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CX2SA > SATDIG 12.10.16 23:00l 862 Lines 32937 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
To : SATDIG@WW
Today's Topics:
1. Re: update (Dave Taylor)
2. WD9EWK road trip to Pacificon, starting Thursday...
(Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK))
3. Possible Outernet GPL violation (Dani EA4GPZ)
4. VP5/AA4FL (Jay Garlitz)
5. Lotw Login Qs via TQSL (Rafael Pe?a)
6. Re: Lotw Login Qs via TQSL (Paul Stoetzer)
7. Re: DIY Projects (Robert McGwier)
8. Re: Possible Outernet GPL violation (Joseph Armbruster)
9. Re: Possible Outernet GPL violation (Daniel Est?vez)
10. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-10-12 20:30 UTC
(AJ9N@xxx.xxxx
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2016 22:07:39 -0400
From: Dave Taylor <dave.w8aas@xxxxxxx.xxx>
To: Steve Akkala <onmontauk@xxxxx.xxx>
Cc: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] update
Message-ID: <F93C7548-7661-47E3-A7EE-E133F74CE4B5@xxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
The ARISS meeting is Nov 15-18 (Tue to Fri). We?ll be meeting all day, 8-5.
The tour will be Monday afternoon, Nov 14, but no times have been announced
yet.
Dave
> On Oct 11, 2016, at 8:40 PM, Steve A <onmontauk@xxxxx.xxx> wrote:
>
> Can we get updated info, When is the NASA tour? when is the ARISS
> meetings? trying to finalize plans.
>
>
> Steve
> W2AKK
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 05:53:36 +0000
From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb@xxxxxx.xxx>
To: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] WD9EWK road trip to Pacificon, starting
Thursday...
Message-ID:
<CAN6TEUeeCt2sMgii=xdcm0bGuuXy-fHEh4kVhSRT0nePoM67Jg@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Hi!
I will be at the Pacificon convention in San Ramon CA, east of San
Francisco, this weekend. I plan on leaving Phoenix early Thursday
(13 October) morning, so I can make it to San Ramon in about 12 to
14 hours. The convention runs from Friday (14 October) through
Sunday (16 October), although I don't know at this point how long
I plan on being at the convention on Sunday. More information
about Pacificon is available at:
http://pacificon.org/
After the convention wraps up, I will drive home. I am planning on
stopping somewhere Sunday evening, and finishing the rest of my
drive home by Monday (17 October) afternoon.
I plan on doing demonstrations of satellite operating during the
convention, supporting Alan WA6DNR and his crew who traditionally
have an AMSAT tablet at Pacificon. I don't have a fixed schedule
for the demonstrations, but would look to work FO-29, FM satellites,
and any ISS passes that may come by while the convention is in
session. For now, my plan is to operate using my own WD9EWK call,
but there is a chance I could use W1AW/6 which will be on the air
from Pacificon.
As for operating on my drives between Phoenix and the Bay Area, I
am not going to work with a fixed schedule for passes and grids I
will plan on operating. Thursday, in particular, is going to be
focused on making the long drive in one day, so I might not make
many stops. I will have my AmsatDroid Free app and a printout of
passes starting on Thursday, and might be able to get on the air if
there is a safe place to pull off the highway or freeway to do so.
I will use either my TH-D72A or TH-D74A to run APRS as I drive,
with WD9EWK-9 as my APRS call sign. This should appear on various
web sites like http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 once I am on the road. I
should have a fair bit of flexibility in how I make the drive home
on Sunday and Monday, which could involve visiting some rarely
heard grids and/or NPOTA sites.
I will upload my logs as WD9EWK to Logbook of the World. If you
would like to receive a QSL card for a contact with WD9EWK during
this trip, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. There's
no need to first send me a card and/or SASE to get my card. If I am
able to use W1AW/6 at Pacificon, ARRL will take care of the QSLing
and LOTW uploadfor that call sign.
