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CX2SA > SATDIG 17.10.11 21:05l 841 Lines 29536 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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To : SATDIG@WW
Today's Topics:
1. Re: New Indian satellites (Dinesh Cyanam)
2. Re: Jugnu (JNU) (Shashank Chintalagiri)
3. Re: Jugnu (JNU) (Shashank Chintalagiri)
4. Re: Technical discussions on AMSAT-BB......"an endangered
species" ? (i8cvs)
5. Re: E1Pu2 & RAX2 downlink conflict? (Armando Mercado)
6. Re: Technical discussions on AMSAT-BB......"an endangered
species" ? (Shashank Chintalagiri)
7. Re: nanosatellite 2-way payload (Andrew Glasbrenner)
8. Re: 4C1JPG on satellites - 14-30 October 2011 (Rick Tejera)
9. Re: 4C1JPG on satellites - 14-30 October 2011 (Stephen E. Belter)
10. Re: Technical discussions on AMSAT-BB......"an endangered
species" ? (Dee)
11. PACIFICON a Blast! (Clint Bradford)
12. Re: OOTC demo on AO-27 @ 2130 UTC (John M. Belstner)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:38:13 -0400
From: Dinesh Cyanam <dinesh@xxxxxx.xxx>
To: Amsat - BBs <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: New Indian satellites
Message-ID: <9B49CE80-427F-4ED2-94C5-EE45E0BE7DD8@xxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
The SRMSat team has confirmed that SRMVU is Object B.
The latest TLEs from Space Track as of Oct 17 03:19:04 UTC are as below:
SRMVU
1 37839U 11058B 11289.45436849 .00000264 00000-0 00000+0 0 69
2 37839 019.9783 040.8375 0013194 027.1106 333.0003 14.10347609 615
http://dinesh.cyanam.net/dl/SRMSAT_TLEs.txt
73
KC2YQJ
Dinesh Cyanam
On Oct 15, 2011, at 1:54 PM, Chintalagiri Shashank wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Our best guess as of now seems to be E/C for JNU (more likely E), and B or
C for SRM (likely B).
>
> Shashank,
> Jugnu Nanosatellite Project
> ________________________________________
> From: amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxx [amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxxx on behalf of
Mark L. Hammond [marklhammond@xxxxx.xxxx
> Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2011 5:28 PM
> To: Tom Schuessler; amsat-bb
> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: New Indian satellites
>
> Tom,
>
> Try Space-track.com
>
> Here is from this AM; seems to be objects B, C, D that are likely
>
> OBJECT A
> 1 37838U 11058A 11286.68448892 +.00000274 +00000-0 +00000-0 0 00041
> 2 37838 019.7930 057.0933 0060708 028.1402 332.2289 14.20672515000175
> OBJECT B
> 1 37839U 11058B 11287.75632201 .00000264 00000-0 00000+0 0 59
> 2 37839 019.9783 051.0855 0013166 008.6156 351.4515 14.10346402 375
> OBJECT C
> 1 37840U 11058C 11287.75597554 .00000264 00000-0 00000+0 0 41
> 2 37840 019.9643 051.0758 0013821 012.7201 347.3571 14.10538897 365
> OBJECT D
> 1 37841U 11058D 11288.11063132 .00000264 00000-0 00000+0 0 43
> 2 37841 019.9762 048.9554 0011753 009.8780 350.1854 14.10073457 416
> OBJECT E
> 1 37842U 11058E 11287.96545544 .00000265 00000-0 00000+0 0 38
> 2 37842 019.9634 049.7702 0019368 031.9790 328.1784 14.11971278 401
>
>
> 73,
>
> Mark N8MH
>
> At 11:17 PM 10/14/2011 -0500, you wrote:
>> Where is the best place to get current keps for these satellites?
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
>> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:46:33 +0530
From: Shashank Chintalagiri <shashank.chintalagiri@xxxxx.xxx>
To: Dinesh Cyanam <dinesh@xxxxxx.xxx>
Cc: Amsat - BBs <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Jugnu (JNU)
Message-ID:
<CALT8Ef74hNAs2SyF=_sVzQM52-jtiKM62XL_d6a1YCTQNn5pxw@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
We heard Jugnu the last two nights between 5 and 9 PM UTC. We think
the beacon may be turning off periodically due to a shortage of power.
