- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

AMSAT Room Rate at the Hilton
by Mike McCann 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

Hello All, I just tried to make a reservation at the Arlington Hilton for the AMSAT Symposium, the Web site is saying that there aren't any rooms available at the AMSAT rate. Is anyone else seeing this problem? Mike KB2GHZ

11 16

Outline: Initiation through Launch & Management
by Ev Tupis 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

Is there a general outline of the steps that are followed to get a satellite into orbit? If so...point me? Ev, W2EV

7 8

Doppler tracking software - max limits?
by David G0MRF 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

Hi Does anyone in the group know the max limits for Doppler tracking in the currently available software packages? I'm aware that L band from LEO is fairly comfortable, but how about tracking higher frequencies ? I suppose the limiting factor could be the update rate....If the software cannot keep up with a rate determined bythe rate of change of doppler compared to the bandwidth of the transmission.......then the satellite cannot be tracked successfully. 145MHz +/- 3.5kHz ish10.45G +/- 250kHz ish Fortunately, it gets easier with light........... Many thanks David

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-13 04:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 13 Aug '19

13 Aug '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-13 04:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Loreto College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-15 09:17:06 UTC 53 deg Watch for live stream at www.ariotti.comstarting about 15 min before AOS. The Children’s Inn at NIH (National Institutes of Health), Bethesda, MD (CASIS#3), telebridge via VK4KHZ (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA (***) Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-22 17:16:22 UTC 38 deg (***) The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) For many years I have on purpose not given the actual hyperlinks; I assume the user would do a copy/paste into their favorite browser. I am now thinking that the browsers have all grown up and most should be able to handle the link. Please let me know you experience any issues. So now you should be able to directly click on the link. (***) 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 2019-08-13 04:30 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2019-08-09 04:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 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: http://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) http://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 http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 136 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 120 **************************************************************************** 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 1326. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1269. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correctio… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Aleksey Ovchinin Nick Hague KG5TMV Exp. 60 on orbit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Alexander Skvortsov Drew Morgan KI5AAA **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

1 0

IC-9100 in D-FM mode
by jeff griffin 12 Aug '19

12 Aug '19

Anyone know of a way to remotely set with SatPC32 or set via menu item FM-D mode on a 9100? 73 Jeff kb2m

2 2

Psat2 sstv
by Larry Fields 12 Aug '19

12 Aug '19

Can anyone tell me if its active I never catch a signal

4 3

Chinese Satellite DSLWP-2 (Longjian-2) gives RF spectrum of Earth seen from Moon.
by andy thomas 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

According to reports in the Chinese medaia (see for example http://www.ccnovel.com/bolan/2019-08-03/133863.html ) the Chinese microsatellite DSLWP-2 which had been orbiting the Moon has now been crashed into it having completed the mission. This mission included mapping RF interference from the Earth by studying its occlusion by the Moon during lunar orbit. The Chinese press report that "The main goal of the ultra-long wave detector is to use the lunar natural occlusion of the Earth's radio frequency interference, and to verify the technology of ultra-long wave astronomical observation and solar radiation research. The detector detects the radiation spectrum at different positions of the lunar orbit, acquires the 1-30MHz ultra-long-wave continuum of the lunar orbit, completes the earth radio interference survey, and also carries out various types of moon-covering tests, and carries out various key technologies for payload. verification." A Figure in this story (which I cannot send to the BB) shows "Distribution Characteristics of Earth's Interference Spectrum in the 1-30MHz Band Obtained by Longjiang No.2" 73 de andy G0SFJ

1 0

Satpc32 and AO-92 mode L
by Richard Gussow 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

Hi everyone, Thanks again to Erich and everyone else who helped me get Satpc32 up and running. I’d like to try to work AO-92 when it is in mode L. What is the best way to do this with Satpc32? Change the frequency on the Doppler.SQF file? Thanks, Rich 4Z1JJ Sent from my iPhone

3 3

Latest SpaceX GEO launch cost.
by KC9SGV 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

Hi All, Just saw this latest effort by SpaceX to launch the Israeli AMOS satellite into GEO orbit. The cost is staggering. Maybe we should go with somehow securing transponder bandwidth on existing GEO satellites as an alternative ? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launch-today-live-stream-falcon-9-set-t… Bernard, KC9SGV Sent from my iPad

8 9

Re: [amsat-bb] Satpc32 and AO-92 mode L
by Richard Gussow 11 Aug '19

11 Aug '19

Thanks Glenn. How do you choose between the two modes? After making that change, only the first one shows up. I'm using nasa.all as my source file. I could just manually change the frequency in the doppler.sqf file, but if there is a better way I'd be happy to use it. Thanks, Rich 4Z1JJ On Sunday, August 11, 2019, 03:16:35 AM GMT+3, Glenn Miller - AA5PK <aa5pk(a)suddenlink.net> wrote: Rich, My Doppler.SQF entries for AO-92 read: AO-92,145880,435350,FMN,FMN,NOR,0,0 AO-92,145880,1267360,FMN,FMN,NOR,0,0 Mode L works great. 73, Glenn AA5PK -----Original Message----- From: Richard Gussow via AMSAT-BB Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2019 2:10 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Satpc32 and AO-92 mode L Hi everyone, Thanks again to Erich and everyone else who helped me get Satpc32 up and running. I’d like to try to work AO-92 when it is in mode L. What is the best way to do this with Satpc32? Change the frequency on the Doppler.SQF file? Thanks, Rich 4Z1JJ Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

1 0

SpaceX
by Francis Geraci 10 Aug '19

10 Aug '19

Something I have been "mulling" over for a while. Elon Musk seems to be an "open minded" Guy. Maybe, Amsat could interest Him in our endeavor's to get a "GEO" into orbit. STEM ? Education. Emergency Commm's ? Lot's of angle's ? Best, W1FXX

2 1

AMSAT Weekly News Bulletin ANS-223; August 11, 2019
by Frank Karnauskas 10 Aug '19