I will use my @xxxxxx Twitter feed to post updates while on the
road and at Pacificon. Pictures, too. If you don't have a Twitter
account, you can still see what I tweet. Point a web browser to
http://twitter.com/WD9EWK to see my tweets.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/
Twitter: @xxxxxx
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 11:28:11 +0200
From: Dani EA4GPZ <daniel@xxxxxxxx.xxx>
To: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Cc: Thane Richard <thane@xxxxxxxx.xx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Possible Outernet GPL violation
Message-ID: <201c89a5-f841-0727-e6a6-8d2781a5d7dc@xxxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Hi all,
As some of you may know, I'm trying to build a GNUradio receiver for
Outernet, partly by reverse engineering their binary-only code.
While examining this code, I've noted that this code is using librtlsdr
and libmirisdr, which are licenced under the GPLv2 or later (and not
LGPL). It is my understanding that this forces the binary-only code to
be released under a GPL-compatible licence.
More info:
http://pastebin.com/ENCYejn8
Can someone with legal experience tell whether am I right in my
interpretation of the licences?
Also, does anyone have the contact information for Outernet? I tried to
contact the user "foxbunny" in Github, who is the main contributor to
the Github repos of Outernet. However, he no longer works at Outernet.
I know that some of you are having fun with the Outernet receiver, and I
don't want to discourage anyone from doing so. However, I think that it
is in agreement with the Ham Radio spirit to be able to learn how the
technology works. Currently, the key software pieces of the Outernet
receiver are closed-source.
Recently, only after some nontrivial reverse engineering effort I could
figure out the scrambler they use. It turns out it's a scrambler
algorithm I hadn't heard about before, so there I learnt something:
https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/785586536225976320
Also, I think that in particular librtlsdr (the code that makes RTL-SDR
receivers work) has given hams uncountable hours of enjoyment with these
low cost SDR receivers. Therefore, we should support the fact that this
software is GPL and try to protect it from anyone who wishes to abuse
its licence.
I think that the Outernet project would benefit from releasing all their
software under a free software (open source) licence, and I told that to
Thane Richard from Outernet when he first announce the project on
amsat-bb almost a year ago.
73,
Dani EA4GPZ.
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 06:20:28 -0400
From: Jay Garlitz <jay.aa4fl@xxxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: [amsat-bb] VP5/AA4FL
Message-ID:
<CAPLjiQLr21rguMbsjBaDkusMn+u41P=H3CpVjRHzASTOYhuQcQ@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Getting ready to leave for VP5 this weekend. Will be operating from
Middle Caicos in grid FL41cu as VP5/AA4FL. Most likely days for OSCAR
satellites will be Oct. 20-28, but will try for a day or two earlier.
I am using a FT-817 and Arrow antenna. Primary SAT will be FO-29 (up 145.93
MHz). I will call CQ using SSB, and listen for replies. Call me as I am
not operating duplex and will need to tune around to find you. I will be
on for common footprint passes with Europe and South America and try on
AO-7 Mode B (up 432.50 MHz) when possible.
USA contacts will also include some SO-50 time. May also get on AO-73 and
XW birds at times but we have work to do getting the VP5DX station ready
for CQWW SSB Oct. 29-30. Plans are to upload LOTW while there, if we get
Internet access.
Check my QRZ page for updates and additional info. Thanks to Drew KO4MA,
Frank K4FEG, George MI6GTY, for helping me prepare. I also appreciate
those who had recent QSO's with me while I was testing the equipment and
gaining portable SAT operation experience.
73 and hope to get you in the log!
Jay AA4FL
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 10:52:17 +0000
From: Rafael Pe?a <pinoleronica@xxxxxxx.xxx>
To: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Lotw Login Qs via TQSL
Message-ID:
<DM5PR03MB3051B02C46DE3E6D8812A492C6DD0@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxx.xxxx.xxxxxxx.xx
x>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Finally, I finished setting up my Leo-Pack and antenna is on top of F12 at
roof top. I learned a few tricks when setting up the antenna. The rotor
G-5500 is all working as expected.
Yesterday, I tried my first wack at satellites....I tried the XW## and
worked two stations. I am using tqsl to login the Qs....I entered pertinent
information about the qso but when I select Propagation Mode = Satellite and
then want select the Satellite name, I cannot see any of the XW sats and who
knows how many more.