I dont know what the period of the cycle is since we don't have enough
data points to reach a reasonable conclusion. There is no good reason
for it to be a 24 hour cycle, so its possible its also turning on at
times when we dont have visibility here. I'll update the list after
tonight's passes as to whether the thing is actually cyclical as per
visibility from our station. The data we have could also fit a
scenario where it is audible only for a time after satellite enters
eclipse, which makes some sense but seems unlikely. In that case, you
would only be able to hear it on passes between 9-12 PM local time.
Regards
Shashank
On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 3:47 AM, Dinesh Cyanam <dinesh@xxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
> Yeah. I am wondering the same too. Heard no reports about Jugnu in the
last 3 days.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
--
Chintalagiri Shashank
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
http://blog.chintal.in
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:32:33 +0530
From: Shashank Chintalagiri <shashank.chintalagiri@xxxxx.xxx>
To: Dinesh Cyanam <dinesh@xxxxxx.xxx>, Amsat - BBs
<amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Jugnu (JNU)
Message-ID:
<CALT8Ef7G2qqS=b8djPzkdTxN0ykLuiUN=wfPLxXujyXD6K7NPg@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
Dinesh, thanks.
For the record, the TLE we track with us that for object E. The
frequency is 437.275 and TLE defined doppler. I'm in class right now,
so can't look for the specific number. We heard it in 4 and 17 degree
elevation passes, so when it is on, signal strength is probably not an
issue.
Our payload turns on whenever we command it to, and downlink is
initiated from the ground. That is on a separate frequency, though,
and we aren't doing it just yet while we try to understand the power
situation.
On 10/17/11, Dinesh Cyanam <dinesh@xxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
> Hi Shashank,
> FYI? Got this report today at 4:10 am IST.
> Also, will your payload be turned on only over the Indian sub-continent or
> all over the world?
>
> Regards
> Dinesh
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: "PY5LF" <py5lf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx>
>> Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Re: Jugnu (JNU)
>> Date: October 16, 2011 6:41:40 PM EDT
>> To: "'Dinesh Cyanam'" <dinesh@xxxxxx.xxx>
>>
>> Hello
>> I heard JUGNU very strong today.
>> 73
>>
>> PY5LF
>> LUCIANO FABRICIO
>> Curitiba-PR-Brazil GG54jm
>> http://www.qrz.com/db/py5lf
>>
>> -----Mensagem original-----
>> De: amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxx [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxxx Em nome
>> de Dinesh Cyanam
>> Enviada: domingo, 16 de outubro de 2011 20:17
>> Para: Amsat - BBs
>> Assunto: [amsat-bb] Re: Jugnu (JNU)
>>
>> Yeah. I am wondering the same too. Heard no reports about Jugnu in the
>> last
>> 3 days.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
>> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>>
>
>
--
Chintalagiri Shashank
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
http://blog.chintal.in
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:37:57 +0200
From: "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs@xxx.xx>
To: "AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>, "Bruce" <kk5do@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Technical discussions on AMSAT-BB......"an
endangered species" ?
Message-ID: <000701cc8c9f$b0ff1ea0$0401a8c0@xxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi Bruce,KK5DO
I agree completely with you !
73" de
i8CVS Domenico
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce" <kk5do@xxxxx.xxx>
To: "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs@xxx.xx>
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2011 5:49 AM
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Technical discussions on AMSAT-BB......"an
endangered species" ?
maybe because you can work an fm leo with an ht and arrow antenna. you do
not need to be technical to do that. i have not been on a satellite since
ao40 died because there is no chalenge to me to work an fm satellite. i have
given a few demos over the years but i much prefer rag chewing with someone
in europe or asia than a 5 second grid square transfer.
73...bruce
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 16, 2011, at 10:25 PM, "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs@xxx.xx> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I do remember that when OSCAR-10, OSCAR-13 and AO40 were
> alive and well this net on AMSAT-BB was full of technical messages
> from W3IWI now K3IO ,G3RUH, G3WDG, ZL1AOX and many others
> from wich it was possible to lern the radio technique particularly in the
> field of RF and antennas.
