January 2020 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

WD9EWK @ DM23/DM24 tomorrow morning (21 January 2020)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 20 Jan '20

20 Jan '20

Hi! I will be operating from the DM23/DM24 grid boundary in western Arizona tomorrow (Tuesday, 21 January) morning. Depending on traffic, I hope to be out there around 1530-1600 UTC. I will be running APRS as WD9EWK-9, and my location should be visible on web sites like: http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 I plan on working FM and SSB satellites, and maybe a FalconSat-3 pass as well. Updates on my operating tomorrow will be posted to my @WD9EWK Twitter account. If you do not use Twitter, you can see these updates in a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK Logs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World when I return home. QSL cards are also available on request. No need to first mail me a QSL card or SASE - just e-mail me the QSO details. If you're in the log, I will send a card. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK

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AMSAT News Service ANS-019 Weekly Bulletin, January 19, 2020
by Frank Karnauskas 19 Jan '20

19 Jan '20

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-019 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information 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://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 dot org. In this edition: * GOLF-TEE Reaches Major Milestones * ARISS Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 * Satellite Status and Tracking API's Added to AMSAT Website * Qarman Beacon Telemetry Information Released * China Telecoms Regulator Proposing to Delete Some Current Amateur Allocations * Memorial Service for Brian Kantor, WB6CYT * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-019.01 ANS-019 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 019.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. January 19, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-019.01 GOLF-TEE Reaches Major Milestone A group of GOLF-TEE (Greater Orbit Larger Footprint - Technology Evaluation Environment) satellite prototype boards transmitted telemetry for the first time on Tuesday, January 14, 2020. The boards are laid out on a bench as a "flat-sat" with interconnecting wires, bench power supplies, and a dummy load on the transmitter. The interconnected boards include: - An early RT-IHU (Radiation Tolerant Internal Housekeeping Unit (i.e. computer) prototype, - A CIU (Control Interface Unit) prototype, and - A set of spare boards from HuskySat-1 that act as prototypes for the LIHU (Legacy IHU) and legacy VHF/UHF RF components. Now that the development team has reached this point, it has RF to use as a basis for developing a GOLF-TEE decoder for FoxTelem, the ground telemetry receiver software. Thousands of hours of work by many AMSAT volunteers have gone into the hardware and software that got GOLF-TEE this far, with much work yet to be done before flight units are ready. GOLF-TEE is designed as a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) testbed for technologies necessary for a successful CubeSat mission to a wide variety of orbits, including MEO(Medium Earth Orbit) and HEO (High Earth Orbit). To help support the GOLF program, please consider volunteering or donating today. https://www.amsat.org/volunteer-for-amsat/ https://www.amsat.org/donations/amsat-golf-program-donations/ [ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Flight Software, and the entire GOLF team for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 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 is happy to announce a proposal window which will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 2021 and June 2021. 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 proposal window for contacts between January 2021. and June 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31. 2020. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on two different date and times. The first is at January 23 at 2100 ET and the second is at January 27 at 1800 ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is https://ariss-proposal-webinar-spring-2020.eventbrite.com The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact. Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio. For More Information For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com . [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Satellite Status and Tracking API's Added to AMSAT Website Thanks to an initiative by Heimir, W1ANT, AMSAT added Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to the AMSAT web site to make it easy for developers to write apps for mobile devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). For example, the satellite status page www.amsat.org/status does not work well on small screens. By accessing the status data directly developers can easily present the data in a way appropriate for their screens. These APIs also make it easy for IoT homebrewers to do things like build next pass reminder gizmos so they can beep out notices in CW. The developers have set a goal of February 15, 2020 to finalize the APIs, and consider them operational on March 1, 2020. Developers are encouraged to send suggestions or questions to www.amsat.org/webmaster-contact/ For details of API use visit www.amsat.org/status/api/ and www.amsat.org/track/api/ [ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Qarman Beacon Telemetry Information Released QARMAN, a nano-satellite designed and built at VKI, was launched to the International Space Station on December 