I can see the list when I log on to the lotw service portal. The issue is
at the software tqsl.. There must be a way to modify that list, I think.
Any assistance is appreciated es hope to work you at some point from FM18LW
(DC)
Rafael / NN3RP
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 07:07:40 -0400
From: Paul Stoetzer <n8hm@xxxx.xxx>
To: "Rafael Pe?a" <pinoleronica@xxxxxxx.xxx>
Cc: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Lotw Login Qs via TQSL
Message-ID:
<CABzOSOoefE3dSc_E6VD_X2Ni+8312CWPc0pyymSx_UvGLQWjVw@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Rafael,
Good job with the QSOs! Hope to catch you soon so I can finally say I've
worked DC on satellite!
In tQSL, the XW-2 satellites are listed as "Hope 2A," "Hope 2C," etc.
"Hope" is the English translation of the Chinese designation for amateur
satellites "Xiwang," which is where the XW abbreviation comes from.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Wednesday, October 12, 2016, Rafael Pe?a <pinoleronica@xxxxxxx.xxx>
wrote:
> Finally, I finished setting up my Leo-Pack and antenna is on top of F12 at
> roof top. I learned a few tricks when setting up the antenna. The rotor
> G-5500 is all working as expected.
>
> Yesterday, I tried my first wack at satellites....I tried the XW## and
> worked two stations. I am using tqsl to login the Qs....I entered
> pertinent
> information about the qso but when I select Propagation Mode = Satellite
> and
> then want select the Satellite name, I cannot see any of the XW sats and
> who
> knows how many more.
>
> I can see the list when I log on to the lotw service portal. The issue is
> at the software tqsl.. There must be a way to modify that list, I think.
>
>
> Any assistance is appreciated es hope to work you at some point from FM18LW
> (DC)
>
> Rafael / NN3RP
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx <javascript:;>. AMSAT-NA makes this open
> forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:22:46 -0400
From: Robert McGwier <rwmcgwier@xxxxx.xxx>
To: Andrew Rich <vk4tec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Cc: Amsat BB <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] DIY Projects
Message-ID:
<CA+K5gze8NHDL1e1DCsLXja31bAkXSfxqXuDZq0cXRTZ9X4hF1A@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=AZ+EL+DIY+rotators
On Tue, Sep 27, 2016 at 2:23 PM, Andrew Rich <vk4tec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
wrote:
> Jerry
>
> I once used a reduction gear box set from the local electronics store
>
> The drive went to a threaded rod
>
> It was a tim system - very rough
>
> Andrew
>
>
> ------------------------------------------
> Andrew Rich VK4TEC
> w www.tech-software.net
> e vk4tec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
> m +61 (4) 19 738 223
> m 0419738223
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 28 Sep 2016, at 2:49 AM, Gerald Payton <gp_ab5r@xxxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
> >
> > This may be OLD stuff to many of you experienced ops., but new to me. I
> was wondering if there had been any individual DIY projects in the past for
> building an AZ/EL or Pan/Tilt using robotics? Of course, for our purposes
> weight and wind load would be a factor. I am not interested in "toy size",
> as many of the Arduino projects are.
> >
> >
> > If anyone knows of a site or PDF, please send it to me; either here or
> to my personal email:
> >
> > gp_ab5r@xxxxxxx.xxx. I am also good via ARRL and AMSAT using AB5R@xxxx
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jerry
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
> Opinions expressed
> > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
> program!
> > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
--
Bob McGwier
Founder, Federated Wireless, Inc
Founder and Technical Advisor, HawkEye 360, Inc
Research Professor Virginia Tech
Chief Scientist: The Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and
Technology
Senior Member IEEE, Facebook: N4HYBob, ARS: N4HY
Faculty Advisor Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Assn. (K4KDJ)
Director of AMSAT and member of PVRC, TAPR, and life member of ARRL and
AMSAT
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 14:18:33 -0400
From: Joseph Armbruster <josepharmbruster@xxxxx.xxx>
To: Dani EA4GPZ <daniel@xxxxxxxx.xxx>
Cc: Thane Richard <thane@xxxxxxxx.xx>, "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx
<amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Possible Outernet GPL violation
Message-ID:
<CADkz4c9FFC4rbG5h83yUV8rC7ugHJUndAFgxj9sS_ZBT=Y-BPA@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Dani,
I'm not familiar with this code base or software specifically, but I
am curious, how did you determine it was linked? Did you use a
platform tool, such as ldd or dumpbin or did you just grep the
baseline for 'librtlsdr" and it popped up? There's a difference
between finding text in a baseline vs a lib being statically or
dynamically linked into it, which is why I ask. I will assume you are
correct and it is being used, one way or another.
Because you received a copy of a derivative work containing software
that has GPL applied to it, then you are entitled to the source code
of the derivative work. It should have also come with a copy of the
GPL, but if not, bygons.
Developers Are human and make mistakes, it would be interesting to
hear from the authors to determine what the story is. If the
libraries that you referred to are not being used and could be
stripped out, that could eliminate the issue down the road or they
could just release the whole thing under GPL moving forward and be
done with it.
I'm interested in following this :-)
Joseph Armbruster
On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 5:28 AM, Dani EA4GPZ <daniel@xxxxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> As some of you may know, I'm trying to build a GNUradio receiver for
> Outernet, partly by reverse engineering their binary-only code.
>
> While examining this code, I've noted that this code is using librtlsdr
> and libmirisdr, which are licenced under the GPLv2 or later (and not
> LGPL). It is my understanding that this forces the binary-only code to
> be released under a GPL-compatible licence.
>
> More info:
> http://pastebin.com/ENCYejn8
>
> Can someone with legal experience tell whether am I right in my
> interpretation of the licences?
>
> Also, does anyone have the contact information for Outernet? I tried to
> contact the user "foxbunny" in Github, who is the main contributor to
> the Github repos of Outernet. However, he no longer works at Outernet.
>
> I know that some of you are having fun with the Outernet receiver, and I
> don't want to discourage anyone from doing so. However, I think that it
> is in agreement with the Ham Radio spirit to be able to learn how the
> technology works. Currently, the key software pieces of the Outernet
> receiver are closed-source.
>
> Recently, only after some nontrivial reverse engineering effort I could
> figure out the scrambler they use. It turns out it's a scrambler
> algorithm I hadn't heard about before, so there I learnt something:
> https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/785586536225976320
>
> Also, I think that in particular librtlsdr (the code that makes RTL-SDR
> receivers work) has given hams uncountable hours of enjoyment with these
> low cost SDR receivers. Therefore, we should support the fact that this
> software is GPL and try to protect it from anyone who wishes to abuse
> its licence.
>
> I think that the Outernet project would benefit from releasing all their
> software under a free software (open source) licence, and I told that to
> Thane Richard from Outernet when he first announce the project on
> amsat-bb almost a year ago.
>
> 73,
>
> Dani EA4GPZ.
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 22:09:28 +0200
From: Daniel Est?vez <daniel@xxxxxxxx.xxx>
To: Joseph Armbruster <josepharmbruster@xxxxx.xxx>
Cc: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Possible Outernet GPL violation
Message-ID: <ed136b80-733a-bb32-0ccd-33b4848fb8f1@xxxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
El 12/10/16 a las 20:18, Joseph Armbruster escribi?:
> Dani,
>
> I'm not familiar with this code base or software specifically, but I
> am curious, how did you determine it was linked? Did you use a
> platform tool, such as ldd or dumpbin or did you just grep the
> baseline for 'librtlsdr" and it popped up? There's a difference
> between finding text in a baseline vs a lib being statically or
> dynamically linked into it, which is why I ask. I will assume you are
> correct and it is being used, one way or another.
