 2140Z pass over North America. I heard a station in DN45 (I guess it was WC7V) right as the satellite came up above about 10 degrees (lots of buildings and trees in the way), worked AC0RA, but there was some difficulty getting into the satellite with just 5 watts and an Elk antenna, and then I heard and half-worked WB3CSY (probably not a valid QSO) before I lost the bird at about 12 degrees. I also heard the ID and greeting about halfway through the pass.
"The signal is a few dB down from SO-50 and the uplink receiver is definitely less tolerant of being off frequency. My best signal into the bird was in narrow FM while tuning for Doppler on the uplink. At TCA, an elevation of about 55 degrees, the downlink signal was S9 on my FT-817s meter. SO-50 is usually S+ above 35 degrees here.
"My station here is two FT-817s, an Elk Antenna, and a High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamp. I was having some desense issues and further inspection revealed a nick in my feedline as the probable cause."
Discounted rates are available to SARL and SA AMSAT members who book for the SA AMSAT Space Symposium before 5 May. SARL members pay 50% less than non-members. The early bird rate is R150 which includes a copy of the papers on DVD. The symposium will be held at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria which is situated opposite the CSIR with a quick access via the Lynwood off ramp on the N1.
The date is 24 May. Some of the highlights include a demonstration of the KLETSkous hardware, presentations on FunCube, DynaCube and an innovative propulsion system that can be used to alter the obit of a CubeSat once launched in Space. For smartphone users apps to predict satellites passes and telemetry downloads will be demonstrated. The full programme is available on www.amsatsa.org. Get with it now.
The eighth annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held on Friday night, May 16. This dinner is always a highlight of the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) and TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) activities during the Dayton Hamvention.
This year's speaker will be Dr. Tom Clark, K3IO, speaking on his "Sixty Years a Slave (to Amateur Radio)." Tom has been a lifetime contributor to both AMSAT and TAPR, and has a fascinating professional career.
Tickets ($30 each) must be purchased online by May 13th on the AMSAT website at www.amsat.org through the AMSAT Store tab. Tickets will not be sold at the Hamvention or at the door. Tickets purchased online may be collected at the AMSAT booth (433- 435, 444-446). The Banquet will take place at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way, Kettering, OH 45429 (just south of Dayton). The cash bar will openat 1830 EDT, with the dinner commencing around 1900 EDT.
Please send your 5 minute research pitches along with the following details to send to Chris Bridges M0GKK email: [email protected] There will be a prize for best presentations on the day! The prize includes a UK Space Agency goody-bag including a mug, t-shirt, badges, and more. Plus a FUNcube Dongle, kindly donated from AMSAT-UK.
* Presentation Title * Author/ Supervisor * Affiliation * 5 Bullet Points on the Presentation Content (what, why, who cares?).
A live Google+ hangout is taking place on May 1 at 2000 UT. A Reddit AMA will precede the Hangout at 1500 UT.
The project has been realized by visual artist Daniela de Paulis (IT/NL) in collaboration with Jan van Muijlwijk PA3FXB and the CAMRAS radio amateurs association based at Dwingeloo radio telescope (NL). Each live performance is made possible thanks to the collaboration of radio amateurs Howard Ling G4CCH (UK), Bruce Halász PY2BS (Brazil) and Daniel Gautschi HB9CRQ (CH).
The live hangout will feature a "touch" and bounce of Humans in Space Youth Art Competition artwork off the Moon using OPTICKS radio wave technology. Guests and remote participants will discuss the significance of the artwork and the performance and explore the impact of past, present, and future human presence on the Moon.
