November 2011 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Streaming Video Coverage of Soyuz Launch Sunday Evening
by JoAnne Maenpaa 13 Nov '11

13 Nov '11

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut scheduled for launch tonight for a flight to the International Space Station. LAUNCH UPDATES AND STREAMING VIDEO: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp29/status.html Video coverage begins at 2145 EST (0245Z) tonight. Liftoff scheduled for 2314 EST (0414Z) tonight. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service

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LVB tracker
by Yanko P. Yankov 13 Nov '11

13 Nov '11

Hello, I'm having problems with my LVB tracker project. After successful programing on the pic (16F876A), I'm not getting any response via Hyperterminal and there is no text on the LCD display. I have HDR1 jumper in run and HDR2 in off . Can some one help me troubleshoot or provide any tips ? Thank you, Yanko NX9G

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Re: OSCAR or not OSCAR ?
by William Leijenaar 13 Nov '11

13 Nov '11

Hi Stefan, So the answer on my question if my 433MHz toy car, when I put it into space, can get an OSCAR number is YES! According to the AMSAT website you mentioned of course... :-P - My question was not specific if these satellites can or can't get an OSCAR number. My intention was more if they should be scheduled as a ham-sat (and with that using ham frequencies). I would recommend you to read the following IARU website! http://www.iaru.org/satellite/prospective.html (especially section VI. OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES) It says the following: "Organisations building satellites should compare their mission plans to the requirements of the amateur-satellite service. Then, they should determine if it is possible to comply with the requirements of the amateur-satellite service or if licensing and operation should be in some other radio service which is more consistent with the nature and requirements of the mission. A. The purposes of an amateur satellite should be: (1) To provide communication resources for the general amateur radio community and/or (2) To conduct technical investigations in all respects consistent with the Radio Regulations. [See RR S1.56 and RR S1.57.]" I have great doubts with many off those CubeSats, if they comply to number (1).... The only communication resources they provide is for themselves by a cheap downlink system, by using hams to receive data for them. This is not for the general amateur radio community as mentioned in number (1)... The option they have is to go to "some other radio service which is more consistent with the nature and requirements of the mission." 73 de PE1RAH, William >Would recommend reading the info on AMSAT's website! > >http://www.amsat.org/amsat/amsat-na/oscar.html > >Stefan, VE4NSA

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Re: OSCAR Acronym?
by Clint Bradford 13 Nov '11

13 Nov '11

>> ... "OSCAR" stands for Orbital Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio ... Why was it changed to "OrbitING Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio?" Did "Orbital" just sound too geeky for the masses? YES - the early citations from the 1960s had it as "Orbital." WHO changed it to "Orbiting" ??? Clint, K6LCS Husband of the woman who owns the domain, thegrammarbitch.com ... (grin)

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ANS-317 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 13 Nov '11