>
> By the way actually with the prolification of Microsats,Nanosats and so on
> the above people seems to be not anymore interested on satellite technical
> discussions and they abandoned the net.
>
> Can anyone explain to me why ?
>
> Thanks for any answere.
>
> 73" de
>
> i8CVS Domenico
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:56:43 -0400
From: "Armando Mercado" <am25544@xxxxxx.xxx>
To: <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: E1Pu2 & RAX2 downlink conflict?
Message-ID: <64DB5126A4EE4AB8A519A5F09C499949@xxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hello,
RAX-2 will be using 437.345 MHz
9600 baud, RHCP
http://rax.engin.umich.edu/?page_id=138
73's
Armando N8IGJ
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:11:45 +0530
From: Shashank Chintalagiri <shashank.chintalagiri@xxxxx.xxx>
To: i8cvs <domenico.i8cvs@xxx.xx>
Cc: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Technical discussions on AMSAT-BB......"an
endangered species" ?
Message-ID:
<CALT8Ef5ip48kNJtakULeytQ2R1xOayoqr7m0Do-JMSKkgf7CqQ@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I'm curious, as someone who was involved in designing a nanosatellite.
What sort of payloads would be of interest to the amateur community?
When we started out, we did spend a fair bit of time looking for
payload, but most things to do with transponders seemed to be somewhat
unfeasible.
On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 8:55 AM, i8cvs <domenico.i8cvs@xxx.xx> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I do remember that when OSCAR-10, OSCAR-13 and AO40 were
> alive and well this net on AMSAT-BB was full of technical messages
> from W3IWI now K3IO ,G3RUH, G3WDG, ZL1AOX and many others
> from wich it was possible to lern the radio technique particularly in the
> field of RF and antennas.
>
> By the way actually with the prolification of Microsats,Nanosats and so on
> the above people seems to be not anymore interested on satellite technical
> discussions and they abandoned the net.
>
> Can anyone explain to me why ?
>
> Thanks for any answere.
>
> 73" de
>
> i8CVS Domenico
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
--
Chintalagiri Shashank
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
http://blog.chintal.in
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:35:19 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
To: Shashank Chintalagiri <shashank.chintalagiri@xxxxx.xxx>
Cc: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: nanosatellite 2-way payload
Message-ID:
<28852440.1318851319971.JavaMail.root@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Just about any radio system used for comms with the command station could be
adapted to a two-way mission. Mass and power budget are the limiting factors
in most cases.
Which nanosatellite did you help design?
73, Drew KO4MA
AMSAT-NA VP Operations
-----Original Message-----
>From: Shashank Chintalagiri <shashank.chintalagiri@xxxxx.xxx>
>
>I'm curious, as someone who was involved in designing a nanosatellite.
>What sort of payloads would be of interest to the amateur community?
>When we started out, we did spend a fair bit of time looking for
>payload, but most things to do with transponders seemed to be somewhat
>unfeasible.
>
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:48:58 -0700
From: Rick Tejera <saguaroastro@xxx.xxx>
To: "amsat-bb@xxxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxxx.xxx>
Cc: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: 4C1JPG on satellites - 14-30 October 2011
Message-ID: <A0CE69D9-33B0-4396-87DB-8C15C093FC96@xxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I worked them on PSK31 this weekend. Looks like they've been very active
in the evenings.
Has anyone worked them on the birds?
Sent from my iPod
Rick Tejera
Editor, SACnews
Saguaro Astronomy Club
www.saguaroastro.org
K7TEJ
On Oct 16, 2011, at 17:37, "Patrick STODDARD \(WD9EWK/VA7EWK\)"
<amsat-bb@xxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I saw this on another mailing list, and haven't seen any mention
> of it anywhere else, so here goes.... Members of the "Radio
> Experimentadores de Occidente" radio club XE1TD will use the special
> Mexican call 4C1JPG during the 2011 Pan-American Games, currently
> takin 30 October 2011.