Hi Joseph,
I used ldd:
/outernet-linux-lband/bin $ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=../sdr.d/starsdr-rtlsdr/ ldd
sdr100-1.0.4
./sdr100-1.0.4: /lib64/libtinfo.so.5: no version information available
(required by ./sdr100-1.0.4)
./sdr100-1.0.4: /lib64/libncurses.so.5: no version information available
(required by ./sdr100-1.0.4)
linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007fff14d70000)
libncurses.so.5 => /lib64/libncurses.so.5 (0x00007f65e9c4c000)
libtinfo.so.5 => /lib64/libtinfo.so.5 (0x00007f65e9a16000)
libstarsdr.so => ../sdr.d/starsdr-rtlsdr/libstarsdr.so (0x00007f65e9812000)
libm.so.6 => /lib64/libm.so.6 (0x00007f65e951b000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib64/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007f65e92ff000)
libc.so.6 => /lib64/libc.so.6 (0x00007f65e8f63000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib64/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f65e8d5f000)
librtlsdr.so => ../sdr.d/starsdr-rtlsdr/librtlsdr.so (0x00007f65e8b4d000)
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007f65e9e71000)
libusb-1.0.so.0 => /lib64/libusb-1.0.so.0 (0x00007f65e8935000)
libudev.so.1 => /lib64/libudev.so.1 (0x00007f65e870f000)
As you can see, a binary .so file is for librtlsdr is included with
their linux L-band receiver software. A binary .so file for libmirisdr
is also included. Essentially, you select which one gets loaded by
setting your LD_LIBRARY_PATH. However, one of these two libraries (you
choose which depending on your SDR hardware) is needed to make the
software run. Without these two libraries, the software will refuse to
start with the usual "error while loading shared libraries".
> Because you received a copy of a derivative work containing software
> that has GPL applied to it, then you are entitled to the source code
> of the derivative work. It should have also come with a copy of the
> GPL, but if not, bygons.
Outernet clearly states that sdr100 is covered under a closed-source
licence only:
https://github.com/Outernet-Project/outernet-linux-lband/blob/master/SDR100_LI
CENSE.txt
They provide no source for sdr100. I believe this to be a violation of
the GPL, as sdr100 should be released under a GPL-compatible licence, as
it is a derivative work of librtlsdr and/or libmirisdr.
A fine detail is that the closed-source sdr100 binary doesn't link
librtlsdr "directly". It links it through some wrapper called libstarsdr
that Outernet have written to support both RTL-SDR and MIRI-SDR in their
software. libstarsdr is LGPLv3.
I managed to contact user "foxbunny" on Github. He is the main committer
in the Outernet repositories. He doesn't work at Outernet any longer,
but he told me that their lawyer said that what they're doing is legal
because sdr100 doesn't link to librtlsdr or libmirisdr directly, but
only through libstarsdr, which is LGPL.
I don't believe this sort of trick can work legally, because it's
trivial to write an LGPL wrapper for any GPL library you want to link.
If these sort of tricks worked, anyone could link a GPL from
closed-source software just by writing an LGPL wrapper.
He also told me that since the same sdr100 binary can work with
libstarsdr compiled against libmirisdr or librtlsdr, then it satisfies
the clause "can work without". I think this is another trick that
doesn't work, because clearly sdr100 needs at least one of libmirisdr or
librtlsdr just to load and start running.
In any case, I think that only the copyright holders of libmirisdr and
librtlsdr would be able to bring this matter to court. It's a case of
Outernet breaking the terms of the GPL in libmirisdr and librtlsdr by
not distributing sdr100 as GPL software. It's not a case of Outernet
distributing sdr100 as GPL to me and then not following the terms and
refusing to give me a copy of the code. In this latter case I (or anyone
that gets a copy of sdr100) could bring the matter to court.
> Developers Are human and make mistakes, it would be interesting to
> hear from the authors to determine what the story is. If the
> libraries that you referred to are not being used and could be
> stripped out, that could eliminate the issue down the road or they
> could just release the whole thing under GPL moving forward and be
> done with it.
Almost a year ago I contacted Thane Richard when he made some publicity
of the Outernet project in amsat-bb. I told him that I didn't understand
why the key pieces of their decoder where closed source, and that I
thought that making the project fully open source would better serve
their goal of easing worldwide accessibility to internet content. Thane
told me that for strategic reasons they feel it's better to release
those parts as freeware rather than open source.