5, 2019. Deployed is expected to take place in the week of February 12, 2020. QARMAN (Qubesat for Aerothermodynamic Research and Measurements on AblatioN) is the world's first CubeSat designed to survive atmospheric re-entry. Work on it started in 2013 at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI). The aim of the QARMAN mission is to demonstrate the usability of a CubeSat platform as an atmospheric entry vehicle. Spacecraft descending towards a planet with an atmosphere experience very harsh environment including extreme temperatures (several thousand degrees). Information about Qarman's 437.350 MHz 9600 bps GMSK AX.25 beacon has now been released by the team. Download the Qarman Beacon Definition QARMAN_BCNdef_v1.1 at https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/qarman_bcndef_v1.1.pdf Download the Beacon Decoder spreadsheet QARMAN_BCNdecoder at https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/qarman_bcndecoder.xlsx Reports can be sent to operations(a)qarman.eu [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ China Telecoms Regulator Proposing to Delete Some Current Amateur Allocations China's telecommunications regulator has proposed amending the Measures for the Administration of Amateur Radio Stations, and some amateur bands are in danger of being eliminated. Lide Zhang, BI8CKU, told ARRL that the proposal would prohibit amateur operation on the 2200-meter band as well as on 146 - 148 MHz, 1260 - 1300 MHz, 3400 - 3500 MHz, 5650 - 5725 MHz, and all bands above 10 GHz. Radio communications engineer and Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT) CEO Alan Kung, BA1DU, told ARRL that government efforts to eliminate some amateur bands are nothing new, but proposals that have been aired for a while now are on the regulatory agency's schedule. Kung said he does not anticipate that all of the bands proposed will be taken away, but he conceded that the climate will "undoubtedly" become increasingly more dangerous for China's amateur radio community. "The attempt to crowd out the amateur radio bands has a long history throughout the world," he said, "but it may never have become so urgent for the amateur radio community as it is today. We all understand that radio spectrum resources have become a bottleneck for further development." He said today's radio communication industry "is working hard to share spectrum resources." Kung characterized spectrum as "the soil on which amateur radio depends." [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Memorial Service for Brian Kantor, WB6CYT Phil Karn, KA9Q shares the following announcement: "As you know, Brian Kantor, WB6CYT passed away suddenly on November 21, 2019. We will hold a memorial service for Brian on Saturday, Feb 1 2020 at 1:30 PM in La Jolla, CA (part of San Diego). Please see this link for details: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-019-Kantor-Memorial "Please bring any photos, mementos and (above all) stories and anecdotes about Brian to share. Brian wasn't exactly a highly formal person who stood on ceremony, so we'll keep this informal. If you have a story to tell, it's up to you whether you stand up and relate it to the whole group or just a few others at a time. There will be plenty of time for both. "Everyone who knew Brian is welcome. His friendships spanned at least three distinct social circles, and I know he'd be very happy to see everyone meet and enjoy everyone else's company. Even if he'd be a little embarrassed that we were doing it in his honor. "Free snacks and refreshments will be provided, so please RSVP through the evite link so we can tell the hotel how much to make available. If you have special dietary needs, please say so; the hotel has a menu we can choose from. "Please forward this email to anyone you think might be interested. Hope to see you on the 1st." [ANS thanks Phil Karn, KA9Q for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations New Orleans, LA (EL49, EL58, EM59, EM40, EM50, EM60) January 14 - February 1, 2020 Adam, KC3OBS, will be roving EM40, EM50, EL49, EL59, January 14 - Feb 1. In between, Adam will be EL58, January 18 or 19 depending on weather, and in EM60 January 29. Adam will announce passes and updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparky_husky Labrador (GO11 +) January 19-27, 2019 Chris VE3FU, Dave VE9CB, and Frank VO1HP will be active as VO2AC in the 2020 CQ160 CW contest, January 24-26, from Point Armour Lighthouse, in Labrador. If time permits before the contest, they may be active on FM satellites from GO11 as VO2AC or VO2AAA. Depending on weather and timing of passes, you might catch them on FM satellites as they make their way from FO93 to GO-11, passing through FO92, GO02, GO13, GO12, and GO22 along the way, but no promises. They will also make the reverse trek on January 27. Montserrat (FK86) January 26 - February 2, 2020 Mel, W8MV, will be in Montserrat 26 January until 2 February, operating under the call sign VP2MCV on FM Sats. QSL via LOTW. Antigua (FK97) February 2 - 9, 2020 Mel, W8MV, will be in Antigua 2-9 February. Mel is waiting for his operating license. Will update as soon as it arrives. FM only. QSL via LOTW Isla Perez, Mexico (EL52, EL50, EL51) February 11 - 17, 2020 Members of Radio Club Puebla DX will be active as 6F3A from Isla Perez, Mexico, between February 11-17. The operators mentioned are Patricia/XE1SPM (Team Leader), Ismael/XE1AY, Rey/XE1SRD and Ricardo/XE1SY. Activity will be on 80/40/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters, and include the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 15-16). QSL via XE1SY. Ismael, XE1AY, reports that he doing CW and the satellites, and