August 2021 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

ANS-227 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for August 15, 2021
by n1uw＠gokarns.com 14 Aug '21

14 Aug '21

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-227 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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(a)amsat.org You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/ In this edition: * Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost) * IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites * AMSAT at the Northeast HamXposition - Call for Volunteers * MIR-SAT 1 Reaches STEM Objective * FT4 via the AO-73 CubeSat Demonstration Video * Weekly Changes for Keplerian Elements/TLE's * ARISS News * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Satellite Shorts From All Over ANS-227 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins To: All RADIO AMATEURS From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653 Washington, DC 20002 DATE 2021 Aug 15 Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost) This is a call for papers for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. Proposals for symposium presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by October 18 for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at n8fgv(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks Dan Schultz N8FGV, Symposium Program Chair, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Join the 2021 President's Club! Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin. This gold finished coin comes with Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag Donate today at https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/ You won't want to miss it! +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites Cape IV-GTO A 100x100x20mm Picosat sponsored by the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. The first mission is to teach by doing to design, build, test, launch and operate satellite on orbit. The second mission is to reach out to high schools in the area to design and operate devices in orbit. This will train high school students in radio communications and encourage STEM activities. Proposing LoRa comms using 10.3 Fd1 18bps. Downlinks on 145.825 MHz, 145.990 MHz (spare) and 437.325 MHz have been coordinated. No launch info yet available but planning a 36000 x 200 km orbit. More info at https://ee.louisiana.edu/research/cape. QubeSat A 2U CubeSat sponsored by the University of California – Berkeley. The QubeSat mission is to research the effects of space environment on a quantum gyroscope based on NV–centers in diamond. These sensors could support better attitude determination systems for cubesats, including Amateur cubesats. The OpenLST uses the TI CC1101 packet structure, supported by the accompanying OpenLST software. This packet format can be decoded by anyone since it is well documented, so it could be useful to the amateur satellite community. Proposing a 2-FSK UHF downlink at 5k5 bps. A downlink on 437.740 MHz has been coordinated. Planning an Astra launch into a 500 km orbit in Dec 2021. More info from https://stac.berkeley.edu/project/qubesat. [ANS thanks IARU and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Northeast HamXposition-- Call for volunteers It is the efforts of volunteers that make Hamvention's a success for AMSAT. The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders make the whole experience a lot of fun. The 2021 HamXposition is taking place September the 11-12, 2021 in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The convention has a new home at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center. If you would like to volunteer at the booth contact Phil Smith w1eme(a)amsat.org. [ANS thanks Phil Smith, W1EME 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/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ MIR-SAT 1 Reaches STEM Objective One of the main objective of the MIR-SAT 1 project is to promote STEM and HAM radio which is fully in line with the AMSAT Ambassador initiative. Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is quite proud to announce that three schools in 3B8 have successfully capture the TLM of MIR-SAT 1 so far and that many others Educational institution are already equipped to succeed same soon. The following certificate were issued today by the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society today, - 3B8BBD - AM_nml - E29AHU - JH4XSY - OM7AAK - FSGSSS (The first 3B8 school to obtain the Award, Forestside State Secondary School (Girls) - 3B8FV - LZ1NY - PMLMB (The second 3B8 School to obtain the Award, Polytecnics Mauritius Ltd. Montagne Blanche) Prof. Hassan Rafa State Secondary School of Terre Rouge were the second school to receive and decode the signals from MIR-SAT 1 but unfortunately without a permanent internet connection they did not upload the telemetry to SatNOGS thus not eligible for the Award, hopefully they will get it soon. