1uw at gokarns.com (Frank Karnauskas) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:00:55 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-079 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin Message-ID: <004801d5fe07$92fb3320$b8f19960$@gokarns.com> AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-079 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT President Urges Members to Renew/Donate Now SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 ANS-079 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 19, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079.01 AMSAT President Urges Members to Renew/Donate Now AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG has put out a call for new and renewing AMSAT members to act now and register online. Coleman says, "All things considered, cancellation of Hamvention 2020 was the right thing to do and we recognize the difficult decision that the Dayton Amateur Radio Association Executive Committee had to make. "The cancellation of Hamvention will have a dramatic effect on the well-being of many vendors and associations that serve the Amateur Radio community. AMSAT is no exception. Hamvention has always been a major fund-raising tool for both recruiting and renewing members as well as selling AMSAT branded merchandise, software, books and antennas. The loss of this important venue has the potential to adversely affect the projects that AMSAT has underway already and planned for the months and years ahead. "This is a very exciting time for Amateur Radio in Space with the new Interoperable Radio System for ARISS, the GOLF satellite program, updating member services and launching our Youth Initiative. It has been many years since we have seen this kind of excitement and interest in space communications. We would hate to lose that momentum and fall behind. "I am asking everyone to act now and join or renew their AMSAT membership NOW while it is on our minds. Your immediate willingness to act will help strengthen AMSAT and help ensure our mission of 'Keeping Amateur Radio in Space'. There are membership opportunities for everyone to consider: - Basic Membership from $44 - Student Membership from $22 - Additional Household Memberships from $22 - School and Club Memberships from $80 - QRO Membership from $80 - Lifetime Membership $880 (or only $74/mo. For twelve months)" Coleman also adds, "And, while you're at it, don't be afraid to kick in a few extra dollars with a one-time or sustaining donation to AMSAT's general operating fund. Especially appreciated are those Amateurs who can make an extra difference by contributing to the President's Club with contributions of $120 or more. Whatever you can contribute, please understand that every dollar counts. "Additionally, with Hamvention's cancellation, we lost the opportunity to personally greet and thank all of AMSAT's membership and to share our enthusiasm for the upcoming year. Watch for upcoming news on our plans and launches for 2020. We'll be talking soon." [ANS thanks Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, AMSAT President for the above information] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Memberships, both new and renewals, as well as can be made at: https://www.amsat.org/shop For a limited time, AMSAT is making the "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites" book available for a limited time as a download with any paid new or renewal membership purchased via the AMSAT Store! Make your online donations at: https://www.amsat.org/donate +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW n1uw at amsat dot org From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 16:04:31 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 11:04:31 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] We Need FM Birds In-Reply-To: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1515905476.841064.1584630059396@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Brad, I don't think anyone was making the point that FM birds aren't useful, fun and needed. What some people have observed is how congested they can be and what poor operating practices result in. (and are all too common on the FM birds, especially on weekends.) The same people that make FM birds difficult for the portable ops, take those same bad habits to the Linear Birds when they get a 9700, only they add-in the inability to stay on frequency (doppler) on top of it. Forgetting about the linear birds for the moment, the FM birds are suffering from a lack of Elmering. It is so easy to get on, with no background on how to do it, that the baseline noise encourages people who have power and antennas, to use them to overcome the rubbish. The thought of the guy with an Arrow and an H/T standing in his drive is far, far from the mind of those people. We need feedback, we need to exercise patience and not just keep keying up trying to get that new grid. *We need to leave 'holes' not only for the portable stations to get in with*, but also home stations using a simple 1/4w vertical for 2m. *We need to let people finish a started contact.* If you hear a station clearly responding to another station (they are actually 'in contact'), please ...there is no nice way to put this: shut up. Let them finish, don't start calling someone else right on top of them. Don't say you don't hear them...bull. I've watched it. The station in qso is full quieting. The respondent is full quieting. Some knucklehead, also full quieting starts calling another station. Too bad, so sad, they don't care...they just gotta have that new grid, and "I'm not gonna be worried about you not being able to finish a contact." *This is commonplace on the FM birds,* I'm sorry to say and it is caused by the scarcity of the resource and the poor operating habits of many in the user community. *Until we set good examples, provide feedback (including emailing the offenders), and educate new users. the problem is not going away.* ...and one other aside. Working the linear birds requires considerably more technical skill than working the FM Birds. This should not degenerate into an FM vs. Linear satellite rivalry. They require completely different skill sets and manifest some different problems. Having and using an SDR does not make one an elitist or snob, nor does it take massive investment, but it does permit you to be a more proficient and considerate operator. SDRs are far from elitist. If you have an SDR, you can operate far more considerately than those using a box-radio that cannot see the beacons and the passband at the same time. Not being able to see the beacon and the passband at the same time is a disaster on the linear birds. It has always been so, since AO-6. That is where the "rule" don't be louder than the beacon came from, over 30 years ago. But, that's a discussion for another day in a different thread. 73, N0AN Hasan On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 10:04 AM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB wrote: > satellites as well as more SSB satellites and APRS satellites, so everyone > who wants to participate will have that opportunity.Steve AI9IN> > I echo what Steve said. Those of us who love to rove and work outdoors > enjoy the FM birds. We may not have the huge, rotatable and elevating, > computer controlled antenna system, connected to a 9700 in a permanent > shack, with SDR and thus to some hams may be just "little people," but we > have fun with the FM birds. When it ceases to become fun, I get another > hobby. I am a minimalist and love working portable, with an D72 or other > smaller radio. I do not understand why any manufacturer would have made a > radio that put out 75-100 watts in FM satellite mode. I have worked the > birds since 2013, both linear and FM. The FM birds are just plain FUN and > can get a person a lot of new grids, which is fun too. Please, guys, keep > your power down, so we portables can have a chance to get in and mostly, > give us a space to get in. Brad KC9UQR > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From propgrinder at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 16:27:13 2020 From: propgrinder at gmail.com (Bob Hammond) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:27:13 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] We Need FM Birds In-Reply-To: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1515905476.841064.1584630059396.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1515905476.841064.1584630059396@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi Brad, Your points are very well taken. Being one of those who ".... huge, rotatable and elevating, computer controlled antenna system, connected to a 9700 in a permanent shack, with SDR.....", I sure don't consider anyone without the above equipment as "little people". I dial down the RF power of my 9700 to an indicated 10% for ALL satellite operations. This means my antenna output is less than 10W given coax line losses. I began in satellites with an ICOM IC-Z1A and Arrow antenna in 2000. That was, and still is, a lot of fun. I plan to do more with that setup when camping in remote spots and grid squares. 73, Bob W7OTJ On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 8:04 AM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB wrote: > satellites as well as more SSB satellites and APRS satellites, so everyone > who wants to participate will have that opportunity.Steve AI9IN> > I echo what Steve said. Those of us who love to rove and work outdoors > enjoy the FM birds. We may not have the huge, rotatable and elevating, > computer controlled antenna system, connected to a 9700 in a permanent > shack, with SDR and thus to some hams may be just "little people," but we > have fun with the FM birds. When it ceases to become fun, I get another > hobby. I am a minimalist and love working portable, with an D72 or other > smaller radio. I do not understand why any manufacturer would have made a > radio that put out 75-100 watts in FM satellite mode. I have worked the > birds since 2013, both linear and FM. The FM birds are just plain FUN and > can get a person a lot of new grids, which is fun too. Please, guys, keep > your power down, so we portables can have a chance to get in and mostly, > give us a space to get in. Brad KC9UQR > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From corlissbs at aol.com Thu Mar 19 17:22:37 2020 From: corlissbs at aol.com (Brad Smith) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 17:22:37 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand that the FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal takes the bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is the rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and into the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone took over by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high power and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I don't want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the person is a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with someone is not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that if one said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There are several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation and myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone has this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham was an extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. So, something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the power to get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It is like guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I guess it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather turns warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. Brad KC9UQR From af5at.radio at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 18:16:53 2020 From: af5at.radio at gmail.com (Mike Wilhelm) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 13:16:53 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try and get on a bird. Life is too busy... Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we could pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. I would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any examples of poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to a section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had many opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a bird. The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy anyone by being the slowpoke. 73! Mike AF5AT On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand that the > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal takes the > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is the > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and into > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone took over > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high power > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I don't > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the person is > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with someone is > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that if one > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There are > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation and > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone has > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham was an > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. So, > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the power to > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It is like > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I guess > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather turns > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. Brad > KC9UQR > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wizardofzid at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 16:16:52 2020 From: wizardofzid at gmail.com (Russ Kinner) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:16:52 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] FM birds Message-ID: I have just gotten back into satellites and eventually will go full tilt with PC control and an all mode rig but for the moment the cost factor needs to be addressed (I've just retired so I have the time but limited funds). I have still worked 34 grids and as far away as EL97 from DM33 in 6 weeks of on air time with only FM. Sure, I've heard the occasional Lid and one guy who seems to go key down and never say a word on AO-92 on the late evening pass but guys work thru the best and worst of it. That is part of the challenge. I'm sure I've caused a bit of QRM getting started and not hearing the output but there are good mentors that do help with the new guys. SSB is coming and all the additional requirements it takes but without the FM birds, I doubt I'd have ventured into Satellites at all. Rusty, WA8ZID From aa5pk at suddenlink.net Thu Mar 19 18:36:38 2020 From: aa5pk at suddenlink.net (Glenn Miller - AA5PK) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 13:36:38 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com><2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <45F53D5B7AAD4009B4E64199027358FD@DESKTOPL0IAS8B> John K8YSE has many satellite pass recordings posted on his site. Most show good operating practices as these are mainly older recordings before the avalanche of new ops. < http://www.papays.com/sat/general.html> Glenn AA5PK From shorenicehere at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 18:52:46 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:52:46 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Mike, I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got my first QSO/QSL on March 12. I connected with W0NBC. After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone else. I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It probably shows. My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. Best luck. https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dBUNl/view?usp=drivesdk On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try and > get on a bird. Life is too busy... > Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we could > pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. I > would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any examples of > poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to a > section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is > already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had many > opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a bird. > The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy anyone > by being the slowpoke. > 73! Mike AF5AT > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand that > the > > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal takes > the > > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is the > > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and into > > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone took > over > > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high power > > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I don't > > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the person > is > > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with someone > is > > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that if one > > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that > > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There are > > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation and > > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone has > > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham was an > > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. So, > > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the power > to > > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It is > like > > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I > guess > > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > > > > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather turns > > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. Brad > > KC9UQR > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From shorenicehere at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 18:58:34 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:58:34 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: ps -. it was SO-50, pass 11:58 local time, Mar 12. On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Isaac C wrote: > Mike, > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got my > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > I connected with W0NBC. > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone else. > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It probably > shows. > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > Best luck. > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dB > UNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try and >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we could >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. I >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any examples of >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to a >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had many >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a bird. >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy anyone >> by being the slowpoke. >> 73! Mike AF5AT >> >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> >> wrote: >> >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand that >> the >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal takes >> the >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is the >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and >> into >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone took >> over >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high power >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I don't >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the >> person is >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with >> someone is >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that if >> one >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There are >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation and >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone has >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham was >> an >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. So, >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the power >> to >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It is >> like >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I >> guess >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. >> > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather >> turns >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. Brad >> > KC9UQR >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From johnnykludt at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 19:36:55 2020 From: johnnykludt at gmail.com (John Kludt) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:36:55 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: All, There is another practice that I have not seen addressed here that makes thing really tough - talking way too fast. I understand the reason but fast talking just leads to the request for repeats which means more traffic and/or busted Q's. So in addition to turn down the power how about talking just a little slowly and more clearly? Just a suggestion. John K4SQC On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:03 PM Isaac C via AMSAT-BB wrote: > ps -. it was SO-50, pass 11:58 local time, Mar 12. > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Isaac C wrote: > > > Mike, > > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got my > > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > > I connected with W0NBC. > > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone else. > > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It probably > > shows. > > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > > > Best luck. > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dB > > UNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try and > >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... > >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we could > >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. > I > >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any examples > of > >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to a > >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is > >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had > many > >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a bird. > >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy > anyone > >> by being the slowpoke. > >> 73! Mike AF5AT > >> > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> > >> wrote: > >> > >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand that > >> the > >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal takes > >> the > >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is > the > >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and > >> into > >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone took > >> over > >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high > power > >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I > don't > >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the > >> person is > >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with > >> someone is > >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that if > >> one > >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that > >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There are > >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation > and > >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone > has > >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham was > >> an > >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. > So, > >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the > power > >> to > >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It is > >> like > >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I > >> guess > >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > >> > > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather > >> turns > >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. Brad > >> > KC9UQR > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From af5cc2 at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 19:49:27 2020 From: af5cc2 at gmail.com (John Geiger) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:49:27 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Using phonetics can really help also, especially if you have letters that sound alike in your call, such as T and D. 73 John W5TD On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 2:40 PM John Kludt via AMSAT-BB wrote: > All, > > There is another practice that I have not seen addressed here that makes > thing really tough - talking way too fast. I understand the reason but > fast talking just leads to the request for repeats which means more traffic > and/or busted Q's. So in addition to turn down the power how about > talking just a little slowly and more clearly? > > Just a suggestion. > > John K4SQC > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:03 PM Isaac C via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > ps -. it was SO-50, pass 11:58 local time, Mar 12. > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Isaac C wrote: > > > > > Mike, > > > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > > > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got my > > > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > > > I connected with W0NBC. > > > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone > else. > > > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It > probably > > > shows. > > > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > > > > > Best luck. > > > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dB > > > UNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > wrote: > > > > > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try > and > > >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... > > >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we > could > > >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. > > I > > >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any > examples > > of > > >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to > a > > >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is > > >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had > > many > > >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a > bird. > > >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy > > anyone > > >> by being the slowpoke. > > >> 73! Mike AF5AT > > >> > > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > > >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > >> wrote: > > >> > > >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand > that > > >> the > > >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal > takes > > >> the > > >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is > > the > > >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and > > >> into > > >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone > took > > >> over > > >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high > > power > > >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I > > don't > > >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the > > >> person is > > >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with > > >> someone is > > >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that > if > > >> one > > >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that > > >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There > are > > >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation > > and > > >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > > >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone > > has > > >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham > was > > >> an > > >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. > > So, > > >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the > > power > > >> to > > >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It > is > > >> like > > >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I > > >> guess > > >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > > >> > > > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather > > >> turns > > >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. > Brad > > >> > KC9UQR > > >> > _______________________________________________ > > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > >> > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > >> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From af5at.radio at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 20:07:22 2020 From: af5at.radio at gmail.com (Mike Wilhelm) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:07:22 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Thanks Glenn, Isaac ! I appreciate the help. On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 1:52 PM Isaac C wrote: > Mike, > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got my > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > I connected with W0NBC. > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone else. > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It probably > shows. > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > Best luck. > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dBUNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try and >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we could >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. I >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any examples of >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to a >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had many >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a bird. >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy anyone >> by being the slowpoke. >> 73! Mike AF5AT >> >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> >> wrote: >> >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand that >> the >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal takes >> the >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is the >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and >> into >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone took >> over >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high power >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I don't >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the >> person is >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with >> someone is >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that if >> one >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There are >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation and >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone has >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham was >> an >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. So, >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the power >> to >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It is >> like >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I >> guess >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. >> > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather >> turns >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. Brad >> > KC9UQR >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From af5at.radio at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 20:09:40 2020 From: af5at.radio at gmail.com (Mike Wilhelm) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:09:40 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Sorry I missed a lot of your replies. Many thanks to all ! On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:07 PM Mike Wilhelm wrote: > Thanks Glenn, Isaac ! I appreciate the help. > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 1:52 PM Isaac C wrote: > >> Mike, >> I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. >> I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got my >> first QSO/QSL on March 12. >> I connected with W0NBC. >> After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone else. >> I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It probably >> shows. >> My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. >> >> Best luck. >> >> >> https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dBUNl/view?usp=drivesdk >> >> >> On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >> >>> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try and >>> get on a bird. Life is too busy... >>> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we could >>> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. I >>> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any examples >>> of >>> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to a >>> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is >>> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had >>> many >>> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a bird. >>> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy >>> anyone >>> by being the slowpoke. >>> 73! Mike AF5AT >>> >>> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < >>> amsat-bb at amsat.org> >>> wrote: >>> >>> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand that >>> the >>> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal takes >>> the >>> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is the >>> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and >>> into >>> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone took >>> over >>> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high >>> power >>> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I >>> don't >>> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the >>> person is >>> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with >>> someone is >>> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that if >>> one >>> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that >>> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There are >>> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation and >>> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to >>> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone has >>> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham was >>> an >>> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. So, >>> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the >>> power to >>> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It is >>> like >>> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I >>> guess >>> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. >>> > >>> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather >>> turns >>> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. Brad >>> > KC9UQR >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >>> >> From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 20:32:45 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:32:45 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] QRP Days for FM Birds? Message-ID: Why Not? I remember in "the old days" of Sat ops we used to have exactly that. A 24 hour period where EIRP was limited. It was once a week on the same day. It started UTC 0000 and ran for 24 hours. Then the normal free-for-all resumed. People, in those days, had enough self-respect and restraint to actually observe the QRP Day. It was the "honor" system. But it did allow a lot of marginally equipped stations to make a lot of satellite qsos. Even as recently as two years ago, I can remember standing next to my EggBeaters (7' off the ground), with a piece of coax going from my 5W H/T to the duplexer and up to the eggbeaters. I was able to make a qso then. Now, in most cases, it would be futile. I don't know if something like this could be organized for the FM birds, but if so, *it would need backing and publicizing by AMSAT*. It would be wonderful to hear people easily using the bird for even a few hours running nothing but an HT at 2.5 watts output and a hand held Arrow (or the equivalent of that say 10 watts to a simple 1/4w vertical) If we assume the handheld yagis have 10 dBi gain on 70cm, then the EIRP would be 25 watts. For home stations, the same idea. No more than 25 watts Effective Radiated Power (RF Output + Antenna Gain - Feedline Loss) A simple 1/4 wave vertical might be 2 dBi, so 10w would be in the ballpark. The goal would be to keep uplink power limited to 25 watts effective radiated power. QRP day could be a celebration of sorts, if it became popular ...there would be a sort of peer prestige thing take place, as opposed to worshiping the mighty grid. A grass roots approach won't work. It has to be led by people with some standing and credibility, and for AO-91 and AO-92 it would have to be AMSAT. It would require some real effort on their part, not just a by-line in the weekly news. Once it took hold, some self policing could probably keep it going. Just and idea for the FM birds. It might be fun. It might give more rovers and portable Ops a chance. The linear birds don't need it, as the strength of the user downlink signal is to be kept to no stronger than the CW beacon and we can easily identify the offenders. 