>
> QSL cards will be available, as well as electronic confirmations in
> both LOTW and eQSL. More information about 4C1JPG, including the
> Mexican address of the 4C1JPG QSL manager, is available at:
>
> http://www.qrz.com/db/4C1JPG
>
> By the way, for those who work that station - or any Mexican
> station - and would like to send SASEs instead of including a
> US dollar bill or IRC with your QSL request, I have lots of
> Mexican postage stamps. Using SASEs works a lot better when
> trying to send something to a Mexican ham. Please e-mail me
> directly if you would like to get some stamps for QSLing.
>
> Good luck and 73!
>
>
>
>
>
> Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
> http://www.wd9ewk.net/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:43:46 -0400
From: "Stephen E. Belter" <seb@xxxxxx.xxx>
To: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: 4C1JPG on satellites - 14-30 October 2011
Message-ID:
<51668A33220E754EABE6583357ECEE2D7A106B35@xxxxxxxx.xxxxxx.xxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I worked 4C1JPG on the 02:30z pass of SO-50 last night. They were very
strong into the satellite (full quieting).
I don't think they were hearing very well, which might be the language
barrier, but is more likely SO-50's wandering transmitter frequency or an
antenna/pre-amp/radio issue.
73, Steve N9IP
--
-----Original Message-----
I worked them on PSK31 this weekend. Looks like they've been very active
in the evenings.
Has anyone worked them on the birds?
Sent from my iPod
Rick Tejera
Editor, SACnews
Saguaro Astronomy Club
www.saguaroastro.org
K7TEJ
On Oct 16, 2011, at 17:37, "Patrick STODDARD \(WD9EWK/VA7EWK\)"
<amsat-bb@xxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I saw this on another mailing list, and haven't seen any mention of it
> anywhere else, so here goes.... Members of the "Radio Experimentadores
> de Occidente" radio club XE1TD will use the special Mexican call
> 4C1JPG during the 2011 Pan-American Games, currently taking place in
> Guadalajara. 4C1JPG ("Juegos Panamericanos Guadalajara", the Spanish
> translation of the event in that Mexican
> city) will be on 160m through 6m, as well as the satelltes through
> 30 October 2011.
>
> QSL cards will be available, as well as electronic confirmations in
> both LOTW and eQSL. More information about 4C1JPG, including the
> Mexican address of the 4C1JPG QSL manager, is available at:
>
> http://www.qrz.com/db/4C1JPG
>
> By the way, for those who work that station - or any Mexican station -
> _____________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:49:02 -0400
From: Dee <morsesat@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
To: "'i8cvs'" <domenico.i8cvs@xxx.xx>, "'AMSAT-BB'"
<amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Technical discussions on AMSAT-BB......"an
endangered species" ?
Message-ID: <002701cc8cdb$e97335f0$bc59a1d0$@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Domenico,
Here is a copy of "WHY" and some other questions answered...Of
course, just my opinion but I received many compliments on the
discussion...
73,
Dee,
NB2F
All,
As most of you know me, I am one of the voices in the crowd
within satellite circles and have been accused of having my
own agenda. I am a fixture at many hamfests here in the New
Jersey Area and wherever I can present to the Amateur
community the aspects of satellite activity and promote
AMSAT's proliferation. I give many talks and dog and pony
shows to various clubs. My motto is "I work for donations!"
I am glad this thread was ongoing since I come across this
type of thinking all the time. It's a good discussion since
AMSAT membership is declining and Satellite enthusiasm is
dwindling, so I read.
While this area of insuring plans for HEO and MEO birds is one
of my pet projects, AMSAT itself has re-addressed itself to
LEO activities because of financial reaches that present
launches are out of the normal (?) abilities of AMSAT to
obtain. My many unscientific polls as to why hams are not
rejoining AMSAT nor assisting future funding shows that they
think we have to put up HEO or MEO birds to attract them back
into the fold. Of course this doesn't make sense and it
doesn't add to our present coffers to even think about these
type of birds. Yes, it costs money to do these things.