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to them for providing TLM of MIR-SAT 1 to MARS through SatNOGS. Note that MIR-SAT 1 is still in safe mode and under testing. MARS will advise when it will be available to Amateur use ASAP. [ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FT4 via the AO-73 CubeSat Demonstration Video Sweden’s AMSAT-SM has released a short video showing communications via the amateur radio satellite AO-73 (FunCube-1) using the popular digital mode FT4. This is a short video of FT-4 communication via satellite AO-73 with SDR-Console V3.1 and Icom IC-705. It is a part of a guide that will be published later on AMSAT-SM web https://www.amsat.se/ In the first part you will see the first screen with SDR-Console with Airspy Mini as receiver, audio is piped to WSJT-X. You will also see SDR-Console handle the TX Doppler correction for the IC-705 via “External radio”. In the second part you will see the second screen with WSJT-X connected to IC-705. The output was only one (1) to two (2) watts! You can see that WSJT-X is reading the Doppler corrected frequency. You will also see SDR-Console satellite tracking and PstRotator controlling the SPID RAS rotor. For more information see https://amsat-uk.org/. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be worth it! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Weekly Changes for Keplerian Elements/TLE's The following satellite has been added to this week's AMSAT TLE Distribution: FEES - NORAD Cat ID 48082 (Thanks to Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P for the identification.) Complete information on TLE Keplerian Elements and resources can always be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/ [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS NEWS Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide. Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021. The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors 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 + Trans-Nevada: August 16-20, 2021 David AD7DB is planning a rove starting August 16 on FM satellites. - Mon 8/16 DM09 in Reno area. - Tue 8/17 DN00, DN10 & 11 later, near Lovelock and Winnemucca. - Wed 8/18 DN10, DN20 & 21 later, near Elko. - Thu 8/19 DN21, DN20 & 30 later, near Wells and Wendover. - Fri 8/20 DN20 and 30, near Wendover. The actual satellite passes and times are still being worked out but plans are for AO-91, AO-92, SO-50, AO-27 and PO-101. Go to twitter.com/ad7db for the latest updates during the rove. + BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75, BP84, BP85: August 21-27,2021 Look for Taylor, WL7T as he is on the move in Alaska. [ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition? Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store! 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting October 29-31, 2021 Crowne Plaza AiRE 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245. Complete information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SYMPOSIUM. 2021 HamXposition September the 11-12, 2021 Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center Marlborough, Massachusetts [ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + AMSAT-DL will hold its Satellite Symposium and General Assembly 2021 on August 28 in Bochum. As it currently stands, this will be a face-to-face event. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-AMSAT-DL. + A student of ARISS educator Joanne Michael won an AIAA Kahn $10,000 scholarship. Joanne taught him hands-on science in kindergarten through fifth grade at Meadows Elementary in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. The young man is now enrolled at Stanford University. He wrote, “I love finding out the mechanics of any device and gaining knowledge by hands-on experience. I cannot stand not knowing what lies beyond our reach in the universe. My goal is to take part in the Mars colonization plans as an engineer astronaut and help advance the astronautical-engineering world.” + Cubesat has announced next year's CubeSat Developers Workshop on April 26–28, 2022. Mark your calendar and get more information at www.cubesatdw.org/. + From 12 to 20 July 2021, ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Program teamed up with ESA experts in the field of Space Systems Engineering to run the second edition of the Space Systems Engineering Training Course . The goal was to offer university students an overview of the different aspects of Space Systems Engineering while also affording them the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through group exercises. Held fully online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in (virtual) attendance were 30 university students from 11 different ESA Member States and Canada. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-ESA. + The newly released SDR++ V1.0.0 software is featured on the YouTube SignalsEverywhere channel. SDR++ is an open source, cross platform, C++ based GUI general receiver program for various SDR's including the RTL-SDR. The video shows it's basic usage in action and highlights many of the features that SDR++ has. The producer notes that she is very impressed with SDR++, praising it as one of the best SDR applications released in a while. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SDR. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/ In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to: * Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization). * 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 6 post-secondary years in this status. * Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms. Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information. 73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space! This week's ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW n1uw at amsat dot org