10 Aug '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-223 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: * 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced - Tickets Now Available * FUNcube-1/AO-73 Entering Continuous Sunlight * ARRL/TAPR 2019 Digital Communications Conference Call for Papers * BRICSAT2 and PSAT2 Get OSCAR Designations * 19th Global Symposium for Regulators * SSA Defends 23cm Band Against Galileo Threat * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-223.01 ANS-223 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 223.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. August 11, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-223.01 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced - Tickets Now Available AMSAT is pleased to announce that the AMSAT Symposium Saturday Evening Banquet on Saturday, October 19th will feature a panel of guest speakers presenting "The Foundations of AMSAT" followed by a question and answer period. Guest speakers will include: - Lance Ginner, K6GSJ (Project OSCAR) - George Jacobs, W3ASK (Author, Diplomat) - Dr. Perry Klein, W3PK (Founding President of AMSAT) - Dr. Owen Mace (Australis-OSCAR 5 Builder, University of Melbourne) - Richard Tonkin (Australis-OSCAR 5 Builder, University of Melbourne) - Jan King, W3GEY (Founding member of AMSAT and Australis-OSCAR 5 Project Manager) The 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting will be held on Friday through Sunday, October 18-20, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia at The Hilton Arlington. Symposium registration is available for $60 from now until September 15th. Banquet tickets are $55. Tickets are now available on the AMSAT Store at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-symposium/ Tickets are also now available for the Sunday tour. On Sunday, October 20th, a bus tour will take attendees to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the National Air and Space Museum. Two large hangars display thousands of aviation and space artifacts, including a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, and the Space Shuttle Discovery. Bus capacity is limited to 35 attendees. Tickets are $30 per person. Attendees who wish to drive may also join the tour group. Parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center is $15. On Monday, October 21st, AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, will lead a walking tour of the National Mall. No reservations are required. Transportation to the National Mall will be via the Washington Metro. Additional information, including hotel reservation information is available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/ [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office 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 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ -------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNcube-1/AO-73 Entering Continuous Sunlight FUNCube-1/AO-73 is due to enter continuous sunlight in a few days time and the operations team have decided to set the satellite to the education mode full time. This means full power beacon with no transponder and no eclipse auto switching. One of the effects of this is that the temperature of the satellite will increase. This will allow the FUNcube operations team to follow the effects of continuous sunlight more easily and, in theory, should keep the satellite cooler as more energy should be radiated from the structure as RF. They predict that the satellite will start experiencing eclipses again on approximately 7 May 2020. The team may put the satellite back into transponder mode while it is in continuous sunlight, and will make an announcement if they do so. [ANS thanks Jim, G3WGM for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL/TAPR 2019 Digital Communications Conference Call for Papers The ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) will be held in Detroit, Michigan September 20-22, 2019. The location will be located near the airport. Technical Presentations & Papers are solicited for presentation at the DCC and for publication in the Annual Conference Proceedings. The proceedings are published by the ARRL. Submitting a paper is not required to make a presentation at the conference. Conversely, it is not necessary that a technical paper be presented at the DCC to be published in the annual proceedings. Persons interested in making a technical presentation should contact TAPR President, Steve Bible, N7HPR at steven dot bible at gmail.com. Submission of technical papers are due by August 12, 2019 and should be submitted to: Maty Weinberg ARRL 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 or via the Internet to maty at arrl. dot org. Full Details on Call for Papers & Submission Guidelines at: https://www.tapr.org/dcc#dcccallforpapers [ANS thanks Mark Thompson, WB9QZB for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- BRICSAT2 and PSAT2 Get OSCAR Designations On June 25, 2019, the United States Naval Academy PSAT2 and BRICSAT2 cubesats were launched on a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. PSAT2 and BRICSAT2 were developed by Naval Academy students in the USNA Satellite Lab and operated in cooperation with the USNA Amateur Radio Club. PSAT2 carries a PSK31 transponder, digipeater, SSTV-downlinked camera images, and a DTMF to voice/APRS system. BRICSAT2 carries a digipeater and thruster experiment. Both satellites are currently active. At the request of the Naval Academy Amateur Radio Club, AMSAT hereby designates BRICSAT2 as Navy-OSCAR 103 (NO-103), and PSAT2 as Navy-OSCAR 104 (NO-104). AMSAT congratulates the owners and operators, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them a long mission and continued success on this and future projects. [ANS thanks AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- 19th Global Symposium for Regulators Small-Satellites, High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) and 47 GHz were among the topics discussed at the ITU-D 19th Global Symposium for Regulators in Port Vila, Vanuata, July 9-12. The background paper 'Preparing for WRC-19 Understanding the issues at stake and the impact of decisions to be made' was among the meeting documents in which 47.0-47.2 GHz is noted as one of the candidate bands for IMT-2020 (International Mobile Telecommunications) and 47.2-47.5 GHz for HAPS. Regarding Small-Satellites the document says: "At WRC-15, a proposal for a new agenda item for WRC-19 to consider modifications to the regulatory procedures for notifying satellite networks to accommodate nanosatellite and picosatellite missions was submitted. WRC-15 decided not to include this as a specific item on the WRC-19 agenda, because it concluded that this matter could best be dealt with by the ITU-R under the standing WRC agenda item 7. "Considering that the size of a satellite is independent of the nature of the service that it is intended to provide, a simplified regulatory regime needs to be developed for non-GSO satellites with short-duration missions, independent of the size of the satellite. "and "Furthermore, it is important to ensure that any satellite radio- frequency operation avoids harmful interference to incumbent and authorized systems and services. The two frequency bands below 1 GHz under consideration for new or upgraded allocation to the SOS (150.05-174 MHz and 400.15-420 MHz) are used for a wide variety of terrestrial and space applications, including for safety of life purposes, and some of these bands are heavily used on a consistent basis. Nevertheless, if new allocations to the SOS in these frequency bands are considered, they should not put undue constraints on any incumbent services." You can download the complete PDF at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Conferences/GSR/2019/Documents [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- SSA Defends 23cm Band Against Galileo Threat Sweden's national amateur radio society, the SSA, has sent a supplementary letter to the communications regulator PTS ahead of the next meeting of the CEPT ECC Conference Preparatory Group CPG-19. The SSA report: At a previous CEPT meeting (PTA), France has proposed an agenda item to WRC-23 that the coexistence between satellite navigation (e.g., Galileo) and amateur radio in the band 1240-1300 MHz should be investigated. The proposal was voted down at the preparatory PTA meeting, but France has now sent letters to the various telecommunications authorities with a request that they now support this proposal at the forthcoming CPG19-9. SSA opposes this. SSA has therefore sent a supplementary letter to PTS about our 23 cm amateur band. Our section leader for IARU and VUSHF Mats SM6EAN explains the background and our opinion on our section pages. Here you can also read the new letter to PTS. Link to the letter in Google English is available at https://tinyurl.com/SwedenSSA [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations St Pierre et Miquelon (GN16) August 10-18, 2019 A DXpedition is planned to St Pierre et Miquelon, August 10th through the 18th. The team will operate as T05M will from Ile aux Marins on 6-160m, but there is a possibility of some FM Satellites. Keep an eye on their website for updates at http://fp2019.net/ Santa Rosa Island, CA (CM93) August 12-14, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, is heading back to Santa Rosa Island, August 12th -14th. When not distracted by the feathered-birds, Ron will be on FM and linear satellites as W6R. Keep an eye on Ron's Twitter feed for updates at the dates get closer at https://twitter.com/ad0dx Goose Bay, Labrador (FO-93) August 12-14, 2019 Chris, VE3FU, will be visiting family / friends and maintenance of his HF remote station in FO93, but he should be on the FM sats as VO2AC. Chris will try to post here before each pass, so keep an eye on his Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/ChrisVE3FU 6Y Jamaica (FK18) AUGUST 12-19, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF will be operating from Jamaica (IOTA NA-097 Grid FK18) in Satellite with the special call 6Y4NF from August 12 to 19. QRV Satellite in FM and SSB. QSL via LoTW. Keep an eye on Philippe's Twitter feed for further updates at https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT. AM1SAT (All Grids in Spain) September 9-15 AMSAT-EA will be transmitting its special call AM1SAT via all active satellites from September 9th to September 15th as part of the V RadioHam Fair IberRadio 2019 activities. IberRadio is the biggest event for the ham community in Southwest Europe and will open doors September 14th and 15th . Learn more about IberRadio at http://www.iberradio.es. AM1SAT call sign will be active from a minimum of 14 different grids during that time to help satellite operators to collect as much EA locators as possible. As part of this activity and in order to promote the participation, AMSAT-EA is sponsoring the AM1SAT Special Award in two categories: SILVER and GOLD More info available at https://www.amsat-ea.org/ and as a pdf at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-223-AMSAT-EA [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $33,250 raised or about 17% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + Upcoming Contacts Loreto College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS call sign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-15 09:17:06 UTC 53 deg Watch for live stream at www.ariotti.com starting about 15 min before AOS. + Completed Contacts Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3KT The ISS callsign was NA1SS. The astronaut was Nick Hague KG5TMV. Contact was successful: Thu 2019-08-08 10:36:37 UTC. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over + AMSAT Featured in Special 300th Edition of ICQ Podcast The ICQ Podcast team released their 300th edition on August 4, 2019 which features an interview with AMSAT Treasurer and Past President Keith Baker, KB1SF. Released fortnightly on a Sunday at 0900 GMT the ICQ Podcast is available either as an MP3 download or as a YouTube version with optional auto-generated subtitles. In this edition, Martin Butler, M1MRB is joined by Chris Howard, M0TCH, Dan Romanchik, KB6NU and Frank Howell, K4FMH to interview Keith. The interview begins at 1:10:30 into the show and can be heard at https://www.icqpodcast.com/ [AMSAT thanks Trevor Essex, M5AKA for the above information.] + OSCAR-94 Crashes on the Moon Lunar-OSCAR 94 (a.k.a. LongJiang 2 and DSLWP-B) crashed onto the far side of the Moon on July 31 around 14:08 UTC, ending its very successful amateur radio mission around the Moon. Launched on May 20, 2018, OSCAR achieved several historical firsts. The complete story can be read at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-223-OSCAR-94 [ANS thanks Nico Janssen, PA0DLO for the above information.] + ARRL Updates LOTW with Three New Satellites On August 5, 2019 the ARRL updated Logbook of the World to include three new satellites: BO-102, NO-103, and NO-104 this morning. [ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA for the above information.] + AMSAT-DL Building Antarctic Ground Station for QO-100 AMSAT-DL is hurriedly building a ground station for Antarctica that will link to QO-100. The purpose for the installation is to provide a scientific platform to engage students in studying climate change and its effects in the polar regions. Read the complete article at https://amsat-dl.org/en/wie-wird-die-antarktis-auf-qo-100-qrv/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL 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