73, N0AN Hasan From mchambers at showmeham.info Thu Mar 19 19:50:40 2020 From: mchambers at showmeham.info (Matthew Chambers) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:50:40 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: This is not just a problem for hams on satellites but hams on local repeaters passing emergency traffic and unfortunately also an infested problem in my 911 dispatch. I wish I knew how to slow people down. I tell people to listen to the Missouri Highway Patrol dispatch and try to sound like them, it sometimes works, usually not as well as i'd like. Matthew Chambers, CBT, NR0Q Owner/Engineer *M Chambers Communications Engineering LLC* PO BOX 855, Moberly, MO 65270 Mobile (660)415-5620 www.mchambersradio.com On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 2:43 PM John Kludt via AMSAT-BB wrote: > All, > > There is another practice that I have not seen addressed here that makes > thing really tough - talking way too fast. I understand the reason but > fast talking just leads to the request for repeats which means more traffic > and/or busted Q's. So in addition to turn down the power how about > talking just a little slowly and more clearly? > > Just a suggestion. > > John K4SQC > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:03 PM Isaac C via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > ps -. it was SO-50, pass 11:58 local time, Mar 12. > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Isaac C wrote: > > > > > Mike, > > > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > > > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got my > > > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > > > I connected with W0NBC. > > > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone > else. > > > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It > probably > > > shows. > > > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > > > > > Best luck. > > > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dB > > > UNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > wrote: > > > > > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try > and > > >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... > > >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we > could > > >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad operating. > > I > > >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any > examples > > of > > >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them to > a > > >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this is > > >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't had > > many > > >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a > bird. > > >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy > > anyone > > >> by being the slowpoke. > > >> 73! Mike AF5AT > > >> > > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > > >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > >> wrote: > > >> > > >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand > that > > >> the > > >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal > takes > > >> the > > >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" is > > the > > >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out and > > >> into > > >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone > took > > >> over > > >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high > > power > > >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I > > don't > > >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the > > >> person is > > >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with > > >> someone is > > >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that > if > > >> one > > >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but that > > >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There > are > > >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite operation > > and > > >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > > >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not everyone > > has > > >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham > was > > >> an > > >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better operator. > > So, > > >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the > > power > > >> to > > >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It > is > > >> like > > >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they want. I > > >> guess > > >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > > >> > > > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the weather > > >> turns > > >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. > Brad > > >> > KC9UQR > > >> > _______________________________________________ > > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > >> > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > >> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From mchambers at showmeham.info Thu Mar 19 20:00:57 2020 From: mchambers at showmeham.info (Matthew Chambers) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:00:57 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: And using standardized phonetics is even better, I hear on HF all the time calls that sound like "Zanzibar Portugal Derkaderkastan" Matthew Chambers, CBT, NR0Q Owner/Engineer *M Chambers Communications Engineering LLC* PO BOX 855, Moberly, MO 65270 Mobile (660)415-5620 www.mchambersradio.com On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 2:56 PM John Geiger via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Using phonetics can really help also, especially if you have letters that > sound alike in your call, such as T and D. > > 73 John W5TD > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 2:40 PM John Kludt via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > All, > > > > There is another practice that I have not seen addressed here that makes > > thing really tough - talking way too fast. I understand the reason but > > fast talking just leads to the request for repeats which means more > traffic > > and/or busted Q's. So in addition to turn down the power how about > > talking just a little slowly and more clearly? > > > > Just a suggestion. > > > > John K4SQC > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:03 PM Isaac C via AMSAT-BB > > > wrote: > > > > > ps -. it was SO-50, pass 11:58 local time, Mar 12. > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Isaac C wrote: > > > > > > > Mike, > > > > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > > > > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got > my > > > > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > > > > I connected with W0NBC. > > > > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone > > else. > > > > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It > > probably > > > > shows. > > > > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > > > > > > > Best luck. > > > > > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dB > > > > UNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB < > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try > > and > > > >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... > > > >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we > > could > > > >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad > operating. > > > I > > > >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any > > examples > > > of > > > >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them > to > > a > > > >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this > is > > > >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't > had > > > many > > > >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a > > bird. > > > >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy > > > anyone > > > >> by being the slowpoke. > > > >> 73! Mike AF5AT > > > >> > > > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > > > >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > >> wrote: > > > >> > > > >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand > > that > > > >> the > > > >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal > > takes > > > >> the > > > >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" > is > > > the > > > >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out > and > > > >> into > > > >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone > > took > > > >> over > > > >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high > > > power > > > >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I > > > don't > > > >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the > > > >> person is > > > >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with > > > >> someone is > > > >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that > > if > > > >> one > > > >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but > that > > > >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There > > are > > > >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite > operation > > > and > > > >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > > > >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not > everyone > > > has > > > >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham > > was > > > >> an > > > >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better > operator. > > > So, > > > >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the > > > power > > > >> to > > > >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It > > is > > > >> like > > > >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they > want. I > > > >> guess > > > >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > > > >> > > > > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the > weather > > > >> turns > > > >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. > > Brad > > > >> > KC9UQR > > > >> > _______________________________________________ > > > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > >> > > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > >> > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From ki7unj at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 21:12:07 2020 From: ki7unj at gmail.com (KI7UNJ Tucker) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:12:07 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Another "TIP" for the operator(s) who seem to be unable/refuse to say the callsign they want to work. Screaming out "gridline station" or "roving station" then your call trying to get them over and over.. is annoying. As another op said to them once on the air "you want my gird say my call" On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:54 PM John Geiger via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Using phonetics can really help also, especially if you have letters that > sound alike in your call, such as T and D. > > 73 John W5TD > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 2:40 PM John Kludt via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > All, > > > > There is another practice that I have not seen addressed here that makes > > thing really tough - talking way too fast. I understand the reason but > > fast talking just leads to the request for repeats which means more > traffic > > and/or busted Q's. So in addition to turn down the power how about > > talking just a little slowly and more clearly? > > > > Just a suggestion. > > > > John K4SQC > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:03 PM Isaac C via AMSAT-BB > > > wrote: > > > > > ps -. it was SO-50, pass 11:58 local time, Mar 12. > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Isaac C wrote: > > > > > > > Mike, > > > > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > > > > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just got > my > > > > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > > > > I connected with W0NBC. > > > > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone > > else. > > > > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It > > probably > > > > shows. > > > > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > > > > > > > Best luck. > > > > > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dB > > > > UNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB < > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to try > > and > > > >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... > > > >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we > > could > > > >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad > operating. > > > I > > > >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any > > examples > > > of > > > >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them > to > > a > > > >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this > is > > > >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't > had > > > many > > > >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a > > bird. > > > >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to annoy > > > anyone > > > >> by being the slowpoke. > > > >> 73! Mike AF5AT > > > >> > > > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > > > >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > >> wrote: > > > >> > > > >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I understand > > that > > > >> the > > > >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal > > takes > > > >> the > > > >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" > is > > > the > > > >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out > and > > > >> into > > > >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone > > took > > > >> over > > > >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was high > > > power > > > >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. But, I > > > don't > > > >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that the > > > >> person is > > > >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with > > > >> someone is > > > >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be that > > if > > > >> one > > > >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but > that > > > >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. There > > are > > > >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite > operation > > > and > > > >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > > > >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not > everyone > > > has > > > >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one ham > > was > > > >> an > > > >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better > operator. > > > So, > > > >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up the > > > power > > > >> to > > > >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. It > > is > > > >> like > > > >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they > want. I > > > >> guess > > > >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > > > >> > > > > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the > weather > > > >> turns > > > >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss FO-29. > > Brad > > > >> > KC9UQR > > > >> > _______________________________________________ > > > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > >> > > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > >> > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- *Casey Tucker KI7UNJ* From mchambers at showmeham.info Thu Mar 19 21:42:06 2020 From: mchambers at showmeham.info (Matthew Chambers) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 16:42:06 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] QRP Days for FM Birds? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I second this idea and would love to have a day I could get in with my mobile setup since I don't have an arrow yet. I would love to try to get in with my FT8900 at 5 or 10w with 2m and a 70cm 1/4 whips on the roof of my car. Matthew Chambers, CBT, NR0Q Owner/Engineer *M Chambers Communications Engineering LLC* PO BOX 855, Moberly, MO 65270 Mobile (660)415-5620 www.mchambersradio.com On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:54 PM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Why Not? > > I remember in "the old days" of Sat ops we used to have exactly that. A 24 > hour period where EIRP was limited. > It was once a week on the same day. It started UTC 0000 and ran for 24 > hours. Then the normal free-for-all resumed. People, in those days, had > enough self-respect and restraint to actually observe the QRP Day. > > It was the "honor" system. But it did allow a lot of marginally equipped > stations to make a lot of satellite qsos. Even as recently as two years > ago, I can remember standing next to my EggBeaters (7' off the ground), > with a piece of coax going from my 5W H/T to the duplexer and up to the > eggbeaters. I was able to make a qso then. Now, in most cases, it would be > futile. > > I don't know if something like this could be organized for the FM birds, > but if so, *it would need backing and publicizing by AMSAT*. > > It would be wonderful to hear people easily using the bird for even a few > hours running nothing but an HT at 2.5 watts output and a hand held Arrow > (or the equivalent of that say 10 watts to a simple 1/4w vertical) > > If we assume the handheld yagis have 10 dBi gain on 70cm, then the EIRP > would be 25 watts. > > For home stations, the same idea. No more than 25 watts Effective Radiated > Power (RF Output + Antenna Gain - Feedline Loss) > > A simple 1/4 wave vertical might be 2 dBi, so 10w would be in the ballpark. > > The goal would be to keep uplink power limited to 25 watts effective > radiated power. > > QRP day could be a celebration of sorts, if it became popular ...there > would be a sort of peer prestige thing take place, as opposed to worshiping > the mighty grid. > > A grass roots approach won't work. It has to be led by people with some > standing and credibility, and for AO-91 and AO-92 it would have to be > AMSAT. It would require some real effort on their part, not just a by-line > in the weekly news. > > Once it took hold, some self policing could probably keep it going. > > Just and idea for the FM birds. It might be fun. It might give more rovers > and portable Ops a chance. > > The linear birds don't need it, as the strength of the user downlink signal > is to be kept to no stronger than the CW beacon and we can easily identify > the offenders. > 73, N0AN > Hasan > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From penguin359 at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 21:46:52 2020 From: penguin359 at gmail.com (Loren M. Lang) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:46:52 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: One thing I recommend for better operating practice is buying a quality-brand radio with a good receive sensitivity. I started my first couple years doing satellites with a Baofeng and just upgraded my antenna to an Arrow II Leo Satellite antenna thinking that would be enough. Yes, I made a few successful QSOs. It was a bit difficult, but they were even confirmed on LoTW. Now that I've have a chance to see side-by-side performance of that with my Yaesu, I realize I probably could not hear much of what was going on and was probably stepping on people I couldn't hear during the lower parts of the pass. I'd now strongly recommend anyone find a cheap (as in features, not quality), used, dual-band Japanese radio over wasting time with a cheap (as in quality) Chinese radio. I've seen them sold for as little as $70 on GigaParts and it will probably do you better even using it's whip antenna over a Baofeng with a good Yagi. I have made several, easy QSOs using my current Yaesu FT-3DR during a less crowded period where I was talking back an forth with someone for about a minute on a 50 degree pass. No one else but us were on. I could hear him easily with just a cheap $15 whip antenna I got on Amazon. The receiver in that radio is just not on the same order of magnitude as a Baofeng and I apologize for anyone I stepped on trying to use that Chinese radio. Another interesting comparison was when I used a cheap $25 RTL-SDR dongle with my phone as my ears on 70cm and used my Baofeng with just a whip. I didn't hear much on the Baofeng, but I was able to use SDRTouch on Android to record the pass and operate in full-duplex with my Baofeng. That's when I realized that that cheap HT had plenty of transmit power to make it into the satellite, but the hard part was all about the receive. The SDR, being software-based, has a small amount of latency, but I could stop talking pretty quick when I realized someone else was on. I have a variety of recordings of my experiences if someone is interested in hearing what can be done with a simple and cheap setup. My final thoughts on this would be to point out the power levels and signal strengths involved. While my HTs can transmit around 4-5 watts, most satellites are much weaker. I believe AO-91 is 100 mW only? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. The ISS is a strong satellite at 5 watts, I believe. Some satellites send CW at only 10 mW, but I can still hear them on my RTL-SDR. It's really about having a good receiver so you can hear what is going on. Transmitters are easy to make, but a good receiver is hard. - Loren K7IW On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 2:21 PM KI7UNJ Tucker via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Another "TIP" for the operator(s) who seem to be unable/refuse to say > the callsign they want to work. Screaming out "gridline station" or "roving > station" then your call trying to get them over and over.. is annoying. > > As another op said to them once on the air "you want my gird say my call" > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:54 PM John Geiger via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > Using phonetics can really help also, especially if you have letters that > > sound alike in your call, such as T and D. > > > > 73 John W5TD > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 2:40 PM John Kludt via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > > > All, > > > > > > There is another practice that I have not seen addressed here that > makes > > > thing really tough - talking way too fast. I understand the reason but > > > fast talking just leads to the request for repeats which means more > > traffic > > > and/or busted Q's. So in addition to turn down the power how about > > > talking just a little slowly and more clearly? > > > > > > Just a suggestion. > > > > > > John K4SQC > > > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:03 PM Isaac C via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > ps -. it was SO-50, pass 11:58 local time, Mar 12. > > > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Isaac C > wrote: > > > > > > > > > Mike, > > > > > I am Isaac, W4ITC, grid FM14. > > > > > I am maybe two weeks ahead of you in the newbie category. I just > got > > my > > > > > first QSO/QSL on March 12. > > > > > I connected with W0NBC. > > > > > After me, you can hear WB3CSY do an expert connection with someone > > > else. > > > > > I listened to many passed before I was brave enough to talk. It > > > probably > > > > > shows. > > > > > My rig is qty 2 Baofengs @ 5w with a WA5VJB home-made antenna. > > > > > > > > > > Best luck. > > > > > > > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YSF3hL6NBtRMkcw3gDcx8VURQ3dB > > > > > UNl/view?usp=drivesdk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Mike Wilhelm via AMSAT-BB < > > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > >> I've been collecting equipment and waiting for the right time to > try > > > and > > > > >> get on a bird. Life is too busy... > > > > >> Anyway, it might be helpful if there were a few audio examples we > > > could > > > > >> pass on to newbies and uninformed operators of good and bad > > operating. > > > > I > > > > >> would recommend beeping out any parts of the call sign for any > > > examples > > > > of > > > > >> poor operation. I'd sure like to hear them. Maybe even post them > > to > > > a > > > > >> section on the AMSAT page covering operating? I apologize if this > > is > > > > >> already out there...back to that too busy thing again. I haven't > > had > > > > many > > > > >> opportunities to take my FT-470 outside with my Arrow and chase a > > > bird. > > > > >> The QSOs I've heard seem like they go so fast and I'd hate to > annoy > > > > anyone > > > > >> by being the slowpoke. > > > > >> 73! Mike AF5AT > > > > >> > > > > >> On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 12:52 PM Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB < > > > > >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > > >> wrote: > > > > >> > > > > >> > I am a minimalist because I want to be a minimalist. I > understand > > > that > > > > >> the > > > > >> > FM bird is nothing more than a repeater and the strongest signal > > > takes > > > > >> the > > > > >> > bird, even if someone else is talking. "Someone else is talking" > > is > > > > the > > > > >> > rude part. Last weekend, I was chasing a rover and got "KC9" out > > and > > > > >> into > > > > >> > the bird (I work full duplux, so know that I was in) and someone > > > took > > > > >> over > > > > >> > by stepping on me. Luckily, I got him anyway, but someone was > high > > > > power > > > > >> > and more important than me. That's the way contesters work. > But, I > > > > don't > > > > >> > want to plaster someone's call on the board. I just hope that > the > > > > >> person is > > > > >> > a member and thinks about it. Getting into a peeing contest with > > > > >> someone is > > > > >> > not beneficial to anybody, including the hobby. It used to be > that > > > if > > > > >> one > > > > >> > said "handheld" or "portable" guys would give them a break, but > > that > > > > >> > doesn't happen anymore. The birds are too crowded for that. > There > > > are > > > > >> > several people in my ham clubs that want to try satellite > > operation > > > > and > > > > >> > myself and my friend Rick (WA9JBQ) loves to > > > > >> > mentor them and teach them the proper way to operate. Not > > everyone > > > > has > > > > >> > this benefit. I don't know what the answer is. Last Spring one > ham > > > was > > > > >> an > > > > >> > extremely poor operator on the birds, but is now a better > > operator. > > > > So, > > > > >> > something works. But there is always the tendency to crank up > the > > > > power > > > > >> to > > > > >> > get the station that you want, if you have the power available. > It > > > is > > > > >> like > > > > >> > guys who I know that run 1,500 watts on FT8 to get what they > > want. I > > > > >> guess > > > > >> > it is going to happen and we have to live with that fact. > > > > >> > > > > > >> > As soon as I solve my equipment problem with my 847 and the > > weather > > > > >> turns > > > > >> > warmer, I will be back on the linear birds. I sure do miss > FO-29. > > > Brad > > > > >> > KC9UQR > > > > >> > _______________________________________________ > > > > >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > >> > > > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > >> > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > -- > *Casey Tucker KI7UNJ* > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From skristof at etczone.com Thu Mar 19 21:49:49 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 17:49:49 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I agree that screaming anything over and over again would be improper procedure.? However, given the nature of satellite work, a person can't always get the full call from the last downlink. I don't see why substituting some identifying grid or partial call is an issue as long as it's part of the normal call process. How is "W7 station from alpha india nine india november" worse than a regular call? "You want my grid say my call" sounds annoying to me. Steve AI9IN ? ----- Original Message ----- From: KI7UNJ Tucker via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) Date: 03/19/20 17:21 To: John Geiger (af5cc2 at gmail.com) Cc: AMSAT BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators Another "TIP" for the operator(s) who seem to be unable/refuse to say the callsign they want to work. Screaming out "gridline station" or "roving station" then your call trying to get them over and over.. is annoying. As another op said to them once on the air "you want my gird say my call" From ki7unj at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 22:23:52 2020 From: ki7unj at gmail.com (KI7UNJ Tucker) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:23:52 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Steve, The issue is that the "roving" station has 1) Said call over and over multiple times on other QSO's 2) Every other op is saying the correct call....So another chance to hear it. There is no issue with doing this on occasion, heck done it myself! If you didn't hear the call or missed part of it. (just not on every dang pass because you lack situational awareness). 99 times out of a 100 if the op would just shut mouth open ears for 30 seconds they would hear the call and be able to complete a proper QSO. On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:16 PM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > I agree that screaming anything over and over again would be improper > procedure. > > However, given the nature of satellite work, a person can't always get the > full call from the last downlink. I don't see why substituting some > identifying grid or partial call is an issue as long as it's part of the > normal call process. How is "W7 station from alpha india nine india > november" worse than a regular call? > > "You want my grid say my call" sounds annoying to me. > > Steve AI9IN > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: KI7UNJ Tucker via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) > Date: 03/19/20 17:21 > To: John Geiger (af5cc2 at gmail.com) > Cc: AMSAT BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators > > Another "TIP" for the operator(s) who seem to be unable/refuse to say > the callsign they want to work. Screaming out "gridline station" or "roving > station" then your call trying to get them over and over.. is annoying. > > As another op said to them once on the air "you want my gird say my call" > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- *Casey Tucker KI7UNJ* From corlissbs at aol.com Thu Mar 19 22:31:24 2020 From: corlissbs at aol.com (Brad Smith) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 22:31:24 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Opertors References: <218600954.1152757.1584657084176.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <218600954.1152757.1584657084176@mail.yahoo.com> < As another op said to them once on the air "you want my gird say my call" > Casey, sometimes we can't get the call when we are standing there doing three things. If I know the rover's call, I say it. Otherwise "Gridline station, KC9UQR" is what I say. It's that or loose the opportunity all together. You have to consider the equipment that people have and the noisyness of the bird and the fact that we are lucky to get in at all. This having been said, a lot of satellite hams have been very accommodating with people getting cut off, or stepped on while talking to them. When that happens and I email them, most will say that they heard me and we have a contact. (The QSL was cut off for instance.) That is very appreciated by us portable guys. Some will still say that there was no QSL and therefore no contact. Times have changed, guys. I love being portable and handheld, even with it's limitations. Thank you for roving and consideration. It is greatly appreciated. Brad KC9UQR From vlfiscus at mcn.net Thu Mar 19 23:12:24 2020 From: vlfiscus at mcn.net (Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 16:12:24 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5.2.1.1.2.20200319161019.00c5b3e8@pop.earthlink.net> Whenever I want to remember what CB radio sounded like, I just wait for an FM bird to pass over. KB7ADL From nna6us at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 22:41:55 2020 From: nna6us at gmail.com (Dwayne Sinclair) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:41:55 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Slack Channel for Pass Management / Elmer / Kooks In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: How about we establish an official AMSAT Slack channel for satellite pass management? NetLogger is a great tool for managing nets but since passes are reatime, Slack may be more appropriate? I?m open to any other tool but some coordination may help us address the concerns that are being raised. Regards Dwayne NA6US From tnetcenter at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 22:50:06 2020 From: tnetcenter at gmail.com (Jeff Moore) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:50:06 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> <5.2.1.1.2.20200319161019.00c5b3e8@pop.earthlink.net> Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Jeff Moore Date: Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:48 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators To: Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:36 PM Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > Whenever I want to remember what CB radio sounded > like, I just wait for an FM bird to pass over. > > KB7ADL > > That's real helpful! Jeff Moore -- KE7ACY CN94 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From skristof at etczone.com Thu Mar 19 22:59:44 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 18:59:44 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: <5.2.1.1.2.20200319161019.00c5b3e8@pop.earthlink.net> References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> <5.2.1.1.2.20200319161019.00c5b3e8@pop.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <54caf0b5280ca413f8cf4f8a16565a3a@etczone.com> Perhaps I'm not on often enough, but I have yet to hear anyone say "Good buddy" on an FM satellite. Steve AI9IN ? ----- Original Message ----- From: Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) Date: 03/19/20 18:36 To: Amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators Whenever I want to remember what CB radio sounded like, I just wait for an FM bird to pass over. KB7ADL _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From penguin359 at gmail.com Thu Mar 19 23:16:25 2020 From: penguin359 at gmail.com (Loren M. Lang) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 16:16:25 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: While I am not good about remembering whole callsigns all the time, I am usually good about remembering whether I heard everything I needed or not. For all my satellite QSOs, I start a voice recorder on my phone, if not on my radio itself. When I try to make a QSO, I try to say something unique for this pass if not their full callsign. Usually it's their suffix like ABC or grid square followed by "this is kilo seven india whiskey CN85 QSL?" I have found this works well and hope that this is considered a reasonable practice. One the pass is over, I can play it back and write down the details which a high degree of accuracy and LoTW matching success. Also, one more thing on phonetics. I normally have tried to stick with the standard ones, but I have found that India is often misunderstood and requires a correction. I have found that using Italy is a little sharper and more likely to be properly understood and reduce the time needed for a correction. However, if this is not reality, I will use India instead. My goal is not to sound clever, but to increase clarity as much as possible. - Loren K7IW On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 3:16 PM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > I agree that screaming anything over and over again would be improper > procedure. > > However, given the nature of satellite work, a person can't always get the > full call from the last downlink. I don't see why substituting some > identifying grid or partial call is an issue as long as it's part of the > normal call process. How is "W7 station from alpha india nine india > november" worse than a regular call? > > "You want my grid say my call" sounds annoying to me. > > Steve AI9IN > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: KI7UNJ Tucker via AMSAT-BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) > Date: 03/19/20 17:21 > To: John Geiger (af5cc2 at gmail.com) > Cc: AMSAT BB (amsat-bb at amsat.org) > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators > > Another "TIP" for the operator(s) who seem to be unable/refuse to say > the callsign they want to work. Screaming out "gridline station" or "roving > station" then your call trying to get them over and over.. is annoying. > > As another op said to them once on the air "you want my gird say my call" > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From skristof at etczone.com Fri Mar 20 00:10:36 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 20:10:36 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-44? Message-ID: <0f92fa2889f3e2856e558ea807719c10@etczone.com> Does NO-44 (PCSat?) have any kind of functionality still? I don't see it listed in the "Current Status" listings. Steve AI9IN ? From scott23192 at gmail.com Fri Mar 20 01:11:29 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 21:11:29 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-44? In-Reply-To: <0f92fa2889f3e2856e558ea807719c10@etczone.com> References: <0f92fa2889f3e2856e558ea807719c10@etczone.com> Message-ID: Hey Steve! It does show up on FINDU.com with a few beacons and even fewer digipeats: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/pcsat.cgi?absolute=1 ... but just a few days ago, I see that KC9ELU managed to work through it - quite a feat!! 20200314222820 : KC9ELU]CQ,W3ADO-1*,qAR,W0ARP-15::EMAIL :kc9elu at gmail.com Pse email if this is received - TNX - 73 20200314222731 : KC9ELU]CQ,W3ADO-1*,qAR,W0ARP-15:=3923.35N/08524.17W` CQ via PCSAT-1 from Mike in SE Indiana EM79 20200314222647 : W3ADO-1]BEACON,SGATE,qAO,N6BA-10:T#010,082,066,069,101,215,11111111,0001,1 20200314181823 : W3ADO-1]BEACON,SGATE,qAR,VK5ATN-3:T#001,034,127,059,057,215,11111111,0000,1 ... however, I have not had any luck with it myself in recent history. Probably should try some high passes now that all the other 2m APRS sats have stopped digipeating for the moment. -Scott, K4KDR ============================= On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 8:11 PM Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > Does NO-44 (PCSat?) have any kind of functionality still? I don't see it > listed in the "Current Status" listings. > Steve AI9IN > From w3ab at yahoo.com Fri Mar 20 03:29:49 2020 From: w3ab at yahoo.com (W3AB/GEO) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 20:29:49 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS References: Message-ID: Just watched a 6 min flyover ?___ Sent from my two way wrist watch 73 de W3AB/GEO? From saguaroastro at cox.net Fri Mar 20 05:14:04 2020 From: saguaroastro at cox.net (saguaroastro) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 22:14:04 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-44? In-Reply-To: <0f92fa2889f3e2856e558ea807719c10@etczone.com> Message-ID: <20200320051409.D43878114@lansing182.amsat.org> It's ben a few years since I tried, but I used to get it to digipeat if I caught it early in a pass.?73Rick Tejera (K7TEJ)Saguaro Astronomy ClubWww.saguaroastro.orgThunderbird Astronomy ClubWww.w7tbc.org -------- Original message --------From: Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB Date: 3/19/20 17:11 (GMT-07:00) To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-44? Does NO-44 (PCSat?) have any kind of functionality still? I don't see it listed in the "Current Status" listings.Steve AI9IN?_______________________________________________Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum availableto all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressedare 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 From royldean at gmail.com Fri Mar 20 12:07:00 2020 From: royldean at gmail.com (Roy Dean) Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 08:07:00 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators Message-ID: > > Perhaps I'm not on often enough, but I have yet to hear anyone say "Good > buddy" on an FM satellite. > Steve AI9IN That sounds like a dare! --Roy K3RLD From tommot at pacbell.net Fri Mar 20 02:47:30 2020 From: tommot at pacbell.net (Tom (working account)) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 19:47:30 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Low performance receivers degrade satellite operating practices Message-ID: <20200320024730.D43DC85ED@lansing182.amsat.org> A strong case has been made that: A GOOD receiver is needed to hear others to avoid walking on others. Many VHF/UHF radios have poor receive sensitivity which is also poorly specified. A more expensive receiver may or may not have substantially better sensitivity. A GOOD low noise preamplifier will overcome poor receive sensitivity for almost any receiver. K6THH Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Fri Mar 20 13:29:21 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 08:29:21 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Low performance receivers degrade satellite operating practices In-Reply-To: <20200320024730.D43DC85ED@lansing182.amsat.org> References: <20200320024730.D43DC85ED@lansing182.amsat.org> Message-ID: Excellent advice and I have posted multiple times on this list how to evaluate your receiver performance using no test equipment, other than a 50 ohm resistor. 