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Grid FN06
by busman49＠gmail.com 13 Aug '21

13 Aug '21

I will be operating a vacation style operation in FN06 on both Linear and FM birds as time and passes permit on Sat Aug 14 and Sunday Aug 15. You will most likely find me on RS44 , AO91 and the XW birds. The call sign will be VE3KY/R. Uploads will be done to LOTW on Tuesday Aug 17. 73 de Jeff VE3KY

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Grid FN06
by busman49＠gmail.com 13 Aug '21

13 Aug '21

I will be operating a vacation style operation in FN06 on both Linear and FM birds as time and passes permit on Sat Aug 14 and Sunday Aug 15. You will most likely find me on RS44 , AO91 and the XW birds. The call sign will be VE3KY/R. Uploads will be done to LOTW on Tuesday Aug 17. 73 de Jeff VE3KY

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FN01, EN92/FN02
by Bob Liddy (K8BL) 13 Aug '21

13 Aug '21

Gridders, This coming Wednesday 8/18, I'll be going to the Erie, PA, areaon a day trip. I have spots staked out for FN01 and EN92/FN02.If time allows, I might be able to do both based on my activityschedule. Linear/FM whichever is up at the time. 73, Bob K8BL

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Party in Avakin Life MOD Apk
by Avakin Life Mod Apk 13 Aug '21

13 Aug '21

https://techtodown.com/avakin-life-mod-apk/ - "Work hard, play hard". After a tiring day of work, the evening is when you put on your best, most expensive clothes and join the parties in the city, be it a nightclub or a vibrant music party at home. . a friend. If you are someone who likes to meet, date and chat with strangers then this is a great place for you because Avakin Life has a chat feature with people around. Chat, make friends with other players around the world. The game is a very large community across many different countries. This is perfectly fine if you are an adult and want to make friends with strangers. But for underage players, this is quite dangerous because there are too many opportunities for strangers to contact you, collect personal information for bad purposes. Therefore, Avakin Life only allows players 17 years of age or older.

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MIR-SAt 1 news
by Jean Marc Momple 10 Aug '21

10 Aug '21

Dear All, One of the main objective of the MIR-SAT 1 project is to promote STEM and HAM radio which is fully in line with the AMSAT Ambassador initiative. I am quite proud to announce that 3 schools in 3B8 have successfully capture the TLM of MIR-SAT 1 so far and that many others Educational institution are already equipped to succeed same soon. The following certificate were issued today by the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) today, 3B8BBD AM_nml E29AHU JH4XSY OM7AAK FSGSSS (1st 3B8 school to obtain the Award, Forestside State Secondary School (Girls) 3B8FV LZ1NY PMLMB (2nd 3B8 School to obtain the Award, Polytecnics Mauritius Ltd. Montagne Blanche) To note that Prof. Hassan Rafa State Secondary School of Terre Rouge were the 2nd school to receive and decode the signals from MIR-SAT 1 but unfortunately without a permanent internet connection they did not upload the telemetry to Satnogs thus not eligible for the Award, hopefully they will get it soon. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to provide TLM of MIR-SAT 1 to us through Satnogs, really appreciated. I will keep you informed of the status, to note that the bird is still in safe mode and under testing, I will let you know when it will be available to HAM use asap. 73 Jean Marc (3B8DU)

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QRP ISS?
by Ray Soifer 10 Aug '21

10 Aug '21

This is probably old news to you ARISS guys`, but I thought I would report on a little experiment I tried yesterday: putting my TH-D72 on 145.825 during an ISS pass. Yesterday morning included a pass with max elevation of 56 degrees, so I screwed in the rubber duck, set the radio for APRS, and waited. As expected, I had no trouble hearing ISS. Six stations relayed by the ISS digi showed up on my list. However, also as expected but a little disappointing, ISS didn't hear me. Several high power fixed stations drowned out any QRP stations who might have been there. They appeared to be operating automatically, I won't mention any calls here, but if you're one of them, you know who you are. My grid square is DM41.. 73 Ray W2RS

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ARISS News Release No. 21-45
by David Jordan 09 Aug '21

09 Aug '21

ARISS News Release No. 21-45 Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE ARISSContact is Scheduled for Participants in the 1st Ono Group, Hyogo Council Scout Association, Ono, Japan August9, 2021—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has receivedschedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact with astronauts. ARISS is thegroup that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students aroundthe globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS). This will be a direct contact via amateur radio between scouts with the 1st OnoScout Group, Ono,Japan and Astronaut Shane Kimbrough, amateur radio call sign KE5HOD. The scouts will take turns asking their questions.Appropriate local Covid-19 protocols are adhered to as applicable for eachARISS contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHZ and may be heardby listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the radio relayground station. Amateur radio operators, using the call sign 8J3ONO,will operate the ham radio ground station for this contact. The ARISS radio contact isscheduled for August 11, 2021 at 5:05 pm JST (Ono, Japan), (8:05 UTC, 4:05am EDT, 3:05 am CDT, 2:05 am MDT and 1:05 am PDT). Ono Scout Group has 50 scouts (Elementary school students,junior high school students, high school students, and university students). TheOno Scout Group consists of 40 leaders, and this year marks the 40-yearanniversary of its founding. This ARISS contact with the scouts is intended tohelp their scouts develop an interest in space and science and technology. _____________________________ Astime allows, students will ask these questions: 1. Do you feel any stress during yourlong stay on the ISS? 2. Can you see the aurora from space? 3. Did you find aliens? 4. Please tell us the most fun thing inspace. 5. How do you sleep on the ISS? 6. Is there any physical change inspace? 7. What do you do with the garbage onthe ISS? 8. What happens if the spacesuit getstorn? 9. What happens when you use an abacusin zero gravity? 10. Why did you become an astronaut? 11. Is there any water outside spacecraft? 12. What devices do you have aroundyou? 13. Do sunflowers bloom in the ISS,when day and night switch every 45 minutes? 14. What do you do when there is aproblem with the ISS? _____________________________ ARISS – Celebrating 20 Years of Continuous Amateur Radio Operations onthe ISS About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the InternationalSpace Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radiosocieties and the space agencies that support the International Space Station(ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur SatelliteCorporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS NationalLab-Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s Space communications and Navigationprogram. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science,technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this byorganizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard theISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators,parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied tospace, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. MediaContact: DaveJordan, AA4KN ARISSPR Likeus on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Search on Amateur Radio on the ISS and@ARISS_status. Checkout ARISS on Youtube.com.