1 0

Grid FM04 activation on 2019-08-10 - 1723 UTC - AO-91 pass
by John Brier 10 Aug '19

10 Aug '19

I will be on the pass in $subject in about an hour. 73, John Brier KG4AKV

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] Latest SpaceX GEO launch cost.
by John Kludt 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

All, Unless the sat happens to have a amateur radio assignment within it's bandpass (doubtful) they are of no use to us. Why all the tilting at windmills? Sancho Panza Sent from my Verizon Motorola Smartphone On Aug 9, 2019 09:49, Joe via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > I read that article twice, and I do not see any mention as the cost from > Space X to put the Sat into orbit. All I see if the cost of the Sat > only. Nothing about what it cost to get it into orbit. > > Joe WB9SBD > Sig > The Original Rolling Ball Clock > Idle Tyme > Idle-Tyme.com > http://www.idle-tyme.com > On 8/9/2019 8:31 AM, KC9SGV via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Hi All, > > Just saw this latest effort by SpaceX to launch the Israeli AMOS satellite into GEO orbit. > > The cost is staggering. > > > > Maybe we should go with somehow securing transponder bandwidth on existing GEO satellites as an alternative ? > > > > https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launch-today-live-stream-falcon-9-set-t… > > > > Bernard, > > KC9SGV > > > > > > Sent from my iPad > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 and Satellites Question
by Erich Eichmann 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