will also TX from EL50 and XE1AY/mm from EL51. Big Bend National Park (DL88) March 16-17, 2020 Ron AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will operate from Big Bend National Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details will be added here, as they come available, but you are more than welcome to keep an eye on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx, https://twitter.com/dtabor, and https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5 [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News (Editor's Note: See school contact opportunity story above.) + Upcoming Contacts Morita Junior High School, Fukui, Japan, direct via 8J9MO The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Wed 2020-01-22 08:00:46 UTC 27 deg Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, Canada, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Wed 2020-01-22 17:21:36 UTC 32 deg [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Shorts from All Over + ARISS-US Educators Review Processes for US Proposal Window A team of educators who are members of the ARISS-US Education Committee is finalizing the last few processes related to the late 2019 ARISS-US Proposal Window. The team had ranked the education proposals and then sent a list to the ARISS-US leaders of the top schools and education groups recommended for hosting an ARISS contact. A news release is in draft stage. The organizations selected will be in the queue for scheduled ARISS contacts during the second half of 2020. A new ARISS-US Proposal Window will open soon and details on this will be forthcoming. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information.] + WIA 2020 Annual Conference Presentations The Wireless Institute of Australia Annual Conference will be held in Hobart, Tasmania May 8-10 2020 and registrations are open. On the Saturday afternoon a wide range of presentations are organized to showcase the conference theme which is the "Antarctic Gateway". Following lunch there will be two presentation streams which can be categorized as the "Antarctic" stream and the "Radio" stream. Complete information can be viewed at: https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2020/20200111-3/index.php [ANS thanks the Wireless Institute of Australia for the above information.] + AMSAT Argentina Celebrates LO-19 30th Anniversary On Feb-22-1990 LUSAT/LO-19 was launched along with AO-16, DO-17, WO-18, UO-14 & UO-15. It was the first Argentina Satellite, and one of first to use PACSAT protocol. LUSAT is still calling home with its carrier at +/-437.125. Members of AMSAT Argentina (LU7AA) celebrate the 30th anniversary of the LUSAT (LO-19) satellite between Jan. 18 and 26 on HF on SSB, FT8, CW. An award is available as well. QSL via LU7AA (d), eQSL. Find complete information at: http://lu4aao.org/lu7aa/cert_30_aniv_lusat_2020.htm and http://amsat.org.ar/certlusat30.htm [ANS thanks the DARC DX Newsletter and AMSAT-LU for the above information.] + AMSAT-SA Announces A New Date Fre Their Space Symposium The annual AMSAT SA Space symposium date has changed to Saturday, 11 July 2020. While the call for papers is ongoing till the end of February, AMSAT SA is pleased to announce that Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, of AMSAT NA will delivery two papers at the symposium: Fox-in-a-box: Fox telemetry reception using an inexpensive Raspberry Pi and a J-pole antenna including a discussion on the optimal positioning for a J-pole antenna for satellite reception and an overview of what is in orbit currently and expected in the near future and their features. Prospective authors are invited to propose other papers by submitting a brief synopsis to admin(a)amsatsa.org.za before 28 February 2020. + Cardiff Microwave Roundtable Saturday, March 7, 2020 The Cardiff University ARS will host a meeting of the UK Microwave Group on Saturday March 7, 2020 at our campus in Cardiff. This one day event is a mix of talks, measurements, and socializing about activities in the GHz frequencies. GNU Radio Workshop On the following day, Sunday March 8, there will be a hands on Introduction to GNU Radio and Software Defined Radio. More info coming soon, please send an email to officers(a)cardiffars.org.uk if you are interested. [ANS thanks the UK Microwave Group for the above information.] + Lockheed Martin Launches First Smart Satellite Enabling Space Mesh Networking Recently, Lockheed Martin launched the Pony Express 1 mission as a hosted payload on Tyvak-0129, a next-generation Tyvak 6U spacecraft. Pony Express 1, an example of rapid prototyping, was developed, built and integrated in nine months. Some of the key technologies being flight-tested include: - Software validates advanced adaptive mesh communications between satellites, shared processing capabilities, and can take advantage, of sensors aboard other smart satellites, - A software-defined radio that allows for high-bandwidth hosting of multiple RF applications, store-and-forward RF collection, data compression, digital signal processing and waveform transmission, - 3D-printed wideband antenna housing. Read the full story at http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=55121 [ANS thanks Spaceref.com for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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 student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW n1uw at amsat dot org 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 member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: [amsat-bb] Google Summer of Code - Hamsats at schools and universities (followup)
by Robert Bruninga 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

