Working Amateur Radio Satellites

In recent weeks I have a several local hams ask me how to get started into being able to work Satellites.
It is not rocket science to be able to listen to the birds in outer space nor is it to transmit.
It dose however require some time, practice and research.

I always suggest obtaining some type of orbital plotting software; once you get it take some time to understand it.
Ounce you have achieved that then pick out a Satellite and listen to it for a few days. After you have done that then try and make your first contact. It may take you a day or a few weeks. The thing is never give up.

Equipment, that can be pricey it you want it to be. I have always been one for buying the best. I know not everyone is able to that. Heck, I fall into that boat currently.
My suggestion for equipment is a good duel band HT. I have a VX-7R; I’m hoping to get the new VX-8R soon.
Next, the Antenna, you can make one if you wish but I suggest you save the time and hassle and purchase on. Arrow makes a nice 3 element VHF, 7 element UHF with a 10 watt duplexer.
Here are a couple of videos and I hope these help those of you with questions.

How to work amateur radio satellites with your handheld (HT) radio from moleculo on Vimeo.

METEOR ECHOES

The Air Force Space Surveillance Radar is scanning the skies above Texas. When a meteor or satellite passes over the facility--ping!--there is an echo. Click on the button to listen to a live audio feed.

http://topaz.streamguys.tv/~spaceweather/

CME Missed Us.

Thank you to those of you who emailed me this;
The CME expected to hit Earth's magnetic field on Aug. 17th either missed or delivered such a feeble blow that no one noticed the resulting geomagnetic disturbance. The next opportunity for auroras is Aug. 24th when an incoming solar wind stream could provoke polar geomagnetic storms.
I also saw this on SpaceWeather.com

MFJ-1796

I have now owned this antenna for almost a year. What do I think about it?

It is awesome~

I bought this antenna from a local ham who was moving out of state and had no desire to take it with him. Best 65.00 dollars I ever spent.

I have made contacts to Central and South America, Virgin Islands, Azores, U.K., Spain, France and Germany. I have even made the trip to Alaska. What a great antenna the MFJ 1796 has been for me.

I have also contacted a majority of the lower 48. I would have to go through my log book but I am confident I have more than 50% of them logged. I guess not bad for a 10 month General.

The MFJ 1796 is a six band halfwave vertical antenna. Since it's a ground independent halfwave, no radials or ground plane are needed.

The antenna is very efficient because it is end loaded, sothe entire antenna radiates power. It uses no lossy traps, and achieves close 50 Ohm match on all bands, with no band switching. Easy to build and easy to tune!

band coverage; 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2m

height; 33 feet

power rating;1500 Watts, PEP

weight; 15 pounds

So lets get to the bottom line on this antenna – its a balanced dipole with loading coils (not traps) and capacity hats at each end. The length of the antenna is 12 feet as delivered from MFJ. Its as simple as that.

The MFJ-1796 as delivered by MFJ is expected to be used as a vertical and mounted on the ground, on a tripod on a roof, or attached to a chimney. Its a center-fed vertical dipole that is ground independent – that is, it does not require a counterpoise or grounding system.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/man/pdf/MFJ-1796.pdf

IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCE

The C4-class solar flare of Aug. 14th bathed Earth's upper atmosphere in X-rays and caused a wave of ionization to sweep over Europe. This improved the propagation of low-frequency radio signals which use the ionosphere as a reflector to skip over the horizon. A SID monitor operated by Jan Karlovsky of Hlohovec, Slovakia, recorded the effect:

"SID" stands for Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance, and a "SID monitor" is a radio receiver that monitors ~20 kHz signals from distant transmitters. "My system easily detected the effects of the solar flare," says Karlovsky. "I monitor two stations: DHO38 in Germany (23.4 kHz) and GQD in Great Britian (22.1 kHz). The German signal was most strongly boosted."

With solar activity on the rise, sudden ionospheric disturbances will become more common. Interested? Stanford University tells you how to build your own SID monitor.

source

CME/ Glancing Blow to Earth's Magnetic Field Aug. 17.