Hi Alan, check whether one of the selected sats is a geostationary one, e.g. QO-100, which does not rise and set but is continously in range. When I add QO-100 to the 'Selected' list, the Countown window does no longer sort the sats by their AOS/LOS times (but in alphabetical order). My friend LX1BB reports the same observation. 73s, Erich, DK1TB Am 09.08.2019 um 12:03 schrieb Alan Blind via AMSAT-BB: Umesh Here is the path the SatPC32 installer defaulted to. - :\Program Files (x86)\SatPC32\SatPC32ISS.exe" Another observation. When I use one of the groups included in the SatPC package, it sorts in the order of AOS. However, when I customize a group by adding new Sats, the customized list no longer sorts?? Alan On Fri, Aug 9, 2019 at 12:09 AM k6vug(a)sbcglobal.net <k6vug(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Works fine here, > > the only thing I can think of is that, I hope SatPC32 is NOT installed > under any Windows folders like Program Files 32 or Documents etc. > > Umesh > k6vug > > > On Thursday, August 8, 2019, 10:21:07 AM PDT, Alan Blind via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > > New to Satellites and SatPC32. > > Question - On the “CountDown” accessory, there are two buttons for > sorting > the list. I prefer to select “AOS/LOS Times”. When I select, the list > stays in the “Ident/Letters” order. > > What am I doing wrong? > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

3 4

Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 and Satellites Question
by Alan Blind 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

Umesh Here is the path the SatPC32 installer defaulted to. - :\Program Files (x86)\SatPC32\SatPC32ISS.exe" Another observation. When I use one of the groups included in the SatPC package, it sorts in the order of AOS. However, when I customize a group by adding new Sats, the customized list no longer sorts?? Alan On Fri, Aug 9, 2019 at 12:09 AM k6vug(a)sbcglobal.net <k6vug(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Works fine here, > > the only thing I can think of is that, I hope SatPC32 is NOT installed > under any Windows folders like Program Files 32 or Documents etc. > > Umesh > k6vug > > > On Thursday, August 8, 2019, 10:21:07 AM PDT, Alan Blind via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > > New to Satellites and SatPC32. > > Question - On the “CountDown” accessory, there are two buttons for sorting > the list. I prefer to select “AOS/LOS Times”. When I select, the list > stays in the “Ident/Letters” order. > > What am I doing wrong? > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-09 04:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 09 Aug '19

09 Aug '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-09 04:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3KT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV Contact was successful: Thu 2019-08-08 10:36:37 UTC 56 deg (***) Loreto College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV (***) Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-15 09:17:06 UTC 53 deg Watch for live stream at www.ariotti.comstarting about 15 min before AOS. The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) For many years I have on purpose not given the actual hyperlinks; I assume the user would do a copy/paste into their favorite browser. I am now thinking that the browsers have all grown up and most should be able to handle the link. Please let me know you experience any issues. So now you should be able to directly click on the link. (***) 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 2019-08-09 04:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2019-08-09 04:00 UTC. (***) http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 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: http://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) http://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 http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 136 (***) Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 120 **************************************************************************** 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 1326. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1269. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correctio… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Aleksey Ovchinin Nick Hague KG5TMV Exp. 60 on orbit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Alexander Skvortsov Drew Morgan KI5AAA **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

1 0

SatPC32 and Satellites Question
by Alan Blind 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

New to Satellites and SatPC32. Question - On the “CountDown” accessory, there are two buttons for sorting the list. I prefer to select “AOS/LOS Times”. When I select, the list stays in the “Ident/Letters” order. What am I doing wrong?

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT 50th Award
by David Bartholomew 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

Thank you, I will get on it. BTW, I know those special signed goldenrod certificates for the other award (50th Anniversary Communications Achievement) are probably long gone, but is the award itself still available? Dave AD7DB KI7UNJ wrote: David, To apply for this award, visit the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Award section in the AMSAT Online Store and select the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Friends of 50 Award. https://www.amsat.org/product/50th-anniversary-amsat-satellite-friends-of-5… In the comment section, enter or copy and paste the required log information, which must include: (1) Date, (2) UTC time, (3) Satellite name, and (4) Station worked. KI7UNJ

2 1

Full Duplux Radio?
by Brad Smith 08 Aug '19

08 Aug '19

Does anyone know if the Wouxin 8D radio is capable of full duplux for satelite use? Brad Smith KC9UQR

3 2

sonate satellite
by Larry Fields 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

Just curious has anyone heard anything from it yet and if not how soon do they normally make it mentioned. Just checking *Thanks and 73* *Larry Fields: du1/n6hpx* Manila PHILIPPINES Retired from Federal Government MSC Pac Office:(63)46-571-5687 cell: (63)916-756-7781 owner: https://boxchiptt.com/ https://www.facebook.com/n6hpx1 AMSAT Facebook Member ======================================================= LICENSED HAM RADIO OP: DX1PRS GROUP 145.340 mhz DX1PAR HF NET 7095.00 khz & 7143.00 khz ======================================================== DU1/N6HPX:QRX DX1PAR 7095 DX1PRS 7165 khz evening DX1PRS 145.340 mhz DX1L 431.9, SIMPLEX 144.6, FRS 462.550 2M 144.225 SSB , APRS n6hpx(-08) HT ============================================================= SATELLITE: APRS N6HPX-2 GATEWAY #Note:I listen to APRS

1 0

Yaesu G-5500 rotor control box
by JOEL KANDEL 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

Has anyone ever been successful in just purchasing the control box without the rotor motor? If please let me know how to go about it. Thank you in advance. Joel, KI4T Traveling at 300,000,000 meters per second

4 4

question for G5500DC owner
by ok2gz 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

I need to buy G5500 rotator. But now Yaesu produces G5500 with DC motors only, instead of AC in previous versions. My question is for owner of the new G5500 with DC motor. When DC motor in G5500 is working (turning) ,will noise increase in reciever (detectably, noticeably, can be weak)? (or other kind of interferece ?) Which kind of DC motor is in G500 used ? - with commutator, or brushless ? I am asking, because I had bad experience with some DC rotator (but it was not from YAESU!). I have experience with G5500 which has AC motors. There is no problem.. 73 Jarda ok2gz --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] Help with Spid rotor setup on Satpc32
by Richard Gussow 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