Guests - Andrew Chaikin is the author of Man on the Moon and From Earth to the Moon. - Wendell Mendell is a retired NASA lunar and planetary exploration scientist. - Sarah Nobel is a current NASA lunar scientist and artist. - Frank Shiner is a winner of both the 2010 and 2012 Humans in Space Youth Art Competitions. - Jan van Muijlwijk PA3FXB, OPTICKS collaborator, radio operator, CAMRAS/Dwingeloo radio telescope. - Daniela De Paulis is the visual artist and researcher who developed the OPTICKS live performance technology in collaboration with the Dwingeloo radio telescope. - Jancy McPhee is the director of the Humans in Space Art Program, which includes the Youth Art Competition Project in its portfolio.
OPTICKS employes a technology used by radio amateurs called Earth- Moon-Earth or Moonbounce in which the Moon is used as a natural reflector for radio signals.
In October 2009 Daniela de Paulis and Jan van Muijlwijk PA3FXB started pioneering a new application of Moonbounce technology, called Visual Moonbounce, which allows sending images to the Moon and back, combining Radio Astronomy with amateur radio technologies.
The title OPTICKS is inspired by Newton's discoveries of the light spectrum, reflection and refraction. Similarly, the colours composing an image - converted into radio signals - are bounced off the Moon (reflected and refracted) by its surface during each live performance.
The performance is introduced by live sounds of amateurs radio signals captured by the Dwingeloo antenna tracking the moon.
It gives us great pleasure to inform that 'HAMSAT - VO-52' is successfully completing 9 years of fruitful services on 4th May 2014 and entering into her 10th year of services on 5th May. HAMSAT was launched as a piggy back aboard PSLV-C6 on 5th May 2005 (5-5-5). We do hope that the contribution of 'HAMSAT' by India/ISRO to the 'Global Amateur Radio Fraternity' has served its purpose. It gives us great pleasure and satisfaction to note that 'HAMSAT VO-52' has remained as one of the most sought after and favorite 'Linear Birds' among the radio amateurs for her sensitivity, strong down link signals, stability and the ease to work.
Though expected to work for two years (mainly, considering the battery), HAMSAT VO-52 has really out lived and still doing strong. Latest telemetry indicates all the parameters and systems to be normal and satisfactory. We do hope that 'HAMSAT' would continue to provide her good services to 'Amateur Radio fraternity' for many more years.
On this happy occasion, we place on records our sincere thanks and appreciations to, Chairman ISRO, Scientific Secretary ISRO, Director ISRO Satellite, Mission Director, Operations Director, 'HAMSAT' project team at various ISRO centres, AMSAT-India and Williams Leijenaar PE1RAH for their contribution in achieving this this milestone.
Now, live from space, it's Earth all the time! A new experiment called the High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) was launched on April 18, 2014 in the "trunk" on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and has been set up outside the International Space Station.
The set of four commercial HD video cameras and is now operational, after being installed on the External Payload Facility of the ESA Columbus module this week. The cameras and electronics are enclosed in a pressurized box to provide protection to the equipment from the harsh environment of space.
Please note that the screen will appear black when the ISS is in orbital night. There also has been some downtime off and on that I've noted while watching this morning. This may be due to some initial setup/operation issues, or some occurrences of loss of signal.
Individuals who call the old Silver Spring phone number will hear a message notifying them of the new number.
The WATS number remains unchanged, but will not be redirected to the new location until Monday, 5 MAY.
Martha's e-mail address remains unchanged.
The AMSAT office was closed 25 APR - 1 MAY in order to provide focused attention on the relocation, packing and final preparations. The actual move took place on Tuesday afternoon, 29 APR and timed so that movers could unload at the new location after 1700 EDT so as to not interfere with normal business activity at the new location.
Wednesday, 30 APR and Thursday, 1 MAY were spent finalizing the furniture arrangement, unpacking, and setting up the office electronics (phones/ computers/ fax machine).
Many thanks to Perry Klein, W3PK; Bob Carpenter, W3OTC; Barbara Saragovitz (Martha's sister), and Barry Baines, WD4ASW for their "sweat equity" this week in helping Martha with the logistics of preparation and unpacking/setup as part of the actual execution of the relocation. Expect an article on the story