The sun has produced three bright coronal mass ejections (CMEs) this weekend. None is heading directly for Earth, although the CME of Aug. 14th might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on August 17th.
SOHO captured this video clip of a full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) that blasted a substantial cloud of particles away from the Sun (Aug, 7, 2010). The majority of the cloud went to the left with only a smaller portion heading to the right, suggesting that it would not likely have any strong impact on Earth. A “halo” cloud is one that appears to surround the Sun on all sides as it expands, meaning it is heading somewhat towards Earth or away from it. The still and movie are generated by processing the changes from one frame to the next to highlight those changes, thus, we call this a “difference movie.” Click Here

SUNSPOTS ERUPT IN TANDEM

Today at 1005 UT, magnetic fields connecting sunspot 1093 and 1099 erupted, producing a two-sunspot solar flare (C4-class) and hurling a huge blob of plasma into space. Click on the image to launch a Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) movie of the event:

The explosion lasted for more than two hours, giving many amateur astronomers time to catch the eruption in action. Other than photo-ops, however, this explosion will probably not affect Earth much. The cloud ejected by the blast is not heading our way.

KD8BIG Update

The last 4-5 weeks have been a struggle for me. After having an upper respiratory infection turn into Bacterial Pneumonia that lingered on for ever I ended up with other health issues this last Friday evening. So I have missed out on a lot since then.
I did however make it to the local amateur radio club meeting and talked to those present about my idea of having a tech net.
How about the activity on the Sun? Wow, very kewl~
I thought I would share this link, it has some really awesome pictures of the Auroras this week due to the activity going on the Sun.

Huge Solar Storm Triggers Unusual Auroras

Cosmic Tsunami on the way

A dream come true for the Amateur Radio Operator.
Tonight the bands are really active. I have made contacts on 2, 6, 10, 15, 20 and 40 meters. I tried to make a contact on 80 and 160, no joy.

Solar Tsunami to Strike Earth

Building a Weather Satellite Station

Check out the section on assembling a low cost, easy-to-build ground station to receive weather satellite images.

No ham radio license or special training needed.

Just need a computer with a sound card, a short-wave receiver, and some tracking and decoding software.

You don't need a ham radio license and transmitter to participate in space radio. Monitoring of radio transmissions is a popular hobby of its own. You can listen in on satellite downlinks and shuttle communications with police scanners and shortwave radios, available at your local electronics store.

(Listening in on manned spaceflights began early in the space age. This article The first 'scoop' from space in 1999 by John Rich at the Christian Science Monitor reports on NBC reporters eavesdropping on Gordon Cooper's communications while he was in space on Mercury Faith 7.)

You can also directly capture weather satellite images and other satellite signals using radio and computer kits.

A related hobby involves reception of Natural Radio signals produced by atmospheric phenomena such as lightning and aurora. VLF (Very Low Frequency, less than 500HZ) signals from the magnetosphere can be detected from as far as 20000 miles above the earth. When these signals are converted to audio, an assortment of unique sounds such as whistlers and sferics can be heard.

Amateurs even do Radio Astronomy with homemade systems. They can carry out a wide range of observations ranging from listening to electromagnetic storms on Jupiter to picking up pulsar signals to searching for ET signals.

source

VX-8DR; Looking to Purchase

Why another radio? Why not?
Yes, I am looking at purchasing the VX-8DR by Yaesu.
I have the VX-7R and love it. It has been a great radio for me and dose everything I want it too. The only issue is as of late I have had some audio issues. When I adjust the volume knob I get some crackling and also get crackling when not adjusting the volume. I put the radio on the MFJ-269 and everything looks great. So I guess my HT is getting old. Besides, the VX-8DR looks much cooler than the VX-7R and I really want to get back into working the satellites.
The VX-8DR has some really nice features that the VX-7R dose not has. It is also a thinner rig from what I have heard.
I guess my quest for the Kantronics XL and the Rig Blaster Pro might sit on the back burner, then again, so many decisions to think about.

BTW, The Yaesu VX-8DR is an APRS® enhanced version of the popular VX8R. Key additional features of the VX-8DR include:
*Smart Beaconing Function.
*Station List memories has increased from 40 to 50.
*The number of APRS® Message Memories has increased from 20 to 30.
*DIGI-PATH route indication function.
*Heads up compass display to the GPS screen.
*The Message received LED flashing rate is selectable.
*The number of DIGI-PATH route settings has increased from 1 to 7.