Hi Everyone, I wanted to thank Erich and the rest of the members here for the help in getting my Alpha Spid rotor working with SatPC32. Erich's responses solved the problem and the rotor and software are now working together. Rich 4Z1JJ On Tuesday, August 6, 2019, 11:58:18 PM GMT+3, Erich Eichmann <erich.eichmann(a)t-online.de> wrote: Hi Rich, after choosing AlphaSpid in the list of supported controllers press the UPPER 'Store' button. I suppose you clicked the 'Store' button at the bottom of the menu. Try that again, then restart SatPC32. If it still works SatPC32 will start ServerSpid and display it as symbol in the taskbar. Click on the symbol to display the program normally for further settings (COM port etc.) If that doesn't work (because you used already the 'Search' button): The file you need is ServerSpid.exe in the sub folder Spid of the SatPC32 program folder. To choose it open menu 'Rotor Setup' and click 'Search'. Then navigate to C:\Program Files(x86)\SatPC32\Spid\ServerSpid.exe and double click on the file name. Then click the upper Store button and restart SatPC32. The attached screenshot shows the path to ServerSpid.exe on this Laptop. 73s. Erich, DK1TB Am 06.08.2019 um 20:11 schrieb Richard Gussow: Hi Erich, First of all, thank you for developing such a great program. Secondly, thank you for personally responding to my query. Sorry my reply is a bit delayed, but work took priority (I guess I have the wrong priorities). I chose AlphaSpid and stored that, exited the program through File/Quit. I restarted and that didn't work. I then used the Search button located in the Rotor Setup menu. It came up with 2 files under the Spid directory: ROTSERVPOS.SQF and SPIDPARAM.SQF. I selected the first one, stored, exited and upon restart, I received the message that it could not find file ROTSERVPOS.EXE. I then selected the second one, and upon restart I received a message that it could not find SPIDPARAM.EXE. I did a search of my PC and could not find either of these files anywhere. Should they have been installed during the setup? Should I do a reinstall of the program? Any suggestions from you or anyone else on the great forum would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rich 4Z1JJ On Monday, August 5, 2019, 10:54:50 PM GMT+3, Erich Eichmann <erich.eichmann(a)t-online.de> wrote: Hi Rich, The LPT ports are only used with the old parallel port interfaces (IF-100, FODTrack etc.). Open the list of supported rotor controllers at the top of menu 'Rotor Setup' and choose item 'AlfaSpid'. 73s, Erich, DK1TB Am 05.08.2019 um 21:00 schrieb Richard Gussow via AMSAT-BB: > Hi everyone, > I was wondering if someone can help me with an issue I am having with setting up Satpc32 and my Spid Ras rotor. SatPC32 asks for a parallel port of 1-4 in the set up menu, while the Spid Ras controller set up a serial port (com port 8 in my case). How do I reconcile the two? > Thanks, > Rich4Z1JJ > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

1 0

Theseus Cores PFB Channelizer - update!
by Michelle Thompson 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

Good news. The Theseus Cores RFNoC polyphase filter bank channelizer is working. The channel 0 timeouts, which were a vexing problem, seem to be gone thanks to hard work from EJ Kreinar and Phillip Vallance. This particular part is vital for FDMA to TDM type payloads and groundsats. Having a fast, efficient, open source implementation that works in GNU Radio is a big step forward. We are taking the entire setup with us to DEFCON. We are using a linux computer and a USRP. Experiments so far have been on the VHF ham bands and FM broadcast. Next step, move it up to microwave and demonstrate Phase 4 Ground channelization. If you're at DEFCON, come by and see us in ham radio village! There's a license exam session, demonstrations, presentations, and lots of socializing. More soon! -Michelle W5NYV

2 2

Next Rocketlab launch (number 8) due 16 August
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 07 Aug '19

07 Aug '19

Next Rocketlab launch is scheduled for 16 August 12:57 UTC. See: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/ 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-07 02:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-07 02:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3KT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-08 10:36:37 UTC 56 deg Loreto College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-15 09:17:06 UTC 53 deg Watch for live stream at www.ariotti.com starting about 15 min before AOS. (***) The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) For many years I have on purpose not given the actual hyperlinks; I assume the user would do a copy/paste into their favorite browser. I am now thinking that the browsers have all grown up and most should be able to handle the link. Please let me know you experience any issues. So now you should be able to directly click on the link. (***) 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 2019-08-07 02:30 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2019-07-27 22:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 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: http://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) http://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 http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 120 **************************************************************************** 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 1325. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1268. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correctio… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Aleksey Ovchinin Nick Hague KG5TMV Exp. 60 on orbit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Alexander Skvortsov Drew Morgan KI5AAA **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

1 0

Upcoming ARISS contact with Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan on 08 Aug. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:36 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and 8N3KT. The contact should be audible over the country of Japan and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. It is Kyoto Tachibana junior & senior high school opened to the "Fushimi Kyoto". The 115th anniversary of foundation was celebrated two years ago. We have about 1100 students. We have many activities and experience to realize "Independent and Community Life". Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. When is the most exciting time in space? 2. What does space smell like? 3. What impressed you most in space? 4. When did you start to think you wanted to go to space? 5. There are a lot of unmanned satellite in space, but why don't you hit them? 6. Have you ever seen the UFO? 7. Which tastes better, the food we usually eat on earth, or space food? 8. How many personal items are astronauts allowed to take into space? 9. How would you describe the space in one word? 10. Please tell me about the differences in temperature between sun lit and shaded areas outside of the space station? 11. What would you do if you encountered aliens? 12. Where would you prefer to live, in space or on the earth, if you were to live in one place for your entire life? 13. What is the best thing about being an astronaut? 14. When you see the earth from space, is there any difference between day and night? 15. Do you believe in aliens? 16. What is the thing you want to do the most after you get back to the earth? 17. What made you want to be an astronaut? 18. Can you take away your stress get your energy back after you sleep in space? 19. What is earth like when it is night in Japan? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): 1. Loreto College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-15 09:17:06 UTC 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 (STEM) 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. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

1 0

Budget approach
by Michael 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Ahh geez, here goes someone making sense again! Don't you hate it when they do that?! Michael, W4HIJ It dawned on me that the present culture at AMSAT (and elsewhere) may not support a transparent "resources of the crowd" collaborative approach. (Duh, right? Lol). Here's an entirely different pathway to success: With the goal of getting the AMSAT-DL Phase 3E bird into orbit (as an example), publish the required money and start actively fund raising. To be clear, the required money can't be "millions of dollars" it has to be unambiguous; like $9,242,200. Then, hire a grant writer and a fund-raising organization with the existing AMSAT budget (a small amount of money leverages much more money). If the present AMSAT budget is not sufficient, then determine how much money it will take to hire them and fund-raise for that from friends and family (AMSAT members and enthusiastic non-members). Post a fund raising "thermometer" on AMSAT.org and the world can watch the success grow before their eyes! Ev, W2EV PS: maybe a hybrid approach?? I'd bet that there's someone on this list who's 6-degrees of separation can get to Bezos or Musk to help to reduce even that budget. PPS: I have an idea that could provide incentive to either of these guys, if they could be reached...but "what are the chances, really"?