Followup: Below, I am only talking about entry level high schools and first time cubesats to keep it simple. I am 100% behind AMSAT's lead in SDR and digital comms. And ALL the leading edge techniques amsat is pursuing in the digital age. Can't wait to retire and actually play modern tinker radio again. Bob -----Original Message----- From: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> Sent: Friday, January 17, 2020 6:08 PM Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Google Summer of Code - Hamsats at schools and universities (comment0 Building Amateur satellites at the Naval Academy using simple AX.25 TNC's as command/control/telemetry using almost off the shelf APRS devices costing maybe $300, it is frustrating to me to see *dozens* of other high schools and universities all wanting to build a cubesat but with most of them having great ideas but little in the way of actual talent to make a radio work. They all want to put Raspberry pies or much much bigger processors on board and want the power of their smart phones on board, but fail to be able to actually build anything that works. So they just buy $5000 xcvrs, $3000 batteries (instead of super reliable and safe NiCd's for $50. And the failure rate of these that actually make it to orbit is quite high! Not counting all the hardware that gets burned up by students having little clue what they are doing during testing and integration. It’s a crying shame to see all this effort thrown away. What? Maybe 1% of these projects have a HAM mentor to encourage a Ham experiment on board. And most such mentors are powerless to lead the students toward something simpler that works as opposed to the stuffing of the most complex CPUs all into the tiny cubesat and wondering why it "doesn’t work" reliably once they unplug it from all their USB cables.... So I endorese any effort to push our expertise out to wherever we can find satellite interest in schools and try to help them to success. But then, I am a modern fossil. Still clinging to robust NiCd's, 1200, and 9600 baud TNC's, SSTV and plain old ham comms. And yes, with 8 successful ham transponders over 18 years, I DID fail on the ax25 of PSAT2 with a stupid mistake, though the SSTV and PSK31 UHF side still works perfectly with plenty of power. Anyway, standby for PSAT3 (a dupe of PSAT2 but without 5 volts on the 4vmax Xcvr!) and then this fossil is out of here by June. Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Google Summer of Code - mentorship application from Open Research Institute Welcome! Great questions. Participation in academia has a long history in amateur radio. From significant atmospheric research accomplished with amateur collaboration in the 1920s to enormous contributions from amateurs in software defined radio, today. There are a large number of university teams doing spacecraft. More interaction at earlier stages with the teams wanting to authentically include amateur radio will improve those payloads. That directly benefits the amateur service. There’s a large number of academic payloads with very poorly thought out ground systems. Lots of opportunities there! Directly benefits all of us if using a payload is not unnecessarily challenging, frustrating, or ineffective. Advanced digital microwave work is a gold mine of projects and possibilities. FPGA design, power amplifiers, feed design, user interface, accessibility design, cognitive radio, machine learning, genetic algorithms to speed decoding... and lots more. Why should proprietary interests have all the fruits of academic labor, and have all the fun? Amateur radio has a unique position in the regulatory landscape and is an excellent partner for academia. I believe we should take full advantage of it whenever we can. GSoC is a good match. It helps us by (potentially) producing modern work for amateur satellites. I say potentially because some students will fail. That is the nature of any creative endeavor. We can all learn from failures too. I argue that there is only upside for us in participation. Thank you, Michelle W5NYV https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: [amsat-bb] Google Summer of Code - Hamsats at schools and universities (comment0
by Robert Bruninga 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