At that time, the only closed source part was the ONDD daemon, since
Outernet used Ku-band instead of L-band and the demodulation was
performed on a DVB-S2 hardware receiver. The modulation was standard
DVB-S2, and so the details where known. Only the format of the data
stream in the DVB-S2 multiplex was "secret".
Since Outernet has moved to L-band, their demodulator is now SDR
software (the sdr100 binary I'm talking about above). This demodulator
has being released only under closed-source. The modulation format is
kept "secret".
>From reverse engineering, I know the following:
* 4200baud BPSK
* r=1/2, k=7 convolutional code with CCSDS polynomials
* IESS-308 scrambler
* HDLC framing is used somehow
Still, I haven't figure out how to produce anything useful from these
parts yet. In particular, I don't know which kind of differential
encoding is used and where exactly in the chain (some differential
encoding or other kind of polarity determination must be used, since the
IESS-308 scrambler works completely different for one bitstream and the
bit-inverted bitstream). Also, I don't know precisely how is HDLC
framing used.
Perhaps the sdr100 binary includes some copyrighted code which they
can't release, or is bound by some NDAs or whatever. In particular, they
don't seem to use Phil Karn KA9Q's Viterbi implementation, so perhaps
they use some copyrighted library for that which they can't release.
Still, I believe it's easy to produce a completely working decoder using
only open source software. KA9Q's Viterbi library can be used for the
convolutional code, the scrambler is simple and I have already
implemented a working GPL descrambler, and there's plenty of open source
code for HDLC around. So I have the impression that if Outernet doesn't
release an open source demodulator is just because they don't want to,
not because of using copyrighted code or NDAs for something very secret.
It seems that for some reason Outernet wants to keep the key pieces of
their receiver closed-source. Just enough to keep someone from writing
an alternative receiver software.
> I'm interested in following this :-)
I'll keep you updated off-list. So far I've written to the copyright
holders for libmirisdr and librtlsdr, the Free Software Fundation and a
few people at Outernet.
73,
Dani.
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 16:48:10 -0400
From: AJ9N@xxx.xxx
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-10-12
20:30 UTC
Message-ID: <5310f4.5f19173a.452ffb8a@xxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-10-12 20:30 UTC
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute, Omaha NE, telebridge via
VK4KHZ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kate Rubins KG5FYJ
Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-10-15 14:00:08 UTC 29 deg
Howell L. Watkins Middle School, Palm Beach Gardens FL, direct via N4J
(***)
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Takuya Onishi KF5LKS
Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-10-17 16:08:01 UTC 83 deg (***)
****************************************************************************
**
Call for Proposals
Proposal Window September 1 ? November 1, 2016
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 anticipates that the contact would be held
between July 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017. 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 deadline to submit a proposal is November 1, 2016. Proposal
information and documents can be found at
www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact.
****************************************************************************
**
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@xxxxx.xxx or aj9n@xxx.xxx.
Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8? MHz.
****************************************************************************
***
All ARISS contacts are made via the Ericsson 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
http://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?
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@xxxxxxxxx.xxx
****************************************************************************
ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100
schools:
Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 123
Gaston ON4WF with 121
Francesco IK?WGF with 118
****************************************************************************
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.
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 2016-10-12 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.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf
Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1088.
Each school counts as 1 event.
Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1053.
Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot.
Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47.
A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the
file.
http://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:
Arkansas, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern
Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
QSL information may be found at:
http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html
ISS callsigns: DP?ISS, IR?ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RS?ISS
****************************************************************************
The successful school list has been updated as of 2016-10-11 05:30 UTC.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf
Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing
Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction
.rtf
Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf
Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts
https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415
****************************************************************************
Exp. 47 on orbit
Jeff Williams KD5TVQ
Oleg Skripochka RN3FU
Aleksey Ovchinin
Exp. 48 on orbit
Anatoly Ivanishin
Kate Rubins KG5FYJ
Takuya Onishi KF5LKS
****************************************************************************
73,
Charlie Sufana AJ9N
One of the ARISS operation team mentors
------------------------------
Subject: Digest Footer
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Sent via amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx.
AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide
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!
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 11, Issue 329
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