1 0

Help with Spid rotor setup on Satpc32
by Richard Gussow 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Hi everyone, I was wondering if someone can help me with an issue I am having with setting up Satpc32 and my Spid Ras rotor. SatPC32 asks for a parallel port of 1-4 in the set up menu, while the Spid Ras controller set up a serial port (com port 8 in my case). How do I reconcile the two? Thanks, Rich4Z1JJ

2 2

Is there any interest...
by Ev Tupis 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

... in pursuing a more open project plan that would make it easier for those with personal skill, resources or contacts to more directly contribute to a launch? Even a private note to say, "yes, I think we'll be looking into that" would be nice. I'm unsure how to digest the silence. :-) Ev, W2EV

4 5

Lunar-OSCAR 94 SK
by Nico Janssen 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Lunar-OSCAR 94 (a.k.a. LongJiang 2 and DSLWP-B) crashed onto the far side of the Moon on July 31 around 14:08 UTC, ending its very successful amateur radio mission around the Moon. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2019/longjiang-2-impacts-moon.ht… 73, Nico PA0DLO

2 1

TLEdoctor program to check for preliminary TLE data
by Jarda 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

The program can easily detect and fix the TLE preliminary data errors for working in satellite programs after launching the satellite in orbit The original version of the program released before launching Fox-1D works in Windows-7 and higher. Version that works in Windows XP is now added. The program name for Win-XP changes to TLEdoctor. Both programs can be downloaded at http://oscar.ok2gz.eu/fox1d.php 73 Jarda ok2gz --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

2 1

FUNcube-1/AO73 Operations - Satellite entering continous sunlight mode
by Jim Heck 06 Aug '19

06 Aug '19

Hi Folks, FUNCube-1/AO-73 is due to enter continuous sunlight in a few days time and the operations team have decided to set the satellite to full time education mode (full power beacon with NO transponder, no eclipse auto switching). One of the effects of this is that the temperature of the satellite will increase. This will allow us to follow the effects of continuous sunlight more easily, and also in theory should keep the satellite cooler (more energy radiated from the structure as RF) We predict that the satellite will start experiencing eclipses again on approximately 7 May 2020. We may put the satellite back into transponder mode while it is in continuous sunlight, and if we plan to do this we will make an announcement here 73 Jim G3WGM and the FUNcube team

1 0

ARRL/TAPR DCC - Call for Technical Presentations & Papers
by Mark Thompson 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

2019 ARRL/TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference) Detroit, MI (near airport) September 20 - 22 Call for Technical Presentations & Papers Technical Presentations & Papers are solicited for presentation at the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference and publication in the Conference Proceedings. Annual conference proceedings are published by the ARRL. Presentation at the conference is not required for publication. A Technical Paper is not required to make a Technical Presentation at DCC. If interested in making a Technical Presentation please contact TAPR President, Steve Bible, N7HPR at steven.bible(a)gmail.com Submission of technical papers are due by August 12, 2019 and should be submitted to: Maty Weinberg, ARRL 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 or via the Internet to maty(a)arrl.org Full Details on Call for Papers & Submission Guidelines at: https://www.tapr.org/dcc#dcccallforpapers

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT 50th Award
by David Bartholomew 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

OK. So I qualified and I've assembled my list of fifty contact-days. Now what, does this award need pre-approval? Or just go for the award, pay and include the list? Dave AD7DB

2 1

The pure-budget based approach
by Ev Tupis 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

It dawned on me that the present culture at AMSAT (and elsewhere) may not support a transparent "resources of the crowd" collaborative approach. (Duh, right? Lol). Here's an entirely different pathway to success: With the goal of getting the AMSAT-DL Phase 3E bird into orbit (as an example), publish the required money and start actively fund raising. To be clear, the required money can't be "millions of dollars" it has to be unambiguous; like $9,242,200. Then, hire a grant writer and a fund-raising organization with the existing AMSAT budget (a small amount of money leverages much more money). If the present AMSAT budget is not sufficient, then determine how much money it will take to hire them and fund-raise for that from friends and family (AMSAT members and enthusiastic non-members). Post a fund raising "thermometer" on AMSAT.org and the world can watch the success grow before their eyes! Ev, W2EV PS: maybe a hybrid approach? I'd bet that there's someone on this list who's 6-degrees of separation can get to Bezos or Musk to help to reduce even that budget. PPS: I have an idea that could provide incentive to either of these guys, if they could be reached...but "what are the chances, really"? :-)

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-05 22:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-08-05 22:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3KT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-08 10:36:37 UTC 56 deg Loreto College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-15 09:17:06 UTC 53 deg (***) The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) For many years I have on purpose not given the actual hyperlinks; I assume the user would do a copy/paste into their favorite browser. I am now thinking that the browsers have all grown up and most should be able to handle the link. Please let me know you experience any issues. So now you should be able to directly click on the link. (***) 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 2019-08-05 22:30 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2019-07-27 22:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 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: http://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) http://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 http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 120 **************************************************************************** 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 1325. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1268. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correctio… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Aleksey Ovchinin Nick Hague KG5TMV Exp. 60 on orbit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Alexander Skvortsov Drew Morgan KI5AAA **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

