AMSAT-BB June 2015

144 participants
244 discussions

KL7CN/W6 from DM05/DM06 in LotW
by Bryan Green 29 Jun '15

29 Jun '15

Hello, AMSAT-BB! The following stations are in the log from yesterday's operations in DM05/DM06. The QSOs are uploaded to LotW: SO-50 at 01:00Z: AA5PK W0DHB KJ6WNS KK6OTJ KG5CCI W7JPI -- Hi, Leo! NX9B N8HM -- Awesome that we made it, Paul! N8XQM -- At something like 3 degrees. Always wait until the very end of the pass! Please let me know if you have any trouble claiming the QSLs from both grids. 73! -- bag Bryan KL7CN/W6

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SpaceX Launch Failure Today
by Alan 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

http://preview.tinyurl.com/qfyz92n Key point: nobody hurt. 73s, Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- Keep Calm and Carry On

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SO-50 Help
by Clint Bradford 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

Sorry you are having trouble with SO-50 ... Use TWO sat pass data sources as you work it. JUST IN CASE one is not set up properly with your geographical area ... or the wrong time of day. And make sure the Keplerian data is current on whatever you use. There's a widget on my SAT SKEDS page that shows you where SO-50 is live - http://www.work-sat.com Also on the home page is the frequency programming chart for SO-50, FOX-1A, and the ISS. Let me know if any of this helps!!! Clint K6LCS 909-241-7666 - cell

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SO-50 help
by Steve Kristoff 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

I could use some help here. For the third time this week, I've gone outside during what was supposed to be a nice high pass of SO-50, pointed my Arrow in (what I think is) the right direction and I hear nothing. Just now, I was supposed to have a max elevation of 80 degrees at EM79. Should have been an easy one. But I hear nothing. In the past I've had QSOs on SO-50 with some of you, so you know I know how to point the antenna and use the radios. Does anyone else use the Pass Predictions on the AMSAT page? That's what I've been using, but it's starting to seem like the satellite isn't where the prediction says it is. I'd really appreciate some replies on this one. If other folks are finding the AMSAT Prediction Page for SO-50 to be correct, then I'll know it's me and I'll check all my radios and connections one more time.Thank you. Steve Kristoff AI9IN skristof(a)etczone.com

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Re: [amsat-bb] the SATgate donut effect
by Robert Bruninga 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

The donut hole is a problem... With two more APRS satellites to launch this year, we need -more- Omni Satgates with *lower* antennas. The vertical omni 1/4 or 3/4 wave satgate vertical antenna needs to be as low as possible (to minimize the donut hole null and to reduce lightening risk) while still seeing sky above 30 degrees. See: http://aprs.org/aprs-satellite-igate-antennas.html Once I deliver the last of these next two transponders, I hope to build such a satgate with a D7 HT and document its performance. I can place the HT at the base of the antenna with near zero coax, and being low, it is not vulnerable to lightening compared to surrounding structures. Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of kb2m(a)arrl.net Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2015 10:02 AM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] the donut effect Is there anyway to get any APRS client to not Igate a packet with a path of ARISS in it. I run a satgate here in NJ and the donut effect is causing problems for several hams in the area that can't get a packet Igated after it is digi'd by the ISS because it's a dup. My Igate hears the first packet direct that then causes the ISS digi'd packet to be a dup. It would seem to be a simple thing to set a filter to ignore a path of ARISS, and accept everything else. I would think that this would fix the problem of people who want to run Igates, but don't because of this. I recently moved to Florida for the winter and had to shut my igate down in NJ for this reason. Also, I noticed when down there that there is a lack of satgates along the eastcoast. ISS,PSAT, and PCSAT are hearing stations fine but no satgate's available until the bird's footprint move well inland. 73 Jeff kb2m _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. 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

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DM05/DM06 TODAY SO-50 01:00Z LotW
by Bryan Green 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