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2021-08-08 00:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 07 Aug '21

07 Aug '21

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2021-08-08 00:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: 1st Ono Group Hyogo Council Scout Association of Japan, Ono, Japan, direct via 8J3ONO The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is go for: Wed 2021-08-11 08:05:06 UTC 82 deg Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021. The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html ######################################################################################################################################## A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. **************************************************************************************************************************************** ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements at https://www.ariss.org/ The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No new schools Cancelled: No new schools **************************************************************************************************************************************** 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 2021-08-08 00:30 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 2021-07-22 16:00 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) For future 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. 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 unless otherwise noted. ******************************************************************************* 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: Sergey RV3DR with 154 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 141 Francesco IKØWGF with 140 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 1463. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1393. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. 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, 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. 64 on orbit Oleg Novitskiy Pyotr Dubrov Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP SpaceX-Crew 2 on orbit Meghan McArthur (Behnken) Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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ANS-220 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Paul Stoetzer 07 Aug '21

07 Aug '21

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-220 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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 You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/ In this edition: * Debugging AO-109: An Update * AO-92 Returned to Service for Daylight Operations Only * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 1, 2021 * ARISS News * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Satellite Shorts From All Over ANS-220 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins To: All RADIO AMATEURS From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653 Washington, DC 20002 DATE 2021 Aug 08 Debugging AO-109: An Update Introduction At the end of our article in the May/June AMSAT Journal, we said “By the time you read this, AO109 may be opened for general amateur use.” The opening announcement, in fact, came on July 19, just shortly after the Journal was available. Very shortly after that, we started getting reports that some SatNOGS stations had seen telemetry signal from AO-109 as early as May 2021. Chris, G0KLA managed to partially decode one frame from SatNOGS. It was hard work and there were too many errors for our Forward Error Correction algorithm to fix, but by ignoring errors, we could see some data; however we had to guess which data was wrong. We asked for more people to try to get telemetry, and we were pleased to receive 29 frames over several days from W7KKE, W7FWF, and K8DP. Thanks so much to all of them! Thanks to them we can now say a few more things about the AO-109 situation. What we have seen and learned from telemetry First the telemetry we have received confirms what we inferred from our earlier experiments: • The antenna telemetry shows that they are open (more on that later) • AO-109 is in transponder mode • AO-109 does receive commands successfully, especially from a strong command station In addition, telemetry shows some other anomalies that let us make better hypotheses for other behavior that we have seen. • First the telemetry IS working, which tends to exonerate the telemetry modulator and software. • The transmitter is sending telemetry with power output between 6 and 8 mW. You can compare this to our pre-launch testing which showed power output of somewhat over 100mW, as designed. • The power amplifier current is higher than expected based on pre-launch testing. • The min/max telemetry shows that the maximum power output since launch was about 440mW implying that the transmitter was likely working immediately after launch. (During the attempted early commissioning period, we tried both transponding, and increasing the telemetry gain, which could explain the relatively high power output.) • It is even more clear seeing the telemetry downlink on a waterfall that the signal strength varies cyclically. The period seems to be around 25 seconds. After a discussion with Dan W9EQ, one of our transmitter engineers, we believe a reasonable hypothesis for the low power is that one of the dual power amplifier chips has failed shorted. This not only increases the current to the PA, but reduces the power available to the other PA chip. Dan also hypothesizes that running high power into a poorly deployed antenna might cause the blowout, although it is still hard