The Yaesu VX-8GR is the newest member of the proud VX-8 family. The VX-8GR dual-bander only covers 2 meters and 440 MHz and receive coverage is 108-999 MHz (less cellular frequencies). This version has a built-in GPS unit right out of the box! It is not Bluetooth capable. Click here for Yaesu VX-8GR info.!
The VX-8R, VX-8DR and VX-8GR come with the SMA antenna, FNB-101LI Lithium Ion battery pack (7.4V 1100 mAh), belt clip and NC-86B battery charger. (The NC-86B should only be used for receive, because it is not capable of supplying sufficient current to support transmit).

source

Scott Allan Herrick Alert

Scott Allan Herrick, 39, is charged with videotaping boys in the locker room at the YMCA. He also was charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child porn.
He looks at only getting a maximum of 170 years in prison, fines of $1,750,000 and restitution.

Wood TV 8

WZZM 13

Mlive

Other News Links

My Blog

SunSpot 1087

Sunspot 1087 has a magnetic canopy that can only be described as magnificent. It's on full display in today's extreme ultraviolet image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Note the inset. The active region could swallow our planet ten times over and still have room to spare. Fortunately, we're 93 million miles away. We could still feel the effects of an eruption, however. The thicket of magnetic loops and filaments harbors energy for M-class solar flares. M-flares can heat and puff up Earth's upper atmosphere, causing satellites to experience extra drag as they orbit our planet; they can also cause waves of ionization to ripple around the planet, disrupting radio communications. There haven't been any big eruptions yet, but the magnificent magnetic field of sunspot 1087 has been restless, as shown in this time-lapse movie spanning four days.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% chance of M-flares during the next 24 hours. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

source

Satellite Tracking Software

I have worked many Satellites since I became an Amateur Radio Operator. Anyways,my favorite software to use is Nova for Windows or NLSA, which has become the most popular Windows-based satellite tracking program in the world. In use by NASA, the U.S. Air Force, industry, and thousands of amateur radio operators, Nova sets the standard for excellence.

Here is a list of some of the most popular software.

• Footprint - Satellite tracking program
• Nova For Windows - Real time tracking of an unlimited number of satellites, fast, accurate and easy to use. Automated FTP keps updates. Also support a great number of interface to control rotors azimuth and elevation plus frequency doppler shift.
• AMSAT Software links - Links for Satellite tracking software and other Satellite information.
• Real Time Satellite tracking - Select your favorite satellite and watch its trajectory on Google Maps in real time! Includes ISS tracking, Weather, Geostationary, GPS Military, and of course Amateur radio satellites
• J-Track - With J-Track you can quickly and easily keep track of your favorite orbiting objects.
• TrakSat WinTrak - Wintrak and traksat, satellite tracking software
• Winorbit - Satellite Orbital Prediction and Satellite Tracking
• GorbTrack - GorbTrack or Geostationary Orbit Tracker is a freeware program intended to be an aid in finding geostationary satellites. It produces output helpful in aiming dishes for receiving television broadcast satellites. The program also displays several astronomical values like the positions of the sun and moon
• WXtrack - Predict the tracks of weather satellites both as paths above the earth, and as images produced by these satellites when scanning the ground.
• Visual Moon Tracking - Java moon tracking software runs on LINUX, Win 98, Win NT, UNIX, OSF, MacOSX
• FODtrack Satellite Tracking Interface - Construction tips to build an automatic``satellite tracking rotor controller using``PIC16F877 IC.
• FUNKBOX Hard&Software - Useful hardware & software for SAT tracking ,logging, Software defined transceivers for SDR and more
• Big Fat Tail Productions - PocketSat is a full-featured satellite tracking application for PalmOS and PocketPC devices. It is designed to be usable by both experienced satellite trackers as well as novices who are interested in knowing when they can simply look up and see satellites.

Satellites I have worked;

ISS, AO-7, UO-11*, UO-14, AO-16*, LO-17*, UO-22, AO-27, FO-29, GO-32, AO-40, SO-41, NO-44, NO-45, SO-50, AO-51, VO-52, XO-53*, CO-55*, CO-56*, CO-57*, CO-58*


source

Boy Scout Alert!!!!!!!!!

I have never posted something like this before. However, my son was a member of this sick fuckers Boy Scout Troop....

Camp director arrested for child porn

Mich. camp leader charged with having child porn

Arrest of Boy Scout camp director stuns many parents and leaders, but his ...

Gerber boy scout camp director slapped with child porn charge

Former Twin Lake scout camp director charged for child porn worked at Muskegon ...

All related images »

Child pornography

Boy Scout

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Scott Allan Herrick

United States Attorney

Gerald Ford