73, N0AN Hasan On Fri, Mar 20, 2020 at 8:19 AM Tom (working account) via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > A strong case has been made that: > A GOOD receiver is needed to hear others to avoid walking on others. > > Many VHF/UHF radios have poor receive sensitivity which is also poorly > specified. > A more expensive receiver may or may not have substantially better > sensitivity. > > A GOOD low noise preamplifier will overcome poor receive sensitivity for > almost any receiver. > > K6THH > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From bruninga at usna.edu Fri Mar 20 15:45:02 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 11:45:02 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-44? (can work) Message-ID: <126776b5fa4753e1621834b93a289524@mail.gmail.com> NO44, PCSAT defaults to the callsign W3ADO-1 in safe mode. And the usual APRS satellite aliases of ARISS and APRSAT are not recognized. But you can digi via its actual call W3ADO-1. We had discouraged that initially, but hey, after 19 years if you can use it, go ahead! It only works in the sun and only after about 15 minutes of charging. Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2020 8:11 PM To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] NO-44? Does NO-44 (PCSat?) have any kind of functionality still? I don't see it listed in the "Current Status" listings. Steve AI9IN _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From aj9n at aol.com Fri Mar 20 23:55:23 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 23:55:23 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC References: <1755291597.1141756.1584748523028.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1755291597.1141756.1584748523028@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-27 09:47:49 UTC 36 deg ? ? Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Possible contact on Tue 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC ? ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. (***) ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-19 15:30 UTC. Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1387. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1320. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? From documike at comcast.net Sat Mar 21 05:45:27 2020 From: documike at comcast.net (Mike Lucas) Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 22:45:27 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat-1 Xmit Power Status Message-ID: <003f01d5ff43$ee592910$cb0b7b30$@comcast.net> Am I reading the Health Data correctly that the current Xmit power is only 17mw? I haven't been able to get any frames as of late. Weeks ago the power was substantially higher if I'm not mistaken. Regards, Mike N7ASZ From nickhart at usa.net Sat Mar 21 06:09:31 2020 From: nickhart at usa.net (Nick Hart) Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 23:09:31 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Am I the lid, or was no one there? Message-ID: <644ycugif7696Set.1584770971@web07.cms.usa.net> Was just trying to work ao 92 on a 77 degree pass over cm87, San Francisco Bay Area. Nothing heard. Called 3 times, midway between the scheduled aos and the closest approach, the closest approach, and midway between the closest approach and los. Kept the power down, and the Doppler adjustments in the uhf side. Just want to be sure I?m not a bad operator. Granted, it?s late local time. Was anyone on? Was I stomping on anyone, or not getting through? From johnbrier at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 06:54:41 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 02:54:41 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Am I the lid, or was no one there? In-Reply-To: <644ycugif7696Set.1584770971@web07.cms.usa.net> References: <644ycugif7696Set.1584770971@web07.cms.usa.net> Message-ID: What call were you using? Are you talking about this pass: https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1898876/ Click the audio tab and listen and you might find out if you were QRMing. Here is another recording of the same pass but the quality isn't as good: https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1898974/ 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 2:11 AM Nick Hart via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Was just trying to work ao 92 on a 77 degree pass over cm87, San Francisco Bay > Area. Nothing heard. Called 3 times, midway between the scheduled aos and the > closest approach, the closest approach, and midway between the closest > approach and los. Kept the power down, and the Doppler adjustments in the uhf > side. Just want to be sure I?m not a bad operator. Granted, it?s late > local time. Was anyone on? Was I stomping on anyone, or not getting through? > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From marklhammond at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 07:35:32 2020 From: marklhammond at gmail.com (Mark L. Hammond) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 03:35:32 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] HuskySat-1 Xmit Power Status In-Reply-To: <003f01d5ff43$ee592910$cb0b7b30$@comcast.net> References: <003f01d5ff43$ee592910$cb0b7b30$@comcast.net> Message-ID: You?re right, Mike. It?s tough at 17mW, especially through any vegetation! But it?s there.... Mark N8MH On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 1:48 AM Mike Lucas via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Am I reading the Health Data correctly that the current Xmit power is only > 17mw? I haven't been able to get any frames as of late. Weeks ago the > power was substantially higher if I'm not mistaken. > > Regards, > > Mike N7ASZ > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] From shorenicehere at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 11:38:59 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 07:38:59 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Am I the lid, or was no one there? In-Reply-To: References: <644ycugif7696Set.1584770971@web07.cms.usa.net> Message-ID: John, I am still trying to learn and be better at this. So I went to Satnogs for the first time to listen to this pass. Almost all noise. Is Satnogs reliable? 73 W4ITC On Saturday, March 21, 2020, John Brier via AMSAT-BB wrote: > What call were you using? > > Are you talking about this pass: > > https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1898876/ > > Click the audio tab and listen and you might find out if you were QRMing. > > Here is another recording of the same pass but the quality isn't as good: > > https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1898974/ > > 73, John Brier KG4AKV > > On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 2:11 AM Nick Hart via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > > Was just trying to work ao 92 on a 77 degree pass over cm87, San > Francisco Bay > > Area. Nothing heard. Called 3 times, midway between the scheduled aos > and the > > closest approach, the closest approach, and midway between the closest > > approach and los. Kept the power down, and the Doppler adjustments in > the uhf > > side. Just want to be sure I?m not a bad operator. Granted, it?s late > > local time. Was anyone on? Was I stomping on anyone, or not getting > through? > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wizardofzid at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 15:09:06 2020 From: wizardofzid at gmail.com (Russ Kinner) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 08:09:06 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Am I the Lid.... Message-ID: I'm in DM33 and have had similar passes on the last one for the night. Typically, in a S to N pass, activity picks up late in the pass but not always. There have been passed where I've talked to another Phoenix station for 2 min. and no one else chimed in. I always thought it was due to being near XE land and not many stations being on from there but it just might be that it's late. In a town the size of Phoenix and the rest of the valley, I only have heard 15 or so unique calls on FM and several are snowbirds so they are preparing to head north. Having said that, LA is huge and they almost always have a few on every pass. I did have one time where a linear bird was up as well and that split the regulars up. I'm any case, if you can get full duplex operational, you can be sure you're getting in. Rusty, WA8ZID From k5bcn at windstream.net Sat Mar 21 15:44:10 2020 From: k5bcn at windstream.net (Coy Johnson) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 10:44:10 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds Message-ID: Hello: My name is Coy, and my call is K5BCN EM34. I have talked to many of you on the SSB Birds, and you know what a time I?m having staying on frequency. I need to talk to someone who is using a Icom 9700 on the SSB Birds. I have coped setups off of Youtube, and other sites , but still have problems. Any help would be helpful. I just started working the Birds about 2 mouths ago. Thanks for your time. Coy K5BCN EM34 From kb2mjeff at att.net Sat Mar 21 16:35:53 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 12:35:53 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <047501d5ff9e$cac82e50$60588af0$@att.net> I send a private email to Coy with my cell number, to offer him over the phone help. As we are sheltering in place now is a good time if you want any help from me with SatPC32, with a 9700, or most any other radio... 73 Jeff kb2m -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Coy Johnson via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 11:44 To: AMSAT-BB at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds Hello: My name is Coy, and my call is K5BCN EM34. I have talked to many of you on the SSB Birds, and you know what a time I?m having staying on frequency. I need to talk to someone who is using a Icom 9700 on the SSB Birds. I have coped setups off of Youtube, and other sites , but still have problems. Any help would be helpful. I just started working the Birds about 2 mouths ago. Thanks for your time. Coy K5BCN EM34 _______________________________________________ From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 16:41:46 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 11:41:46 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds In-Reply-To: <047501d5ff9e$cac82e50$60588af0$@att.net> References: <047501d5ff9e$cac82e50$60588af0$@att.net> Message-ID: Thanks Jeff, we need to get Coy helped out and you are just the guy to do it! See ya on the birds, 73, N0AN Hasan On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 11:38 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I send a private email to Coy with my cell number, to offer him over the > phone help. As we are sheltering in place now is a good time if you want > any help from me with SatPC32, with a 9700, or most any other radio... > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > -----Original Message----- > From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Coy Johnson via > AMSAT-BB > Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 11:44 > To: AMSAT-BB at amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds > > Hello: My name is Coy, and my call is K5BCN EM34. > I have talked to many of you on the SSB Birds, and you know what a time > I?m having staying on frequency. > I need to talk to someone who is using a Icom 9700 on the SSB Birds. > I have coped setups off of Youtube, and other sites , but still have > problems. > Any help would be helpful. > I just started working the Birds about 2 mouths ago. > Thanks for your time. > Coy K5BCN EM34 > _______________________________________________ > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From rwyrwas48 at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 16:45:45 2020 From: rwyrwas48 at gmail.com (Rick Wyrwas) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 11:45:45 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds In-Reply-To: References: <047501d5ff9e$cac82e50$60588af0$@att.net> Message-ID: That?s what I like about this community of hams. A helping hand God Bless Rick WA9JBQ On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 11:44 AM Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Thanks Jeff, we need to get Coy helped out and you are just the guy to do > it! > See ya on the birds, 73, N0AN > Hasan > > > On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 11:38 AM Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > I send a private email to Coy with my cell number, to offer him over the > > phone help. As we are sheltering in place now is a good time if you want > > any help from me with SatPC32, with a 9700, or most any other radio... > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Coy Johnson via > > AMSAT-BB > > Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 11:44 > > To: AMSAT-BB at amsat.org > > Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds > > > > Hello: My name is Coy, and my call is K5BCN EM34. > > I have talked to many of you on the SSB Birds, and you know what a time > > I?m having staying on frequency. > > I need to talk to someone who is using a Icom 9700 on the SSB Birds. > > I have coped setups off of Youtube, and other sites , but still have > > problems. > > Any help would be helpful. > > I just started working the Birds about 2 mouths ago. > > Thanks for your time. > > Coy K5BCN EM34 > > _______________________________________________ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Rick Wyrwas From johnbrier at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 16:57:35 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 12:57:35 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Am I the lid, or was no one there? In-Reply-To: References: <644ycugif7696Set.1584770971@web07.cms.usa.net> Message-ID: There is nothing unreliable about the network itself but many SatNOGs stations use stationary antennas because it is easier to set that up for 24/7 use than a tracking antenna system. Consequently, many recordings from SatNOGs stations are mostly noise. If you find out which stations have tracking systems their recordings are generally better. 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sat, Mar 21, 2020, 07:39 Isaac C wrote: > John, > I am still trying to learn and be better at this. So I went to Satnogs for > the first time to listen to this pass. Almost all noise. > Is Satnogs reliable? > 73 > W4ITC > > On Saturday, March 21, 2020, John Brier via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> What call were you using? >> >> Are you talking about this pass: >> >> https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1898876/ >> >> Click the audio tab and listen and you might find out if you were QRMing. >> >> Here is another recording of the same pass but the quality isn't as good: >> >> https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1898974/ >> >> 73, John Brier KG4AKV >> >> On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 2:11 AM Nick Hart via AMSAT-BB >> wrote: >> > >> > Was just trying to work ao 92 on a 77 degree pass over cm87, San >> Francisco Bay >> > Area. Nothing heard. Called 3 times, midway between the scheduled aos >> and the >> > closest approach, the closest approach, and midway between the closest >> > approach and los. Kept the power down, and the Doppler adjustments in >> the uhf >> > side. Just want to be sure I?m not a bad operator. Granted, it?s late >> > local time. Was anyone on? Was I stomping on anyone, or not getting >> through? >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From kb2mjeff at att.net Sat Mar 21 17:14:57 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 13:14:57 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds In-Reply-To: <771181893.178903.1584809454088@mail.yahoo.com> References: <047501d5ff9e$cac82e50$60588af0$@att.net> <771181893.178903.1584809454088@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <04f301d5ffa4$3feb91e0$bfc2b5a0$@att.net> I feel it?s my duty to assist anyone to get SatPC32 and the 9700 working as I?m the one who got Erich to add the panadapter display to SatPC32. Adding some complexity to the setup. Some of you might not know, but I also worked with Dave author of DXLab to get SatPC32 to play nicely with DXLab?s DXKeeper logging program. This is now the ultimate Sat tracking and logging software package available?. 73 Jeff kb2m From: Gerald Witalec Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 12:51 To: kb2m at arrl.net Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds Hi Jeff, I've been thinking about purchasing the IC-9700 and use it with the SatPC32. It will not be until later this year, but I will need your advice in setting up the station. I want to find out how to work the Birds with that system. Will be glad to forward my phone when that time comes, but I think I will do it later this week so I can get some pre-info about the whole system if you do not mind. Thanks, Jerry...W8RQM On Saturday, March 21, 2020, 12:36:42 PM EDT, Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: I send a private email to Coy with my cell number, to offer him over the phone help. As we are sheltering in place now is a good time if you want any help from me with SatPC32, with a 9700, or most any other radio... 73 Jeff kb2m -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB > On Behalf Of Coy Johnson via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 11:44 To: AMSAT-BB at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds Hello: My name is Coy, and my call is K5BCN EM34. I have talked to many of you on the SSB Birds, and you know what a time I?m having staying on frequency. I need to talk to someone who is using a Icom 9700 on the SSB Birds. I have coped setups off of Youtube, and other sites , but still have problems. Any help would be helpful. I just started working the Birds about 2 mouths ago. Thanks for your time. Coy K5BCN EM34 From johnbrier at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 17:41:19 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 13:41:19 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds In-Reply-To: <04f301d5ffa4$3feb91e0$bfc2b5a0$@att.net> References: <047501d5ff9e$cac82e50$60588af0$@att.net> <771181893.178903.1584809454088@mail.yahoo.com> <04f301d5ffa4$3feb91e0$bfc2b5a0$@att.net> Message-ID: Thanks for that work Jeff! 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 1:17 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > I feel it?s my duty to assist anyone to get SatPC32 and the 9700 working as I?m the one who got Erich to add the panadapter display to SatPC32. Adding some complexity to the setup. Some of you might not know, but I also worked with Dave author of DXLab to get SatPC32 to play nicely with DXLab?s DXKeeper logging program. This is now the ultimate Sat tracking and logging software package available?. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Gerald Witalec > Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 12:51 > To: kb2m at arrl.net > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds > > > > Hi Jeff, > > I've been thinking about purchasing the IC-9700 and use it with the SatPC32. It will not be until later this > > year, but I will need your advice in setting up the station. I want to find out how to work the Birds with that > > system. Will be glad to forward my phone when that time comes, but I think I will do it later this week so > > I can get some pre-info about the whole system if you do not mind. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Jerry...W8RQM > > > > > > > > > > On Saturday, March 21, 2020, 12:36:42 PM EDT, Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > > > > I send a private email to Coy with my cell number, to offer him over the phone help. As we are sheltering in place now is a good time if you want any help from me with SatPC32, with a 9700, or most any other radio... > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > -----Original Message----- > From: AMSAT-BB > On Behalf Of Coy Johnson via AMSAT-BB > Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 11:44 > To: AMSAT-BB at amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds > > Hello: My name is Coy, and my call is K5BCN EM34. > I have talked to many of you on the SSB Birds, and you know what a time I?m having staying on frequency. > I need to talk to someone who is using a Icom 9700 on the SSB Birds. > I have coped setups off of Youtube, and other sites , but still have problems. > Any help would be helpful. > I just started working the Birds about 2 mouths ago. > Thanks for your time. > Coy K5BCN EM34 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From bernd1peters at gmail.com Sat Mar 21 17:48:28 2020 From: bernd1peters at gmail.com (bernd1peters at gmail.com) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 10:48:28 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds In-Reply-To: References: <047501d5ff9e$cac82e50$60588af0$@att.net> <771181893.178903.1584809454088@mail.yahoo.com> <04f301d5ffa4$3feb91e0$bfc2b5a0$@att.net> Message-ID: <299201d5ffa8$edb5c940$c9215bc0$@gmail.com> Thank Jeff, please publish your findings afterwards. 73, Bernd - KB7AK -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of John Brier via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 10:41 AM To: kb2m at arrl.net; Jeff Cc: Amsat - BBs Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds Thanks for that work Jeff! 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 1:17 PM Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > I feel it?s my duty to assist anyone to get SatPC32 and the 9700 working as I?m the one who got Erich to add the panadapter display to SatPC32. Adding some complexity to the setup. Some of you might not know, but I also worked with Dave author of DXLab to get SatPC32 to play nicely with DXLab?s DXKeeper logging program. This is now the ultimate Sat tracking and logging software package available?. > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > From: Gerald Witalec > Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 12:51 > To: kb2m at arrl.net > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds > > > > Hi Jeff, > > I've been thinking about purchasing the IC-9700 and use it with the > SatPC32. It will not be until later this > > year, but I will need your advice in setting up the station. I want to > find out how to work the Birds with that > > system. Will be glad to forward my phone when that time comes, but I > think I will do it later this week so > > I can get some pre-info about the whole system if you do not mind. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Jerry...W8RQM > > > > > > > > > > On Saturday, March 21, 2020, 12:36:42 PM EDT, Jeff via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > > > > I send a private email to Coy with my cell number, to offer him over the phone help. As we are sheltering in place now is a good time if you want any help from me with SatPC32, with a 9700, or most any other radio... > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > -----Original Message----- > From: AMSAT-BB > On Behalf Of Coy Johnson via > AMSAT-BB > Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 11:44 > To: AMSAT-BB at amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] 9700 and ssb Birds > > Hello: My name is Coy, and my call is K5BCN EM34. > I have talked to many of you on the SSB Birds, and you know what a time I?m having staying on frequency. > I need to talk to someone who is using a Icom 9700 on the SSB Birds. > I have coped setups off of Youtube, and other sites , but still have problems. > Any help would be helpful. > I just started working the Birds about 2 mouths ago. > Thanks for your time. > Coy K5BCN EM34 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From n1uw at gokarns.com Sat Mar 21 19:38:24 2020 From: n1uw at gokarns.com (Frank Karnauskas) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 12:38:24 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Talkgroup Disappeared Message-ID: <001201d5ffb8$49d07040$dd7150c0$@gokarns.com> The AMSAT TG has been silent at my end for three days now. I am connected via DMR Master 3102. Did something change? 73, Frank Frank Karnauskas, N1UW From DCFox at rwglaw.com Sat Mar 21 20:38:10 2020 From: DCFox at rwglaw.com (D. Craig Fox) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 20:38:10 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Talkgroup Disappeared In-Reply-To: <001201d5ffb8$49d07040$dd7150c0$@gokarns.com> References: <001201d5ffb8$49d07040$dd7150c0$@gokarns.com> Message-ID: <62a204718c004b83b4d3cdc5e03b7003@RWGEX1.RWG.com> Frank, the only amsat TG I am aware of is 98006. Is that the actual TG you are listening to, not sure what the issue is because there are people on it every day. 73, Craig N6RSX -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Frank Karnauskas via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 12:38 PM To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Talkgroup Disappeared The AMSAT TG has been silent at my end for three days now. I am connected via DMR Master 3102. Did something change? 73, Frank Frank Karnauskas, N1UW _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 (If this message is spam, please report it to IT Dept. Thank you.) From n1uw at gokarns.com Sat Mar 21 22:53:23 2020 From: n1uw at gokarns.com (Frank Karnauskas) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 15:53:23 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Talkgroup Disappeared In-Reply-To: <62a204718c004b83b4d3cdc5e03b7003@RWGEX1.RWG.com> References: <001201d5ffb8$49d07040$dd7150c0$@gokarns.com> <62a204718c004b83b4d3cdc5e03b7003@RWGEX1.RWG.com> Message-ID: <000f01d5ffd3$874b2990$95e17cb0$@gokarns.com> Yup, 98006 is the talkgroup. There was some shuffling around of the servers a week ago or so. That's why I was asking. I just wanted to check that the TG is active. Something is obviously broke on my end. Something to work on while stuck at home. 73, Frank Frank Karnauskas, N1UW E: n1uw at gokarns.com -----Original Message----- From: D. Craig Fox [mailto:DCFox at rwglaw.com] Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 1:38 PM To: 'N1UW at GOKARNS.COM'; amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Talkgroup Disappeared Frank, the only amsat TG I am aware of is 98006. Is that the actual TG you are listening to, not sure what the issue is because there are people on it every day. 73, Craig N6RSX -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Frank Karnauskas via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 12:38 PM To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Talkgroup Disappeared The AMSAT TG has been silent at my end for three days now. I am connected via DMR Master 3102. Did something change? 73, Frank Frank Karnauskas, N1UW _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 (If this message is spam, please report it to IT Dept. Thank you.) From Frank at GoKarns.com Sun Mar 22 00:16:10 2020 From: Frank at GoKarns.com (Frank Karnauskas) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 17:16:10 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-082 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin Message-ID: <000e01d5ffdf$1768ed40$463ac7c0$@GoKarns.com> AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-082 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat dot org. In this edition: * AMSAT President Urges Members to Renew/Donate Now * AMSAT Treasurer's Report Posted * 2020 AMSAT Academy Cancelled * IARU Announces R2 Satellite Communication Workshop 31 May 2020 * AMSAT-BR Announces QO-100 FT8 QRPp Experiment * Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for March 19, 2020 * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-082.01 ANS-082 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 082.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 22, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-082.01 AMSAT President Urges Members to Renew/Donate Now AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG has put out a call for new and renewing AMSAT members to act now and register online. Coleman says, "All things considered, cancellation of Hamvention 2020 was the right thing to do and we recognize the difficult decision that the Dayton Amateur Radio Association Executive Committee had to make. "The cancellation of Hamvention will have a dramatic effect on the well-being of many vendors and associations that serve the Amateur Radio community. AMSAT is no exception. Hamvention has always been a major fund-raising tool for both recruiting and renewing members as well as selling AMSAT branded merchandise, software, books and antennas. The loss of this important venue has the potential to adversely affect the projects that AMSAT has underway already and planned for the months and years ahead. "This is a very exciting time for Amateur Radio in Space with the new Interoperable Radio System for ARISS, the GOLF satellite program, updating member services and launching our Youth Initiative. It has been many years since we have seen this kind of excitement and interest in space communications. We would hate to lose that momentum and fall behind. "I am asking everyone to act now and join or renew their AMSAT membership NOW while it is on our minds. Your immediate willingness to act will help strengthen AMSAT and help ensure our mission of 'Keeping Amateur Radio in Space'. There are membership opportunities for everyone to consider: - Basic Membership from $44 - Student Membership from $22 - Additional Household Memberships from $22 - School and Club Memberships from $80 - QRO Membership from $80 - Lifetime Membership $880 (or only $74/mo. For twelve months)" Coleman also adds, "And, while you're at it, don't be afraid to kick in a few extra dollars with a one-time or sustaining donation to AMSAT's general operating fund. Especially appreciated are those Amateurs who can make an extra difference by contributing to the President's Club with contributions of $120 or more. Whatever you can contribute, please understand that every dollar counts. "Additionally, with Hamvention's cancellation, we lost the opportunity to personally greet and thank all of AMSAT's membership and to share our enthusiasm for the upcoming year. Watch for upcoming news on our plans and launches for 2020. We'll be talking soon." [ANS thanks Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, AMSAT President for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT Treasurer's Report Posted During the AMSAT Board of Directors meeting held March 17, 2020 Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Treasurer presented a report to the board members. Bankston said," Now that I?ve had a few months to settle into my new position as AMSAT Treasurer and spend a little time digging through the numbers, I thought it was time to share what I have found and set the record straight about some of the misinformation that is being spread about AMSAT?s financial position. " Despite rumors and misquotes of AMSAT being on an unsustainable path, let?s look at where we really are and how we are doing. - Over the past ten years (2010-2019), AMSAT has averaged a $34,357 - increase in net assets (what most people refer to as profits) per year. - Our combined revenues over expenditures (profits) for the past 5 years (2015-2019) were $110,962, which includes launching 4 amateur satellites into space, readying RadFxSat-2 (Fox-1E) and the ARISS InterOperable Radio System for flight, and getting started on GOLF and Lunar Gateway projects. - In 2019, AMSAT generated $756,256 in revenues with $617,425 in expenditures. "Year to year fluctuations are generally a result of timing differences between project fundraising efforts and when AMSAT needs to spend money. In addition, AMSAT maintains its reserves in investment accounts, which are subject to market price fluctuations and must be included in our financial statements. "2018 is a perfect example: - AMSAT authorized a $62,055 payment to NASA, which was not reimbursed until 2019. - AMSAT spent $62,397 on the initial hardware development for GOLF. - AMSAT launched two satellites in 2018, Fox-1D (AO-92) and Fox-1 Cliff (AO-95). - AMSAT had to report a $77,128 fair market value loss in investments (which was fully recovered in 2019)." Bankston adds, "Don?t get me wrong ? there is certainly room for improvement. I have already identified and started to implement cost- saving and budgetary control measures that can and will make us more efficient. As AMSAT Treasurer, it is my job to safeguard AMSAT?s resources from both fraud and waste, and I intend to do exactly that. I look forward to what more we can achieve." In his report Bankston also summarized a number of other financial matters. Membership - Membership revenues continue to rise and have increased 65.68% in just that past 5 years, all without any increase in dues rates for its members. - New memberships, renewals, life memberships, and AMSAT Store purchases for the first three months of 2020 are on track to exceed the same revenue sources for 2019. Transparency AMSAT is fully committed to financial transparency. Its financial statements and regulatory informational reports (Form 990's) are and have always been publicly available. Furthermore, to add confidence, an independent certified public accounting firm reviews AMSAT's financial statements and includes their report with our financials. AMSAT financial reports and related documents are available online at www.amsat.org/audit-and-other-financial-reports/. Solvency AMSAT is on a solid financial footing and headed in the right direction. AMSAT started this year with over $134,000 in cash and over $591,000 in investments. The level of its reserves, its ability to generate more revenues than expenses, and its ability to continue to grow its members has AMSAT fiscally positioned to accept whatever challenges and opportunities tomorrow brings. Bankston concluded his report by saying, "AMSAT does not expect to fully fund itself with membership dues. Member dues are meant to cover member services and benefits. Funding for everything else must come from other sources. "In 2019, member dues accounted for only $134,570 of AMSAT?s total revenues. The remaining $621,686 came from the kind hearts of our donors and the incredible work of our volunteers ? seeking out new revenue streams and securing grants to further support our mission. "We, at AMSAT, are keeping our promise to Keep Amateur Radio in Space and doing so in a fiscally responsible manner." This report including graphs and charts can be seen at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-treasurers-report. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Treasurer for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 AMSAT Academy Cancelled Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the 2020 Hamvention, the AMSAT Academy has also been canceled. Registrants will be notified directly with refund information. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, Vice President User Services for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ IARU Announces R2 Satellite Communication Workshop 31 May 2020 This 3-hour online workshop is an opportunity for all English speaking Radio Amateurs in IARU Region 2 and specifically the Caribbean to meet and share their experience with amateur satellite communications. No prior experience in satellite communications is required. Tentative workshop agenda will include: - How to get started in satellite communications - A practical demonstration using inexpensive and simple components (Handy and portable Antennas) - Useful tools, helpful tips, techniques and websites to find information on how to get started - Explain the different components of a ground station for more advanced users (LNA, Cross-Polarized Antennas, phased lines, coaxial loss at VHF and upper frequencies, equipment, SDR's, etc.). - Using satellite communications as a way to encourage young people to become Amateurs and generate connections and projects with local universities, college and schools in STEM programs - Attendees are all Amateurs interested in satellite communications, whether experienced or wanting to learn how to get started. Workshops General Information: - Working language will be English for both workshops. - Preference will be given to amateurs in the Caribbean. - Workshops will start at 1400 local time (AST/ET, 1800 UT). - Access will be via Zoom, an easy to use online conference tool available on a number of platforms. - Agenda and information on how to participate will be sent to registered participants in mid-May. Registration for the online workshop can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-082-IARU-Workshop [ANS thanks the IARU for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-BR Announces QO-100 FT8 QRPp Experiment AMSAT-Brazil is organizing a reverse beacon FT8 QRPp experiment/ contest via the QO-100 geostationary amateur radio transponder. The first ten spotted stations with lower SNR will receive a Certificate of Accomplishment. The dead line will be May 1, 2020. To qualify, the SNR must be lower than -18 dB (as measured by the FT8 decoder). The receiver will be active on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 UTC to 24:00 UTC and will be tuned to 10.489540 GHz with a 3.5 kHz bandwidth. All stations calling CQ will be logged. The objective for the project is to incentive low power experimentation through the QO-100 narrow band transponder. Stations participating in the experiment are welcome to send a brief description of their setup, including information about RF power output, hardware and software setups, antenna type and gain, photos, etc. to the email address py2sdr at gmail dot com. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for March 19, 2020 Ray Hoad, WA5QGD reports, "I am pleased to announce that AMSAT-NA's request to re-distribute TLE elements from Space-Track website has been approved for the period April 1,2020 to April 1, 2021. Our ODR (Orbital Data Request) to re-distribute the Space-Track TLE's was approved by Air Force 18 SPCS on February 27, 2020 (Received March 12, 2020). Thanks to Air Force 18 SPCS, Perry Klein, W3PK and Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P for their help in this yearly process. We are 'good to go' for another year." The following Amateur Radio satellites have been removed from this week's TLE distribution: EO-79 - NORAD CAT ID 40025 - Non-operational UKube-1 - NORAD CAT ID 40074 - Non-operational AO-85 - NORAD CAT ID 40967 - End of Mission [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations + River Bend Wireless Rove (EN22,EN33,EN34,EN42,EN43,EN44) April 2-4, 2020 Mitch AD0HJ is looking to add six more grids to his rover basket just before the April 4 AMSAT presentation/demonstration at the River Bend Wireless and Mechanical Society in Faribault, MN. Mitch will be activating the EN43/EN44 grid line on April 2nd, the EN32/EN42 grid line on April 3, and the EN33/EN34 grid line on April 4, 2020. Watch Mitch?s Twitter feed as the dates approach for a detailed schedule at https://twitter.com/AD0HJ. + From the Mountains to the Bay (CM88,89,98,99; DM09,19,29; DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21) April 12-21, 2020 RJ, WY7AA, is hitting the asphalt again, roving from Wyoming to Vacaville, CA. He?s attending a class from April 15-19, so most of the roving will be outside of this time. Grids to be covered include: CM88,89,98,99; DM09,19,29; DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21. Specific pass details will be posted on WY7AA QRZ page and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WY7AA) as the trip approaches. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events - May 2, 2020 Arrowhead Radio Amateurs Club Hamfest, Superior, WI - May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur Radio Association Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ - May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ - June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Con, Plano, TX Be sure to check this page and event organizers for cancellations! To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors at amsat dot org. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + Completed Contacts Turkey Space Camp, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via W5RRR. - The ISS callsign was NA1SS. - The astronaut was Drew Morgan KI5AAA. - Contact was successful on Thursday, March 19, 2020. - In an ARISS first due to COVID-19, all of the questions were pre-recorded by the students and no students were on site during the contact. + Upcoming Contacts SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD. - The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. - The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA. - Contact is go for: Friday, March 27, 2020 at 09:47:49 UTC. Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J??. - The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS. - The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka. - Possible contact on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC. "ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates." [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Shorts from All Over * AMSAT February 4, 2020 BoD Minutes Available Online The minutes for the AMSAT Board of Directors meeting held on February 4, 2020 are now available online for viewing at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-082-BoD-Minutes [ANS thanks the AMSAT office for the above information.] + Sean Kutzko New Article: Upgrading to Linear Satellites Wondering what to do after working the FM birds? Sean Kutzko, KX9X has updated his series of satellite operating tips with "Satellite Basics (Part 3): Upgrading to the Linear Satellites". Covering everything from equipment suggestions to proper tuning procedures, this information-packed article can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-082-Linear-Birds. [ANS thanks the Sean Kutzko, KX9X for the above information.] + Hamvention Announces Refund Information The Dayton Amateur Radio Association has made the following announcement regarding Hamvention refunds: "Due to unfortunate cancellation of Hamvention 2020, we know that tickets, inside booth spaces and flea market spaces have been purchased. These purchases have been made by online credit cards, mail order checks and purchased from our outside vendors. All refunds will be through the same method of purchase. All credit card sales will be refunded to the original card used to make the charge. All check and cash sales will be refunded by check. We anticipate all refunds completed as soon as possible but not later than August 1." Further information is available at https://hamvention.org/. [ANS thanks DARA for the above information.] + Australis OSCAR 5 Book Available in the U.S. Australis OSCAR 5 - The Improbable Story of Australia's First Private Satellite book (second edition) is now available in the U.S. The book details how, in the 1960's, a group of University of Melbourne Science and Engineering students and one Law student banded together to build a satellite in their spare time. You can order the book directly from the publisher at https://isdistribution.com/BookDetail.aspx?aId=122391 [ANS thanks Owen Mace for the above information.] + FUNCube TLM Receive Antenna Available AMSAT-UK is pleased to offer a simple, low cost antenna system, for use with a FUNcube Dongle (or any other receiver) to receive the FUNcube telemetry signals. Based around a Winkler Crossed Dipole antenna, this kit includes the antenna, a RF cable (2m long) for connection between the antenna and a FUNcube Dongle, and a USB cable (approximately 1.8 m long) for connecting the dongle to a computer. Ordering information is available at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-082-FUNcube [ANS thanks Graham Shirville, G3VZV for the above information.] + Remote Display over USB for Kenwood TH-D74 Many operators love their Kenwood TH-D74 handheld for satellite operation but there is always room for improvement. Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT offers plans for an external remote display that connects to the radio's USB port. The device is based on a Raspberry Pi Zero W and a 16?2 LCD. The complete plans are available at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-082-TH-D74 [ANS thanks Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT for the above information.] + Amateur Radio Satellite Spreads Fight Coronavirus Message Indonesia?s national amateur radio society ORARI reports the ham radio satellite LAPAN-A2 (IO-86) is being used to send a Fight Coronavirus message using APRS. A translation of the ORARI post says, ?Stay Healthy, Stay at Home #LawanCorona?. See the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-082-Coronavirus. + M2 Pathfinder Satellite Launch Imminent M2 Pathfinder satellite's next launch window is reportedly no earlier than March 29, 2020. The M2 Pathfinder is a collaboration between the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space and the Australian Government. The M2 Pathfinder will test communications architecture and other technologies that will assist in informing the future space capabilities of Australia. The satellite will demonstrate the ability of an onboard software-based radio to operate and reconfigure while in orbit. The mission has been named ?Don?t Stop Me Now? in recognition of Rocket Lab board member and avid Queen fan Scott Smith, who recently passed away. Complete information on the mission is available at https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/. [ANS thanks Terry Osborne ZL2BAC for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW n1uw at amsat dot org Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb From peter.guelzow at kourou.de Sun Mar 22 13:58:34 2020 From: peter.guelzow at kourou.de (Peter Guelzow) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 14:58:34 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] Official QO-100 International Emergency Frequency! In-Reply-To: <12ad5f88-4126-1c92-6a26-e64c2c874b9e@amsat-dl.org> References: <12ad5f88-4126-1c92-6a26-e64c2c874b9e@amsat-dl.org> Message-ID: Official QO-100 International Emergency Frequency! In order to coordinate potential emergency communications during the actual or any other crisis, the following frequency will be assigned as international emergency frequency on QO-100 NB Transponder: QO-100 International Emergency Frequency Downlink: 10489.860 MHz Uplink: 2400.360 MHz SSB channel: max. 2.7kHz bandwidth All users on QO-100 are encouraged to monitor this frequency, but keep it clear for emergency traffic! From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 16:13:15 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 11:13:15 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ Message-ID: Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm hoping someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch with me. We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is just excellent. This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his signal was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. He said, fine...except I can't find an email for him. In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google drive, which has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can get the info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the file and it will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size in case you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. 73, N0AN Hasan From shorenicehere at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 18:29:10 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 14:29:10 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I hesitate to listen because, per Google, Only files smaller than 100 MB can be scanned for viruses. For larger files, a warning is displayed saying that the file can't be scanned. On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm hoping > someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch with me. > > We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is just > excellent. > > This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his signal > was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. He said, > fine...except I can't find an email for him. > > In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google drive, which > has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. > > Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can get the > info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. > > https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz > > Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the file and it > will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size in case > you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. > > 73, N0AN > > Hasan > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From ariss.w8aas at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 19:04:40 2020 From: ariss.w8aas at gmail.com (Dave Taylor) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 15:04:40 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <406B89B4-3508-44E3-829B-4F47B84643E1@gmail.com> For what it?s worth, I can open this is Chrome with no warnings from Google. If you?re going to download it, I think virus checking should be up to your computer?s virus software. Dave, W8AAS > On Mar 22, 2020, at 2:29 PM, Isaac C via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > I hesitate to listen because, per Google, > Only files smaller than 100 MB can be scanned for viruses. For larger > files, a warning is displayed saying that the file can't be scanned. > On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm hoping >> someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch with me. >> >> We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is just >> excellent. >> >> This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his signal >> was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. He said, >> fine...except I can't find an email for him. >> >> In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google drive, which >> has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. >> >> Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can get the >> info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. >> >> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz >> >> Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the file and it >> will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size in case >> you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. >> >> 73, N0AN >> >> Hasan >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From diehl.mike.a at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 19:42:30 2020 From: diehl.mike.a at gmail.com (Mike Diehl) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 15:42:30 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ In-Reply-To: <406B89B4-3508-44E3-829B-4F47B84643E1@gmail.com> References: <406B89B4-3508-44E3-829B-4F47B84643E1@gmail.com> Message-ID: <79911A2F-031E-4C8A-8769-6851974366B4@gmail.com> Or the OP could have just recorded the audio instead of some screen capture, there are multiple ways to extract just the audio and they should consider that option. 73, Mike Diehl W8LID/VE6LID > On Mar 22, 2020, at 15:07, Dave Taylor via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?For what it?s worth, I can open this is Chrome with no warnings from Google. If you?re going to download it, I think virus checking should be up to your computer?s virus software. > > Dave, W8AAS > >> On Mar 22, 2020, at 2:29 PM, Isaac C via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> >> I hesitate to listen because, per Google, >> Only files smaller than 100 MB can be scanned for viruses. For larger >> files, a warning is displayed saying that the file can't be scanned. >>> On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB >>> wrote: >>> >>> Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm hoping >>> someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch with me. >>> >>> We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is just >>> excellent. >>> >>> This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his signal >>> was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. He said, >>> fine...except I can't find an email for him. >>> >>> In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google drive, which >>> has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. >>> >>> Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can get the >>> info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. >>> >>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz >>> >>> Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the file and it >>> will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size in case >>> you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. >>> >>> 73, N0AN >>> >>> Hasan >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From gary_mayfield at hotmail.com Sun Mar 22 19:50:54 2020 From: gary_mayfield at hotmail.com (Gary) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 19:50:54 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Icom CT-16 (eBay) Message-ID: If you don't eBay please delete. If eBay is forbidden I apologize. This is the last satellite related item from my late father's (wa0eaf) estate. Icom CT-16 Satellite Interface. https://www.ebay.com/itm/254548454902 73, Gary (Joe) kk0sd From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 20:02:27 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 15:02:27 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ In-Reply-To: <79911A2F-031E-4C8A-8769-6851974366B4@gmail.com> References: <406B89B4-3508-44E3-829B-4F47B84643E1@gmail.com> <79911A2F-031E-4C8A-8769-6851974366B4@gmail.com> Message-ID: I provided the information in the format that I thought was most useful, including the video as it shows what was taking place. You can "see" what the distortion looks like. It makes no sense to throw away good information. It was primarily intended for the KA3 Station and in exactly the manner I wished to provide it, as well as exactly as I told him on the satellite itself. Now, if you don't want to see, don't look at it. Next time I won't bother, and the other users can deal with it themselves. Hasan On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 2:45 PM Mike Diehl via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Or the OP could have just recorded the audio instead of some screen > capture, there are multiple ways to extract just the audio and they should > consider that option. > > 73, > Mike Diehl > W8LID/VE6LID > > > On Mar 22, 2020, at 15:07, Dave Taylor via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > > ?For what it?s worth, I can open this is Chrome with no warnings from > Google. If you?re going to download it, I think virus checking should be up > to your computer?s virus software. > > > > Dave, W8AAS > > > >> On Mar 22, 2020, at 2:29 PM, Isaac C via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> > >> I hesitate to listen because, per Google, > >> Only files smaller than 100 MB can be scanned for viruses. For larger > >> files, a warning is displayed saying that the file can't be scanned. > >>> On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > >>> wrote: > >>> > >>> Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm hoping > >>> someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch with > me. > >>> > >>> We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is just > >>> excellent. > >>> > >>> This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his > signal > >>> was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. He > said, > >>> fine...except I can't find an email for him. > >>> > >>> In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google drive, > which > >>> has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. > >>> > >>> Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can get > the > >>> info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. > >>> > >>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz > >>> > >>> Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the file > and it > >>> will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size in > case > >>> you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. > >>> > >>> 73, N0AN > >>> > >>> Hasan > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > >>> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wa6ara at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 20:48:34 2020 From: wa6ara at gmail.com (Mike Herr) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 13:48:34 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Back on the Satellites! Message-ID: Finally, after about 3 weeks, I am back on the satellites. The Yaesu G-5500 stopped rotating. The weather kept me from bringing the tower down but finally the winds subsided, tower down, rotor removed and trouble shooting began. Now with my schedule completely cleared I could concentrate on the problem. The soft brake that Yaesu uses in the design was hanging up with the spring edge on top of the butterfly (if you have ever looked at the 5500 brake mechanism, you know what I mean. A couple of small bends with a needle nose pliers and it is functioning properly, including the brake. Yea! towers back up and the antenna wiggles as it should. -- Mike Herr WA6ARA DM-15dp Home of The QRP Ranch No trees were killed in the sending of this message, however, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. "Dad says that anyone who can't use a slide rule is a cultural illiterate and should not be allowed to vote. Mine is a beauty - a K&E 20-inch Log-log Duplex Decitrig." - Robert Heinlein From penguin359 at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 21:04:29 2020 From: penguin359 at gmail.com (Loren M. Lang) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 14:04:29 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ In-Reply-To: References: <406B89B4-3508-44E3-829B-4F47B84643E1@gmail.com> <79911A2F-031E-4C8A-8769-6851974366B4@gmail.com> Message-ID: Don't worry about comments like that. I can forgive someone who doesn't want to download a file because they don't trust their ability to download a file and use a local anti-virus without accidentally executing it, it's better than many users I have to deal with it that don't even know to be wary of such files and get their computers infected regularly, but there's no need to criticize someone who just offered a free, public service. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and my anti-virus did not report any issues with the file. Please continue to provide services like this in whatever mechanism is most convenient for you. - Loren K7IW On Sun, Mar 22, 2020, 13:13 Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I provided the information in the format that I thought was most useful, > including the video as it shows what was taking place. You can "see" what > the distortion looks like. It makes no sense to throw away good > information. > > It was primarily intended for the KA3 Station and in exactly the manner I > wished to provide it, as well as exactly as I told him on the satellite > itself. > > Now, if you don't want to see, don't look at it. > > Next time I won't bother, and the other users can deal with it themselves. > > Hasan > > > On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 2:45 PM Mike Diehl via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > Or the OP could have just recorded the audio instead of some screen > > capture, there are multiple ways to extract just the audio and they > should > > consider that option. > > > > 73, > > Mike Diehl > > W8LID/VE6LID > > > > > On Mar 22, 2020, at 15:07, Dave Taylor via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > > > > ?For what it?s worth, I can open this is Chrome with no warnings from > > Google. If you?re going to download it, I think virus checking should be > up > > to your computer?s virus software. > > > > > > Dave, W8AAS > > > > > >> On Mar 22, 2020, at 2:29 PM, Isaac C via AMSAT-BB > > > wrote: > > >> > > >> I hesitate to listen because, per Google, > > >> Only files smaller than 100 MB can be scanned for viruses. For larger > > >> files, a warning is displayed saying that the file can't be scanned. > > >>> On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > >>> wrote: > > >>> > > >>> Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm > hoping > > >>> someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch > with > > me. > > >>> > > >>> We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is just > > >>> excellent. > > >>> > > >>> This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his > > signal > > >>> was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. He > > said, > > >>> fine...except I can't find an email for him. > > >>> > > >>> In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google drive, > > which > > >>> has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. > > >>> > > >>> Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can get > > the > > >>> info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. > > >>> > > >>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz > > >>> > > >>> Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the file > > and it > > >>> will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size in > > case > > >>> you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. > > >>> > > >>> 73, N0AN > > >>> > > >>> Hasan > > >>> _______________________________________________ > > >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > >>> > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From shorenicehere at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 21:33:49 2020 From: shorenicehere at gmail.com (Isaac C) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 17:33:49 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ In-Reply-To: References: <406B89B4-3508-44E3-829B-4F47B84643E1@gmail.com> <79911A2F-031E-4C8A-8769-6851974366B4@gmail.com> Message-ID: I agree. Keep posting. I am learning alot, and I should not depend on Google so much. My apologies. 73 Isaac W4ITC On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Loren M. Lang via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Don't worry about comments like that. I can forgive someone who doesn't > want to download a file because they don't trust their ability to download > a file and use a local anti-virus without accidentally executing it, it's > better than many users I have to deal with it that don't even know to be > wary of such files and get their computers infected regularly, but there's > no need to criticize someone who just offered a free, public service. I > thoroughly enjoyed watching it and my anti-virus did not report any issues > with the file. > > Please continue to provide services like this in whatever mechanism is most > convenient for you. > > - Loren > K7IW > > > On Sun, Mar 22, 2020, 13:13 Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > I provided the information in the format that I thought was most useful, > > including the video as it shows what was taking place. You can "see" what > > the distortion looks like. It makes no sense to throw away good > > information. > > > > It was primarily intended for the KA3 Station and in exactly the manner I > > wished to provide it, as well as exactly as I told him on the satellite > > itself. > > > > Now, if you don't want to see, don't look at it. > > > > Next time I won't bother, and the other users can deal with it > themselves. > > > > Hasan > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 2:45 PM Mike Diehl via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > > > Or the OP could have just recorded the audio instead of some screen > > > capture, there are multiple ways to extract just the audio and they > > should > > > consider that option. > > > > > > 73, > > > Mike Diehl > > > W8LID/VE6LID > > > > > > > On Mar 22, 2020, at 15:07, Dave Taylor via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > ?For what it?s worth, I can open this is Chrome with no warnings from > > > Google. If you?re going to download it, I think virus checking should > be > > up > > > to your computer?s virus software. > > > > > > > > Dave, W8AAS > > > > > > > >> On Mar 22, 2020, at 2:29 PM, Isaac C via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > > > > > wrote: > > > >> > > > >> I hesitate to listen because, per Google, > > > >> Only files smaller than 100 MB can be scanned for viruses. For > larger > > > >> files, a warning is displayed saying that the file can't be scanned. > > > >>> On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > >>> wrote: > > > >>> > > > >>> Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm > > hoping > > > >>> someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch > > with > > > me. > > > >>> > > > >>> We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is > just > > > >>> excellent. > > > >>> > > > >>> This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his > > > signal > > > >>> was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. He > > > said, > > > >>> fine...except I can't find an email for him. > > > >>> > > > >>> In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google > drive, > > > which > > > >>> has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. > > > >>> > > > >>> Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can > get > > > the > > > >>> info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. > > > >>> > > > >>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz > > > >>> > > > >>> Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the file > > > and it > > > >>> will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size > in > > > case > > > >>> you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. > > > >>> > > > >>> 73, N0AN > > > >>> > > > >>> Hasan > > > >>> _______________________________________________ > > > >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > >>> > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From johnbrier at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 21:53:04 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 17:53:04 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-91 KA3RLZ In-Reply-To: References: <406B89B4-3508-44E3-829B-4F47B84643E1@gmail.com> <79911A2F-031E-4C8A-8769-6851974366B4@gmail.com> Message-ID: Regardless of the other points made, another option is to upload the mp4 to YouTube or some other web video service. That said, if you increase the burden for the person to help, they are less likely to do that. 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sun, Mar 22, 2020, 17:37 Isaac C via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I agree. Keep posting. > I am learning alot, and I should not depend on Google so much. > My apologies. > 73 > Isaac > W4ITC > > On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Loren M. Lang via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > > > Don't worry about comments like that. I can forgive someone who doesn't > > want to download a file because they don't trust their ability to > download > > a file and use a local anti-virus without accidentally executing it, it's > > better than many users I have to deal with it that don't even know to be > > wary of such files and get their computers infected regularly, but > there's > > no need to criticize someone who just offered a free, public service. I > > thoroughly enjoyed watching it and my anti-virus did not report any > issues > > with the file. > > > > Please continue to provide services like this in whatever mechanism is > most > > convenient for you. > > > > - Loren > > K7IW > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 22, 2020, 13:13 Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > > > I provided the information in the format that I thought was most > useful, > > > including the video as it shows what was taking place. You can "see" > what > > > the distortion looks like. It makes no sense to throw away good > > > information. > > > > > > It was primarily intended for the KA3 Station and in exactly the > manner I > > > wished to provide it, as well as exactly as I told him on the satellite > > > itself. > > > > > > Now, if you don't want to see, don't look at it. > > > > > > Next time I won't bother, and the other users can deal with it > > themselves. > > > > > > Hasan > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 2:45 PM Mike Diehl via AMSAT-BB < > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > Or the OP could have just recorded the audio instead of some screen > > > > capture, there are multiple ways to extract just the audio and they > > > should > > > > consider that option. > > > > > > > > 73, > > > > Mike Diehl > > > > W8LID/VE6LID > > > > > > > > > On Mar 22, 2020, at 15:07, Dave Taylor via AMSAT-BB < > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > ?For what it?s worth, I can open this is Chrome with no warnings > from > > > > Google. If you?re going to download it, I think virus checking should > > be > > > up > > > > to your computer?s virus software. > > > > > > > > > > Dave, W8AAS > > > > > > > > > >> On Mar 22, 2020, at 2:29 PM, Isaac C via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > >> > > > > >> I hesitate to listen because, per Google, > > > > >> Only files smaller than 100 MB can be scanned for viruses. For > > larger > > > > >> files, a warning is displayed saying that the file can't be > scanned. > > > > >>> On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Hasan al-Basri via AMSAT-BB < > > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > > >>> wrote: > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Unfortunately, I cannot find an email address for KA3RLZ, so I'm > > > hoping > > > > >>> someone knows it and will relay the info or have him get in touch > > > with > > > > me. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> We have worked on several of the linear birds and his signal is > > just > > > > >>> excellent. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> This morning I just finished with him on AO-91 and I told him his > > > > signal > > > > >>> was very distorted and that I would send him a recording of it. > He > > > > said, > > > > >>> fine...except I can't find an email for him. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> In hopes that this will get to him, here is a URL to my google > > drive, > > > > which > > > > >>> has the recording of the entire pass in mp4 format. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Anyone who wants to listen to it is free to do so. Anyone who can > > get > > > > the > > > > >>> info to him, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> > https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xiYdxVcPRIp_Wu29_Knx6oshNQF_k9Bz > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Click on the link, download the file, then double-click on the > file > > > > and it > > > > >>> will play on virtually any operating system. It is 143 MB in size > > in > > > > case > > > > >>> you have a slow internet connection or a data cap. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> 73, N0AN > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Hasan > > > > >>> _______________________________________________ > > > > >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > >>> > > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wandtosborne at gmail.com Mon Mar 23 01:19:48 2020 From: wandtosborne at gmail.com (Wendy and Terry Osborne) Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 14:19:48 +1300 Subject: [amsat-bb] Update on next Rocket Lab Launch Message-ID: <075fff7c-24bf-10ed-100b-e3b487aabd0c@gmail.com> Launch date is delayed until 30th March due to people having to work from home. See: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/an-update-on-covid-19/ 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC From daneggert at hughes.net Mon Mar 23 01:54:24 2020 From: daneggert at hughes.net (Dan Eggert) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 19:54:24 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Rove to DM63 on Tuesday 24th. Message-ID: <5ED92A47-ECA2-455D-95AA-8D43210EFB20@hughes.net> On Tuesday the 24th I will be going to Tularosa New Mexico in grid DM63. You will hear me on the AO-91 passes at 17:59 and 19:37 UTC, and the AO-92 passes at 16:19 and 17:51 UTC. 73 Dan Eggert - AC9E Sent from my iPad From n8hm at arrl.net Mon Mar 23 14:02:03 2020 From: n8hm at arrl.net (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 10:02:03 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-083 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - Sean Kutzko, KX9X, Appointed AMSAT Volunteer Coordinator Message-ID: AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-083 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Sean Kutzko, KX9X, Appointed AMSAT Volunteer Coordinator SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-083 ANS-083 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 083.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 23, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-083.01 Sean Kutzko, KX9X, Appointed AMSAT Volunteer Coordinator AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, has announced the appointment of Sean Kutzko, KX9X, as Volunteer Coordinator. First licensed in 1982 as KA9NGH, Kutzko served as both ARRL Contest Branch Manager (2007-2013) and ARRL Media and Public Relations Mana- ger (2013-2017). He was the creator and co-administrator of the ARRL National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) program in 2016. An active HF and VHF contester, DXer and backpack QRP enthusiast, Kutzko started work- ing satellites in 2011 and has transmitted from over fifty different grid squares. He has written instructional materials on satellite op- erating for the AMSAT website, QST, and blogs regularly on satellite topics for the DX Engineering blog "On All Bands." "It's an honor to be able to volunteer for AMSAT," Kutzko said. "When [new AMSAT president] Clayton [Coleman, W5PFG] asked if I would help coordinate a team of volunteers, I jumped at the opportunity. AMSAT is a great organization and helping find good volunteers who are willing to help all areas of AMSAT's growth and development is the least I could do for the organization that has given me a lot of enjoyment and technical skill." Outside of Amateur Radio, Kutzko is a freelance PR/communications consultant and voiceover artist, as well as a baker of artisan breads, pizza and pastries. He also plays drums in a classic rock/country band, Silverweed. He lives in Urbana, Illinois. [ANS thanks AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, for the above in- formation] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org From aj9n at aol.com Mon Mar 23 19:33:53 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 19:33:53 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-23 19:30 UTC References: <1087440906.532794.1584992033194.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1087440906.532794.1584992033194@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-23 19:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-27 09:47:49 UTC 36 deg ? Watch for live stream at: (***) Die Voortrekkers: SPD Water Werk - De Bank https://www.facebook.com/groups/1750900235133434/ ? Die Voortrekkers https://www.facebook.com/groups2354763991/ ? You Tube Die Voortrekkers https://www.youtube.com/user/dievoortrekkers ? ? Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Possible contact on Tue 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC ? ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-23 19:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1387. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1320. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? From ka3hsw at att.net Mon Mar 23 20:08:48 2020 From: ka3hsw at att.net (George Henry) Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 15:08:48 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] PSK on NO-84, no joy References: <63A0BBB7AFA44A929B17986CD61B281E.ref@RadioRoomPC> Message-ID: <63A0BBB7AFA44A929B17986CD61B281E@RadioRoomPC> Not seeming to have any luck with PSK31 on NO-84... I am seeing and decoding the beacon and other stations okay, but don't see my signal in the waterfall. Using DopplerPSK for the uplink and FLdigi for the downlink. I suspect that my meager 20 watts to a dipole isn't cutting it... George, KA3HSW From scott23192 at gmail.com Mon Mar 23 20:31:41 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 16:31:41 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] PSK on NO-84, no joy In-Reply-To: <63A0BBB7AFA44A929B17986CD61B281E@RadioRoomPC> References: <63A0BBB7AFA44A929B17986CD61B281E.ref@RadioRoomPC> <63A0BBB7AFA44A929B17986CD61B281E@RadioRoomPC> Message-ID: Keep trying, George! On this last pass, I saw another station pop up for a second but didn't decode the call cleanly - bet that was you. 20 watts will definitely work depending on the characteristics of your antenna. I experimented w/ 5 watts on my long wire and got into the transponder just fine. However, to get a bit more range I run 35 or so generally. I'm guessing that it helps that my antenna is so low to the ground (~15 ft on average). I know zero about the 10 meter band, but it never ceases to amaze me that a long wire stretched across a heavily wooded yard can be heard by a satellite only 10-15 degrees above the horizon. I'll bet your antenna & power output will do fine depending on what direction the satellite is coming from. If I might add, I closely monitor the 'ALC' level on my FT-857d throughout the pass. As the radio heats up, I have to make small adjustments to the TX audio level from the Signalink to keep a bar or two showing on the ALC meter. That's my feedback of what audio level I'm sending out, and there is a CLEAR difference in my PSK31 signal on the downlink when I adjust the TX audio to maintain an appropriate level. -Scott, K4KDR ======================= On Mon, Mar 23, 2020 at 4:19 PM George Henry via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Not seeming to have any luck with PSK31 on NO-84... I am seeing and > decoding the beacon and other stations okay, but don't see my signal in the > waterfall. Using DopplerPSK for the uplink and FLdigi for the downlink. > > I suspect that my meager 20 watts to a dipole isn't cutting it... > > George, KA3HSW > From n8hm at arrl.net Mon Mar 23 20:54:40 2020 From: n8hm at arrl.net (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2020 16:54:40 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-083.02 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Office Closed Until Further Notice Message-ID: AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-083.02 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT Office Closed Until Further Notice SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-083.02 ANS-083.02 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 083.02 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 23, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-083.02 AMSAT Office Closed Until Further Notice Due to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's order closing all non-essential businesses in the State of Maryland in response to the COVID-19 pan- demic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice, effective to- day at 5:00pm EDT. While the office is closed, AMSAT will continue to accept new and renewal memberships. However, membership packets will not be mailed until the office reopens. T-shirts, hats, and other items stocked in the office will also not be available until the office reopens. Dig- ital downloadable content, including SatPC32 and MacDoppler will re- main available from the AMSAT store. Antenna, name badge, and awards orders will be forwarded for processing. The March/April issue of The AMSAT Journal will be produced on time. However, it may only be possible to publish it in digital format. Stay tuned for further updates. Any questions about memberships, orders, or office operations can be sent to info at amsat.org. Please note that no mail or phone service will be available until the office reopens. Vendors billing AMSAT for goods or services may email the above address to arrange payment. [ANS thanks the AMSAT office for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org From k6vug at sbcglobal.net Tue Mar 24 05:19:45 2020 From: k6vug at sbcglobal.net (k6vug at sbcglobal.net) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 05:19:45 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: <2098425676.949933.1584638557721.