13 Nov '11

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-317 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS 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. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * 2011 AMSAT Symposium Wrap Up * This Week 50 Years Ago: OSCAR 1 Announcement * UKube-1 Final Design Approved * Strong Signals Received From Explorer-1 Prime Cubesat * ESA Sponsors Students to Attend the European CubeSat Symposium * Satellite Shorts From All Over * ARISS Status - 7 November 2011 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.01 2011 AMSAT Symposium Wrap Up AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.01 2011 Symposium Proceedings in Stock in AMSAT Store -------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Online Store Manager, Bruce Paige, KK5DO has added the Proceedings of the AMSAT-NA 29th Space Symposium and AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting to the AMSAT online store in the Publications Department: http://www.amsat-na.com/store/item.php?id=100190 If you were unable to attend the Symposium, this is your chance to get a copy of the Proceedings. Copies are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Cost is $25.00. Symposium Media Post Processing ------------------------------- Gould Smith, WA4SXM is writing an article for the Journal about the 2011 Symposium. Please email Gould any photos or links to your online image storage to include in the article to wa4sxm(a)amsat.org. Dan Schultz, N8FGV is requesting help from someone with professional grade sound editing software who is willing to invest a few hours in a project of importance to AMSAT's historical archives. Please contact Dan if you can help.: n8fgv(a)amsat.org. [ANS thanks the 2011 Symposium Committee for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.02 This Week 50 Years Ago: OSCAR 1 Announcement AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.02 The AMSAT News Service is re-running the Project OSCAR Newsletters to commemorate the 50th anniversary of OSCAR 1. During the November/ December 2011 time frame you will be able to share the excitement of the launch campaign that started it all 50 years ago. The Newsletters were hand-typed back in 1961. Thanks to Don Ferguson, KD6IRE for scanning the original documents announcing OSCAR 1. ----- Project OSCAR Newsletter November 15, 1961 at 1345 PST First News Release, U. S. RADIO AMATEURS T0 LAUNCH "PIGGY-BACK" SATELLITE SUNNYVALE, CALIF. -- A hitch-hiking radio transmitter that will speak to thousands of amateur radio operators throughout the world is scheduled to be launched into space orbit next month, announced the American Radio Relay League. Weighing only 10 pounds, the satellite has been designed, built and tested by a group of California (Peninsula) radio amateurs organized as the Project Oscar Association of the League. "OSCAR" stands for Orbital Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. The radio "ham's" transmitter beacon will be carried into space aboard a scheduled space vehicle and will radiate signals in a world-wide amateur frequency band of 2-meters, radio amateur M. C. Towns, Jr. (Saratoga, Calif.) announced today. Transportation into space will be provided by an Air Force vehicle to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Once in orbit, the Air Force vehicle will "kick away" the piggy-back radio amateur satellite, leaving it to follow its own course around the earth. The mother satellite will then continue to perform the experiments for which it was intended. Radio Amateur Towns, the Oscar Association Chairman, stressed that Project Oscar "is a serious, civilian, non-commercial effort to obtain information from outer space, and to introduce radio amateurs and lay scientists to new concepts in outer space communication. "This miniature radio transmitter will be tracked and observed by radio amateurs and all interested observers throughout the world. "It will serve to instruct the radio amateur in the art of observing and tracking a moving space object. In addition, the mass of data gained from world-wide observations will provide information unobtainable by any other means. "There are an estimated 300,000 licensed radio amateurs in the world, and the American Radio Relay League hopes a large number of these hobbyists will participate in the forthcoming experiments." Towns noted that the radio amateur has, in the past, been a pioneer in various fields of radio communication, and that hundreds of U. S. radio amateurs are now engaged in space research and other space activity. The 10-pound Oscar satellite consists of a low-power beacon transmitter contained in a rectangular metal casing about a foot long. It will send out a continuous Morse code signal of the letters H-I, four dots followed by two dots. Later satellites proposed to be built by the Oscar Association may both receive and transmit amateur signals. As soon as this transmitter is in orbit, notification will be flashed to radio amateurs throughout the world by the American Radio Relay League, the international organization of radio amateurs which is sponsoring and cooperating in the project. "Radio propagation, Heaviside layer refraction, antenna efficiency and other data can be gathered and correlated from thousands of