Will be active TODAY from DM05/DM06 line on SO-50 at 01:00Z TODAY 2015-06-29Z. LotW confirmation. -- bag Bryan KL7CN/W6

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APRS Satgate Antenna page (More work needed)
by Robert Bruninga 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

Well, someone with time to burn might want to check all these numbers. Today I am getting inconsistent results and probably because to make a 9' ground plane at 2m with good segment sizes, I need more than the 500 point limit in EZNEC. Also, to cover the USA with omni satgates with good gain above 25 degrees will need almost 9 times as many satgates compared to the number with full AZ/EL OSCAR arrays. But then the omni satgates are 10? Times simpler... (just your HT while you are not actually using it)... At this point we need to simply see what a 1/4 wave over a large ground plane can actually HEAR. It is easy to just run it for days and see how many PSAT packets are received per 24 hours. And then compare antennas based on that number. If a 1/4 wave can hear down to 25 degrees, then there is no need for the higher 3/4 wave gain at higher angles. Anyway, a great opportunity for study. -----Original Message----- The gain of the 3/4 wave vertical is a real winner over the basic 1/4 wave vertical for OMNI Satgates with no moving parts optimized for high elevation gain above 30 deg. Low elevations are simply covered by more SATgates.... New: If we can get the angle down to 25 degrees then still need 9 times more stations) 1/4 wave with radials: -2 at 30 and -6 at 60 ==> Basically a dipole pattern 3/4 wave with radials: +2 at 30 and -1 at 60 ==> 4 to 5 dB better, 2 dBi max 3/4 wave w 3' gndpln: +3 at 30 and +1 at 60 ==> 5 to 7 dB better, 3.3 dBi max 3/4 wave w 6' gndpln: +2 at 30 and +3 at 70 ==> 4 to 9 dB better, 5.5 dBi max 3/4 wave w 9' gndpln: +3 at 30 and +3 at 65 ==> 5 to 9 dB better, 5.3 dBi max 3/4 wave perfect gnd: +3 at 30 and +3 at 68 ==> 5 to 9 dB better, 6.9 dBi max Even the 3/4 vertical with just the four 19" radials gives a huge 4 to 5 dB improvement over a classic ground plane for omni satellite SATgate work. Also, this antenna does not need to be high. Just see sky above 30 deg. In fact, is better to be low to reduce terrestrial QRM. Notice too that the Lilenblatt, eggbeaters, and all other "omni"s that try to keep their gain down on the horizon, are equally as poor as the 1/4 wave vertical at these higher elevations. This is OK for strong satellits like the ISS with 5 to 10 watts, but abisimal when all that gain on the horizon is completely wasted when you cannot hear the satellite anyway because it is 6 to 10 dB farther away! The result is these "omni's" give up the 4 to 9 dB at higher elevations where the satellite is much stronger. Ill eventually put all this on the Omni SATGATE page: http://aprs.org/aprs-satellite-igate-antennas.html Summary: The 3/4 wave vertical makes it so you CAN hear LEO satellites 5 to 9 dB better when they are closer and does this by giving up on hearing them when they are so far away you can't hear them anyway! THE BIG QUESTION though is What is the lowest elevation angle at which an OMNI can hear PSAT? Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: Robert Bruninga [mailto:[email protected]] Subject: RE: [aprssig] APRS Satgate Antenna page > One question,what constitutes a large ground plane? > Is it 12"or 12'? Is it a multiple of the vertical whip? Good question. Most people think that four 1/4 wave radials make a ground plane. But if you model a 1/4 wave vertical over 1/4 wave radials, all you get is the exact pattern of a DIPOLE. The radials are just providing a "groundplane" to complete the electrical part of the antenna and give a good match. They do not affect the pattern at all. I modeled verticals over 6' or larger ground planes and only found that you get the added "reflection" gain when the ground plane starts getting that big or more. I wish I had time to use EZNEC to show the added gain (skyward) versus the size of the ground plane. And how "radials" (above actual ground) have nothing to do with the "pattern". SO, the bigger the better. It should be worth 2 to 3 dB if you could make it very large... This is the page in question: http://aprs.org/aprs-satellite-igate-antennas.html Bob, WB4aPR On 6/19/2015 3:57 PM, Robert Bruninga via aprssig wrote: > Subject: APRS Satgate Antenna page > > Since the ideal APRS Satellite IGate OMNI antenna is exactly the > opposite of the typical terrestrial IGaate antenna, I prepared the > following WEB page: > > http://aprs.org/aprs-satellite-igate-antennas.html > > It shows how a vertical ¼ or ¾ wave VHF omni equals the performance of > a full OSCAR class array (over half the sky) but does it with no > moving parts. > It makes up for the weak-signal horizon part of the sky by there > simply being more omni-IGates. The APRS-IS cloud with all of its > IGates is probably one of the largest spatially distributed satellite > receiver system in the world (?). > > But with people used to the 10W transmitter on the ISS, just a few > IGates can capture just about every packet from the ISS horizon to > horizon on a whip. But with the 14 dB weaker signal from PSAT, we > need more SatGates to make up for their smaller skyprint. For the USA > we need more than a dozen such Omni-SATgates. > > To see the significance of the weaker downlink from PSAT, look at the > successful IGates on the http://pcsat.aprs.org page compared to the IGates > that hear the ISS packets on http://ariss.net Both are listening on > 145.825 and passing along every packet they hear. But only TRACKING > IGates or good vertical gain satgates hear PSAT. And since we want > these running 24/7/365, we do NOT expect people wearing out motors > when an omni will do fine (if we have enough). > > The page also shows how every SATgate with a HIGH and terrestrial type > antenna actually creates a DEADZONE around it, effectively blocking > any nearby user heaerd direct from appearing on any of the APRS-IS > cloud satellite web pages. Hence, Omni-satgate antennas should be low > to everything surrounding it w hile still seeing the sky above 30 degrees. > > If your TH-D7 HT is just sitting there, not in use 99% of the time, > then just hook it to a vertical whip and let it be an IGate. With the > low antenna it will also probably be safe from all weather lightening too. > Put > the UHF side on 435.350 and turn up the speaker. When PSAT PSK31 > comes into view, you can watch the PSK31 activity as a bonus! > > Bob, WB4APR > _______________________________________________ > aprssig mailing list > aprssig(a)tapr.org > http://www.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig

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uc:
by James Hickox 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

http://sunskie.com/0lf1g2t3r4w5q6z7x8p9o.php >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows nor judge all he sees.Karan Fama

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the donut effect
by kb2m＠arrl.net 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

Is there anyway to get any APRS client to not Igate a packet with a path of ARISS in it. I run a satgate here in NJ and the donut effect is causing problems for several hams in the area that can't get a packet Igated after it is digi'd by the ISS because it's a dup. My Igate hears the first packet direct that then causes the ISS digi'd packet to be a dup. It would seem to be a simple thing to set a filter to ignore a path of ARISS, and accept everything else. I would think that this would fix the problem of people who want to run Igates, but don't because of this. I recently moved to Florida for the winter and had to shut my igate down in NJ for this reason. Also, I noticed when down there that there is a lack of satgates along the eastcoast. ISS,PSAT, and PCSAT are hearing stations fine but no satgate's available until the bird's footprint move well inland. 73 Jeff kb2m

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ANS-179 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-179 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including 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. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT Field Day on the Satellites * Brazilian CubeSat NanosatC-Br 1 Team Requests Reception Reports * FUNcube-1 / AO-73 Glitch and Commanded Reboot * Kletskous Development News From the SA AMSAT Symposium * North Texas Moon Day Event Annouced * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-179.01 ANS-179 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 28, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-179.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Field Day on the Satellites It’s that time of year again; summer and Field Day! Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day as a “picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!”. The event takes place during a 24-hour period on the fourth weekend of June. For 2015 the event takes place during a 27-hour period from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 27, 2015 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 28, 2015. Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 28 can operate only 24 hours. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event. If you are considering ONLY the FM voice satellite SaudiSat-Oscar-50 for your AMSAT Field Day focus … don’t … unless you are simply hoping to make one contact for the ARRL rules bonus points. The congestion on FM LEO satellites was so intense in prior years that we must continue to limit their use to one- QSO-per-FM-satellite. This includes the International Space Station. You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice. You will also be allowed one digital QSO with the ISS or any other digital, non-store-and-forward, packet satellite (if operational). Click for document: http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015FieldDay.pdf See: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=216 [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Brazilian CubeSat NanosatC-Br 1 Team Requests Reception Reports Edson, PY2SDR requests fellow amateur satellite operators listen for a downlink signal from NanosatC-Br 1, the first Brazilian cubesat. NanosatC-Br 1 was launched on a Dnepr rocket from Dombarovsky near Yasny in 2014. The 1U CubeSat carries an ISIS U/V transceiver with 1200 bps FM AX.25 UHF command uplink and a 9600 bps BPSK downlink on 145.865 MHz. NanosatC-BR1, is experiencing battery issues for the last several months and it now seldom emits a beacon in CW. For some time, Paulo PV8DX, was able to detect a beacon signal when the satellite was over the Caribbean sea during daylight. But now, no more signals have been detected. Edson would like to request assistance from hams in the northern hemisphere to see if NanosatC-BR1 is still transmitting any signals. Any help will be much appreciated. [ANS thanks Edson, PY2SDR for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNcube-1 / AO-73 Glitch and Commanded Reboot On Sunday, June 21, there was an anomaly on FUNcube-1 that required the reboot of the satellite’s MCU (Microcontroller). After a bus freeze, the databus watchdog did kick in as expected and rebooted the satellite. However, we did need to command the satellite back on to automatic mode. When we did so on the 20:00 UTC pass, it came back up in the correct mode. We envisage to switch back to autonomous mode either tonight or tomorrow morning local time. FUNcube is still happy and healthy. This is the 4th reboot since launch, of which one was intentional. Thanks for your reports and concerns. On behalf of the whole team best 73s, Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG FUNcube team FUNcube-1 (AO-73) Telemetry: • Dashboard App http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/ • Data Warehouse Archive http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/ • Whole orbit data http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/wod.html?satelliteId=2. [ANS thanks the FUNcube Team and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kletskous Development News From the SA AMSAT Symposium At the SA AMSAT Symposium pre-conference Engineering meeting held on Friday evening on June 19, 2015, members of the SA AMSAT CubeSat team reached some decisions about