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2098425676.949933.1584638557721@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <693452138.709138.1585027185982@mail.yahoo.com> Sorry I'm late to the discussion, while we talk of improper operating procedures, a couple of things come to mind - - problem #1 is that there are several old publications (and web pages) say that FM birds can be worked in simplex.? I wish these publications would explicitly prohibit simplex operation on busy passes.? ? - problem #2 is about reducing congestion. It was discussed at length right here last year or so, and the bottom line was to never work a station if you have already worked them before.? Let others get a chance.? ? People will follow whatever is published.? Change the publications, change the behavior.? ? ? 73! Umesh, K6VUG ? ? ? From royldean at gmail.com Tue Mar 24 12:14:03 2020 From: royldean at gmail.com (Roy Dean) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 08:14:03 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators Message-ID: > > - problem #2 is about reducing congestion. It was discussed at length > right here last year or so, and the bottom line was to never work a station > if you have already worked them before. Let others get a chance. "Never" is a powerful word. There are plenty of passes that I've worked in the past in which the only operators on the pass are ones that I've worked plenty of times before. Weekday morning passes are typical examples. I would suggest leaving this rule out, or at least modifying it appropriately (however I think Sean's published work already suggests good operating habits that cover this). --Roy K3RLD From rsoifer1 at aol.com Tue Mar 24 15:26:54 2020 From: rsoifer1 at aol.com (Ray Soifer) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:26:54 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] .The First Satellite Contact (May QST) References: <1439481639.1248299.1585063614656.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1439481639.1248299.1585063614656@mail.yahoo.com> Those of you who are ARRL members may be interested in my Technical Correspondence article in May 2020 QST, entitled "The 60th Anniversary of the First Satellite Contact." The contact to which it refers took place on February 6, 1960, six months before NASA's Project Echo, between myself and K3JTE (now W3PK), making use of a propagation mode first reported by W8JK (SK), which he called "the satellite ionization phenomenon." My May 2020 QST article describes what we did and what has been learned since then about the ionosphere and how W8JK's mechanism works. ? ? For further reading about our contact, see my article in Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, September 1961.? For more about the satellite ionization phenomenon, see the chapter by W8JK in S.F. Singer, ed., Interactions of Space Vehicles With an Ionized Atmosphere, Pergamon Press, 1965. 73 Ray W2RS From rsoifer1 at aol.com Tue Mar 24 15:31:29 2020 From: rsoifer1 at aol.com (Ray Soifer) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:31:29 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Premature announcement References: <791946322.1263360.1585063889386.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <791946322.1263360.1585063889386@mail.yahoo.com> Sorry that my last email was sent out prematurely.? May QST won't be out for two more weeks or so. 73 Ray W2RS From ddjulian54 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 24 16:26:08 2020 From: ddjulian54 at yahoo.com (Dave J) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 11:26:08 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] LH or RH polarization References: <5910879F5FDB4ADA80879EC57B5AA196.ref@DavePC> Message-ID: <5910879F5FDB4ADA80879EC57B5AA196@DavePC> Hello All My 2 meter M2 polarization switch died (water-logged) but I still have the old fixed polarization element. I now have the option of setting it up fixed either LH or RH. Which would be the better way to go given the current crop of birds? Thanks Dave WB9YIG From DougPhelps at protonmail.com Tue Mar 24 16:56:44 2020 From: DougPhelps at protonmail.com (Doug Phelps) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 16:56:44 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] LH or RH polarization In-Reply-To: <5910879F5FDB4ADA80879EC57B5AA196@DavePC> References: <5910879F5FDB4ADA80879EC57B5AA196.ref@DavePC> <5910879F5FDB4ADA80879EC57B5AA196@DavePC> Message-ID: I do not think it matters because all the birds right now are linear polarized. But if I had to make a choice I would go right hand. -------- Original Message -------- On Mar 24, 2020, 11:26 AM, Dave J via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Hello All > > My 2 meter M2 polarization switch died (water-logged) but I still have the > old fixed polarization element. I now have the option of setting it up fixed > either LH or RH. Which would be the better way to go given the current crop > of birds? > > Thanks > > Dave WB9YIG > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kd2nfc at gmail.com Tue Mar 24 23:00:53 2020 From: kd2nfc at gmail.com (Joe KD2NFC) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 19:00:53 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Pcsat32 Message-ID: <5F4C26E0-9B92-45E9-96BC-123E260F43CD@gmail.com> Hi, I just paid for AMSAT membership and purchased a license to pcsat32. As I?m learning we need to make entries in the Doppler.SQF and possible AmsatNames.txt. I was able to find DK3WN?s blog that had a comprehensive listing of the satellites and their frequencies. Is there a good resource I can go to go that will give me a current list of all AMSAT satellites and others with their frequencies. I think with what I found is pretty details but I do see that there various files floating around crates by different hams. I know AMSAT offices are now closed so I don?t know the ETA of my license key, but no rush under the circumstances. Joe KD2NFC Sent from my iPhone From mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu Tue Mar 24 23:26:06 2020 From: mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu (Mark D. Johns) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 18:26:06 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Pcsat32 In-Reply-To: <5F4C26E0-9B92-45E9-96BC-123E260F43CD@gmail.com> References: <5F4C26E0-9B92-45E9-96BC-123E260F43CD@gmail.com> Message-ID: See https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ -- Mark D. Johns, K?JM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 6:01 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > Hi, > > I just paid for AMSAT membership and purchased a license to pcsat32. As I?m learning we need to make entries in the Doppler.SQF and possible AmsatNames.txt. > > I was able to find DK3WN?s blog that had a comprehensive listing of the satellites and their frequencies. > > Is there a good resource I can go to go that will give me a current list of all AMSAT satellites and others with their frequencies. > > I think with what I found is pretty details but I do see that there various files floating around crates by different hams. > > I know AMSAT offices are now closed so I don?t know the ETA of my license key, but no rush under the circumstances. > > Joe > KD2NFC > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu Tue Mar 24 23:27:35 2020 From: mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu (Mark D. Johns) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 18:27:35 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Pcsat32 In-Reply-To: <5F4C26E0-9B92-45E9-96BC-123E260F43CD@gmail.com> References: <5F4C26E0-9B92-45E9-96BC-123E260F43CD@gmail.com> Message-ID: Also see https://www.amsat.org/doppler-sqf-line-generator/ -- Mark D. Johns, K?JM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 6:01 PM Joe KD2NFC via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > Hi, > > I just paid for AMSAT membership and purchased a license to pcsat32. As I?m learning we need to make entries in the Doppler.SQF and possible AmsatNames.txt. > > I was able to find DK3WN?s blog that had a comprehensive listing of the satellites and their frequencies. > > Is there a good resource I can go to go that will give me a current list of all AMSAT satellites and others with their frequencies. > > I think with what I found is pretty details but I do see that there various files floating around crates by different hams. > > I know AMSAT offices are now closed so I don?t know the ETA of my license key, but no rush under the circumstances. > > Joe > KD2NFC > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From bwilkins at gmail.com Tue Mar 24 23:39:47 2020 From: bwilkins at gmail.com (Brian Wilkins KO4AQF) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 19:39:47 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I would not make this one a rule either especially since some rove to multiple grids. It has to be handled by the operator on a case by case basis. Also the called operator does not have to respond either if this is a problem. Brian Wilkins KO4AQF On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 8:16 AM Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > - problem #2 is about reducing congestion. It was discussed at length > > right here last year or so, and the bottom line was to never work a > station > > if you have already worked them before. Let others get a chance. > > > "Never" is a powerful word. There are plenty of passes that I've worked > in the past in which the only operators on the pass are ones that I've > worked plenty of times before. Weekday morning passes are typical > examples. I would suggest leaving this rule out, or at least modifying it > appropriately (however I think Sean's published work already suggests good > operating habits that cover this). > > --Roy > K3RLD > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wandtosborne at gmail.com Wed Mar 25 00:38:43 2020 From: wandtosborne at gmail.com (Wendy and Terry Osborne) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 13:38:43 +1300 Subject: [amsat-bb] Next Rocket Lab Launch postponed Message-ID: <2360c92d-9755-e23f-8221-6d378a6d090d@gmail.com> Since New Zealand is going into lockdown at Midnight tonight the next Rocket Lab Launched has been postponed. See: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/covid-19-update-rocket-lab-has-postponed-the-launch-of-its-next-mission-in-response-to-the-covid-19-situation/ If we are lucky the country should start up again in about 4 weeks. See also: https://covid19.govt.nz/ 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC From k9qho67622 at comcast.net Wed Mar 25 01:00:45 2020 From: k9qho67622 at comcast.net (MICHAEL WILLIAMS) Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 21:00:45 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [amsat-bb] LH or RH polarization Message-ID: <316187970.815705.1585098045622@connect.xfinity.com> LH for AO7 GL Mike (K9QHO) From k8bl at ameritech.net Wed Mar 25 02:03:05 2020 From: k8bl at ameritech.net (Bob Liddy (K8BL)) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 02:03:05 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Poor Operators In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <89697847.1617202.1585101785285@mail.yahoo.com> It all depends on the situation. If it is a busy pass and others are trying to make a QSO with a specific station since they are a Rover or DX or rare somehow or New, just step aside if you don't need or want that station. If it is NOT a busy pass, there should be no problem with calling any station for any reason as long as you are not QRMing an existing QSO in progress. How easy is it to just LISTEN and hear what is going on and act accordingly? Just like on other Bands or Modes or Repeaters, DON'T transmit on top of a busy frequency. BTW, if you can't hear other stations or the Beacon on a pass, it would not be good to do a lot of transmitting since you may be causing a lot of QRM to other users. Listening to several passes without hearing other stations probably indicates you have a RX problem. When setting up a station, always make sure you are hearing well before ever trying to transmit. GL/73/Enjoy, Bob K8BL On Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 07:46:00 PM EDT, Brian Wilkins KO4AQF via AMSAT-BB wrote: I would not make this one a rule either especially since some rove to multiple grids. It has to be handled by the operator on a case by case basis. Also the called operator does not have to respond either if this is a problem. Brian Wilkins KO4AQF On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 8:16 AM Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > - problem #2 is about reducing congestion. It was discussed at length > > right here last year or so, and the bottom line was to never work a > station > > if you have already worked them before.? Let others get a chance. > > > "Never" is a powerful word.? There are plenty of passes that I've worked > in the past in which the only operators on the pass are ones that I've > worked plenty of times before.? ? Weekday morning passes are typical > examples.? I would suggest leaving this rule out, or at least modifying it > appropriately (however I think Sean's published work already suggests good > operating habits that cover this). > > --Roy > K3RLD > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From jhjipping at gmail.com Wed Mar 25 14:03:48 2020 From: jhjipping at gmail.com (James Jipping) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 10:03:48 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] RH or LH ?? Message-ID: <14c6de9d-a948-ba07-9d3a-4d03731a4aa9@gmail.com> Good Morning!? Just reviewing some past email and the topic of which polarization "RH or LH ?" showed up. It must have been close to a solar activity maximum that I started my satellite adventure.? Faraday rotation was in full swing (or should I say "rotation").? It was a phenomenon we all experienced and had to deal with. My first antenna project included a polarization switch? and I have always had one on my satellite antennas.? My arrow linear polarized antenna has one? (my arm/wrist rotation device).? I would like to advise that if you can manage it (financially or creatively -- "in the good old days it was creatively")? to include some way of changing the polarization plane or direction of both the transmitted and received wave. ALL signals WILL experience some amount of polarization depending on the strength of the earth's magnetic field strength IN THE PATH of the signal from station to satellite (and vice/versa).? The total rotation effect is constantly changing.? And do not forget the effect that the earth's ionosphere has on polarization.? As we know, the ion density of the ionosphere, is constantly changing.? Right now that effect is at it's minimum as the sun's sunspot activity is at it's minimum.? IT WILL change and the effect will really begin to be noticed. Please remember that the entire effect is proportional the total magnetic and ion densities, so the rotation is not going to be 90 degrees or 180 degrees.? We will not always get RH OR LH, vertical OR horizontal.? If the right conditions exist a RH signal could actually turn into a linear signal. Another factor to consider is the degree of rotation is proportional to the square of the wavelength. The effect is noticed at UHF frequencies, so for the many satellites whose uplink is UHF there is an effect but as we go to higher frequencies rotation effects become less a problem.? Imagine the fun we had with mode A satellites in the beginning. All 10 meter down link and 2 meter up link and the Sun was doing it's sunspot thing. Well that's PHYSICS lesson for the day.? It's been a while that I could do that. My advice for the day ---? get a switch!? You are going to need it. I always find, even now, that a switch in polarization at the antenna is needed to maintain a good QSO. Have a good day, at home or where you have to be, Jim Jipping, W8MRR AMSAT # 5512 From jhjipping at gmail.com Wed Mar 25 14:56:21 2020 From: jhjipping at gmail.com (James Jipping) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 10:56:21 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] RH or LH ? Message-ID: <80299f8c-2cba-f573-3684-3b7be4412186@gmail.com> OH MY GOODNESS!! In my discussion on Faraday rotation, I COMPLETELY forgot about the person using a linear polarized antenna. HMMM!? I guess i forgot is because my very first 2 meter up-link antenna was a turnstile, actually on the ground.? The second was a linear yagi , mounted horizontally and I lived with the limitations.? The third was a pair of yagis,? one horizontal and one vertical.? I switched between them,? Then I made a phasing harness to make the two together be circularly polarized.? By the way,? all of this was "pointed" with a pair of the trusty Alliance Tena Rotators and the weirdest of all arrangements of gears, etc. WELL, where does that leave me ???? Faraday is still right. Rotation Is going to happen and something has to be done to accommodate it to get maximum signals. It's been good day, staying home and working satellites or changing HF bands? with propagation shifts to work FT8 or capturing data from AO-91, 92, 95 with my Fox-in-a box. Hope you all a having a good day! Jim, W8MRR AMSAT #5512 From aj9n at aol.com Wed Mar 25 16:12:20 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:12:20 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-25 16:00 UTC References: <377692036.1216828.1585152740494.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <377692036.1216828.1585152740494@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-25 16:00 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Fri 2020-03-27 09:47:49 UTC 36 deg ? Watch for live stream at: Die Voortrekkers: SPD Water Werk - De Bank https://www.facebook.com/groups/1750900235133434/ ? Die Voortrekkers https://www.facebook.com/groups2354763991/ ? You Tube Die Voortrekkers https://www.youtube.com/user/dievoortrekkers ? ? Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Possible contact on Tue 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC ? ? ************************************************* ? Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio?? Check out these links:?? (***) ? ? >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in????? #SpaceConnectsUs ? https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolation_in_SpaceConnectsU In Europe and around the world, we?ve been getting used to a different way of living in recent weeks. On Thursday, 26 March, ESA and long-time partner Asteroid Day will host #SpaceConnectsUs ? a chance to connect across borders and hear from space explorers, artists, and scientists about how to manage ourselves and our environment as our communities battle a global pandemic. #SpaceConnectsUs is an online event running on March 26th from 16:00?21:00 CET (15:00?20:00 GMT) on ESA WebTV and ESA YouTube to help everyone practising social distancing or in isolation enjoy science, our home planet, and our dreams of the sky above us. The programme will feature remote connections with astronauts and guests from all over the world.? The presenters and guests will speak to children, young adults and their families and friends about their experience and techniques in confined places, lessons in life from space exploration, their trust in science and their sources of inspiration.? The programme runs in five language segments starting at 16:00 in Dutch, followed by German (17:00 CET), Italian (18:00 CET), French (19:00 CET) and English (20:00 CET, 19:00 GMT). ? Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.? By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw.? Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World.? Check out: ?https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard ? NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home.? Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ? ************************************************* ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-25 16:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1387. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1320. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? ? From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Wed Mar 25 19:41:45 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:41:45 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] RH or LH ?? In-Reply-To: <14c6de9d-a948-ba07-9d3a-4d03731a4aa9@gmail.com> References: <14c6de9d-a948-ba07-9d3a-4d03731a4aa9@gmail.com> Message-ID: Excellent Post, Jim and brings back some wonderful memories. 73, N0AN Hasan On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 9:08 AM James Jipping via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Good Morning! Just reviewing some past email and the topic of which > polarization "RH or LH ?" showed up. > > It must have been close to a solar activity maximum that I started my > satellite adventure. Faraday rotation was in full swing (or should I > say "rotation"). It was a phenomenon we all experienced and had to deal > with. > > My first antenna project included a polarization switch and I have > always had one on my satellite antennas. My arrow linear polarized > antenna has one (my arm/wrist rotation device). I would like to advise > that if you can manage it (financially or creatively -- "in the good old > days it was creatively") to include some way of changing the > polarization plane or direction of both the transmitted and received wave. > > ALL signals WILL experience some amount of polarization depending on the > strength of the earth's magnetic field strength IN THE PATH of the > signal from station to satellite (and vice/versa). The total rotation > effect is constantly changing. And do not forget the effect that the > earth's ionosphere has on polarization. As we know, the ion density of > the ionosphere, is constantly changing. Right now that effect is at > it's minimum as the sun's sunspot activity is at it's minimum. IT WILL > change and the effect will really begin to be noticed. > > Please remember that the entire effect is proportional the total > magnetic and ion densities, so the rotation is not going to be 90 > degrees or 180 degrees. We will not always get RH OR LH, vertical OR > horizontal. If the right conditions exist a RH signal could actually > turn into a linear signal. > > Another factor to consider is the degree of rotation is proportional to > the square of the wavelength. The effect is noticed at UHF frequencies, > so for the many satellites whose uplink is UHF there is an effect but as > we go to higher frequencies rotation effects become less a problem. > Imagine the fun we had with mode A satellites in the beginning. All 10 > meter down link and 2 meter up link and the Sun was doing it's sunspot > thing. > > Well that's PHYSICS lesson for the day. It's been a while that I could > do that. > > My advice for the day --- get a switch! You are going to need it. I > always find, even now, that a switch in polarization at the antenna is > needed to maintain a good QSO. > > Have a good day, at home or where you have to be, > > Jim Jipping, W8MRR > AMSAT # 5512 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From aj9n at aol.com Wed Mar 25 20:19:04 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 20:19:04 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-25 20:30 UTC References: <634169299.1339949.1585167544840.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <634169299.1339949.1585167544840@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-25 20:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. (***) ? ? Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Possible contact on Tue 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC ? ? ************************************************* ? Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio?? Check out these links:?? (***) ? ? >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in????? #SpaceConnectsUs ? https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolation_in_SpaceConnectsU In Europe and around the world, we?ve been getting used to a different way of living in recent weeks. On Thursday, 26 March, ESA and long-time partner Asteroid Day will host #SpaceConnectsUs ? a chance to connect across borders and hear from space explorers, artists, and scientists about how to manage ourselves and our environment as our communities battle a global pandemic. #SpaceConnectsUs is an online event running on March 26th from 16:00?21:00 CET (15:00?20:00 GMT) on ESA WebTV and ESA YouTube to help everyone practising social distancing or in isolation enjoy science, our home planet, and our dreams of the sky above us. The programme will feature remote connections with astronauts and guests from all over the world.? The presenters and guests will speak to children, young adults and their families and friends about their experience and techniques in confined places, lessons in life from space exploration, their trust in science and their sources of inspiration.? The programme runs in five language segments starting at 16:00 in Dutch, followed by German (17:00 CET), Italian (18:00 CET), French (19:00 CET) and English (20:00 CET, 19:00 GMT). ? Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.? By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw.? Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World.? Check out:? https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard ? NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home.? Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ? ************************************************* ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-25 20:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1387. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1320. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? ? From skristof at etczone.com Wed Mar 25 23:00:18 2020 From: skristof at etczone.com (Steve Kristoff) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 19:00:18 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT Message-ID: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> ?Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 watt HT and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for success? If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, so I can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. thanks! Steve AI9IN Grid EM79ji Oldenburg IN 47036 From saguaroastro at cox.net Wed Mar 25 23:17:26 2020 From: saguaroastro at cox.net (saguaroastro) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:17:26 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: <20200325231728.5E5D28567@lansing182.amsat.org> I"ve done it with a D72A and Elk, but not since they've had the radio problems that took it off line for a while. I imagine it'll be better when they install the new radios.73Rick Tejera (K7TEJ)Saguaro Astronomy ClubWww.saguaroastro.orgThunderbird Astronomy ClubWww.w7tbc.org -------- Original message --------From: Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB Date: 3/25/20 16:01 (GMT-07:00) To: amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT ?Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 watt HT and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for success?If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, so I can pursue a different aspect of our hobby.thanks!Steve AI9INGrid EM79jiOldenburg IN 47036_______________________________________________Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum availableto all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressedare 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 From johnbrier at gmail.com Wed Mar 25 23:18:00 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 19:18:00 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: I got through it on March 21st on a 12 degree pass using a TH-D72 and an Arrow: https://twitter.com/SpaceComms1/status/1241598936814694400?s=19 It was hard, as I believe it is a little deaf or not decoding consistently based on past reports. Some have said it seems to be easier with Kenwood radios. They are sending up a new Kenwood radio system soon that supports digipeater ops so don't dismiss this mode entirely! 73' John Brier KG4AKV On Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 19:02 Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 watt HT > and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for success? > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, so I > can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. > thanks! > Steve AI9IN > Grid EM79ji > Oldenburg IN 47036 > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From decompudoc at gmail.com Wed Mar 25 23:26:38 2020 From: decompudoc at gmail.com (Brian Clark) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:26:38 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: <5E30C709-CCB9-426C-8C68-E564479749EA@gmail.com> Hi Steve, I have been able to do so the last two evenings. One thing that I have noticed is, that I don?t see the packets being igated. I have been able to send and receive packets through the ISS with other amateurs, but they are not being igated. I am wondering if they have begun to implement the new radio system, but the path down to land based igated, isn?t set correctly. 5 watts is plenty to get up to the ISS. 73?s KF6FES Brian > On Mar 25, 2020, at 4:02 PM, Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ? > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 watt HT and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for success? > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, so I can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. > thanks! > Steve AI9IN > Grid EM79ji > Oldenburg IN 47036 > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From bwilkins at gmail.com Wed Mar 25 23:26:39 2020 From: bwilkins at gmail.com (Brian Wilkins KO4AQF) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 19:26:39 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: I had no issue until it went offline and then came back. I believe one of the iGates near me may have went offline since the ISS APRS pause as ISS is confirming my messages however nothing is showing up on ariss.net and I can exchange messages with others. I am considering building my own APRS RX iGate from an RTLSDR and Raspberry Pi just to digipeat my own packers back to APRS.fi website On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:22 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I got through it on March 21st on a 12 degree pass using a TH-D72 and an > Arrow: > > https://twitter.com/SpaceComms1/status/1241598936814694400?s=19 > > It was hard, as I believe it is a little deaf or not decoding consistently > based on past reports. Some have said it seems to be easier with Kenwood > radios. > > They are sending up a new Kenwood radio system soon that supports > digipeater ops so don't dismiss this mode entirely! > > 73' John Brier KG4AKV > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 19:02 Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > > > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 watt HT > > and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for success? > > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, so I > > can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. > > thanks! > > Steve AI9IN > > Grid EM79ji > > Oldenburg IN 47036 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Brian Wilkins KO4AQF From scott23192 at gmail.com Thu Mar 26 00:56:43 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 20:56:43 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: Hi Brian & everyone. Websites like ARISS.net monitor the APRS traffic and display a list of packets that match certain criteria. In the case of a site that wants to display packets digipeated via the ISS, they're looking for "RS0ISS*", which is appended to the digipeat path of a packet that is relayed thru the ISS. When it works correctly, you transmit a packet that is digipeated by the ISS and the digipeat from the ISS is heard by an iGate that puts it onto the internet for sites like ARISS.net to display. However, generally speaking, the APRS network is designed to toss out "duplicate" packets. And as you might imagine, it's first-come-first-served. If you'll notice on the following link to a screen shot: https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//images/KO4AQF-digipeats.png ... the vast majority of your packets are being heard DIRECTLY by in iGate run by W4GCW. So, a good portion of the time, when you get digipeated via the ISS, the APRS network considers that a duplicate and it's discarded. YOU (and others) might hear it off the air, but it'll never show up online anywhere. In the same image you can contrast those locally heard packets with packets that were digipeated & uploaded by iGate's KE4AZZ-3 & KC5ILO-12... of course that's how it's supposed to work. You might want to reach out to W4GCW to see if he'll filter out your call sign on his iGate to give your digipeated packets a chance to be heard by an iGate and get forwarded onto the greater APRS network as DIGIPEATS (instead of being discarded as duplicates). -Scott, K4KDR ========================== On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:30 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > I had no issue until it went offline and then came back. I believe one of > the iGates near me may have went offline since the ISS APRS pause as ISS is > confirming my messages however nothing is showing up on ariss.net and I > can > exchange messages with others. I am considering building my own APRS RX > iGate from an RTLSDR and Raspberry Pi just to digipeat my own packers back > to APRS.fi website > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:22 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > wrote: > > > I got through it on March 21st on a 12 degree pass using a TH-D72 and an > > Arrow: > > > > https://twitter.com/SpaceComms1/status/1241598936814694400?s=19 > > > > It was hard, as I believe it is a little deaf or not decoding > consistently > > based on past reports. Some have said it seems to be easier with Kenwood > > radios. > > > > They are sending up a new Kenwood radio system soon that supports > > digipeater ops so don't dismiss this mode entirely! > > > > 73' John Brier KG4AKV > > > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 19:02 Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > > > > > > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 watt HT > > > and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for success? > > > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, so I > > > can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. > > > thanks! > > > Steve AI9IN > > > Grid EM79ji > > > Oldenburg IN 47036 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > From bwilkins at gmail.com Thu Mar 26 01:33:52 2020 From: bwilkins at gmail.com (Brian Wilkins KO4AQF) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 21:33:52 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: That makes sense to me and I will contact him. He is my neighbor. What I am not clear on is why all of a sudden it stopped working when it was working prior to the ISS APRS shutdown. It may also explain why when I see you (K4KDR) and send messages via the ISS (or what I am told is being digipeated because my radio gets a message that the ISS received it) you never see them. I have been trying off and on for a couple months now to reach you. I have successfully reached N1RCN on multiple occasions. On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:59 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Hi Brian & everyone. > > Websites like ARISS.net monitor the APRS traffic and display a list of > packets that match certain criteria. In the case of a site that wants to > display packets digipeated via the ISS, they're looking for "RS0ISS*", > which is appended to the digipeat path of a packet that is relayed thru the > ISS. > > When it works correctly, you transmit a packet that is digipeated by the > ISS and the digipeat from the ISS is heard by an iGate that puts it onto > the internet for sites like ARISS.net to display. > > However, generally speaking, the APRS network is designed to toss out > "duplicate" packets. And as you might imagine, it's > first-come-first-served. > > If you'll notice on the following link to a screen shot: > > https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//images/KO4AQF-digipeats.png > > ... the vast majority of your packets are being heard DIRECTLY by in iGate > run by W4GCW. So, a good portion of the time, when you get digipeated via > the ISS, the APRS network considers that a duplicate and it's discarded. > YOU (and others) might hear it off the air, but it'll never show up online > anywhere. > > In the same image you can contrast those locally heard packets with packets > that were digipeated & uploaded by iGate's KE4AZZ-3 & KC5ILO-12... of > course that's how it's supposed to work. > > You might want to reach out to W4GCW to see if he'll filter out your call > sign on his iGate to give your digipeated packets a chance to be heard by > an iGate and get forwarded onto the greater APRS network as DIGIPEATS > (instead of being discarded as duplicates). > > -Scott, K4KDR > > ========================== > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:30 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > I had no issue until it went offline and then came back. I believe one of > > the iGates near me may have went offline since the ISS APRS pause as ISS > is > > confirming my messages however nothing is showing up on ariss.net and I > > can > > exchange messages with others. I am considering building my own APRS RX > > iGate from an RTLSDR and Raspberry Pi just to digipeat my own packers > back > > to APRS.fi website > > > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:22 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > wrote: > > > > > I got through it on March 21st on a 12 degree pass using a TH-D72 and > an > > > Arrow: > > > > > > https://twitter.com/SpaceComms1/status/1241598936814694400?s=19 > > > > > > It was hard, as I believe it is a little deaf or not decoding > > consistently > > > based on past reports. Some have said it seems to be easier with > Kenwood > > > radios. > > > > > > They are sending up a new Kenwood radio system soon that supports > > > digipeater ops so don't dismiss this mode entirely! > > > > > > 73' John Brier KG4AKV > > > > > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 19:02 Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 watt > HT > > > > and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for > success? > > > > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, > so I > > > > can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. > > > > thanks! > > > > Steve AI9IN > > > > Grid EM79ji > > > > Oldenburg IN 47036 > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Brian Wilkins KO4AQF From royldean at gmail.com Thu Mar 26 13:19:41 2020 From: royldean at gmail.com (Roy Dean) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:19:41 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ELaNa-20 - Will it ever happen? Message-ID: So I've been following the progress (or lack thereof) of LauncherOne for a while. Ignoring the whole CV problem, is this launch really going to ever happen? It seems that as we get "closer" to the actual demo launch - we get less and less info. I guess bad timing to ask this question..... CV may be the straw that breaks the camel's back? --Roy K3RLD From n8hm at arrl.net Thu Mar 26 13:32:57 2020 From: n8hm at arrl.net (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 09:32:57 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ELaNa-20 - Will it ever happen? