February 2016 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

FUNcube-1 Mode switch
by Graham Shirville 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

Hi All, Just to confirm that FUNcube-1 is now switching modes autonomously for the week. The transponder will be active when the spacecraft is in eclipse. Low power telemetry will also be transmitted during these periods. When the spacecraft is in sunlight then high power telemetry will be transmitted. We expect to revert to continuous transponder activity for the weekend from next Friday evening as usual. 73 Graham G3VZV

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Re: [amsat-bb] Fwd: DPRK Brilliant Star - TLE / 450 MHz
by Armando Mercado 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

Hi, Listened to the morning passes on 450.000MHz and heard nothing. Will listen to 470.000 MHz this evening to see what comes up. 73 Armando, N8IGJ

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Any experience with low-cost 433MHz transverter from transverters-store?
by Eric Wolak 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

Hi folks, I'm trying to get on the air with the linear transponder satellites, and it looks like I need 70cm SSB capability to really get on the air. My Icom IC-796MkII can do SSB on 2m, but not 70cm, so I'm trying to find an affordable way to get 70cm SSB transmit. Does anybody have experience with these $100 transverter boards from Ukraine? It looks like they're tuned for the weak-signal/SSB end of the band and might require a bit of work to get up to 435MHz for satellites. Is 3-4W enough to be heard? http://www.ebay.com/itm/221871269275

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EL39 Today
by R.T.Liddy 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

SAT Gridders, I'll activate EL39 today on FO29 & SO50. FO29 1918Z about 15 KHz up from center. SO50 2116Z Both are very high passes for me here. C U Later, Bob K8BL/5 (Near Port Arthur, TX)

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DPRK Brilliant Star - TLE / 450 MHz
by Robb Hill 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

If anyone picks up the what they think could be the DPRK Brilliant Start satellite around 450 MHz or get reports on preliminary TLE's could they please post to the list. Also, any recordings are appreciated. I am in the DC area trying to assess is the launch succeeded and where it was headed. Thanks, Robb KB3RBA

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HP41 program ORBITII
by Todd W. Deckard 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

Greetings, does anyone have a printout of R. Jansson’ (WD4FAB) port to the HP41CX of the W0SL program for satellite tracking. i already have the P. Bunnell code from Ham Radio 1981. There are echoes of it on the internet but I cannot find the listing and AMSAT no longer has one. This will not advance the state of the art in space communication but the fact that I can command my arduino antenna rotor project from my 1983 calculator over an IL loop while recording the contacts on a old reel-to-reel would satisfy my hidden luddite tendencies. Todd

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AO7 07/02/2106
by Gustavo Nicolau 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

Hi all, gud condictions today via AO7. I'm QRV. 73 Gustavo Nicolau - Sgt Bombeiro Militar. PT9BM. GH40

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Re: [amsat-bb] DPRK Brilliant Star - TLE / 450 MHz
by Armando Mercado 07 Feb '16

07 Feb '16

Hi, This is object 41332, or international # 2016-009A TLE are on Space-Track.org but currently you have to manual search for it. Where did you learn of the downlink frequency? Good luck, Armando, N8IGJ

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ANS-038 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 06 Feb '16