points over the world's surface," Towns said. "The cause of good will," Towns continued, "will be served in that radio amateurs, located in virtually every country of the world, would have a common amateur interest in observing and tracking their own satellite, and in exchanging scientific information relative to improved equipment for receiving the satellite signals." The Oscar transmitter is designed to operate on a frequency of 145 megacycles and can be heard by home experimenters having simple receiving equipment, Towns said. "Cooperation in the forthcoming tests is invited from any interested party," the Oscar Chairman stated, pointing out that support has already been contributed by the Air Force and numerous private concerns interested in furthering communication knowledge, and entirely on a no-cost basis of lending a helping hand to the amateurs in their own project. The radio amateur satellite idea originated in 1959 with a Los Angeles amateur operator, Don Stoner, who suggested that radio amateurs had the technical know-how to build their own satellite if someone only had the vehicle to carry it into space. He, along with radio amateur Fred Hicks, of Campbell, California, and other radio "hams" kept the idea alive and formed the Project Oscar Association. The idea spread among radio clubs of the Los Angeles and San Francisco area and gathered support from radio amateurs nation-wide, including the radio amateur organization, the American Radio Relay League. Radio "ham" Nicholas K. Marshall, technical director of the Oscar program, noted that the soon-to-be-launched satellite is but a first step in the overall Oscar concept. "Later satellites to be built by the Oscar group will perhaps receive and transmit amateur test signals for specific space experiments," he said. Marshall noted that there are approximately 12,000 radio amateurs in the Soviet Union, and that the Oscar Association hopes to receive tracking data from some of them also. [ANS thanks Don Ferguson, KD6IRE and Project OSCAR for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.03 UKube-1 Final Design Approved AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.03 On November 8 AMSAT-UK posted the news that the UK space Agency and Astrium have approved the final design of UKube-1 - the UK's first CubeSat mission. The full story can be read at: http://www.uk.amsat.org/2011/11/08/ukube-1-final-design-approved/ On November 3-4 a young team of engineers from Clyde Space presented their final design to a team of experts for the Critical Design Re- view (CDR) - the typical 'gateway' for space missions to proceed into the flight build and implementation phase. The CDR for Ukube-1 thus marks an important point in the development of the mission, establishing the robustness of the design, the level of technical risk and the schedule/resourcing for the completion of all the tasks to build the flight spacecraft. At the CDR, the review panel scrutinized the design in detail to ensure it was sufficiently mature for flight. Key areas of focus included the structure and mechanisms, the communications system, the on board software and processing, the attitude control system and power generation. At the end of the meeting the review board concluded that Ukube-1 had successfully passed CDR. The next stage is the implementation of the mission that will lead to a launch on a Russian Dneper rocket (ex ICBM converted for small satellite launches) towards the end of 2012. More on the aims and objectives of Ukube-1 can be found on the UK Space Agency website: http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/missions/ukube-pilot-programme The UK Space Agency's pilot programme to design and launch a CubeSat, a miniature cube-shaped satellite that will allow the UK to test cutting-edge new technologies in space. In March 2011 four payloads were finally selected to fly on UKube-1. These will be integrated onto the spacecraft, which measures just 10cm x 10cm x 34cm, by Clyde Space. In addition UKube-1 will fly FunCube, an educational payload provided by AMSAT-UK, with the goal of enthusing and education young people about space, electronics, physics and radio. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.04 Strong Signals Received From Explorer-1 Prime Cubesat AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.04 Montana State University built the Explorer-1 [Prime] to replicate the scientific mission of the Explorer-1 mission which was launched on Jan. 31, 1958, and detected the existence of a band of energetic charged particles held in place by the Earth's magnetic field. The band was named the Van Allen Radiation Belt after the late James Van Allen, who directed the design and creation of instruments on the original Explorer-1 satellite. Satellite: Explorer-1[PRIME] Flight Unit 2 Downlink Freq: 437.505 MHz EIRP: -0.7dBW Modulation Scheme: Non-Coherent FSK Protocol: KISS Custom Baud Rate: 1200 http://ssel.montana.edu/e1p/ Nader ST2NH added an article to his blog describing how to receive the 437.505 MHz LSB data telemetry from Explorer-1[PRIME]. Nader describes how to set up MiXW and the E-1P Telemetry Decoder software: http://tinyurl.com/cwvuwov (blogspot.com) This page includes the link to download the E1-P software from Montana State University. Nader posted his video