to understand why we initially had no reception at all. Note that even if the 70cm antenna was not fully deployed, it does not cross over itself to make it electrically shorter even when stowed. Since getting this telemetry, we commanded higher output from the telemetry modulator into the mixer and power amplifier, but saw essentially no change in the output power telemetry. According to W9EQ, this is to be expected with a shorted PA. (It may imply that 8mW is the highest to expect from the transponder as well). As we hypothesized in the last paper, the cyclic strength of the telemetry beacon could be explained by the antenna being only partly released and blocked by the satellite part of the time as the satellite rotates. Similarly, if the receive antenna were only partly released, it would make commanding difficult for the same reason. One further hypothesis: Carl, N3MIM proposed that the Nitinol wire used for our antennas was too cold to fully restore to its original shape after it was released. This could explain why both receive and transmit have problems, but does not explain why this satellite in particular should have problems that the other Foxes did not. Vanderbilt University Experiment Data As we said in the previous article, one of our goals is to provide data for the Vanderbilt University COTS radiation experiment. This experiment not only funded the AO-109 flight but also will, in the long term, provide great information for satellite builders who can only afford common off-the-shelf parts in their birds. We are happy to say that we have been able to provide some data for Vanderbilt. Of course, more data over a longer period will be that much better, but at least Vanderbilt is getting something. Where is the data? The data from AO-109 is on AMSAT server at the same location as all Fox data. You can see the entire dataset by using FoxTelem and downloading Fox-1E (the latest versions of FoxTelem do not require you to download all the other satellites.) You will see that despite having only 29 frames, there are a lot more health records than that in the WOD tab. This is because of AO-109’s new capability: Whole Orbit Data, which captures a full set of health data every 60 seconds, stores it in memory, and transmits several of these WOD data payloads in each frame. Similarly, Vanderbilt data is stored as WOD, so more science information than you might expect is also available. In addition, you can see the AMSAT web page for AO-109 health at https://www.amsat.org/tlm/health.php?id=5&port= Telemetry Reception Unfortunately, it seems that it requires a fairly “hefty” station to receive AO-109 telemetry. A normal end-mounted M2 LEO Pack, for example, is not enough. Everyone we have seen who has been successful has had a longer yagi, a preamp, and short coax. One person felt that the ability to reverse circular polarity also helped. Several SatNOGS stations have received a signal, but so far we have not been able to cleanly decode any of them. Both for Vanderbilt University and for our own engineering testing, we would really appreciate even a few frames of telemetry that any stations can receive. One way to do this is to use FoxTelem directly via a Fun Cube Dongle Pro Plus (FCDPP) and an antenna as mentioned above. Another way that we know works is to record the IF or AF from an ICOM 9700 that is being doppler corrected during an AO-109 pass. The best chance for useful frames may be to record IQ using SDR# or HDSDR with something like an FCDPP or Airspy SDR Dongle, and then playing it back into FoxTLM. We continue to thank all of our supporters and data collectors around the world! Please keep trying! [ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Flight Software, and Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station Operator, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Join the 2021 President's Club! Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin. This gold finished coin comes with Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag Donate today at https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/ You won't want to miss it! +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AO-92 Returned to Service for Daylight Operations Only On August 1, 2021 at about 16:30 UTC, AO-92 was commanded into carrier operated repeater mode. In this mode, AO-92 operates as a simple FM repeater. The IHU and experiments are disabled and there is no telemetry transmitted. As the battery condition is poor, please only use the satellite when it is illuminated by the sun. The satellite may shut off even while illuminated if the bus voltage drops below a point at which the transmitter cannot operator. [ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station 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/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 1, 2021 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period July 1, 2021 through August 1, 2021. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! Congratulations to Michael McCoy KC9ELU on acheiving the AMSAT GridMaster. CALL July August KO4MA 1783 1786 N8RO 1096 1100 NS3L 697 702 K9UO 631 653 N9FN 550 561 AF5CC 525 547 MI6GTY 461 462 WA4HFN 413 454 S57NML 291 409 DL6IAN 154 335 EA2AA 280 314 KQ4DO New 306 AB1OC 285 291 KE8RJU 101 256 NA1ME 225 250 N3CAL 204 214 N5EKO 152 207 KC5TT 100 135 WD9EWK (DM45) 127 135 W3FGP 100 130 K6SFO New 129 KB3IAI New 103 DL6GBM New 100 KE4IP New 100 If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing a lot of the work! [ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be worth it! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ ARISS News Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide. Notre Dame Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3ND The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact was unsuccessful: Tue 2021-08-03 11:10:15 UTC 77 deg (***) ARISS is working to understand the issue. (***) Watch for livestream at https://youtu.be/4uL-kHi1Bsw 1st Ono Group Hyogo Council Scout Association of Japan, Ono, Japan, direct via 8J3ONO (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is go for: Wed 2021-08-11 08:05:06 UTC 82 deg (***) Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021. The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors 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 VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx. EA8/EA4NF: Phillippe will be on the Fuerteventura island and Gran Canary island SAT DXpedition. He will use Linear & FM satellites August 1-14, 2021. IL27, IL28, IL38 KE2QI: Will be roving FN44 Sunday. Both FM and linear. He will try to maximize the RS-44 apogee passes for Europe. EN56, 57, 67: N8MR will be in EN57, EN67 and EN56 from Aug 7 thru Aug 14. Using an Icom 9700, Arrow antenna and SatPC32 to control uplink and downlink for Doppler. EN12, EN13: W0AAE will be roving in the EN12-13 grids this upcoming week from August 1-6. He will be doing both linear and FM satellites VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx. Trans-Nevada Rove. David AD7DB is planning a rove starting August 16 on FM satellites. Mon 8/16 DM09 in Reno area. Tue 8/17 DN00, DN10 & 11 later, near Lovelock and Winnemucca. Wed 8/18 DN10, DN20 & 21 later, near Elko. Thu 8/19 DN21, DN20 & 30 later, near Wells and Wendover. Fri 8/20 DN20 and 30, near Wendover. The actual satellite passes and times are still being worked out but plans are for AO-91, AO-92, SO-50, AO-27 and PO-101. You can go to twitter.com/ad7db for the latest updates during the rove. Wl7T - August 21-27: BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75, BP84, BP85 [ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events. AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online Zoom presentations scheduled in coming weeks with amateur groups in New Jersey Central New Hampshire North Carolina Conejo Valley CA Sonoma County CA Massachusetts Antelope Valley CA Contact Clint to arrange other events: Clint Bradford K6LCS, AMSAT Ambassador; ARRL instructor http://www.work-sat.com Email: clintbradford AT mac DOT com (909) 999-SATS (7287) - voicemail/message [ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition? Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store! 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Satellite Shorts From All Over + The newly revised, printable Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide is now available for AMSAT members at https://launch.amsat.org/Member_Resources + NU1U has posted a tutorial on YouTube for running WSJT-X and SatPC32 simultaneously with an Icom IC-9700 in order to make satellite QSOs using FT4. The video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhfUSRUP910 + The first SSB QSO has been reported via AO-109. Doug Papay, K8DP, and John Papay, K8YSE, completed two QSOs via CW and two QSOs via SSB between EN62 and EN91 between July 31st and August 3rd. + On July 30th at 19:40 UTC, F4DXV and A65GC completed a record 5,300 km QSO via JO-97. This is the longest claimed QSO completed on any of the FUNcube transponders. + A new distance record has been set on the QO-100 narrowband transponder. PR8KW in GI27pn49rs worked YC5YC in OJ00rl66we at 23:06 UTC on 10-Jul-2021, covering a distance of 17,378 km. More records can be found at https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ + AMSAT Rover Award #60 was issued to Larry, KF6JOQ. For more information on the AMSAT Rover Award, visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/ (Thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards) + The ARRL has released TQSL config file version 11.15. This update allows QSOs on AO-109 and UVSQ-SAT (as UVSQ) to be uploaded. TQSL should prompt you to update your config file when launching the application. + Three videos from the AMSAT-SA Space Symposium, held July 10th, have been uploaded to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA7TGecJAILXTwm9HSQ4cw/videos. Other talks will be uploaded later (Thanks to AMSAT-SA and AMSAT-UK) + A video of John Brier, KG4AKV, operating portable via RS-44, filmed and edited by W4MPS, has been posted to YouTube at https://youtu.be/8xg5VLrcttU + The first call for papers has been issued for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. Proposals for symposium presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by October 18 for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at n8fgv at amsat.org. + Registration is open for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting, to be held Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota. Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245. For more information, visit https://www.amsat.org/39th-annual-amsat-space-symposium-and-annual-general-… --------------------------------------------------------------------- Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/ In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to: * Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization). * 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 6 post-secondary years in this status. * Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms. Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information. 73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space! This week's ANS Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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