In the past, there were negotiations behind the scenes with a
GEO-Sync satellite company to add our payload to one of these
birds. Company was sold, contacts were lost and so went that
avenue. As with an AO-40 type satellite, we had numerous
items made by our supporting volunteers and many, many, many
volunteer hours to see that satellite came to fruition.
Volunteers even gave up precious vacation time to work on this
project. A minimal cost launch by Arianne certainly provided
a great opportunity. Some of our people went by the wayside
since then and we lost engineering staff to fall back on.
As Dan, N8FGV, points out to us all is that our dreams are
still there. We need to reactivate those spirits as he
indicates. One person stated, "I am willing to ante up
$4000-I need to convince 4,999 of my friends to do the same."
We are all Amateurs in this satellite area and as pioneers in
Ham Radio, we must reinvent ourselves to continue to be
prominent in building sats with real actual launches rooted
out where we can. We have dedicated people now in active
building projects for slots available for launch. My hat is
off to them and I will always support their efforts. Having
functioning packages on the ready is a big plus- Look at
ARISsat-1 and that was a super job by "OUR" staff to step up
and act before the deadline. (We don't need no stinkin' UHF
antenna!) (OOPS?)
Dan provides us with answers to all these questions of why and
why not. Read his input as well and I think this thread needs
the answer of how much is the Amateur community willing to
contribute to keep these higher orbiting satellite ideas
alive. Anyone have a "RICH" uncle to donate something to this
superfund? I think that we need a spark - incentive - or a
benefactor to step up to get us on the launch pad at the right
spot. Lottery tickets seem to be the American dream (HI, HI).
Please feel free to "thank" our many sincere volunteers that
keep publications coming, transponders appearing, protecting
frequency allocatiGeostationary Satellites
It is true that a Geo bird would only cover 1/3 of the Earth,
but it would ALWAYS be there, with no need for antenna rotors
or keps or a computer for tracking. It would be like picking
up a telephone. It would be wonderful for emergency service in
a disaster area. It could provide high speed digital
communications on the amateur microwave bands in places where
the internet is not available.
Geosynchronous orbit slots are allocated by transponder
frequency. On the amateur radio bands we are free to locate a
satellite anywhere we can get to because we don't share our
frequencies with commercial transponders.
The reason we don't have any high altitude satellites is all
about the money.
We amateurs created the small satellite business. Back in the
old days the big boys laughed at our cute little toy
satellites, but they did allow us to bolt them to a launch
vehicle for free or for very low cost. The experts were
certain that our homebrew satellites wouldn't last a week
without expensive mil-spec electronic components. We amateurs
proved that small satellites were useful and thus created a
market that we are now priced out of. The launches that used
to be free can now be sold to paying customers for millions of
dollars. Many of the companies in the small satellite business
were founded by Amsat alumni.
We amateurs are a non-commercial service, by law, with no
product or service that we can sell to raise the $10 million
that we would need to buy the sort of launch that we once got
for very cheap. We cannot participate in the market economy
because the law prohibits us from making money from our
activity, which puts us at a huge disadvantage in competing
for launches against those satellite owners who can make
money. If future access to space is going to be limited to
those with a good business plan then we might as well pack it
in as satellite builders. The educational-industrial complex
has no place for "amateurs" working alone in their basements
and garages without any sort of formal academic plan and no
supervision by management.
Nobody in the commercial or government world cares if we can
talk to Japan or Europe on amateur satellites or collect rare
grid squares. It is all about education, which I am all in
favor of except that I question if there really is such a
crying shortage of engineers in the world. The students
building their little Cubesats are going to find out someday
that working for Lockheed Martin or Boeing or NASA is a far,
far different world than their experience in building
Cubesats.
The Cubesats are a useless diversion but are popular with the
powers that be because they allow young college students to
build a satellite and deliver it to the launch pad. They are
too small to carry the type of payload that we need to do
effective communications in a high altitude orbit. The
students and their sponsors don't care if the satellite
actually works on orbit because they will have graduated by
the time it is launched. They recognize that the world wide
network of hams is a valuable resource for tracking and
telemetry collection, but they use amateur radio frequencies
without giving back anything to support the basis and purpose
of amateur radio.