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Virgin Orbit posted the following statement on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Virgin_Orbit/status/1241168535759380480/photo/1 73, Paul, N8HM On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 9:20 AM Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > So I've been following the progress (or lack thereof) of LauncherOne for a > while. Ignoring the whole CV problem, is this launch really going to ever > happen? It seems that as we get "closer" to the actual demo launch - we > get less and less info. > > I guess bad timing to ask this question..... CV may be the straw that > breaks the camel's back? > > --Roy > K3RLD > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ke4al at yahoo.com Thu Mar 26 13:33:53 2020 From: ke4al at yahoo.com (Robert Bankston) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 13:33:53 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] ELaNa-20 - Will it ever happen? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <173227170.2417713.1585229633988@mail.yahoo.com> Have a little faith:??Virgin Orbit?s space launch business deemed ?essential service,? work allowed to continue at Long Beach?https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbits-space-launch-business-deemed-essential-service-work-allowed-to-continue-at-long-beach/ ?? 73, ?? Robert, KE4AL On Thursday, March 26, 2020, 08:21:03 AM CDT, Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote: So I've been following the progress (or lack thereof) of LauncherOne for a while.? Ignoring the whole CV problem, is this launch really going to ever happen?? It seems that as we get "closer" to the actual demo launch - we get less and less info. I guess bad timing to ask this question.....? CV may be the straw that breaks the camel's back? --Roy K3RLD _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com Thu Mar 26 13:51:37 2020 From: joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com (JoAnne K9JKM) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 08:51:37 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] ELaNa-20 - Will it ever happen? In-Reply-To: <173227170.2417713.1585229633988@mail.yahoo.com> References: <173227170.2417713.1585229633988@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Interesting that anyone can refer to even a public web posting about VirginOrbit status on an AMSAT list. Waiting to see who falls out of their chair when they see this. On 3/26/2020 8:33 AM, Robert Bankston via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Have a little faith:??Virgin Orbit?s space launch business deemed ?essential service,? work allowed to continue at Long Beach?https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbits-space-launch-business-deemed-essential-service-work-allowed-to-continue-at-long-beach/ > > > 73, > > Robert, KE4AL > > > > > > On Thursday, March 26, 2020, 08:21:03 AM CDT, Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > > > So I've been following the progress (or lack thereof) of LauncherOne for a > while.? Ignoring the whole CV problem, is this launch really going to ever > happen?? It seems that as we get "closer" to the actual demo launch - we > get less and less info. > > I guess bad timing to ask this question.....? CV may be the straw that > breaks the camel's back? > > --Roy > K3RLD > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM joanne.k9jkm at gmail.com From bwilkins at gmail.com Thu Mar 26 22:40:24 2020 From: bwilkins at gmail.com (Brian Wilkins KO4AQF) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:40:24 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: In the past day, I have been working with W4GCW and KJ4EJR (author of APRSIS32 and APRSISCE who lives in my County) There is no way not to filter based on callsign and his software is compliant to the APRS-IS specification. Therefore, there is no way to prevent the iGate of my messages. W4GCW says he does not listen on the ISS frequency and rather the standard APRS frequency. Below is a response from KJ4EJR when I asked him if it?s possible to filter out my packets. ?per the IGate specs at http://www.aprs-is.net/IGateDetails.aspx Gate all packets heard on RF to the Internet *EXCEPT* if any of the following are true: 1. (AX.25 RF) The packet does not have a control field of 0x03 or a PID of 0xf0. 2. The TNC has PASSALL turned on. 3. 3rd-party packets (data type } ) with TCPIP or TCPXX in the 3rd party header. 3rd-party packets without TCPXX or TCPIP mnust have the RF header and the 3rd party data type stripped before passing to APRS-IS. 4. generic queries (data type ? ). 5. packets with TCPIP, TCPXX, NOGATE, or RFONLY in the header (last 2 are optional). You will notice that there is NOT any option for blacklisting or otherwise not forwarding RF-received packets to the APRS-IS for spec-compliant IGate operation.? On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 9:33 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF wrote: > That makes sense to me and I will contact him. He is my neighbor. What I > am not clear on is why all of a sudden it stopped working when it was > working prior to the ISS APRS shutdown. It may also explain why when I see > you (K4KDR) and send messages via the ISS (or what I am told is being > digipeated because my radio gets a message that the ISS received it) you > never see them. I have been trying off and on for a couple months now to > reach you. I have successfully reached N1RCN on multiple occasions. > > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:59 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB > wrote: > >> Hi Brian & everyone. >> >> Websites like ARISS.net monitor the APRS traffic and display a list of >> packets that match certain criteria. In the case of a site that wants to >> display packets digipeated via the ISS, they're looking for "RS0ISS*", >> which is appended to the digipeat path of a packet that is relayed thru >> the >> ISS. >> >> When it works correctly, you transmit a packet that is digipeated by the >> ISS and the digipeat from the ISS is heard by an iGate that puts it onto >> the internet for sites like ARISS.net to display. >> >> However, generally speaking, the APRS network is designed to toss out >> "duplicate" packets. And as you might imagine, it's >> first-come-first-served. >> >> If you'll notice on the following link to a screen shot: >> >> https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//images/KO4AQF-digipeats.png >> >> ... the vast majority of your packets are being heard DIRECTLY by in iGate >> run by W4GCW. So, a good portion of the time, when you get digipeated via >> the ISS, the APRS network considers that a duplicate and it's discarded. >> YOU (and others) might hear it off the air, but it'll never show up online >> anywhere. >> >> In the same image you can contrast those locally heard packets with >> packets >> that were digipeated & uploaded by iGate's KE4AZZ-3 & KC5ILO-12... of >> course that's how it's supposed to work. >> >> You might want to reach out to W4GCW to see if he'll filter out your call >> sign on his iGate to give your digipeated packets a chance to be heard by >> an iGate and get forwarded onto the greater APRS network as DIGIPEATS >> (instead of being discarded as duplicates). >> >> -Scott, K4KDR >> >> ========================== >> >> On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:30 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >> >> > I had no issue until it went offline and then came back. I believe one >> of >> > the iGates near me may have went offline since the ISS APRS pause as >> ISS is >> > confirming my messages however nothing is showing up on ariss.net and I >> > can >> > exchange messages with others. I am considering building my own APRS RX >> > iGate from an RTLSDR and Raspberry Pi just to digipeat my own packers >> back >> > to APRS.fi website >> > >> > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:22 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB < >> > amsat-bb at amsat.org> >> > wrote: >> > >> > > I got through it on March 21st on a 12 degree pass using a TH-D72 and >> an >> > > Arrow: >> > > >> > > https://twitter.com/SpaceComms1/status/1241598936814694400?s=19 >> > > >> > > It was hard, as I believe it is a little deaf or not decoding >> > consistently >> > > based on past reports. Some have said it seems to be easier with >> Kenwood >> > > radios. >> > > >> > > They are sending up a new Kenwood radio system soon that supports >> > > digipeater ops so don't dismiss this mode entirely! >> > > >> > > 73' John Brier KG4AKV >> > > >> > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 19:02 Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < >> > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> >> > > wrote: >> > > >> > > > >> > > > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 >> watt HT >> > > > and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for >> success? >> > > > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, >> so I >> > > > can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. >> > > > thanks! >> > > > Steve AI9IN >> > > > Grid EM79ji >> > > > Oldenburg IN 47036 >> > > > >> > > > _______________________________________________ >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > -- > Brian Wilkins > KO4AQF > -- Brian Wilkins KO4AQF From aj9n at aol.com Thu Mar 26 21:23:29 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 21:23:29 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-26 21:30 UTC References: <1964767081.1757642.1585257809597.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1964767081.1757642.1585257809597@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-26 21:30 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Possible contact on Tue 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC ? ? ************************************************* ? Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio?? Check out these links:?? (***) ? ? >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in????? #SpaceConnectsUs ? https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolation_in_SpaceConnectsU In Europe and around the world, we?ve been getting used to a different way of living in recent weeks. On Thursday, 26 March, ESA and long-time partner Asteroid Day will host #SpaceConnectsUs ? a chance to connect across borders and hear from space explorers, artists, and scientists about how to manage ourselves and our environment as our communities battle a global pandemic. #SpaceConnectsUs is an online event running on March 26th from 16:00?21:00 CET (15:00?20:00 GMT) on ESA WebTV and ESA YouTube to help everyone practising social distancing or in isolation enjoy science, our home planet, and our dreams of the sky above us. The programme will feature remote connections with astronauts and guests from all over the world.? The presenters and guests will speak to children, young adults and their families and friends about their experience and techniques in confined places, lessons in life from space exploration, their trust in science and their sources of inspiration.? The programme runs in five language segments starting at 16:00 in Dutch, followed by German (17:00 CET), Italian (18:00 CET), French (19:00 CET) and English (20:00 CET, 19:00 GMT). ? Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.? By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw.? Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World.? Check out: ?https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard ? NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home.? Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ? ************************************************* ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19:? (***) ? Postponed: SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD RO-SAT One, Piatra-Neam?, Romania, direct via YR?ISS McConnell Middle School, Loganville, GA, prefer direct via KD4TGR Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, direct via N4FR Oakwood School, Morgan Hill, CA, direct via AE6XM Ramona Lutheran School, Ramona, CA, direct via N6ROR ? Cancelled: Electromagnetic Field, Ledbury, United Kingdom, direct via GB4EMF ? ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-26 21:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1387. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1320. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? ? From scott23192 at gmail.com Thu Mar 26 22:58:45 2020 From: scott23192 at gmail.com (Scott) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:58:45 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: >>> W4GCW says he does not listen on the ISS frequency Were you perhaps transmitting on 144.390 at some point & that's why he's shown as the iGate on the screen capture I posted? https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//images/KO4AQF-digipeats.png ... that would explain it, so very sorry for any confusion that I might have caused. On a related note, for anyone running an iGate with Direwolf, the directive "SATGATE 15" can be helpful by putting a 15 second delay on your upload of heard packets. That way, if you happen to hear something from a neighbor directly (but his packet IS digipeated via satellite), some other iGate will likely hear the digipeat from space and upload that before your iGate gets around to uploading the locally heard packet. The end result is that your locally-heard packet is discarded as a duplicate and what shows on the APRS network is the digipeated packet -- a much better outcome! -Scott, K4KDR ============================== On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 6:40 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF wrote: > In the past day, I have been working with W4GCW and KJ4EJR (author of > APRSIS32 and APRSISCE who lives in my County) > > There is no way not to filter based on callsign and his software is > compliant to the APRS-IS specification. Therefore, there is no way to > prevent the iGate of my messages. W4GCW says he does not listen on the ISS > frequency and rather the standard APRS frequency. Below is a response from > KJ4EJR when I asked him if it?s possible to filter out my packets. > > ?per the IGate specs at http://www.aprs-is.net/IGateDetails.aspx > > Gate all packets heard on RF to the Internet *EXCEPT* if any of the > following are true: > > 1. (AX.25 RF) The packet does not have a control field of 0x03 or a > PID of 0xf0. > 2. The TNC has PASSALL turned on. > 3. 3rd-party packets (data type } ) with TCPIP or TCPXX in the 3rd > party header. > 3rd-party packets without TCPXX or TCPIP mnust have the RF header and > the 3rd party data type stripped before passing to APRS-IS. > 4. generic queries (data type ? ). > 5. packets with TCPIP, TCPXX, NOGATE, or RFONLY in the header (last 2 > are optional). > > You will notice that there is NOT any option for blacklisting or otherwise > not forwarding RF-received packets to the APRS-IS for spec-compliant IGate > operation.? > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 9:33 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF > wrote: > >> That makes sense to me and I will contact him. He is my neighbor. What I >> am not clear on is why all of a sudden it stopped working when it was >> working prior to the ISS APRS shutdown. It may also explain why when I see >> you (K4KDR) and send messages via the ISS (or what I am told is being >> digipeated because my radio gets a message that the ISS received it) you >> never see them. I have been trying off and on for a couple months now to >> reach you. I have successfully reached N1RCN on multiple occasions. >> >> >> On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:59 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB >> wrote: >> >>> Hi Brian & everyone. >>> >>> Websites like ARISS.net monitor the APRS traffic and display a list of >>> packets that match certain criteria. In the case of a site that wants to >>> display packets digipeated via the ISS, they're looking for "RS0ISS*", >>> which is appended to the digipeat path of a packet that is relayed thru >>> the >>> ISS. >>> >>> When it works correctly, you transmit a packet that is digipeated by the >>> ISS and the digipeat from the ISS is heard by an iGate that puts it onto >>> the internet for sites like ARISS.net to display. >>> >>> However, generally speaking, the APRS network is designed to toss out >>> "duplicate" packets. And as you might imagine, it's >>> first-come-first-served. >>> >>> If you'll notice on the following link to a screen shot: >>> >>> https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//images/KO4AQF-digipeats.png >>> >>> ... the vast majority of your packets are being heard DIRECTLY by in >>> iGate >>> run by W4GCW. So, a good portion of the time, when you get digipeated >>> via >>> the ISS, the APRS network considers that a duplicate and it's discarded. >>> YOU (and others) might hear it off the air, but it'll never show up >>> online >>> anywhere. >>> >>> In the same image you can contrast those locally heard packets with >>> packets >>> that were digipeated & uploaded by iGate's KE4AZZ-3 & KC5ILO-12... of >>> course that's how it's supposed to work. >>> >>> You might want to reach out to W4GCW to see if he'll filter out your call >>> sign on his iGate to give your digipeated packets a chance to be heard by >>> an iGate and get forwarded onto the greater APRS network as DIGIPEATS >>> (instead of being discarded as duplicates). >>> >>> -Scott, K4KDR >>> >>> ========================== >>> >>> On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:30 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF via AMSAT-BB < >>> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >>> >>> > I had no issue until it went offline and then came back. I believe one >>> of >>> > the iGates near me may have went offline since the ISS APRS pause as >>> ISS is >>> > confirming my messages however nothing is showing up on ariss.net and >>> I >>> > can >>> > exchange messages with others. I am considering building my own APRS RX >>> > iGate from an RTLSDR and Raspberry Pi just to digipeat my own packers >>> back >>> > to APRS.fi website >>> > >>> > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:22 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB < >>> > amsat-bb at amsat.org> >>> > wrote: >>> > >>> > > I got through it on March 21st on a 12 degree pass using a TH-D72 >>> and an >>> > > Arrow: >>> > > >>> > > https://twitter.com/SpaceComms1/status/1241598936814694400?s=19 >>> > > >>> > > It was hard, as I believe it is a little deaf or not decoding >>> > consistently >>> > > based on past reports. Some have said it seems to be easier with >>> Kenwood >>> > > radios. >>> > > >>> > > They are sending up a new Kenwood radio system soon that supports >>> > > digipeater ops so don't dismiss this mode entirely! >>> > > >>> > > 73' John Brier KG4AKV >>> > > >>> > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 19:02 Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < >>> > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> >>> > > wrote: >>> > > >>> > > > >>> > > > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 >>> watt HT >>> > > > and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for >>> success? >>> > > > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, too, >>> so I >>> > > > can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. >>> > > > thanks! >>> > > > Steve AI9IN >>> > > > Grid EM79ji >>> > > > Oldenburg IN 47036 >>> > > > >>> > > > _______________________________________________ >>> > >>> >> > From bwilkins at gmail.com Thu Mar 26 23:31:56 2020 From: bwilkins at gmail.com (Brian Wilkins KO4AQF) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 19:31:56 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS APRS with an HT In-Reply-To: References: <559131307235e0197c5b1d006eb6b558@etczone.com> Message-ID: It?s all good. I have found this discussion very enlightening in how the APRS network actually works. Back to my original problem, I am guessing that when the ISS is passing over that if it does receive my packets then there may not be an iGate nearby that can digipeat it back to the larger APRS network. As to whether I accidentally transmitted on the normal APRS frequency, I can?t rule that out and it may have happened on accident because in my radio that memory is next to the ISS APRS memory. Therefore an accidental slip of the finger while holding the radio would accidentally turn the knob and adjust the memory. On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 7:20 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB wrote: > >>> W4GCW says he does not listen on the ISS frequency > > Were you perhaps transmitting on 144.390 at some point & that's why he's > shown as the iGate on the screen capture I posted? > > https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//images/KO4AQF-digipeats.png > > ... that would explain it, so very sorry for any confusion that I might > have caused. > > On a related note, for anyone running an iGate with Direwolf, the directive > "SATGATE 15" can be helpful by putting a 15 second delay on your upload of > heard packets. That way, if you happen to hear something from a neighbor > directly (but his packet IS digipeated via satellite), some other iGate > will likely hear the digipeat from space and upload that before your iGate > gets around to uploading the locally heard packet. The end result is that > your locally-heard packet is discarded as a duplicate and what shows on the > APRS network is the digipeated packet -- a much better outcome! > > -Scott, K4KDR > > ============================== > > On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 6:40 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF > wrote: > > > In the past day, I have been working with W4GCW and KJ4EJR (author of > > APRSIS32 and APRSISCE who lives in my County) > > > > There is no way not to filter based on callsign and his software is > > compliant to the APRS-IS specification. Therefore, there is no way to > > prevent the iGate of my messages. W4GCW says he does not listen on the > ISS > > frequency and rather the standard APRS frequency. Below is a response > from > > KJ4EJR when I asked him if it?s possible to filter out my packets. > > > > ?per the IGate specs at http://www.aprs-is.net/IGateDetails.aspx > > > > Gate all packets heard on RF to the Internet *EXCEPT* if any of the > > following are true: > > > > 1. (AX.25 RF) The packet does not have a control field of 0x03 or a > > PID of 0xf0. > > 2. The TNC has PASSALL turned on. > > 3. 3rd-party packets (data type } ) with TCPIP or TCPXX in the 3rd > > party header. > > 3rd-party packets without TCPXX or TCPIP mnust have the RF header and > > the 3rd party data type stripped before passing to APRS-IS. > > 4. generic queries (data type ? ). > > 5. packets with TCPIP, TCPXX, NOGATE, or RFONLY in the header (last 2 > > are optional). > > > > You will notice that there is NOT any option for blacklisting or > otherwise > > not forwarding RF-received packets to the APRS-IS for spec-compliant > IGate > > operation.? > > > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 9:33 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF > > > wrote: > > > >> That makes sense to me and I will contact him. He is my neighbor. What I > >> am not clear on is why all of a sudden it stopped working when it was > >> working prior to the ISS APRS shutdown. It may also explain why when I > see > >> you (K4KDR) and send messages via the ISS (or what I am told is being > >> digipeated because my radio gets a message that the ISS received it) you > >> never see them. I have been trying off and on for a couple months now to > >> reach you. I have successfully reached N1RCN on multiple occasions. > >> > >> > >> On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:59 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB > >> wrote: > >> > >>> Hi Brian & everyone. > >>> > >>> Websites like ARISS.net monitor the APRS traffic and display a list of > >>> packets that match certain criteria. In the case of a site that wants > to > >>> display packets digipeated via the ISS, they're looking for "RS0ISS*", > >>> which is appended to the digipeat path of a packet that is relayed thru > >>> the > >>> ISS. > >>> > >>> When it works correctly, you transmit a packet that is digipeated by > the > >>> ISS and the digipeat from the ISS is heard by an iGate that puts it > onto > >>> the internet for sites like ARISS.net to display. > >>> > >>> However, generally speaking, the APRS network is designed to toss out > >>> "duplicate" packets. And as you might imagine, it's > >>> first-come-first-served. > >>> > >>> If you'll notice on the following link to a screen shot: > >>> > >>> https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//images/KO4AQF-digipeats.png > >>> > >>> ... the vast majority of your packets are being heard DIRECTLY by in > >>> iGate > >>> run by W4GCW. So, a good portion of the time, when you get digipeated > >>> via > >>> the ISS, the APRS network considers that a duplicate and it's > discarded. > >>> YOU (and others) might hear it off the air, but it'll never show up > >>> online > >>> anywhere. > >>> > >>> In the same image you can contrast those locally heard packets with > >>> packets > >>> that were digipeated & uploaded by iGate's KE4AZZ-3 & KC5ILO-12... of > >>> course that's how it's supposed to work. > >>> > >>> You might want to reach out to W4GCW to see if he'll filter out your > call > >>> sign on his iGate to give your digipeated packets a chance to be heard > by > >>> an iGate and get forwarded onto the greater APRS network as DIGIPEATS > >>> (instead of being discarded as duplicates). > >>> > >>> -Scott, K4KDR > >>> > >>> ========================== > >>> > >>> On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:30 PM Brian Wilkins KO4AQF via AMSAT-BB < > >>> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >>> > >>> > I had no issue until it went offline and then came back. I believe > one > >>> of > >>> > the iGates near me may have went offline since the ISS APRS pause as > >>> ISS is > >>> > confirming my messages however nothing is showing up on ariss.net > and > >>> I > >>> > can > >>> > exchange messages with others. I am considering building my own APRS > RX > >>> > iGate from an RTLSDR and Raspberry Pi just to digipeat my own packers > >>> back > >>> > to APRS.fi website > >>> > > >>> > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 7:22 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB < > >>> > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > >>> > wrote: > >>> > > >>> > > I got through it on March 21st on a 12 degree pass using a TH-D72 > >>> and an > >>> > > Arrow: > >>> > > > >>> > > https://twitter.com/SpaceComms1/status/1241598936814694400?s=19 > >>> > > > >>> > > It was hard, as I believe it is a little deaf or not decoding > >>> > consistently > >>> > > based on past reports. Some have said it seems to be easier with > >>> Kenwood > >>> > > radios. > >>> > > > >>> > > They are sending up a new Kenwood radio system soon that supports > >>> > > digipeater ops so don't dismiss this mode entirely! > >>> > > > >>> > > 73' John Brier KG4AKV > >>> > > > >>> > > On Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 19:02 Steve Kristoff via AMSAT-BB < > >>> > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> > >>> > > wrote: > >>> > > > >>> > > > > >>> > > > Has anyone been able to digipeat APRS through the ISS with a 5 > >>> watt HT > >>> > > > and an Arrow antenna lately? If so, what are your secrets for > >>> success? > >>> > > > If 5 watts and an Arrow doesn't work please let me know that, > too, > >>> so I > >>> > > > can pursue a different aspect of our hobby. > >>> > > > thanks! > >>> > > > Steve AI9IN > >>> > > > Grid EM79ji > >>> > > > Oldenburg IN 47036 > >>> > > > > >>> > > > _______________________________________________ > >>> > > >>> > >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > -- Brian Wilkins KO4AQF From kb2mjeff at att.net Fri Mar 27 00:47:51 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 20:47:51 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator References: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$.ref@att.net> Message-ID: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$@att.net> Over the last year I have evolved to a completely new AZ/EL rotor control setup, an AlphaSpid AZ/EL rotor system, a Green Heron R-21 controller, controlled by SatPC32 and PStRotortator. In the last few weeks my neighbors have mentioned that my rotor is "beeping'. As it is just 15 feet from their lunai that they sit in at night I'm a little concerned that their comments are going to get more unfriendly. As I have recently lost a good part of my high frequency hearing I can't hear the tone. I have had to stop collecting Telemetry at night to try to alleviate the situation. Does anyone have a clue on why the rotor system would beep? Does anyone have a clue on how to stop this from happening? My only input on this as I can't hear the beep, but I'm now feeding more voltage to the rotor system then before when I was using the stock controller supplied by AlphaSpid. The higher voltage allows the rotor to turn at a much improved rate. If I knew I was going to have to put up with all this BS I would of just bought another 5500 at half the price. 73 Jeff kb2m From wa7fwf at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 01:08:42 2020 From: wa7fwf at gmail.com (Kevin) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:08:42 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator In-Reply-To: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$@att.net> References: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$.ref@att.net> <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$@att.net> Message-ID: <462fed55-5de8-7ee3-61c9-581d03a81473@gmail.com> I do not own one but looking at the documentation for the controller I noticed this, "gradual startup and shutdown of rotor power to reduce stress on towers, antennas and rotors. This is achieved by pulse-width-modulating the operating voltage for the rotor." That could very well be the source of the "beeping"? with the windings in the motor singing. 73 Kevin WA7FWF On 3/26/2020 17:47, Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Green Heron R-21 controller From ke4kol at bellsouth.net Fri Mar 27 16:42:56 2020 From: ke4kol at bellsouth.net (ke4kol) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 16:42:56 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink References: <256859170.3148582.1585327376887.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <256859170.3148582.1585327376887@mail.yahoo.com> All,Has anyone else had the problem of not hearing your own downlink when working SO-50?? In the past I was able to hear myself, but lately I cannot not.? I don't know if I change some setting or that the Icom is going bad. Thanks for any help.? I appreciate it in advance. Jim, Ke4kol From royldean at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 16:58:51 2020 From: royldean at gmail.com (Roy Dean) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 12:58:51 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink Message-ID: > > All,Has anyone else had the problem of not hearing your own downlink when > working SO-50? In the past I was able to hear myself, but lately I cannot > not. I don't know if I change some setting or that the Icom is going bad. > Thanks for any help. I appreciate it in advance. > Jim, Ke4kol Jim, With SO-50, especially, this is very common. The 2m uplink has a harmonic very close to the downlink, which if not filtered out, can wipe out your local downlink whenever you are transmitting. I'm not familiar with the 910 enough to know how well it does at this, though. You were getting in fine this morning, though (not sure if you copied my QSL)! --Roy K3RLD From n8hm at arrl.net Fri Mar 27 17:03:54 2020 From: n8hm at arrl.net (Paul Stoetzer) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 13:03:54 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The 910 is generally very effective at filtering out harmonics from the transmitter. However, harmonics can be generated beyond the transmitter by poor connections, bad feedlines, or a damaged antenna. Check your entire antenna system to make sure there are not any problems. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 12:59 PM Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > > All,Has anyone else had the problem of not hearing your own downlink when > > working SO-50? In the past I was able to hear myself, but lately I cannot > > not. I don't know if I change some setting or that the Icom is going bad. > > Thanks for any help. I appreciate it in advance. > > Jim, Ke4kol > > > Jim, > > With SO-50, especially, this is very common. The 2m uplink has a harmonic > very close to the downlink, which if not filtered out, can wipe out your > local downlink whenever you are transmitting. I'm not familiar with the > 910 enough to know how well it does at this, though. > > You were getting in fine this morning, though (not sure if you copied my > QSL)! > > --Roy > K3RLD > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ke4kol at bellsouth.net Fri Mar 27 17:18:02 2020 From: ke4kol at bellsouth.net (ke4kol) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 17:18:02 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1033534977.3198698.1585329482613@mail.yahoo.com> Paul, Roy,Thanks the replies.? In the past I have always heard myself.? So there must be something gone wrong with my system.? I will have to check out everything. Thanks again for the suggestions.73s, Jim, Ke4kol On Friday, March 27, 2020, 01:04:41 PM EDT, Paul Stoetzer via AMSAT-BB wrote: The 910 is generally very effective at filtering out harmonics from the transmitter. However, harmonics can be generated beyond the transmitter by poor connections, bad feedlines, or a damaged antenna. Check your entire antenna system to make sure there are not any problems. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 12:59 PM Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > > All,Has anyone else had the problem of not hearing your own downlink when > > working SO-50?? In the past I was able to hear myself, but lately I cannot > > not.? I don't know if I change some setting or that the Icom is going bad. > > Thanks for any help.? I appreciate it in advance. > > Jim, Ke4kol > > > Jim, > > With SO-50, especially, this is very common.? The 2m uplink has a harmonic > very close to the downlink, which if not filtered out, can wipe out your > local downlink whenever you are transmitting.? I'm not familiar with the > 910 enough to know how well it does at this, though. > > You were getting in fine this morning, though (not sure if you copied my > QSL)! > > --Roy > K3RLD > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From af5cc2 at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 17:50:05 2020 From: af5cc2 at gmail.com (af5cc2) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 12:50:05 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink In-Reply-To: <1033534977.3198698.1585329482613@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5e7e3cd0.1c69fb81.fb1b2.acd2@mx.google.com> Did you accidentally turn on the CTCSS decode? I dont know if SO50 passes the tone to its transmit signal or not.73 John W5TD?Sent via the Samsung Galaxy A10e, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone -------- Original message --------From: ke4kol via AMSAT-BB Date: 3/27/20 12:44 PM (GMT-06:00) To: Roy Dean , Paul Stoetzer Cc: AMSAT BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink Paul, Roy,Thanks the replies.? In the past I have always heard myself.? So there must be something gone wrong with my system.? I will have to check out everything.Thanks again for the suggestions.73s, Jim, Ke4kol??? On Friday, March 27, 2020, 01:04:41 PM EDT, Paul Stoetzer via AMSAT-BB wrote:? The 910 is generally very effective at filtering out harmonics fromthe transmitter. However, harmonics can be generated beyond thetransmitter by poor connections, bad feedlines, or a damaged antenna.Check your entire antenna system to make sure there are not anyproblems.73,Paul, N8HMOn Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 12:59 PM Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote:>> >> > All,Has anyone else had the problem of not hearing your own downlink when> > working SO-50?? In the past I was able to hear myself, but lately I cannot> > not.? I don't know if I change some setting or that the Icom is going bad.> > Thanks for any help.? I appreciate it in advance.> > Jim, Ke4kol>>> Jim,>> With SO-50, especially, this is very common.? The 2m uplink has a harmonic> very close to the downlink, which if not filtered out, can wipe out your> local downlink whenever you are transmitting.? I'm not familiar with the> 910 enough to know how well it does at this, though.>> You were getting in fine this morning, though (not sure if you copied my> QSL)!>> --Roy> K3RLD> _______________________________________________> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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_______________________________________________Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum availableto all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressedare 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? _______________________________________________Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum availableto all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressedare 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 From johnbrier at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 18:15:39 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 14:15:39 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink In-Reply-To: <5e7e3cd0.1c69fb81.fb1b2.acd2@mx.google.com> References: <1033534977.3198698.1585329482613@mail.yahoo.com> <5e7e3cd0.1c69fb81.fb1b2.acd2@mx.google.com> Message-ID: In case you haven't already tried it, try your lowest power setting too. 