Building Amateur satellites at the Naval Academy using simple AX.25 TNC's as command/control/telemetry using almost off the shelf APRS devices costing maybe $300, it is frustrating to me to see *dozens* of other high schools and universities all wanting to build a cubesat but with most of them having great ideas but little in the way of actual talent to make a radio work. They all want to put Raspberry pies or much much bigger processors on board and want the power of their smart phones on board, but fail to be able to actually build anything that works. So they just buy $5000 xcvrs, $3000 batteries (instead of super reliable and safe NiCd's for $50. And the failure rate of these that actually make it to orbit is quite high! Not counting all the hardware that gets burned up by students having little clue what they are doing during testing and integration. It’s a crying shame to see all this effort thrown away. What? Maybe 1% of these projects have a HAM mentor to encourage a Ham experiment on board. And most such mentors are powerless to lead the students toward something simpler that works as opposed to the stuffing of the most complex CPUs all into the tiny cubesat and wondering why it "doesn’t work" reliably once they unplug it from all their USB cables.... So I endorese any effort to push our expertise out to wherever we can find satellite interest in schools and try to help them to success. But then, I am a modern fossil. Still clinging to robust NiCd's, 1200, and 9600 baud TNC's, SSTV and plain old ham comms. And yes, with 8 successful ham transponders over 18 years, I DID fail on the ax25 of PSAT2 with a stupid mistake, though the SSTV and PSK31 UHF side still works perfectly with plenty of power. Anyway, standby for PSAT3 (a dupe of PSAT2 but without 5 volts on the 4vmax Xcvr!) and then this fossil is out of here by June. Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Google Summer of Code - mentorship application from Open Research Institute Welcome! Great questions. Participation in academia has a long history in amateur radio. From significant atmospheric research accomplished with amateur collaboration in the 1920s to enormous contributions from amateurs in software defined radio, today. There are a large number of university teams doing spacecraft. More interaction at earlier stages with the teams wanting to authentically include amateur radio will improve those payloads. That directly benefits the amateur service. There’s a large number of academic payloads with very poorly thought out ground systems. Lots of opportunities there! Directly benefits all of us if using a payload is not unnecessarily challenging, frustrating, or ineffective. Advanced digital microwave work is a gold mine of projects and possibilities. FPGA design, power amplifiers, feed design, user interface, accessibility design, cognitive radio, machine learning, genetic algorithms to speed decoding... and lots more. Why should proprietary interests have all the fruits of academic labor, and have all the fun? Amateur radio has a unique position in the regulatory landscape and is an excellent partner for academia. I believe we should take full advantage of it whenever we can. GSoC is a good match. It helps us by (potentially) producing modern work for amateur satellites. I say potentially because some students will fail. That is the nature of any creative endeavor. We can all learn from failures too. I argue that there is only upside for us in participation. Thank you, Michelle W5NYV https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Office Closed
by Martha 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