06 Feb '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-038 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: * ChubuSat-2 and ChubuSat-3 Launch Information * AMSAT Dayton Booth Volunteers Needed * Dayton Thursday Dinner and Beverages at Tickets Pub and Eatery * FoxTelem Version 1.03 Released * AMSAT Partners With Ragnorak Industries Cubesat Challenge Team * Announcement of the 8th European CubeSat Symposium, 7-9 Sept 2016 (London) * 2016 NASA Academy SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-038.01 ANS-038 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 038.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. February 7, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-038.01 ChubuSat-2 and ChubuSat-3 Launch Information Nagoya University(NU) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries(MHI) developed 50kg microsatellite ChubuSat-2(NU) and ChubuSat-3(MHI). These satellites have amateur VHF receiver and amateur UHF transmitter, and will be launched on Feb. 12 2016 from Tanegashima, Japan. Komaki Amateur SATCOM Club operates these satellites from Komaki, Japan. After the satellite separation, each satellite will transmit UHF CW beacon message including battery voltage etc. which is very important information for our initial and critical operation. So we are very happy if you receive the CW beacon message and report to us chubusat2(a)frontier.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp In following WEB site, we show the information(frequency, format, TLE, etc.) about ChubuSat-2 and ChubuSat-3. If we have your report, we will show your report in this page. https://www.frontier.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/chubusat/chubusat_satellite2.ht… Both satellite will provide the message exchange service. After the on-orbit checkout of the satellite(maybe one month after launch), you can use this service, sending your message with VHF uplink, then your message is written to the on-board memory. By sending inquiry message, anyone can read your message with UHF downlink. ChubuSat-2 Satellite Uplink: 145.815 MHz FSK 1200bps Downlink: 437.100 MHz GMSK 9600bps ChubuSat-3 Satellite Uplink: 145.840 MHz FSK 1200bps Downlink: 437.425 MHz GMSK 9600bps The uplink/downlink format will be uploaded in above WEB site. We hope you get interested in our satellites, receive beacon messages, and enjoy the message exchange service. Best regards, Yasutaka Narusawa (JR2XEA) [ANS thanks Yasutaka Narusawa, JR2XEA, and the KOMAKI Amateur SATCOM Club for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Dayton Booth Volunteers Needed Call for Volunteers for the AMSAT Booth at Dayton 2016 The 2016 Dayton Hamvention®, sponsored by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association will be held this year on May 20-22. “Dayton” is the largest hamfest in the United States, and AMSAT will be there again this year. You can assist AMSAT by volunteering to help staff the booth. While there, you will meet other AMSAT members, interact with the satellite designers, builders, and operators, and enjoy all that Dayton has to offer. People are needed to assist with the setup of the booth on Thursday, May 19 (A few people to move the equipment from the storage area leaving the hotel at 9 am, most at the Arena from 11am to 4 pm), to staff the booth Friday (9 am to 6 pm), Saturday (9 am to 5 pm), and Sunday (9 am to 1 pm), and pack up on Sunday (1 pm to 3 pm). If you are leaving late Sunday, or Monday morning, please consider helping transport the display to the storage area on the south side of Dayton. This is normally completed by 5 pm. Most people volunteer for one or more 2 hour shifts in the booth. Please send an e-mail to Steve Belter, N9IP if you are willing to help AMSAT at the Hamvention. Please let Steve know as soon as possible if you¹re available to assist. If you missed the Hamvention the last few years, there were some changes in the Ball Arena, and the AMSAT exhibit was part of that change. We now have a 3 X 3 booth arrangement, with the engineering and software display on one side of the aisle, and the sale area on the opposite side. The booth numbers are now 444-446 and 433-435. We will be very near the old exhibit area, within sight of the ARRL exhibit. [ANS thanks Steve, N9IP, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dayton Thursday Dinner and Beverages at Tickets Pub and Eatery Thursday night, 1800-2000. The annual AMSAT “Dinner at Tickets” party will be held Thursday, May 19, at 1800 EDT at the Tickets Pub & Eatery. Everyone is invited regardless of whether or not they helped with setup or plan to work in the booth. You’ll find a great selection of Greek and American food and excellent company! No program or speaker, just good conversation. Food can be ordered from the menu; drinks (beer, wine, sodas and iced tea) are available at the bar. Come as you are. Bring some friends and have a great time the night before Hamvention®. Tickets Pub and Eatery, 7 W. Main St. Fairborn, OH 45324 (937) 878-9022 [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FoxTelem Version 1.03 Released This version of FoxTelem uses a new datafile format. While we store our data on the server in an SQL database, we use a flat file database for FoxTelem. A flat file format is nearly optimal for a program that mostly adds new data to the end of a growing list. With that said, we need to be able to load sections of the data into memory for efficient analysis. The new data file format allows that. If you have been downloading data from the server for analysis, you will see that this format is much faster. One major change is the ability to automatically switch between low speed and high speed. This will help unattended stations gather as much telemetry as possible. The "auto" mode actually runs both decoders at the same time, so make sure your computer has enough CPU power to cope. Graphing has been updated to support better analysis of the spacecraft by the AMSAT Operations team and amateur scientists everywhere. This version also contains new features that will be required for Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D. You can download it here: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/foxtelem_1.03_windows.zip http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/FoxTelem_1.03_mac.zip http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/foxtelem_1.03_linux.tar.gz [ANS thanks Chris, G0KLA, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Partners With Ragnorak Industries Cubesat Challenge Team AMSAT is participating in the Cube Quest Challenge as a partner with Ragnarok Industries. Members of the AMSAT - ASCENT team are designing the communications package which will be 5.6 GHz uplink and 10.5 GHz. downlink and will use digital modulation. At the end of the mission, the 6U cubesat will be put into a stable lunar orbit