video showing reception of an E-1P pass at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7S5CMwFlxeo ST2NH Blog with all of Nader's articles: http://st2nh-blogger.blogspot.com/ ST2NH YouTube channel showing several cubesat decoding passes: http://www.youtube.com/user/st2nh/ Mike Rupprecht's DK3WN SatBlog has an article about his experience in receiving and decoding E1-P, see: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=23528 [ANS thanks Nader, ST2NH and Mike, DK3WN for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.05 ESA Sponsors Students to Attend the European CubeSat Symposium AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.05 As part of the ESA Conference Opportunities for Sponsored Students (ECOSS) Programme, the ESA Education Office is pleased to be able to offer sponsorship to European students interested in attending the European CubeSat Symposium (30 Jan - 1 Feb 2012, Brussels). Highly qualified full-time students from ESA Member or Cooperating States are encouraged to apply for ESA Sponsorship. Students selected by ESA's Education Office will be reimbursed their conference registration fee and up to a maximum of 300 Euro in tra- vel and accommodation expenses. Sponsorship will be in the form of a single reimbursement after the conference. Before applying students must visit the conferences page of the ESA Education Portal (www.esa.int/education>Conferences) and: + Check their eligibility for the programme under the "Sponsorship Conditions" link. + Familiarize themselves with the content of the "How to Apply" link. To apply, please visit ESA Education registration system: http://www.joinspace.org The deadline for sponsorship applications is January 4th 2012. The deadline for submitting abstracts is postponed to 11 Nov 2011 for students only. Student who submitted abstracts before can also apply for ESA sponsorship. Check http://www.vki.ac.be/CubeSatSymposium/ for details. [ANS thanks Graham Shirville, G3VZV for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.06 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.06 + Symmetricom announced a mass-produced Chip Scale Atomic Clock osc- illator which maintans atomic clock accuracy and stability. More information at: http://www.symmetricom.com/products/quantum-atomic-oscillators/ + Christophe has produced a handy chart showing the CubeSat UHF down- link frequencies. http://cubesat.free.fr/IMG//pdf/Cubesat_-_frequence_bande_U.pdf + In an effort to help increase interest in satellites, a new award has been created for working five (5) different hams in the EM55 grid. You do not have to be in your home grid to count the stations worked. There are several satellite ready hams in EM55: WA4NVM, WA4HFN, WB4LHD, WA4OVO, KI4OTG, KD4NOQ, KJ4BIX, AJ4KF, W5KUB, N4MGT AA4HV K4FEG. Send your log to WA4NVM or WA4HFN for checking, along with your current mailing address. The award is free and should any donations be sent, they will be forwarded to AMSAT along with your call and name. This award is effective for contacts made beginning on 1 June 2011. + The Super Sensitive High Definition TV, or SS-HDTV, camera on the space station can document new and more detailed footage of the dynamic interactions that take place in the area between the Earths' atmosphere and the vacuum of space, known as the cosmic shore. Night photography now shows more detail than previously possible. JAXA and NHK posted a video of a night time ISS pass over Japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82vXwLdqNzU&feature=related [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.07 ARISS Status - 7 November 2011 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.07 1. Swiss Students Speak with Astronaut Aboard ISS On Monday, October 31, students attending Kantonsschule Zug in Zug, Switzerland connected with Astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG on the ISS via Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). An audience of 600 was on hand to witness the contact and watched as 8 students got in 16 questions before the ISS went over the horizon. The contact highlighted lessons on gravity, orbits, the ISS and its flight path, as well as electromagnetic waves and amateur radio. This ARISS event was held in celebration of the school's 150th anniversary. Media coverage included two television stations and one radio station. 2. Californian Students Radio ISS Astronaut San Diego, California students from Sundance Elementary School participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, November 1. Astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG answered questions about the ISS mission, space and how space affects the human body. The contact was integrated into lesson plans about radios, radio waves, space and space-related topics. The local ham radio club gave presentations to the youth. Sign On San Diego covered the event in an article: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/04/poway-students-connect-astro… [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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 additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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Re: Uplink power for working ARISSat-1?
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 13 Nov '11