the development and launch of the South African Kletskous amateur radio satellite. During the past few years, various options and subsystems have been experimented with. The team has now set the launch date of Kletskous at July 2017 with the first flight model to be ready by February 2016 for testing after which final integration will start. This requires that various module designs are locked down and built by October 2015. It is planned to have all the modules wired together in a breadboard configuration for testing the interoperation of the various subunits by December 2015. Some modules are at a more advanced stage than others, but in the next few months, the team expect to catch up and meet the deadline for the first breadboard test. Frik Wolff, ZS6FZ, the League's technical manager, has joined the team and is working on solar panels and stabilization issues. Francois Oberholzer, an honors student at Stellenbosch University, is working on improving the weight/strength relationship of the space frame, a project that is part of his thesis. Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL, as programme manager and the person responsible for documentation, will support the project manager, Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP. There are many opportunities for radio amateurs to join the engineering team. If you have a particular expertise or passion to add value to the KLETSKOUS project, please discuss your participation with Hannes Coetzee or any of the team members and send your details to saamsat(a)intekom.co,za. The SA AMSAT website is at: http//www.amsatsa.org.za/ See SARL http://www.sarl.org.za/ KLETSkous http://www.amsatsa.org.za/KLETSkous.htm [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and the SARL weekly news in English 2015-6-20 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- North Texas Moon Day Event Annouced A great opportunity to showcase Amateur Radio and especially Amateur Radio in space to the general public will be held on Saturday, July 18th at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, TX. In commutation of the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the museum has celebrated "Moon Day" for the last number of years as a STEM outreach specializing in astronomy, space science and space flight past and future. This year the Moon Day organizers decided to theme the day around the International Space Station. They applied for and were granted an ARISS scheduled contact to become part of the event. Keith Pugh, W5IU is serving as ARISS mentor for the event and is working diligently on setting up all the details of this "Telebridge" contact. The museum is sponsoring an "Ask a question of an astronaut" contest with details at http://www.flightmuseum.com/iss-expedition-crew-43-question/ General details can be found at http://www.flightmuseum.com/moon-day-2015/ If you know young people interested in astronomy and space science/exploration, have them check out the links and see if they submit a question to be used during the ARISS contact. Deadline for entry is June 30th. In years past, several of us have participated in Moon Day activities by manning an AMSAT table showing off Amateur Radio in space and even doing some on-air contacts for and with interested participants. Keith will be very busy all morning setting up and preparing for the ARISS contact and has several individuals working with him on that. I have volunteered to help staff an AMSAT display table but need additional volunteers to assist with the table and also to be available to make Amateur Satellite contacts and demonstrations as the sats allow. Please contact Keith w5iu(a)swbell.net or myself Tom Schuessler, n5hyp(a)arrl.net to volunteer to help at least part of the day or the whole 10A-5P duration and tell us what you can "Bring to the table" as it were. Help us to support the Museum's ARISS contact and also to put a bug in the ears of many event goers about the fun and challenge of Amateur Radio Satellites. [ANS thanks Tom Schuessler, N5HYP for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Thursday, 9 July 2015 – presentation for the Escondido Amateur Radio Society in Escondido CA *Friday and Saturday, 7-8 August 2015 – Austin Summerfest in Austin TX *Saturday and Sunday, 22-23 August 2015 – Boxboro Hamfest and ARRL New England Convention in Boxborough MA *Saturday and Sunday, 5-6 September - ARRL Roanoke Division Convention Shelby, NC Hamfest, AMSAT Forum scheduled for Saturday *Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 16-18 2015, AMSAT Symposium in Dayton OH (Dayton Crown Plaza) [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Successful Contact Universidad Tecnológica de Chile INACAP sede Temuco, Temuco, Chile, via telebridge W6SRJ ccontact was successful: Fri 2015-06-26 18:41:26 UTC with ARISS Russian Team Upcoming ARISS Contacts Tulsa Community College, NE Campus, Tulsa, OK, direct via WD5AGO The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS/RSØISS or RSØISS/OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is ARISS Russian Team Contact is a go for: Wed 2015-07-01 15:46:28 UTC ARISS does not anticipate any voice contacts from the ISS during this weekend's Field Day. But you never know, so please listen in case they are on the air. Packet will probably be operational. Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over * Satellite Grid Operation in Progress GRID SQUARES TO BE ACTIVATED (Satellite Op). Ron, N8RO, announced that he will be on a road trip during the period June 22nd and July 4th. He plans to operate portable from EM50, EM84, EM99, FN13, FM28, FM04, EL79, EL49 and possibly other grids along the way. Ron will operate on SO-50 and FO-29. {ANS thanks the DX Newsletter - DXNL 1942 - June 24, 2015 for the above information] * Inventors hope to launch 'backyard satellites' to fill gap in Australian space exploration Stuart McAndrew is making history from a backyard shed in suburban Perth. The IT worker is building a satellite capable of being launched into space and taking pictures of Earth. Australia is the only OECD nation without a dedicated space agency, and Mr McAndrew is one of a growing number of Australians turning to homemade space exploration to fill the gap. He has designed the satellite PocketQube, a Rubik's cube-sized box with antennas, solar panels and electronics. It is made from mostly off-the-shelf items, including aluminium from the local hardware shop, a tape measure and electronics bought over the internet. Mr McAndrew believes it is the first of its kind in Australia. He has been working on the project for two years. "Australia has been lagging behind in recent times," he said. "We were one of the first countries to send an amateur satellite to space and then we dropped the ball. "The PocketQube gives us an opportunity to set that straight and it (will) hopefully inspire other people to continue on this path and build a bigger space industry for Australia." Radical change described as 'Space 2.0' Commercial satellites weigh hundreds or even thousands of kilograms and cost millions of dollars to launch. In comparison, nano-satellites can be made for as little as $1,000 and weigh between one and 10 kilograms. Mr McAndrew's creation is even smaller, weighing less than 200 grams. But how an earth do you get it into space? It takes a lot of planning and a very expensive taxi ride on a much larger space craft. "The actual launch cost for a pocket cube is around $30,000," Mr McAndrew said. "That's a bit out of my reach so I'm looking to crowd source funding to help me get my satellite into space." About 80 nano-satellites were launched in 2013, while 132 went up in 2014. It is estimated a further 500 will be in orbit by the end of this year. The University of NSW is sending its own small satellites into space as part of a global project. Andrew Dempster, head of the university's Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, said the industry was going through a period of "radical change". "Cubesats are creating this idea that people describe as Space 2.0," he said. "People like Stuart or universities like us can get relatively easy access to space and it means you can develop space capability without a space agency." Mr Dempster said Australia's lack of a space program was concerning. "For many years we've been receiving some of our data for free — we get our our weather data from Japan; some of our remote sensing data we get from Europe and the US," he said. "The problem is that's going to come to an end. "Budgets are being restricted around the world; NASA's budget in particular is declining. "So someone needs to be asking the question: what happens next? "We're going to be left with our trousers down if we don't have a way of providing the data we've become addicted to." Inventors hope to 'unlock access to space' Mr Dempster is hoping the rise of nano-satellites will encourage young Australians to study science, technology, engineering and maths subjects and put space on the agenda for a new generation. "If you want to get young kids into science and so on, the things that do it for them are dinosaurs and space," he said. "The emergence of cubesats mean we can have our students working on something that will actually be launched into space, which attracts good quality students and very motivated people." The expense and logistics of launching small satellites into space remains a key problem. An Australian organisation called the Delta-V Space Hub was formed last year to solve it. Tim Parsons is the head of Delta-V. "There's no dedicated launcher for small spacecraft so typically we have to piggyback off larger space launchers," he said. "That means you have to deliver your spacecraft up to a year before the launch and hope it doesn't go brown on the pad. "Those are the biggest limitations right now: the frequency of launch opportunities and how much time you need to get everything prepared." Delta-V is working with the NSW Government, universities and start-up companies to help people develop ideas and get their inventions into space. "Our first step is really just to fly an aircraft that other people can put (their satellites) onto, so essentially a rideshare model," he said. "By doing that first model we will essentially unlock access to space." Call to lower cost for launch certificate For Mr McAndrew, the backyard inventor, there are still a few barriers to overcome. He must first test his satellite before obtaining a launch certificate from the Australian Government, which costs $10,000. The fee is reduced to just $100 for educational and scientific institutions. Mr McAndrew wants the Commonwealth to ease those financial requirements in recognition of the industry's potential. He is still hopeful of securing a place for his satellite onboard an Italian spacecraft set to launch late next year. "Space has always been seen as this pinnacle of engineering and it's not necessarily the case," he said. "I can't wait for the day when I see the rocket launch into space with my satellite on board." http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-22/backyard-satellite-fills-australian- space-research-hole/6563614 [ANS thanks Australian Broadcast Co. News 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 addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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AMSAT-BB June 2015