If we are ever again going to have high altitude satellites
for world wide DX and supporting high rate digital
communications on our amateur microwave bands we will need to
find clever ways to get larger satellites such as Eagle into
higher orbits.
We also screwed up with the failure of AO-40. We could have
had 10,000 or more Amsat members right now if that satellite
had worked as designed. Even if we could raise the bucks to
build another one, there is no chance of getting another
Ariane 5 launch. Amsat-DL has not been able to find any launch
for the smaller Phase 3E satellite for any amount of money
that we can think about paying.
The way we did things two decades ago is not how we are going
to do things now. Maybe we will never again have an
Amsat-designed and built satellite but perhaps we can place a
transponder on someone else's satellite in return for some
sort of added value to them. There is money available for
education support, maybe we can get some of it if we appeal to
the right people. Maybe we can carry science experiments for
NASA or some other agency if we provide operations support
with telemetry and command. Maybe we can tap the same funding
sources that the Google lunar competitors are getting. I don't
have the answers, except that we will need to be just as
clever as our predecessors were 50 years ago if we are ever
going to have high altitude, high performance amateur
satellites in our future.
Dan Schultz, N8FGV
********************************************************
Hi All,
I do remember that when OSCAR-10, OSCAR-13 and AO40 were alive
and well this net on AMSAT-BB was full of technical messages
from W3IWI now K3IO ,G3RUH, G3WDG, ZL1AOX and many others from
wich it was possible to lern the radio technique particularly
in the field of RF and antennas.
By the way actually with the prolification of
Microsats,Nanosats and so on the above people seems to be not
anymore interested on satellite technical discussions and they
abandoned the net.
Can anyone explain to me why ?
Thanks for any answere.
73" de
i8CVS Domenico
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------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:06:35 -0700
From: Clint Bradford <clintbradford@xxx.xxx>
To: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] PACIFICON a Blast!
Message-ID: <F78FDB0E-2722-4EF0-B06D-4962367C761E@xxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII
PACIFICON in Santa Clara was a blast! Had a great time.
Arrived Friday mid-day - in plenty of time to work AO-51 at 4:30PM PDT.
Saturday, of course, was non-stop fun. Gordo emcee'd breakfast. I gave my
satellite show twice - right before and right after lunch. Standing room
only group of 56 attendees for the first show. About 47 for the second show.
Then we worked passes outside: A0-27 "showed up" mid-pass for us at about
245PM PDT. Then AO-51 again for a GREAT pass at about 3:53PM PDT.
The event didn't formally get a request in to work Commander Fossom aboard
the ISS for his 3:06AM PDT pass on early Saturday morning ... He worked a
Scout group FIVE MINUTES before streaking across Santa Clara - but his
radios were already turned OFF for a while. BUT our group of several
kids/Scouts/parents/hotel security staff enjoyed a video I had set up on
Fossum's NASA career, and we all had a great time - albeit 3 o'clock in the
morning ... (grin)
The PACIFICON organization is a first-class group. They treat their speakers
well ... offer all aspects of the hobby to their attendees ... and gave it
all to us in a comfortable venue (Santa Clara Marriott). They will be
hosting the NATIONAL ARRL Convention next year!
The organizers gave me a table right inside the front door of the exhibition
hall - couldn't have asked for better placement. AMSAT Symposium flyers and
sat sheets and more were handed out to attendees.
More will be posted on my Work-Sat YahooGroup later this week.
Clint Bradford, K6LCS
http://www.work-sat.com
------------------------------
Message: 12
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:48:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: "John M. Belstner" <jbelstner@xxxxx.xxx>
To: "amsat-bb@xxxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxxx.xxx>, "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx
<amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: OOTC demo on AO-27 @ 2130 UTC
Message-ID:
<1318877332.18000.YahooMailNeo@xxxxxxxxx.xxxx.xxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Thank you Patrick and all the other that gave me a call yesterday. ?It was a
very successful presentation and demonstration.
In fact, I heard from Dave W6KL this morning and he has already ordered an
Arrow and a TH-D72A.
?
John Belstner W9EN
Valley Center, CA ?DM13le
------------------------------
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Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
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End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 6, Issue 573
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