13 Nov '11

Hi John, With the antenna that you have I am sure that you should have no problem hearing your own downlink and maybe getting someone to respond to your calls. I had confirmed contacts earlier in the season when ARRISat-1 was first making passes and active during daylight hours here in the UK. My set up is just an "Elk " antenna mounted on a well made tripod, I put together a unit with a motor for rotation and tracking via any of the usual forms of software available - Mainly use SatPC-32. I have tried my Kenwood TS2000 or FT 736 and also an FT857 ( this does not have duplex operation) In terms of power which was your main question - I am using around 20 watts from the transmitter on UHF for the uplink on SSB. This is also my set up for many other contacts and operation and also use a Kenwood THD 7 for AO-51. During the past week while ARRIS -1 has once again been in good favour for daylight hours I have made regular CQ calls and heard my own downlink but sadly had no response from anyone. The very short time that you get of course with the satellite switching off makes it harder to get into the bird I listen for the rapid rise in the level of noise generated then use CW to look for my downlink ( around 145.290 Mhz) The signal level varies around S5 -S6 at best. Need to make the most of the current favourable conditions for this part of the world as with shorter hours of daylight and with regression it won't be long before loose operation for a spell. I wish you luck and look forward to hopefully hearing you active so that I can get another confirmed contact in my log. Congratulations to you on your success with the decoding of the BPSK - Maybe I should also be looking at following in your footsteps. Regards Ken Eaton GW1FKY

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Uplink power for working ARISSat-1?
by John Heath 12 Nov '11

12 Nov '11

Hi, Thought I would give the ARISSat transponder a try. Any recomendations from those that have worked it. I have available a 9 element yagi and about 20W at the feed point Is this likely to work or do I need a few kW ? Thanks John G7HIA

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OSCAR or not OSCAR ?
by William Leijenaar 12 Nov '11

12 Nov '11

Hello AMSATs, As we all know OSCAR is the abbreviatie of Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. To my opinion the function of OSCAR satellites is to facilitate communication between amateur radio stations using amateur radio frequencies and/or do experiments on those radio frequencies. Can someone tell me how it is possible that many of the newer small satellites get a license to use ham radio satellite frequencies for only broadcasting data ? Many of these satellite missions are even not ham related, and those satellites only have a broadcast (downlink) radio onboard. Is this nowadays seen as amateur radio communication ? The word "Education" I read in many of the university CubeSat projects. Doing experiments on ham radio frequencies is like education, and I fully support this even when it is only available as a downlink at a CubeSat. When it comes to the education of building a satellite, with no ham related experiments, and where the amateur frequencies and the amateur community is used to collect only none ham payload data, I don't see this as a ham satellite. Then a 433MHz remote control toy-car should also be named a ham radio. We just ask one of those ISS astronauts to throw this toy-car out of the space station and we have another amateur satellite :o) I just wonder where is the border between an OSCAR and a satellite that uses ham radio frequencies for downloading its (none ham) payload data ? 73 de PE1RAH, William Leijenaar

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SatPC32, Gpredict etc.
by Thomas Doyle 12 Nov '11

12 Nov '11

There are a huge number of tracking/station control programs out there. We eventually pick one that meets our needs and learn how to use it. My main interest is in the user interface and ease of use. When we use any program for a long time it starts to seem to seem to be intuitively obvious how to use it in much the same way a carpenter finds it intuitively obvious that the next mark on the ruler past 19/32 is 5/8. Here is a short video showing parts of my feeble attempt. There might be an idea or two in there that you can use or a nit or two that you can pick. It will look a bit better if you select 480P and use full screen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et65kkqPvZY -- Sent from my computer. 73 W9KE tom ...

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ISS HF Antenna
by Trevor . 12 Nov '11

12 Nov '11

The diagrams at http://knts.tsniimash.ru/Shadow/en/FAQ.aspx remined me that there is an HF antenna on the ISS for 10m http://www.ariss-eu.org/2002_01_26.htm Has the antenna ever been used and are there any plans for it ? 73 Trevor M5AKA

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