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Fri, Mar 27, 2020, 14:00 af5cc2 via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Did you accidentally turn on the CTCSS decode? I dont know if SO50 passes > the tone to its transmit signal or not.73 John W5TD Sent via the Samsung > Galaxy A10e, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone > -------- Original message --------From: ke4kol via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> Date: 3/27/20 12:44 PM (GMT-06:00) To: Roy Dean < > royldean at gmail.com>, Paul Stoetzer Cc: AMSAT BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 > downlink Paul, Roy,Thanks the replies. In the past I have always heard > myself. So there must be something gone wrong with my system. I will have > to check out everything.Thanks again for the suggestions.73s, Jim, > Ke4kol On Friday, March 27, 2020, 01:04:41 PM EDT, Paul Stoetzer via > AMSAT-BB wrote: The 910 is generally very > effective at filtering out harmonics fromthe transmitter. However, > harmonics can be generated beyond thetransmitter by poor connections, bad > feedlines, or a damaged antenna.Check your entire antenna system to make > sure there are not anyproblems.73,Paul, N8HMOn Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 12:59 > PM Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB wrote:>> >> > All,Has anyone > else had the problem of not hearing your own downlink when> > working > SO-50? In the past I was able to hear myself, but lately I cannot> > not. > I don't know if I change some setting or that the Icom is going bad.> > > Thanks for any help. I appreciate it in advance.> > Jim, Ke4kol>>> Jim,>> > With SO-50, especially, this is very common. The 2m uplink has a harmonic> > very close to the downlink, which if not filtered out, can wipe out your> > local downlink whenever you are transmitting. I'm not familiar with the> > 910 enough to know how well it does at this, though.>> You were getting in > fine this morning, though (not sure if you copied my> QSL)!>> --Roy> K3RLD> > _______________________________________________> Sent via > AMSAT-BB at 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_______________________________________________Sent > via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum availableto all > interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressedare 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 > _______________________________________________Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. > AMSAT-NA makes this open forum availableto all interested persons worldwide > without requiring membership. Opinions expressedare 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From diehl.mike.a at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 18:49:53 2020 From: diehl.mike.a at gmail.com (Mike Diehl) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 14:49:53 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] IC-910H no audio on SO-50 downlink Message-ID: <62D929BB-49BC-4F51-9AB0-AE692F3371BF@gmail.com> Shouldn?t matter, I?ve run my 910 at 50W+ without a hint of desense on SO-50. N8HM is right, the 910 has superb filtering so I would definitely break out the analyzer and check out what?s going on with the antennas and feed line. 73, Mike Diehl W8LID/VE6LID > On Mar 27, 2020, at 14:19, John Brier via AMSAT-BB wrote: > From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Fri Mar 27 19:04:21 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 15:04:21 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator In-Reply-To: <462fed55-5de8-7ee3-61c9-581d03a81473@gmail.com> References: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$.ref@att.net> <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$@att.net> <462fed55-5de8-7ee3-61c9-581d03a81473@gmail.com> Message-ID: Is the Alfa-Spid stepper motor based? Certainly the feedback is digital. But I could certainly imagine a bunch of fast steps sounds like a beep. My G5500 actually makes a slightly odd noise too. I sounds almost like a clock being wound. I'm guessing it has something to do with the brake?? Does the A-S have one? Maybe sound insulation is going to be your best bet. On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 9:10 PM Kevin via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I do not own one but looking at the documentation for the controller I > noticed this, > "gradual startup and shutdown of rotor power to reduce stress on towers, > antennas and rotors. This is achieved by pulse-width-modulating the > operating voltage for the rotor." > > That could very well be the source of the "beeping" with the windings > in the motor singing. > > 73 > Kevin WA7FWF > > On 3/26/2020 17:47, Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Green Heron R-21 controller > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From bruninga at usna.edu Fri Mar 27 19:08:55 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 15:08:55 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator (noise) Message-ID: <5e3b0532452d6a7c125257ebd7942fe7@mail.gmail.com> If it is the ramp-up PWM modulation, then I guess worst case is to somehow put a muffler box around the motor to keep the neighbors happy. But the vibrations are probbbly well couipled to the shafts and antenna system, so just muffling the motor might be not as effective. Wrap a towel around the motor for a quick test and see how much that attenuates the noise. Bob -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 3:04 PM To: Kevin Cc: AMSAT BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator Is the Alfa-Spid stepper motor based? Certainly the feedback is digital. But I could certainly imagine a bunch of fast steps sounds like a beep. My G5500 actually makes a slightly odd noise too. I sounds almost like a clock being wound. I'm guessing it has something to do with the brake?? Does the A-S have one? Maybe sound insulation is going to be your best bet. On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 9:10 PM Kevin via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I do not own one but looking at the documentation for the controller I > noticed this, "gradual startup and shutdown of rotor power to reduce > stress on towers, antennas and rotors. This is achieved by > pulse-width-modulating the operating voltage for the rotor." > > That could very well be the source of the "beeping" with the windings > in the motor singing. > > 73 > Kevin WA7FWF > > On 3/26/2020 17:47, Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Green Heron R-21 controller > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kb2mjeff at att.net Fri Mar 27 19:18:03 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 15:18:03 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator In-Reply-To: References: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$.ref@att.net> <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$@att.net> <462fed55-5de8-7ee3-61c9-581d03a81473@gmail.com> Message-ID: <024601d6046c$7131da80$53958f80$@att.net> I contacted Jeff at Green Heron Engineering this morning. He suggested I set the Min Speed of both the AZ and EL in the motor control to 10. This stopped the buzzing noise(that only I can't hear). I then had my Wife take position under the antenna system as I adjusted the Min Speed slider to get it as low as possible. It was set to a 3 on both when I started and now I'm at a 8 AZ, and a full scale 10 on EL. This fixed the noise problem, but now the rotor doesn't point as precisely as before, it will over shoot around 2 degrees or so. This is fine with my M2 Leo pack. Thanks Kevin. And Burns, you just reminded me how much nosier the 5500 is, much louder the AlphaSpid. All is once again well in KB2M land ? 73 Jeff kb2m -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 15:04 To: Kevin Cc: AMSAT BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator Is the Alfa-Spid stepper motor based? Certainly the feedback is digital. But I could certainly imagine a bunch of fast steps sounds like a beep. My G5500 actually makes a slightly odd noise too. I sounds almost like a clock being wound. I'm guessing it has something to do with the brake?? Does the A-S have one? Maybe sound insulation is going to be your best bet. On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 9:10 PM Kevin via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > I do not own one but looking at the documentation for the controller I > noticed this, "gradual startup and shutdown of rotor power to reduce > stress on towers, antennas and rotors. This is achieved by > pulse-width-modulating the operating voltage for the rotor." > > That could very well be the source of the "beeping" with the windings > in the motor singing. > > 73 > Kevin WA7FWF > > On 3/26/2020 17:47, Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Green Heron R-21 controller > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From kb2mjeff at att.net Fri Mar 27 19:18:03 2020 From: kb2mjeff at att.net (Jeff ) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 15:18:03 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator In-Reply-To: References: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$.ref@att.net> <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$@att.net> <462fed55-5de8-7ee3-61c9-581d03a81473@gmail.com> Message-ID: <024601d6046c$7131da80$53958f80$@att.net> I contacted Jeff at Green Heron Engineering this morning. He suggested I set the Min Speed of both the AZ and EL in the motor control to 10. This stopped the buzzing noise(that only I can't hear). I then had my Wife take position under the antenna system as I adjusted the Min Speed slider to get it as low as possible. It was set to a 3 on both when I started and now I'm at a 8 AZ, and a full scale 10 on EL. This fixed the noise problem, but now the rotor doesn't point as precisely as before, it will over shoot around 2 degrees or so. This is fine with my M2 Leo pack. Thanks Kevin. And Burns, you just reminded me how much nosier the 5500 is, much louder the AlphaSpid. All is once again well in KB2M land ? 73 Jeff kb2m -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 15:04 To: Kevin Cc: AMSAT BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator Is the Alfa-Spid stepper motor based? Certainly the feedback is digital. But I could certainly imagine a bunch of fast steps sounds like a beep. My G5500 actually makes a slightly odd noise too. I sounds almost like a clock being wound. I'm guessing it has something to do with the brake?? Does the A-S have one? Maybe sound insulation is going to be your best bet. On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 9:10 PM Kevin via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > I do not own one but looking at the documentation for the controller I > noticed this, "gradual startup and shutdown of rotor power to reduce > stress on towers, antennas and rotors. This is achieved by > pulse-width-modulating the operating voltage for the rotor." > > That could very well be the source of the "beeping" with the windings > in the motor singing. > > 73 > Kevin WA7FWF > > On 3/26/2020 17:47, Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Green Heron R-21 controller > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Fri Mar 27 19:20:28 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 15:20:28 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator In-Reply-To: <024601d6046c$7131da80$53958f80$@att.net> References: <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$.ref@att.net> <00c501d603d1$590200c0$0b060240$@att.net> <462fed55-5de8-7ee3-61c9-581d03a81473@gmail.com> <024601d6046c$7131da80$53958f80$@att.net> Message-ID: Glad to hear GH was helpful and that you found a solution. Luckily, my G5500 is not close to anyone, so I'm the only one that hears it if I happen to be outside :-) We certainly need to pay attention to our neighbor's sensitivities, especially now the we are all home more! Thanks for the update! On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 3:18 PM Jeff wrote: > I contacted Jeff at Green Heron Engineering this morning. He suggested I > set the Min Speed of both the AZ and EL in the motor control to 10. This > stopped the buzzing noise(that only I can't hear). I then had my Wife take > position under the antenna system as I adjusted the Min Speed slider to get > it as low as possible. It was set to a 3 on both when I started and now I'm > at a 8 AZ, and a full scale 10 on EL. This fixed the noise problem, but > now the rotor doesn't point as precisely as before, it will over shoot > around 2 degrees or so. This is fine with my M2 Leo pack. Thanks Kevin. > And Burns, you just reminded me how much nosier the 5500 is, much louder > the AlphaSpid. All is once again well in KB2M land ? > > > > 73 Jeff kb2m > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Burns Fisher via > AMSAT-BB > Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 15:04 > To: Kevin > Cc: AMSAT BB > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AlphaSpid Green Heron rotor controller PstRotator > > > > Is the Alfa-Spid stepper motor based? Certainly the feedback is digital. > > But I could certainly imagine a bunch of fast steps sounds like a beep. > > > > My G5500 actually makes a slightly odd noise too. I sounds almost like a > clock being wound. I'm guessing it has something to do with the brake?? > > Does the A-S have one? > > > > Maybe sound insulation is going to be your best bet. > > > > On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 9:10 PM Kevin via AMSAT-BB > > wrote: > > > > > I do not own one but looking at the documentation for the controller I > > > noticed this, "gradual startup and shutdown of rotor power to reduce > > > stress on towers, antennas and rotors. This is achieved by > > > pulse-width-modulating the operating voltage for the rotor." > > > > > > That could very well be the source of the "beeping" with the windings > > > in the motor singing. > > > > > > 73 > > > Kevin WA7FWF > > > > > > On 3/26/2020 17:47, Jeff via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > Green Heron R-21 controller > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From mccardelm at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 19:48:27 2020 From: mccardelm at gmail.com (E.Mike McCardel) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 15:48:27 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Kenwood TM-D700A Duplex Settings Message-ID: <44B46AD4-AE65-4265-8144-D0BADD980256@gmail.com> I?m setting up a Kenwood TM-D700A for use on the FM birds. I?m having issues to getting it to work full duplex. Could someone post or send me a copy of the settings they are using for their working setup? Thank you, 73, EMike McCardel, AA8EM Past Senior Editor AMSAT News Service Past AMSAT-NA VP Educational Relations Former ARRL, Ohio Section, Affiliated Club Coordinator From eromagni at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 19:48:15 2020 From: eromagni at gmail.com (The Romagni's) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 14:48:15 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Be on the lookout for YV stations on the birds In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello all, I been involved with a project teaching how to get on sats with a group of hams down in Venezuela - the result has been amazing, and now about 10 to 15 stations are getting on the birds (most of the on the FM birds) - so be in the look out for some activity from YV Land. 73 Steve W4DTA / YV5DTA From mail at hatzakis.net Fri Mar 27 19:52:19 2020 From: mail at hatzakis.net (Michael Hatzakis Jr MD) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 12:52:19 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Trying to get back on the sats... but G-5500 Failure Message-ID: <60699AEB-FF72-4019-A871-EC258837C5D7@hatzakis.net> Hi guys/gals, I used to be very active on the Sats, and for years; have a great set-up, but thanks to life events, went dark for about 5-6 years. Trying to find a silver lining in this COVID crisis, while my business is in the tank, thought I would get back to my love of the birds. Unfortunately, I turned on my G-5500 controller and suddenly find the elevation portion of the rotor isnt responding. Rotation is fine. Thanks to my fearless days of my 40?s, the antenna is up on the chimney in a set up thats a little challenging to service, so I am looking for what I can do on the ground to try to debug and prepare first, before embarking on a roof expedition. What are the common reasons for the elevation rotator to stop responding? is there much I can do on the ground to debug, and/or prepare when I go up on the roof to check the rotor out? What are the repair options? Michael Hatzakis Jr MD K3MH mail at hatzakis.net From rich at ourowndomain.com Fri Mar 27 21:16:28 2020 From: rich at ourowndomain.com (Rich Gopstein) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 17:16:28 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Shortening M2 2MCP22? Message-ID: I have an old 2mcp22 antenna that I would like to put up, but it's almost 20 feet long... Since I don't need that much gain for the current batch of satellites, I was wondering if I can use only one boom section and end up with a shorter 10 (2x5) element antenna. Would that have any undesirable effects (other than reducing gain and increasing beam width)? Thanks. Rich, KD2CQ From mail at hatzakis.net Fri Mar 27 21:25:01 2020 From: mail at hatzakis.net (Michael Hatzakis Jr MD) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 14:25:01 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Trying to get back on the sats... but G-5500 Failure In-Reply-To: <1751366614.26917.1585344095654@mail.yahoo.com> References: <60699AEB-FF72-4019-A871-EC258837C5D7@hatzakis.net> <1751366614.26917.1585344095654@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Jerry, Just for perspective. That rotor has been up for 15 years or more. Been through multiple major storms, snow, ice, etc and has been flawless for that entire time. This is the first failure in all that time, and more than likely related to sitting dormant for 6 years. So, I would say, that is pretty darn good. Can?t speak for others, but I don?t have an issues with that duration of a failure free period. Michael Hatzakis Jr MD. K3MH > On Mar 27, 2020, at 2:21 PM, Gerald Witalec wrote: > > Hi Michael, > Been reading a lot on the AMSAT-BB and amazed about how many of you are having problems with such an expensive rotor. > I have decided not to purchase it and going to build my SAT station instead with servo motors. > > Jerry...W8RQM > > On Friday, March 27, 2020, 4:58:27 PM EDT, Michael Hatzakis Jr MD via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > Hi guys/gals, > > I used to be very active on the Sats, and for years; have a great set-up, but thanks to life events, went dark for about 5-6 years. > > Trying to find a silver lining in this COVID crisis, while my business is in the tank, thought I would get back to my love of the birds. > > Unfortunately, I turned on my G-5500 controller and suddenly find the elevation portion of the rotor isnt responding. Rotation is fine. Thanks to my fearless days of my 40?s, the antenna is up on the chimney in a set up thats a little challenging to service, so I am looking for what I can do on the ground to try to debug and prepare first, before embarking on a roof expedition. > > What are the common reasons for the elevation rotator to stop responding? is there much I can do on the ground to debug, and/or prepare when I go up on the roof to check the rotor out? What are the repair options? > > Michael Hatzakis Jr MD K3MH > mail at hatzakis.net > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From jfitzgerald at alum.wpi.edu Fri Mar 27 22:02:21 2020 From: jfitzgerald at alum.wpi.edu (Joseph B. Fitzgerald) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 22:02:21 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Trying to get back on the sats... but G-5500 Failure In-Reply-To: References: <60699AEB-FF72-4019-A871-EC258837C5D7@hatzakis.net> <1751366614.26917.1585344095654@mail.yahoo.com>, Message-ID: Michael, We can hope for a broken wire, hopefully close to the ground. Not sure if there is a real difference this year, but here in new england I have heard an unusually large number of complaints about critters chewing through cables. Does the control box make any indication of current flowing when you try to change the elevation, i.e does the control box hum louder than usual? I would also be curious to see what the resistance is between pins 4-6 and pins 5-6 of the , I would expect to see a few ohms. de KM1P Joe ________________________________________ From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of Michael Hatzakis Jr MD via AMSAT-BB Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 5:25 PM To: Gerald Witalec; amsat-bb at amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Trying to get back on the sats... but G-5500 Failure Jerry, Just for perspective. That rotor has been up for 15 years or more. Been through multiple major storms, snow, ice, etc and has been flawless for that entire time. This is the first failure in all that time, and more than likely related to sitting dormant for 6 years. So, I would say, that is pretty darn good. Can?t speak for others, but I don?t have an issues with that duration of a failure free period. Michael Hatzakis Jr MD. K3MH > On Mar 27, 2020, at 2:21 PM, Gerald Witalec wrote: > > Hi Michael, > Been reading a lot on the AMSAT-BB and amazed about how many of you are having problems with such an expensive rotor. > I have decided not to purchase it and going to build my SAT station instead with servo motors. > > Jerry...W8RQM > > On Friday, March 27, 2020, 4:58:27 PM EDT, Michael Hatzakis Jr MD via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > Hi guys/gals, > > I used to be very active on the Sats, and for years; have a great set-up, but thanks to life events, went dark for about 5-6 years. > > Trying to find a silver lining in this COVID crisis, while my business is in the tank, thought I would get back to my love of the birds. > > Unfortunately, I turned on my G-5500 controller and suddenly find the elevation portion of the rotor isnt responding. Rotation is fine. Thanks to my fearless days of my 40?s, the antenna is up on the chimney in a set up thats a little challenging to service, so I am looking for what I can do on the ground to try to debug and prepare first, before embarking on a roof expedition. > > What are the common reasons for the elevation rotator to stop responding? is there much I can do on the ground to debug, and/or prepare when I go up on the roof to check the rotor out? What are the repair options? > > Michael Hatzakis Jr MD K3MH > mail at hatzakis.net > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Fri Mar 27 22:03:12 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 18:03:12 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Be on the lookout for YV stations on the birds In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Good work, Steve! I know I can get some places in Central America, but I'm not sure about as far as YV. I'll have to watch the passes carefully! On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 4:04 PM The Romagni's via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Hello all, > > I been involved with a project teaching how to get on sats with a group of > hams down in Venezuela - the result has been amazing, and now about 10 to > 15 stations are getting on the birds (most of the on the FM birds) - so be > in the look out for some activity from YV Land. > > 73 > > Steve > W4DTA / YV5DTA > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Fri Mar 27 22:09:09 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 18:09:09 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Trying to get back on the sats... but G-5500 Failure In-Reply-To: References: <60699AEB-FF72-4019-A871-EC258837C5D7@hatzakis.net> <1751366614.26917.1585344095654@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: So far, my problems with the 5500 have all been with the cables. One time a mouse chewed through it. Another time I discovered the bolt on my surge protector terminal was not tight. Not to say the 5500 never has hardware problems. One thing I'd look at is whether it is literally not rotating when power is applied, or whether it is the feedback pot/wiring that is bad. Worth a check so you can trace the wiring better But one interesting question is what elevation your antenna is frozen at? You could be successful for a while at either end of the pass if it is horizontal (depending on the beam width of your antennas). Maybe a bit more challenging if it is vertical. On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 5:50 PM Michael Hatzakis Jr MD via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Jerry, > > Just for perspective. That rotor has been up for 15 years or more. Been > through multiple major storms, snow, ice, etc and has been flawless for > that entire time. This is the first failure in all that time, and more > than likely related to sitting dormant for 6 years. So, I would say, that > is pretty darn good. Can?t speak for others, but I don?t have an issues > with that duration of a failure free period. > > Michael Hatzakis Jr MD. K3MH > > > > > On Mar 27, 2020, at 2:21 PM, Gerald Witalec > wrote: > > > > Hi Michael, > > Been reading a lot on the AMSAT-BB and amazed about how many of you are > having problems with such an expensive rotor. > > I have decided not to purchase it and going to build my SAT station > instead with servo motors. > > > > Jerry...W8RQM > > > > On Friday, March 27, 2020, 4:58:27 PM EDT, Michael Hatzakis Jr MD via > AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > > > Hi guys/gals, > > > > I used to be very active on the Sats, and for years; have a great > set-up, but thanks to life events, went dark for about 5-6 years. > > > > Trying to find a silver lining in this COVID crisis, while my business > is in the tank, thought I would get back to my love of the birds. > > > > Unfortunately, I turned on my G-5500 controller and suddenly find the > elevation portion of the rotor isnt responding. Rotation is fine. Thanks > to my fearless days of my 40?s, the antenna is up on the chimney in a set > up thats a little challenging to service, so I am looking for what I can do > on the ground to try to debug and prepare first, before embarking on a roof > expedition. > > > > What are the common reasons for the elevation rotator to stop > responding? is there much I can do on the ground to debug, and/or prepare > when I go up on the roof to check the rotor out? What are the repair > options? > > > > Michael Hatzakis Jr MD K3MH > > mail at hatzakis.net > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 < > https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb> > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 23:23:39 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 18:23:39 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Trying to get back on the sats... but G-5500 Failure In-Reply-To: References: <60699AEB-FF72-4019-A871-EC258837C5D7@hatzakis.net> <1751366614.26917.1585344095654@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: As a temp solution that could turn permanent, forget the elevation side and just mount it at a fixed elevation of 15 degrees. As long as the gain of your antennas is not too great (no more than 10 dBi approximately), it will work perfectly for the LEO birds. Your gain at the horizon will only be down 1 dB, and your gain at 65 or 70 deg will be more than adequate. The small time the bird is >70 deg is of little consequence and because the bird is near TCA (time of closest approach) then the signal is quite strong. If your antennas are too high gain, take the front part of the boom off, (removing directors), and the gain will drop. I have been using this exact setup and work all the Low Earth Orbit birds right down to the horizon. 73, N0AN Hasan On Fri, Mar 27, 2020, 5:17 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB wrote: > So far, my problems with the 5500 have all been with the cables. One time > a mouse chewed through it. Another time I discovered the bolt on my surge > protector terminal was not tight. Not to say the 5500 never has hardware > problems. One thing I'd look at is whether it is literally not rotating > when power is applied, or whether it is the feedback pot/wiring that is > bad. Worth a check so you can trace the wiring better > > But one interesting question is what elevation your antenna is frozen at? > You could be successful for a while at either end of the pass if it is > horizontal (depending on the beam width of your antennas). Maybe a bit > more challenging if it is vertical. > > On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 5:50 PM Michael Hatzakis Jr MD via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > Jerry, > > > > Just for perspective. That rotor has been up for 15 years or more. > Been > > through multiple major storms, snow, ice, etc and has been flawless for > > that entire time. This is the first failure in all that time, and more > > than likely related to sitting dormant for 6 years. So, I would say, > that > > is pretty darn good. Can?t speak for others, but I don?t have an issues > > with that duration of a failure free period. > > > > Michael Hatzakis Jr MD. K3MH > > > > > > > > > On Mar 27, 2020, at 2:21 PM, Gerald Witalec > > wrote: > > > > > > Hi Michael, > > > Been reading a lot on the AMSAT-BB and amazed about how many of you are > > having problems with such an expensive rotor. > > > I have decided not to purchase it and going to build my SAT station > > instead with servo motors. > > > > > > Jerry...W8RQM > > > > > > On Friday, March 27, 2020, 4:58:27 PM EDT, Michael Hatzakis Jr MD via > > AMSAT-BB wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hi guys/gals, > > > > > > I used to be very active on the Sats, and for years; have a great > > set-up, but thanks to life events, went dark for about 5-6 years. > > > > > > Trying to find a silver lining in this COVID crisis, while my business > > is in the tank, thought I would get back to my love of the birds. > > > > > > Unfortunately, I turned on my G-5500 controller and suddenly find the > > elevation portion of the rotor isnt responding. Rotation is fine. Thanks > > to my fearless days of my 40?s, the antenna is up on the chimney in a set > > up thats a little challenging to service, so I am looking for what I can > do > > on the ground to try to debug and prepare first, before embarking on a > roof > > expedition. > > > > > > What are the common reasons for the elevation rotator to stop > > responding? is there much I can do on the ground to debug, and/or > prepare > > when I go up on the roof to check the rotor out? What are the repair > > options? > > > > > > Michael Hatzakis Jr MD K3MH > > > mail at hatzakis.net > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > < > > https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com Fri Mar 27 23:25:59 2020 From: hbasri.schiers6 at gmail.com (Hasan al-Basri) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 18:25:59 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Shortening M2 2MCP22? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: It will work just fine for all the Mode B birds, if you reduce the boom length. I've done it, no issues at all. 73, N0AN Hasan On Fri, Mar 27, 2020, 4:19 PM Rich Gopstein via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I have an old 2mcp22 antenna that I would like to put up, but it's almost > 20 feet long... Since I don't need that much gain for the current batch of > satellites, I was wondering if I can use only one boom section and end up > with a shorter 10 (2x5) element antenna. > > Would that have any undesirable effects (other than reducing gain and > increasing beam width)? > > Thanks. > > Rich, KD2CQ > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From jfitzgerald at alum.wpi.edu Sat Mar 28 00:04:51 2020 From: jfitzgerald at alum.wpi.edu (Joseph B. Fitzgerald) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 00:04:51 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Trying to get back on the sats... but G-5500 Failure In-Reply-To: References: <60699AEB-FF72-4019-A871-EC258837C5D7@hatzakis.net> <1751366614.26917.1585344095654@mail.yahoo.com> , Message-ID: Hasan's idea is a good one. WB4APR has been preaching this from the Naval Academy for some time ... in fact it is a US Navy design from the dawn of the Space Age. Check out the link below. Note the slight, fixed elevation of the Yagis on the mast. The Navy didn't take any chances with critters eating cables either ... the operator simply grabbed the steering wheel that you see in between the two R-390A's inside the hut and swung the antennas around armstrong style. https://fas.org/spp/military/program/sigint/grab.htm de KM1P Joe From vu2exp at gmail.com Sat Mar 28 05:12:27 2020 From: vu2exp at gmail.com (Rajesh Vagadia - VU2EXP) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 10:42:27 +0530 Subject: [amsat-bb] Indian Students are offered to Learn Ham Radio in Lockdown In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: (Initiative to popularise Ham Radio and Amateur Radio Satellite activities) *ARE YOU TIRED IN LOCKDOWN?* *Indian Students *are offered to* Learn from Home* about Interesting Scientific Hobby - *Amateur Radio!* *Dear students & friends,* Feel Free to *Learn & Ask any Questions* regarding; Ham radio, It's Applications, Operating Procedure, Getting Licence, Amateur Satellites, ARISS Events, Satellite Communication, Ham events, Emergency Communication etc. *WhatsApp any of your Questions* to active Indian Ham Operator Rajesh P. Vagadia VU2EXP on M: *9898283916* or *Call during* *10:00 AM - 1:00 PM* & *4:00 PM - 7:00 PM* (IST) (Keep us engage up to 14th April 2020) *We will be Happy to Answer your every Queries.* Thanks & 73 Rajesh P Vagadia - VU2EXP Rajkot - Gujarat (India) Regional Co-ordinator West India Zone AMSAT-INDIA M: 9898283916 E: vu2exp at gmail.com www.qrz.com/db/vu2exp *Stay Home ? Be Safe ? Learn More* From ve8rt at yknwt.ca Sat Mar 28 11:44:59 2020 From: ve8rt at yknwt.ca (Ron VE8RT) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 05:44:59 -0600 Subject: [amsat-bb] Indian Students are offered to Learn Ham Radio in Lockdown In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20200328054459.d60b0830085cc2eb0a05b5c3@yknwt.ca> Hi Rajesh, wonderful! I have been hoping to organize something like this here in my neighbourhood. To that end I had contacted the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Organization) who have offered to do a spot on radio about learning amteur radio, and perhaps they will put an article on their webpage. When I saw your notice on Southgate News this morning I sent the link to our CBC reporter. Thanks and good luck. On another note, I thought that I could do a quick demonstration for CBC and still keep personal spacing by taking my TMV-71A with an Arrow Antenna and working a couple of stations on the FM satellites. It has been several months since I've been on satellite, hopefully I won't disappoint the reporter with zero contacts. When we set up a time for the demonstration I may post something on this list. Its 5AM at the moment and its -31C at the moment, fortunately its expected to warm up to -20C during the day, good enough for a few minutes of operating outdoors :-) Ron VE8RT Yellowknife, NT DP22 On Sat, 28 Mar 2020 10:42:27 +0530 Rajesh Vagadia - VU2EXP via AMSAT-BB wrote: > (Initiative to popularise Ham Radio and Amateur Radio Satellite activities) > > *ARE YOU TIRED IN LOCKDOWN?* > > *Indian Students *are offered to* Learn from Home* about Interesting > Scientific Hobby - *Amateur Radio!* > > *Dear students & friends,* > > Feel Free to *Learn & Ask any Questions* regarding; Ham radio, It's > Applications, Operating Procedure, Getting Licence, Amateur Satellites, > ARISS Events, Satellite Communication, Ham events, Emergency Communication > etc. > > *WhatsApp any of your Questions* to active Indian Ham Operator > Rajesh P. Vagadia VU2EXP on > M: *9898283916* or > *Call during* > *10:00 AM - 1:00 PM* & > *4:00 PM - 7:00 PM* (IST) > > (Keep us engage up to 14th April 2020) > > *We will be Happy to Answer your every Queries.* > > Thanks & 73 > > Rajesh P Vagadia - VU2EXP > Rajkot - Gujarat (India) > Regional Co-ordinator > West India Zone > AMSAT-INDIA > M: 9898283916 > E: vu2exp at gmail.com > www.qrz.com/db/vu2exp > > *Stay Home ? Be Safe ? Learn More* > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 -- Ron VE8RT From carl at esteys.net Sat Mar 28 07:40:05 2020 From: carl at esteys.net (Carl A Estey) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 02:40:05 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 Message-ID: What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod 2011) running High Sierra OS? Carl WA0CQG From va3mw at portcredit.net Sat Mar 28 14:23:22 2020 From: va3mw at portcredit.net (Michael Walker) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 10:23:22 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Carl DogParkSDR has a bunch listed on his website that work with MacDoppler. Mike va3mw On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 9:52 AM Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an Yaesu > G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod 2011) > running High Sierra OS? > > Carl WA0CQG > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From ny4i at NY4I.com Sat Mar 28 16:46:44 2020 From: ny4i at NY4I.com (Tom Schaefer) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 12:46:44 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <42780F0B-A754-4DE3-A6A4-86182DF19E03@NY4I.com> Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. Tom NY4I Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727-437-2771 > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod 2011) running High Sierra OS? > > Carl WA0CQG > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Sat Mar 28 18:39:53 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 14:39:53 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: <42780F0B-A754-4DE3-A6A4-86182DF19E03@NY4I.com> References: <42780F0B-A754-4DE3-A6A4-86182DF19E03@NY4I.com> Message-ID: I have a Mac mini and a 5500. I use a USB-to-serial connector and then serial to an AMSAT LVB Tracker. The LVB tracker is not available any more from AMSAT but AMSAT-UK might have kits, and Fox Delta ST2 is pretty much a clone. On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 12:48 PM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have > used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial > ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. > > Tom NY4I > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > > > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an > Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod > 2011) running High Sierra OS? > > > > Carl WA0CQG > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wageners at gmail.com Sat Mar 28 18:46:15 2020 From: wageners at gmail.com (Stefan Wagener) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 13:46:15 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: <42780F0B-A754-4DE3-A6A4-86182DF19E03@NY4I.com> References: <42780F0B-A754-4DE3-A6A4-86182DF19E03@NY4I.com> Message-ID: Never understood why you would buy a $900 controller (Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El ) when a $90 PC/Mac controller interface does the same thing since the G-5500 already has a control box. Maybe I am missing something? 