1 0

ANS-217.02 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced, Tickets Now Available
by Paul Stoetzer 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-217.02 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced, Tickets Now Available SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-217.02 ANS-217.02 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 217.02 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE August 5, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-217.02 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced, Tickets Now Available AMSAT is pleased to announce that the AMSAT Symposium Saturday Evening Banquet on Saturday, October 19th will feature a panel of guest speakers presenting “The Foundations of AMSAT” followed by a question and answer period. Guest speakers will include: Lance Ginner, K6GSJ (Project OSCAR) George Jacobs, W3ASK (Author, Diplomat) Dr. Perry Klein, W3PK (Founding President of AMSAT) Dr. Owen Mace (Australis-OSCAR 5 Builder, University of Melbourne) Richard Tonkin (Australis-OSCAR 5 Builder, University of Melbourne) Jan King, W3GEY (Founding member of AMSAT and Australis-OSCAR 5 Project Manager) The 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting will be held on Friday through Sunday, October 18-20, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia at The Hilton Arlington. Symposium registration is available for $60 from now until September 15th. Banquet tickets are $55. Tickets are now available on the AMSAT Store at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-symposium/ Tickets are also now available for the Sunday tour. On Sunday, October 20th, a bus tour will take attendees to the the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the National Air and Space Museum. Two large hangars display thousands of aviation and space artifacts, including a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, and the Space Shuttle Discovery. Bus capacity is limited to 35 attendees. Tickets are $30 per person. Attendees who wish to drive may also join the tour group. Parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center is $15. On Monday, October 21st, AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, will lead a walking tour of the National Mall. No reservations are required. Transportation to the National Mall will be via the Washington Metro. Additional information, including hotel reservation information is available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/ [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

1 0

LOTW update
by Andrew Glasbrenner 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

The ARRL updated LOTW to include BO-102, NO-103, and NO-104 this morning. Happy logging! 73, Drew KO4MA

1 0

50th Anniversary awards question
by skristof＠etczone.com 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

For the "50TH ANNIVERSARY AMSAT SATELLITE FRIENDS OF 50 AWARD" do the contacts have to be 50 different individuals (i.e. 50 different callsigns) or just a contact with anybody on 50 different days (could be a QSO with the same person on 50 different days)? Steve AI9IN

1 0

ANS-217 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - BRICSAT2 and PSAT2 Designated Navy-OSCAR 103 (NO-103) and Navy-OSCAR 104 (NO-104)
by Paul Stoetzer 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-217 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * BRICSAT2 and PSAT2 Designated Navy-OSCAR 103 (NO-103) and Navy- OSCAR 104 (NO-104) SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-217.01 ANS-217 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 217.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE August 5, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-217.01 BRICSAT2 and PSAT2 Designated Navy-OSCAR 103 (NO-103) and Navy- OSCAR 104 (NO-104) On June 25, 2019, the United States Naval Academy PSAT2 and BRICSAT2 cubesats were launched on a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. PSAT2 and BRICSAT2 were developed by Naval Academy students in the USNA Satellite Lab and operated in cooperation with the USNA Amateur Radio Club. PSAT2 carries a PSK31 transponder, digipeater, SSTV-downlinked camera images, and a DTMF to voice/APRS system. BRICSAT2 carries a digipeater and thruster experiment. Both satellites are currently active. At the request of the Naval Academy Amateur Radio Club, AMSAT hereby designates BRICSAT2 as Navy-OSCAR 103 (NO-103), and PSAT2 as Navy- OSCAR 104 (NO-104). We congratulate the owners and operators, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them a long mission and continued success on this and future projects. 73, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator [ANS thanks AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, for the above information.] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

1 0

CY9C
by jeff griffin 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

CY9C is active on the linear birds. Just worked him on XW-2A.. 73 Jeff kb2m

4 3

PSAT2 DTMF messages now enabled
by Robert Bruninga 05 Aug '19

05 Aug '19

PY5LF pointed out that the DTMF grid uplink has been working fine on PSAT2, and generating QSO numbers, but that the QSL response so people can make two-way contacts was not working. That was because we did not have DTMF Messaging enabled. The QSL response is a message and so we enabled that this morning. To QSL a GRID QSO number you simply send back a message #40 with his QSO number to complete the exchange. See the other 90 or so DTMF messages on PSAT2: http://aprs.org/psat2.html Bob, Wb4APR

1 0

UISS Satgate Mode
by Robert Smith 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

Aloha I recently obtained the UISS Satgate module. After downloading and installing I ran into several problems (self induced I am sure): 1. When trying to connect to satgate.aprsca.net:14580, I recv. the error message “Can’t connect to Satgate.aprsca.net:14580.” This happens when using the “Connect” command in the module. In Prgm. settings the host is satgate.aprsca.net. The validation no. I am using is a 5 digit no. I recvd. from UIView many years ago (I had a viable satgate back when but discontinued for several years). 2. My “normal” UISS no longer displays incoming traffic nor the digipeat of my packets in RED. This situation exists whether I am in UISS only or have both UISS and and the Satgate open. 3. I am able to view incoming packets with some accessory routines but wud like to get back to seeing those nice “RED” incomings and obviously I would like a functional satgate Any guidance appreciated. Mahalo Respectfully, And 73 Robert, NH7WN Honolulu Sent from my iPhone

2 1

PO-101?
by skristof＠etczone.com 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

Did anybody else try PO-101 just now (around 1900 UTC)? I didn't hear a thing. I also tried calling but didn't hear myself and got no responses. Steve AI9IN

2 2

FPGA iCEBreaker Workshop - digital communications for amateur satellites
by Michelle Thompson 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

Greetings all! Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are one of three fundamental types of digital architectures used for communications R&D. The others are general purpose processors and graphical processing units (GPUs). This fall, in San Diego, California, there will be an FPGA course sponsored by Open Research Institute. There are 10 spots with amateur space communications as the focus of the work. FPGAs are a primary technology in modern satellite communications. They're used in R&D and in deployment. It is difficult to get started with FPGA design for several reasons. The tools have traditionally been proprietary. The companies that make the tools price them for large corporations to buy. Coursework for FPGA design is rare. This is where iCEBreaker makes a difference. An iCEBreaker Workshop 10 pack has been made available, and arrived today. This kit is described at this link https://www.crowdsupply.com/1bitsquared/icebreaker-fpga We (me and a few other local volunteers) will use this hardware to put on a course for anyone interested in amateur radio satellite and terrestrial development. All course materials will be published. The first course will be in San Diego. If you're in the area, please get in touch! MakerPlace and CoLab are the likely sites. Later workshops could be at places like Symposium, Xenia, or Hamcation. The full course cannot be accomplished in a day, but a workshop could get the basics across and provide a substantial boost to motivated amateur satellite engineering volunteers. Let me know what you think! more soon, -Michelle W5NYV