The AMSAT Office will be closed on Monday, January 20th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- 73- Martha

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CN78 Rove Sat Feb 15, 2020
by Ron Bondy 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

I'll be roving to CN78 on Sat Feb 15th, 2020. Will be on FM and linear and post passes closer to the date. Will do my best to be on an AO-7 pass for east coast folks. I'll be an hour west of Port Angeles WA. Cheers, Ron, ad0dx

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Re: [amsat-bb] Google Summer of Code - mentorship application from Open Research Institute
by Joshua Ward 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

I’m new to the board but I follow along. I guess I can make the ‘long time listener, first time caller joke’. I know that you follow me on twitter and you know that I’m active in the community, I’m not sure that I recognize any other other posters in this thread and I’m not sure some/most of you have ever uploaded to LOTW. So, greetings I guess. One of my passions is flying high-altitude balloons and the whole reason I got my tech license was to legally carry APRS for tracking. From there I blundered into amsats and was hooked almost instantly. My first launch was Kickstarter funded and I kind of made a promise to my backers that I’d talk to schools and involve myself in promoting STEM though my HAB passion. I genuinely feel I’ve lived up to my end but I still sponsor the occasional senior design project here at the university school of engineering. This usually comes in the form of an ME or EE design and I’ve never dabbled in sponsoring a CS project although I’ve got ideas. Frankly, I’m not sure I have the kind of time it takes to mentor a student right now but can you elaborate when you say: "I believe participation can greatly benefit the amateur satellite service.” And “we have plenty of really interesting and meaningful options for students to work on." -J W3ARD

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AMSAT-BB Acceptable Use
by Robert Bankston 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

Last night, the AMSAT-BB was placed on Emergency Moderation, meaning all posts had to be reviewed before released for public distribution. This was a precautionary measure taken to allow a "cooling off" period. I remind all AMSAT-BB subscribers that while strong disagreements on issues are inevitable, the AMSAT-BB list is not the place for exchanges which become spiteful, unproductive exchanges. If you must have a heated exchange, it should be conducted privately and not in public on a mailing list. Posts must contain appropriate content and are respectful of the members and readers of the AMSAT-BB. All posts should include the author's first name and call sign, or full name if not currently licensed. In general, posts should be related to amateur radio satellites. Examples of on-topic posts include: (1) Announcements of general interest, including, but not limited to, AMSAT news, meetings, satellite availability, and DXpeditions. AMSAT Mailing List AUP; (2) Technical discussions, including the physics of space flight, modulation techniques, satellite design, RF path loss calculations, noise figure, etc.; (3) Inquiries and suggestions about choosing equipment, learning operating techniques, and troubleshooting problems; (4) Discussion of AMSAT plans and policies in ways that foster better understanding of the opportunities, trade-offs, and limitations that AMSAT faces, and constructive suggestions for improvement; and (5) Posting of amateur radio satellite-related equipment and software available for sale. What occurred last night was to the contrary and will not be tolerated. Further violations will result from removal from further use of AMSAT-BB. Please take a moment to review AMSAT's Acceptable Use Policy for the AMSAT Public Mailing Lists (https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AMSAT_AUP_061819…). 73, Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

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Cowtown Hamfest
by tjschuessler＠verizon.net 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

All, Look for me, N5HYP, on air from the Cowtown Hamfest in Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend. I will be trying all available FM passes on Saturday 1/18 between 7A and 3P central time and hope to have some bystanders along with me. Please give a good showing to allow for a healthy promotion of this exciting part of the hobby.. Tom Schuessler, N5HYP EM12ms

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-01-17 16:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 17 Jan '20

17 Jan '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-01-17 16:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Morita Junior High School, Fukui, Japan, direct via 8J9MO The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Wed 2020-01-22 08:00:46 UTC 27 deg Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, Canada, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Wed 2020-01-22 17:21:36 UTC 32 deg Watch for a live stream starting about 15 minutes before AOS at: www.ariotti.com (***) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) 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 2020-01-17 16:30 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. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-01-14 03:00 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 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 is happy to announce a proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. 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 proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com . The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact. Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio. More Information For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** 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. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ******************************************************************************* All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood 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 https://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? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. 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 The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 137 Sergey RV3DR with 131 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** 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. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1375. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1308. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://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: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Exp. 60 on orbit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Alexander Skvortsov Drew Morgan KI5AAA Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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