and AMSAT will be able to operate the satellite as a digital regenerative transponder. Many of the details are still in development and the ASCENT team is always looking for U.S. citizen volunteers to help with the design, prototype and testing. There is no guarantee Ragnarok's submission will be accepted by NASA but if it is, this could be an exciting mission for the amateur community that allows amateurs to have an active role in collecting telemetry and range rate data that is crucial to the mission and end up with a satellite that allows EME type communications between relatively small (1-2meter) earth stations. [ANS thanks Howie, AB2S, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Announcement of the 8th European CubeSat Symposium, 7-9 Sept 2016 (London) Dear CubeSat Community, This year the 8th European CubeSat Symposium will take place in the vibrant city of London on September 7th-9th 2016. The Symposium, co-organized by the von Karman Institute (Belgium) and the Knowledge Transfer Network (UK), will be hosted in the premises of the historical buildings of the Imperial College London. In particular the South Kensington Campus is located in the very heart of London only few steps away from Kensington Palace and the Natural History Museum. We have tried to organize this Symposium giving importance to the most relevant topics in the CubeSat world. From Technology Demonstrators and Scientific Missions to the Future Technologies and the Space Exploration with CubeSats. In detail, the Symposium is covering the following topics: - Scientific Instruments/Sensors on CubeSats - Technology Demonstration on CubeSats (e.g. formation flying, IODs) - Micro-g Experiments on CubeSats - Micropropulsion Subsystems - Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem - CubeSat Flight Experience and Lessons Learned - CubeSat Networks and Constellations - Telecommunications, Ground Stations and Ground Station Networks - Orbital Dynamics (e.g. de-orbiting and debris mitigation) - Launchers and Deployers for CubeSats - Future Technologies on CubeSats - Space Exploration Missions with CubeSat (i.e. beyond Earth orbit) Renowned speakers from NASA, ESA and NanoRacks LLC will give an account of their view of the past and future development of CubeSats. If you are interested in contributing to this event, please submit your abstract before May 31st 2016. Registrations and abstract submission will be opened from March 1st 2016. For more information on the venue, registration, deadlines, abstract guidelines, sponsorship and exhibitors, please visit the symposium website www.cubesatsymposium.eu As in the previous years the Symposium is open to the all CubeSat community around the World, so please feel free to disseminate this information further. See you there! Best Regards Davide Masutti on behalf the Organising Committee [ANS thanks Davide Masutti for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 NASA Academy The 2016 NASA Academy is being offered at three locations: NASA's Ames Research Center in California, NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Applications are being solicited for this 10-week summer experience for college students with emphasis on immersive and integrated multidisciplinary exposure and training. Activities include laboratory research, a group project, lectures, meetings with experts and administrators, visits to NASA centers and space-related industries, and technical presentations. Students learn how NASA and its centers operate, gain experience in world-class laboratories, and participate in leadership development and team-building activities. Applicants must be U.S. citizens (including citizens of the U.S. territories Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern Marianas) majoring in a STEM discipline. The applicants must be undergraduate or graduate students enrolled full-time in accredited universities and colleges in the U.S. and its territories. Students may apply to any of the NASA Academy opportunities by following these steps: 1. Log into the NASA One Stop Shopping Initiative, or OSSI, site at https://intern.nasa.gov. 2. Register and set up an account. 3. Select the "Search Opportunities" tab at the top bar. 4. Select "NASA Center(s) of Interest" under "NASA Center/Facility." 5. Enter "Academy" in the "Keywords" block at the bottom of the screen. 6. Click the "Search" button at the very bottom of screen; a list of Academy Opportunities will then be displayed. 7. Click on the "View" icon in the first column under "Action" to read about the Opportunity of interest, followed by comments on additional instructions for completing the application, including two requested essays. The deadline for receipt of NASA Academy application(s) and associated documents is Feb. 16, 2016. Please direct questions about NASA Academy to NASA-Academy-Application(a)mail.nasa.gov. [ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Feb. 4, 2016 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, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-02-06 20:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 06 Feb '16

06 Feb '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-02-06 20:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: "Gesmundo Moro Fiore" Secondary School, Terlizzi, Italy, telebridge via LU1CGB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact was successful: Sat 2016-02-06 09:09:01 UTC 40 deg (***) Royal Masonic School for Girls, Rickmansworth, UK, direct via GB1RMS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be GB1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Thu 2016-02-11 18:11:09 UTC 88 deg **************************************************************************** ** 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(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. **************************************************************************** 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(a)sbcglobal.net **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 116 Francesco IKØWGF with 116 (***) **************************************************************************** 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-02-06 20:00 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 1022. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 987. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. 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, North Dakota, Rhode Island, 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: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2016-02-06 20:00 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. 43/44 on orbit Scott Kelly Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF Exp. 45 on orbit Sergey Volkov RU3DIS Exp. 46 on orbit Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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