73 Stefan VE4SW On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have > used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial > ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. > > Tom NY4I > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > > > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an > Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod > 2011) running High Sierra OS? > > > > Carl WA0CQG > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc Sat Mar 28 19:00:19 2020 From: wb1fj-bb at fisher.cc (Burns Fisher) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 15:00:19 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: References: <42780F0B-A754-4DE3-A6A4-86182DF19E03@NY4I.com> Message-ID: Stefan, the G5500 control box has no computer interface. You are expected to connect it to a Yaesu GS232 as a computer connection. Of course pretty much everyone uses something different like Green Heron, Fox Delta, LVB, etc. Or did I misunderstand your question? On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 2:48 PM Stefan Wagener via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > Never understood why you would buy a $900 controller (Green Heron?s RT-21 > Az/El ) when a $90 PC/Mac controller interface does the same thing since > the G-5500 already has a control box. Maybe I am missing something? > > 73 Stefan VE4SW > > > On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have > > used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial > > ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. > > > > Tom NY4I > > > > Principal Solutions Architect > > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > > 727-437-2771 > > > > > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB < > > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > > > > > > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an > > Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod > > 2011) running High Sierra OS? > > > > > > Carl WA0CQG > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From wageners at gmail.com Sat Mar 28 19:03:45 2020 From: wageners at gmail.com (Stefan Wagener) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 14:03:45 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: References: <42780F0B-A754-4DE3-A6A4-86182DF19E03@NY4I.com> Message-ID: Thanks Burns, That's what I said, you need a $90 controller "interface" to work with the already existing Yaesu G5500 Control box :-) Stefan On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 2:00 PM Burns Fisher wrote: > Stefan, the G5500 control box has no computer interface. You are expected > to connect it to a Yaesu GS232 as a computer connection. Of course pretty > much everyone uses something different like Green Heron, Fox Delta, LVB, > etc. Or did I misunderstand your question? > > On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 2:48 PM Stefan Wagener via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: > >> Never understood why you would buy a $900 controller (Green Heron?s RT-21 >> Az/El ) when a $90 PC/Mac controller interface does the same thing since >> the G-5500 already has a control box. Maybe I am missing something? >> >> 73 Stefan VE4SW >> >> >> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >> >> > Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have >> > used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial >> > ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. >> > >> > Tom NY4I >> > >> > Principal Solutions Architect >> > Better Software Solutions, Inc. >> > 727-437-2771 >> > >> > > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB < >> > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >> > > >> > > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an >> > Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod >> > 2011) running High Sierra OS? >> > > >> > > Carl WA0CQG >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > From ny4i at NY4I.com Sat Mar 28 19:24:26 2020 From: ny4i at NY4I.com (Tom Schaefer) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 15:24:26 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0B926816-826E-4CDE-8038-2F12321A4242@NY4I.com> $810? :) Plus my time is not worthless. That?s why there are multiple options. Tom Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727-437-2771 > On Mar 28, 2020, at 2:46 PM, Stefan Wagener wrote: > > ? > Never understood why you would buy a $900 controller (Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El ) when a $90 PC/Mac controller interface does the same thing since the G-5500 already has a control box. Maybe I am missing something? > > 73 Stefan VE4SW > > >> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. >> >> Tom NY4I >> >> Principal Solutions Architect >> Better Software Solutions, Inc. >> 727-437-2771 >> >> > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> > >> > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod 2011) running High Sierra OS? >> > >> > Carl WA0CQG >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ny4i at NY4I.com Sat Mar 28 19:31:28 2020 From: ny4i at NY4I.com (Tom Schaefer) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 15:31:28 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: <0B926816-826E-4CDE-8038-2F12321A4242@NY4I.com> References: <0B926816-826E-4CDE-8038-2F12321A4242@NY4I.com> Message-ID: <1125EB7C-CFAB-45C3-BA66-061837BF61EC@NY4I.com> In all seriousness, I purchased a package from GH that didn?t have the Yaesu controller so it was not exactly the same thing. Tom Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727-437-2771 > On Mar 28, 2020, at 3:26 PM, Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > ?$810? :) > > Plus my time is not worthless. > > That?s why there are multiple options. > > Tom > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > >> On Mar 28, 2020, at 2:46 PM, Stefan Wagener wrote: >> >> ? >> Never understood why you would buy a $900 controller (Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El ) when a $90 PC/Mac controller interface does the same thing since the G-5500 already has a control box. Maybe I am missing something? >> >> 73 Stefan VE4SW >> >> >>>> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB wrote: >>> Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. >>> >>> Tom NY4I >>> >>> Principal Solutions Architect >>> Better Software Solutions, Inc. >>> 727-437-2771 >>> >>>> On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB wrote: >>>> >>>> ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod 2011) running High Sierra OS? >>>> >>>> Carl WA0CQG >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ny4i at NY4I.com Sat Mar 28 19:35:19 2020 From: ny4i at NY4I.com (Tom Schaefer) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 15:35:19 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The original poster stated the 5500 combo so it was not clear if he already had the controller and the 232 interface. I agree there would be lots of overlap if you already had those pieces and then added the GH. Tom NY4I Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727-437-2771 > On Mar 28, 2020, at 3:03 PM, Stefan Wagener wrote: > > ? > Thanks Burns, > > That's what I said, you need a $90 controller "interface" to work with the already existing Yaesu G5500 Control box :-) > > Stefan > > > > > >> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 2:00 PM Burns Fisher wrote: >> Stefan, the G5500 control box has no computer interface. You are expected to connect it to a Yaesu GS232 as a computer connection. Of course pretty much everyone uses something different like Green Heron, Fox Delta, LVB, etc. Or did I misunderstand your question? >> >>> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 2:48 PM Stefan Wagener via AMSAT-BB wrote: >>> Never understood why you would buy a $900 controller (Green Heron?s RT-21 >>> Az/El ) when a $90 PC/Mac controller interface does the same thing since >>> the G-5500 already has a control box. Maybe I am missing something? >>> >>> 73 Stefan VE4SW >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB < >>> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >>> >>> > Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have >>> > used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial >>> > ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. >>> > >>> > Tom NY4I >>> > >>> > Principal Solutions Architect >>> > Better Software Solutions, Inc. >>> > 727-437-2771 >>> > >>> > > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB < >>> > amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote: >>> > > >>> > > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an >>> > Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod >>> > 2011) running High Sierra OS? >>> > > >>> > > Carl WA0CQG >>> > > _______________________________________________ >>> > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From johnbrier at gmail.com Sat Mar 28 21:42:11 2020 From: johnbrier at gmail.com (John Brier) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 17:42:11 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] [Video] A year along the geostationary orbit Message-ID: Spectacular imagery. Intellectually I knew typhoons/hurricanes are a part of the global weather system, not things that randomly "happen" to humans, but this really put that into perspective, among other things. https://vimeo.com/342333493 "Himawari 8, Japan?s most advanced meteorological satellite, travels 35,786 km above Earth, at more than 11000 km/h. It observes the Eastern Hemisphere day and night. For one year we look through the eyes of the distant observer. From solstice to solstice, from pole to pole, from storm to storm, we watch Earth?s beauty and fragility, weather?s wonders, forces, and disasters. From space, it all looks miraculous." https://dceff.org/film/year-along-geostationary-orbit/ 73, John Brier KG4AKV P.S. I hope everyone is handling the Coronavirus as well as possible. My state just instituted a month long shelter in place policy. From mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu Sun Mar 29 00:01:00 2020 From: mjohns+K0JM at luther.edu (Mark D. Johns) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 19:01:00 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-089 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins Message-ID: AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-089 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Sean Kutzko, KX9X, Appointed AMSAT Volunteer Coordinator * AMSAT Office Closed Until Further Notice * First Satellite Contact to be Noted in May QST * Amateur Radio Satellite Spreads Fight Coronavirus Message * Ham Talk Live! Interviews Frank Bauer, KA3HDO * ISS Crew Transition Affected by CoViD-19 * Upcoming ARISS Contacts * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-089.01 ANS-089 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 089.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2020 Mar 29 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-089.01 Sean Kutzko, KX9X, Appointed AMSAT Volunteer Coordinator AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, has announced the appointment of Sean Kutzko, KX9X, as Volunteer Coordinator. First licensed in 1982 as KA9NGH, Kutzko served as both ARRL Contest Branch Manager (2007-2013) and ARRL Media and Public Relations Mana- ger (2013-2017). He was the creator and co-administrator of the ARRL National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) program in 2016. An active HF and VHF contester, DXer and backpack QRP enthusiast, Kutzko started work- ing satellites in 2011 and has transmitted from over fifty different grid squares. He has written instructional materials on satellite op- erating for the AMSAT website, QST, and blogs regularly on satellite topics for the DX Engineering blog "On All Bands." "It's an honor to be able to volunteer for AMSAT," Kutzko said. "When [new AMSAT president] Clayton [Coleman, W5PFG] asked if I would help coordinate a team of volunteers, I jumped at the opportunity. AMSAT is a great organization and helping find good volunteers who are willing to help all areas of AMSAT's growth and development is the least I could do for the organization that has given me a lot of enjoyment and technical skill." Outside of Amateur Radio, Kutzko is a freelance PR/communications consultant and voiceover artist, as well as a baker of artisan breads, pizza and pastries. He also plays drums in a classic rock/country band, Silverweed. He lives in Urbana, Illinois. [ANS thanks AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, for the above in- formation] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Office Closed Until Further Notice Due to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's order closing all non-essential businesses in the State of Maryland in response to the COVID-19 pan- demic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice, effective to- day at 5:00pm EDT. While the office is closed, AMSAT will continue to accept new and renewal memberships. However, membership packets will not be mailed until the office reopens. T-shirts, hats, and other items stocked in the office will also not be available until the office reopens. Dig- ital downloadable content, including SatPC32 and MacDoppler will re- main available from the AMSAT store. Antenna, name badge, and awards orders will be forwarded for processing. The March/April issue of The AMSAT Journal will be produced on time. However, it may only be possible to publish it in digital format. Stay tuned for further updates. Any questions about memberships, orders, or office operations can be sent to info at amsat.org. Please note that no mail or phone service will be available until the office reopens. Vendors billing AMSAT for goods or services may email the above address to arrange payment. [ANS thanks the AMSAT office for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ First Satellite Contact to be Noted in May QST Those who are ARRL members may be interested in the Technical Corres- pondence article in the forthcoming May 2020 QST, entitled "The 60th Anniversary of the First Satellite Contact." The contact to which it refers took place on February 6, 1960, six months before NASA's Project Echo, between W2RS and K3JTE (now W3PK), making use of a propagation mode first reported by W8JK (SK), which he called "the satellite ionization phenomenon." The May 2020 QST article describes what we did and what has been learn- ed since then about the ionosphere and how W8JK's mechanism works. For further reading about the contact, see the article in Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, September 1961. For more about the satellite ionization phenomenon, see the chapter by W8JK in S.F. Singer, ed., Interactions of Space Vehicles With an Ionized Atmosphere, Pergamon Press, 1965. The May issue of QST is expected to be published in mid-April. [ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio Satellite Spreads Fight Coronavirus Message Indonesia?s national amateur radio society ORARI reports the ham radio satellite LAPAN-A2 (IO-86) is being used to send a Fight Coronavirus message using APRS. A translation of the ORARI post says: The satellite spreads the text message ?Stay Healthy, Stay at Home #LawanCorona?. This was conveyed by Researcher of the Center for Satellite Technology, Sonny Dwi Harsono when contacted, Friday, March 20, 2020. Sonny explained, this action was a form of support for government pol- icies on social distancing. The policy encourages all of us to reduce activities outside the home and interactions with others. ?So this mes- sage was sent by the LAPAN A2 satellite via the APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) beacon which was transmitted throughout Indonesia. APRS is a text based communication system for short messages such as SMS on mobile phones. But this APRS message can only be received through HT (Handie Talkie) which has the recipient of the APRS mess- age,? he said. Sonny explained, messages that have been disseminated can be received by anyone by setting the HT radio frequency to 145.825 MHz. To date corona?s message has been received by dozens of members of the Indo- nesian Radio Amateur Organization (ORARI) spread throughout Indonesia. The dissemination of the message was carried out starting March 20. For the time being the message dissemination was carried out on the APRS mission only. But it will try to spread the message one time at a LAPAN-A2 / LAPAN-ORARI track every 100 minutes. ?Later if possible, we try to distribute 24 hours nonstop every 100 minutes under certain con- ditions. Currently we are discussing the technicalities. The messages from the government can also be disseminated via the LAPAN-A2 satel- lite," he concluded. Source ORARI https://tinyurl.com/IndonesiaORARI Follow LAPAN-A2 https://twitter.com/lapansat [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Ham Talk Live! Interviews Frank Bauer, KA3HDO Ham Talk Live! host Neal Rapp, WB9VPG recently interviewed Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, for an informative look at recent events in the ARISS program. Bauer, who is AMSAT Vice President, Human Spaceflight and ARISS Inter- national Chair was interviewed on Thursday, March 26, 2020. In the interview Bauer covers ARISS' four-year effort to update the ISS Amateur Radio station with its next generation radio system, the Interoperable Radio System (IORS). The IORS consists of a specially modified JVC-Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver and the AMSAT-NA developed multi-voltage power supply. The complete interview can be heard at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-089-Bauer [ANS thanks Neil Rapp, WB9VPG for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISS Crew Transition Affected by CoViD-19 The International Space Station Expedition 62 crew, consisting of NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Meir, Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan, KI5AAA, and Commander Oleg Skripochka, RA0LDJ, are readying their Soyuz MS-15 crew ship for departure on April 17. Meanwhile, the crew that will re- place them is nearing its launch scheduled for April 9 aboard the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived this week at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final training. The Expedition 63 trio is due to live aboard the station for 195 days with Cassidy as commander. (ANS thanks spaceref.com for the above information) NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy?s family will be watching remotely from halfway around the world when he blasts off April 9 from Kazakhstan to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. That?s because travel restrictions and stringent social distancing guidelines instituted to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic will limit the ability for family members to travel to the Baikonur Cosmo- drome for the launch. Launch day at Baikonur is usually a festive af- fair. ?But it?ll be completely quiet,? Cassidy said in a satellite in- terview from Star City, Russia. ?There won?t be anybody there." (ANS thanks spaceflightnow.com for the above information) NASA already has a long-held strategy in place for preventing astro- nauts from carrying any nasty bugs with them to space. All astronauts going to orbit must go through a two-week period of quarantine called ?health stabilization,? according to NASA. That way, the agency can make sure the crew is not incubating any illnesses before launch. How- ever, NASA said it ?will continue to evaluate and augment this plan, in coordination with its international and commercial partners? if needed. In the meantime, Russia?s state space corporation, Roscosmos, has de- cided to shut down all media activity surrounding the Soyuz launch, barring journalists from covering the mission in person. Russia will still live stream the launch, and NASA typically airs all of its crew- ed launches on its own online TV channel. The return of the Expedition 62 crew in mid-April would typically in- volve large numbers of recovery personnel. SpaceX will be ready to send its first crew of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station aboard its Crew Dragon capsule sometime in May. NASA has not provided any details if those operations would change in light of the pandemic. (ANS thanks theverge.com for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contacts Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide. Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK?J The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS?ISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Possible contact on Tuesday 2020-03-31 08:50 UTC ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancella- tions or postponements of school contacts. As always, ARISS will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates at the ARISS webpage: https://www.ariss.org/ The contact scheduled for Wednesday 2020-03-25 with SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team men- tors for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations River Bend Wireless Rove (EN22, EN33, EN34, EN42, EN43, EN44) April 2-4, 2020 Mitch Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ, is looking to add six more grids to his ro- ver basket just before the April 4 AMSAT presentation/demonstration at the River Bend Wireless and Mechanical Society in Faribault, Minn. Mitch will be activating the EN43/EN44 grid line on April 2nd, the EN32/EN42 grid line on April 3rd, and the EN33/EN34 grid line on April 4th, 2020. Watch Mitch?s Twitter feed as the dates approach for a de- tailed schedule. https://twitter.com/AD0HJ >From the Mountains to the Bay (CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21) April 12-21, 2020 R.J. Bragg, WY7AA, is hitting the asphalt again, roving from Wyoming to Vacaville, Calif. He?s attending a class from April 15-19, so most of the roving will be outside of this time. Grids to be covered in- clude: CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21. Specific pass details will be posted on WY7AA QRZ page and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WY7AA) as the trip approaches. Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Nothing to do while quarantined by Covid-19? How about making a paper model of the satellite, DIWATA-1, the first satellite designed and built in the Philippines: https://tinyurl.com/ujukexd (ANS thanks JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above information) + There has been lengthy discussion this week on the AMSAT email bul- letin board, amsat-bb, about inconsiderate operators on FM satel- lites. A document by Sean Kutzko, KX9X, published back in 2017, is still an excellent guide to best practices on these birds. See it at https://tinyurl.com/ybw5e2ng (ANS thanks Mark Johns, K0JM, for the above information) + The coronavirus has had effects on many space activities this week: Virgin Orbit is reassessing schedules, Blue Origin in hard-hit Seat- tle is mostly working online, Arianespace suspended launches from French Guiana and Russia recalled and quarantined its personnel, ESA mission control is working from home, and some spaceports are closed worldwide. (ANS thanks orbitalindex.com for the above information) + One thing astronauts have to be good at: living in confined spaces for long periods of time. Find yourself in a similar scenario? NASA astronaut Anne McClain recently posted a lengthy Twitter thread with pro-tips for getting through your time at home. It begins at: https://tinyurl.com/tqh3hke (ANS thanks orbitalindex.com for the above information) + At least on the ISS astronauts don't have the added task of caring for and educating kids. If your current confinement capsul is equip- ped with youngsters in grades K-4, there are resources for you at: https://www.nasa.gov/stem-at-home-for-students-k-4.html (ANS thanks NASA for the above information) + The Folding at home project is a distributed computing project that is currently running calculations to analyze protein structures on the COVID-19 project. Donate your spare computer time to help this project and consider joining AMSAT's team (#67910). More information at https://foldingathome.org/covid19/. AMSAT's team standings can be found at https://stats.foldingathome.org/team/69710 --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org From carl at esteys.net Sun Mar 29 06:46:14 2020 From: carl at esteys.net (Carl A Estey) Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2020 01:46:14 -0500 Subject: [amsat-bb] Controller/Interface for iMAC to G-5500 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <964D711D-93E8-492D-B8BE-3169F382B9C0@esteys.net> Thanks to all for their input. I have a Yaesu G-5500 AZ-EL rotor and an IC-9700. I also have a Apple iMac (midyear 2011) 27? desktop running High Siera OS. I want to have the computer running MacDoppler (not purchased yet) control the rotor. I have purchased the interface to connect between the computer and rotor. Is anyone out there using the IC-9700, MacDoppler and the G-5540 rotor? If so, what interface are you using? Carl WA0CQG > On Mar 28, 2020, at 2:35 PM, Tom Schaefer wrote: > > The original poster stated the 5500 combo so it was not clear if he already had the controller and the 232 interface. > > I agree there would be lots of overlap if you already had those pieces and then added the GH. > > Tom NY4I > > Principal Solutions Architect > Better Software Solutions, Inc. > 727-437-2771 > >> On Mar 28, 2020, at 3:03 PM, Stefan Wagener wrote: >> >> ? >> Thanks Burns, >> >> That's what I said, you need a $90 controller "interface" to work with the already existing Yaesu G5500 Control box :-) >> >> Stefan >> >> >> >> >> >> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 2:00 PM Burns Fisher wrote: >> Stefan, the G5500 control box has no computer interface. You are expected to connect it to a Yaesu GS232 as a computer connection. Of course pretty much everyone uses something different like Green Heron, Fox Delta, LVB, etc. Or did I misunderstand your question? >> >> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 2:48 PM Stefan Wagener via AMSAT-BB > wrote: >> Never understood why you would buy a $900 controller (Green Heron?s RT-21 >> Az/El ) when a $90 PC/Mac controller interface does the same thing since >> the G-5500 already has a control box. Maybe I am missing something? >> >> 73 Stefan VE4SW >> >> >> On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 11:48 AM Tom Schaefer via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: >> >> > Green Heron?s RT-21 Az/El controller works just fine. I have one I have >> > used on the G-5500 combo. You do need an extra cable to tie the serial >> > ports together but GH can supply that ribbon cable. >> > >> > Tom NY4I >> > >> > Principal Solutions Architect >> > Better Software Solutions, Inc. >> > 727-437-2771 >> > >> > > On Mar 28, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Carl A Estey via AMSAT-BB < >> > amsat-bb at amsat.org > wrote: >> > > >> > > ?What hardware interface (Controller) do you recommend for use on an >> > Yaesu G-5500 az-e rotor, IC-9700, MacDopper s/w and running a iMac (mod >> > 2011) running High Sierra OS? >> > > >> > > Carl WA0CQG >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From ke4kol at bellsouth.net Sun Mar 29 21:57:31 2020 From: ke4kol at bellsouth.net (ke4kol) Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2020 21:57:31 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Satelitte Rig, IC-7900 Pros & Cons References: <129203884.786056.1585519051438.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <129203884.786056.1585519051438@mail.yahoo.com> Thinking about updating my sat station.? Any and all suggestions appreciated. Thaks,Jim Ke4kol From yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com Mon Mar 30 00:44:23 2020 From: yono_adisoemarta at yahoo.com (Yono Adisoemarta) Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 07:44:23 +0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Satelitte Rig, IC-7900 Pros & Cons References: <98738DBD-9856-4887-A573-B7491A1B67EF.ref@yahoo.com> Message-ID: <98738DBD-9856-4887-A573-B7491A1B67EF@yahoo.com> Coming from Yaesu FT-847 and Kenwood TS-2000, I like my IC-9700 very much. 73 de Yono YD0NXX Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 30, 2020, at 4:58 AM, ke4kol via AMSAT-BB wrote: > From bruninga at usna.edu Mon Mar 30 01:53:00 2020 From: bruninga at usna.edu (Robert Bruninga) Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2020 21:53:00 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Local stay-in voice nets Message-ID: With everyone isolated at home, The local Goddard ARC began holding daily noon-time chat nets to keep everyone socially connected. SOunds like a good idea since it is rare to hear anyone at all on any of our several dozen Wash dc/baltimore repeaters these days. Bob, Wb4APR From kb1hy2 at comcast.net Mon Mar 30 14:26:29 2020 From: kb1hy2 at comcast.net (PETER BUDNIK) Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:26:29 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [amsat-bb] Satpc32 Access Key Message-ID: <1696830971.243056.1585578389699@connect.xfinity.com> Fellow Amsat members. Hope all are well. With Amsat being closed. I did purchase SATPC32 from the AMSAT store. Who usually sends out the program key? Or do i have to wait till we are all back to normal? Thanks for any ones times! 73 and stay well Peter,KB1HY From charlieray at gmail.com Mon Mar 30 14:32:08 2020 From: charlieray at gmail.com (Charles Reiche) Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:32:08 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] Satelitte Rig, IC-7900 Pros & Cons In-Reply-To: <129203884.786056.1585519051438@mail.yahoo.com> References: <129203884.786056.1585519051438.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <129203884.786056.1585519051438@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: The only CON I can think of is the lack of 9600 baud transmit capability. I've been enjoying mine. N3CRT Charles Reiche On Sun, Mar 29, 2020 at 5:58 PM ke4kol via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Thinking about updating my sat station. Any and all suggestions > appreciated. > Thaks,Jim Ke4kol > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 > From andythomasmail at yahoo.co.uk Mon Mar 30 14:44:25 2020 From: andythomasmail at yahoo.co.uk (andy thomas) Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 14:44:25 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Local stay-in voice nets References: <1324180010.2199928.1585579465734.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1324180010.2199928.1585579465734@mail.yahoo.com> hi Bob, we are doing the same here in the UK , the Welland Valley ARS now has a quick call around? on 2 metres at 4pm local time, social in nature and also taking food orders. I expect the nets are springing up everywhere. It's a new use for amateur radio. 73 de andy g0sfj From jfitzgerald at alum.wpi.edu Mon Mar 30 14:56:02 2020 From: jfitzgerald at alum.wpi.edu (Joseph B. Fitzgerald) Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 14:56:02 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Satpc32 Access Key In-Reply-To: <1696830971.243056.1585578389699@connect.xfinity.com> References: <1696830971.243056.1585578389699@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: Peter, We are working to get the license keys issued ... I expect to get them issued within the next couple of days. 73 de KM1P Joe ________________________________________ From: AMSAT-BB on behalf of PETER BUDNIK via AMSAT-BB Sent: Monday, March 30, 2020 10:26 AM To: AMSAT BB Subject: [amsat-bb] Satpc32 Access Key Fellow Amsat members. Hope all are well. With Amsat being closed. I did purchase SATPC32 from the AMSAT store. Who usually sends out the program key? Or do i have to wait till we are all back to normal? Thanks for any ones times! 73 and stay well Peter,KB1HY _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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 From aj9n at aol.com Mon Mar 30 21:20:53 2020 From: aj9n at aol.com (aj9n at aol.com) Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 21:20:53 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-30 21:00 UTC References: <214708269.870666.1585603253153.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <214708269.870666.1585603253153@mail.yahoo.com> Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-30 21:00 UTC ? Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ? TBD ? ? ************************************************* ? Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio?? Check out these links:?? ? ? >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in????? #SpaceConnectsUs ? https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolation_in_SpaceConnectsU In Europe and around the world, we?ve been getting used to a different way of living in recent weeks. On Thursday, 26 March, ESA and long-time partner Asteroid Day will host #SpaceConnectsUs ? a chance to connect across borders and hear from space explorers, artists, and scientists about how to manage ourselves and our environment as our communities battle a global pandemic. #SpaceConnectsUs is an online event running on March 26th from 16:00?21:00 CET (15:00?20:00 GMT) on ESA WebTV and ESA YouTube to help everyone practising social distancing or in isolation enjoy science, our home planet, and our dreams of the sky above us. The programme will feature remote connections with astronauts and guests from all over the world.? The presenters and guests will speak to children, young adults and their families and friends about their experience and techniques in confined places, lessons in life from space exploration, their trust in science and their sources of inspiration.? The programme runs in five language segments starting at 16:00 in Dutch, followed by German (17:00 CET), Italian (18:00 CET), French (19:00 CET) and English (20:00 CET, 19:00 GMT). ? Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.? By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw.? Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World.? Check out:? https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard ? NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home.? Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ? ************************************************* ? ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general.? As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.? As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.? ? The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19:? ? Postponed: SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD RO-SAT One, Piatra-Neam?, Romania, direct via YR?ISS McConnell Middle School, Loganville, GA, prefer direct via KD4TGR Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, direct via N4FR Oakwood School, Morgan Hill, CA, direct via AE6XM Ramona Lutheran School, Ramona, CA, direct via N6ROR ? Cancelled: Electromagnetic Field, Ledbury, United Kingdom, direct via GB4EMF ? ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? ? Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. ? ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? ? Note, all times are approximate. ?It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction?or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ? The complete schedule page has been updated as of?2020-03-30 21:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled?school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. ? https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt ? ? The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-03-21 00:00 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf ? ? ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ??? ? ARISS Contact Applications (United States) ? The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ ??? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? ? Message to US Educators ? Amateur Radio on the International Space Station? ? Contact Opportunity? ? Call for Proposals? ? Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 ? The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.? ARISS is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.? ? The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020.? Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is?https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com?. ? The Opportunity? ? Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.? ? An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.? ? Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.?? ? More Information ? For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. ? Please direct any questions to?ariss.us.education at gmail.com.? ? 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ? ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ? Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts.? Applications should be addressed by email to:? school.selection.manager at ariss-eu.org ? ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) ? Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application.? Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. ? For the application, go to:? https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd at gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss at iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ? ? ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts.? ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.? Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. ? Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz. ? ******************************************************************************* ? All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ? ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. ?That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ ? Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ? **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do?? How about receiving DATV from the ISS?? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting.? Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts.? ? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details.? Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.???????????? ? http://www.ariss-eu.org/ ? If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight.? Contact Kerry at kbanke at sbcglobal.net ? ? The HamTV webpage:? https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ ? ? **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: ? Francesco IK?WGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 ? **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added.? If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. ? ? ? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1387. Each school counts as 1 event.?????????????????????????????????? Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1320. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. ? A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf ? Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American?Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ? QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ? ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS ? **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts ? https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** ? Exp. 60 on orbit Drew Morgan KI5AAA ? Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir ? **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie?Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ? ? ? ? ?