2 2

AM1SAT Event Sept 9-15, 2019
by Robert Bankston 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

AMSAT-EA will be on the air with the AM1SAT callsign from September 9 to 15 to celebrate IberRadio 2019. The goal is to operate from every EA grid on all available satellites with the AM1SAT callsign. Please visit https://www.amsat-ea.org/ for more info, or download the AM1SAT info sheet https://www.amsat-ea.org/app/download/11555713/AMSAT+EA+-+AM1SAT+CONTEST+RU… 73, Robert Bankston, KE4ALVice-President, User ServicesRadio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

1 0

ICQ Podcast interview with AMSAT Treasurer and Past President Keith Baker KB1SF
by M5AKA 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

The popular ICQ Amateur Radio Podcast has been running for over 11 years and on August 4, 2019, the ICQ Podcast team released their 300th edition which features an interview with Treasurer and Past President of AMSAT Keith Baker KB1SF, listen at https://amsat-uk.org/2019/08/04/amsat-in-300th-icq-podcast/ SSA defends 23cm band against Galileo threat https://amsat-uk.org/2019/08/01/ssa-defense-of-23cm-band-against-galileo-th… AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium Milton Keynes October 12-13 https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

1 0

Yaesu G-5500
by BeetleJerald Oliver 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

Well, it finally happened....After 14 years, my Yaesu G-5500 rotator blew a fuse......I think it is just the controller, but not sure yet.Any suggestions beside the obvious yaesu repair facility? I will be down until I get it fixed...... Jerry...KJ4EU

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite pirates.
by tjschuessler＠verizon.net 04 Aug '19

04 Aug '19

The biggest satellite pirate was "Captain Midnight" the guy who was able to overpower the uplink signal for HBO on Hughes Galaxy 1 (If I remember right). This whole incident caused the FCC to enact rules that continuously Identified the RF uplink (ATIS, Automatic Transmit ID System, I thing again I am remembering right). Every satellite uplink truck, flypack and permanent site had to have uplinks capable of doing this. Some were IDs burned into the vertical interval, some as CW IDs. One of the first piracy solutions for both uplink and downlink was the analog enription schemes that began to be popular in the later 1980s that killed the TVRO C Band backyard dish industry. Tom, N5HYP Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 09:34:08 -0700 From: Bryan Green <bryan(a)kl7cn.net> To: Mike Diehl <diehl.mike.a(a)gmail.com> Cc: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org, Ground Station <ground-station(a)lists.openresearch.institute> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite pirates. Message-ID: <CBC405C1-CE4C-4F2E-8A45-DDDB7B0A8C7F(a)kl7cn.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Perhaps he meant the Brazilian folk who commonly use the uncontrolled US Navy satellites for communication: https://www.wired.com/2009/04/fleetcom/ -- bag Bryan KL7CN/W6 bryan(a)kl7cn.net > On Aug 3, 2019, at 09:30, Mike Diehl via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > The article you linked to was quite lengthy so I skimmed over it. From what I can tell it?s all about receiving pay television programming. Cant figure out how this applies to an amateur radio satellite. > > 73, > Mike Diehl > W8LID/VE6LID > >> On Aug 3, 2019, at 07:28, KC9SGV via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: >> >> ?Hi All, >> Just getting into this aspect of GEO satellite security... >> I found this very informative, though old article about satellite >> pirates and their hacking techniques in the old days of satellite TV >> (ca. 1993) >> >> Since any new ham GEO satellite might be an emolation of these earlier TV satellites, it is imperative that some sort of security for the system might be prudent. >> >> http://www.nmia.com/~roberts/sat.pirates >> >> Bernard, >> KC9SGV >> >> >> Sent from my iPad >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. >> Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: >> https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] AO-91
by George Carr 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

Kevin, Thank you for your email. I just sat down to offer my apology to all on that AO-91 pass when I read your email suggesting I was on simplex.. ("Were you operating simplex on AO-91? A bunch of stations including me came back to you. You were also TX on top of people who were already in QSO, adding to the confusion that a weekend FM bird already has. Hope to work you sometime soon.") Here is my narrative of the sad situation: I pressed the mic ppt when I was in the footprint and id'd. I heard my signal. I was dumbfounded no one was on the pass, yet, I could hear my voice coming back! Very strange. As you rightly said, I announced my presence a few more times and each time heard my signal...but no others...in the headset. My interference was not intentional. And, I am very embarrassed and apologetic for that interference. When the pass ended, I took off my headset and went to turn down the Receive audio gain. IT WAS ALREADY DOWN! I turned it up and only then realized that here were others on the pass. I had the transmit monitor on! I felt terrible as I instantly knew I had to have caused interference to others. My only defense (and a poor one at that) is that I have been experiencing periods of confusion and yes, dimentia. If I might, let me express my sadness that after 55 years of hamming, I have really messed up! My apologies to all. 73 George WA5KBH On Sat, Aug 3, 2019 at 6:20 PM Kevin Zari <kk4yel(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Were you operating simplex on AO-91? > a bunch of stations including me came back to you. You were also TX on top > of people who were already in QSO, adding to the confusion that a weekend > FM bird already has. > Hope to work you sometime soon > -Kevin > > -- George Carr Certified Chip Carving Instructor Amateur Radio Station - WA5KBH

3 2

MMSSTV with 9700
by Richard Lawn 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

Is anyone using MMSSTV with their 9700. I'd be interested in knowing what settings you've used in the MMSSTV setup screen. TNX 73 Rick, W2JAZ

3 2

AMSAT Awards Update
by Bruce 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

Here we are, the first half of 2019, I have been posting all the Rover Awards on my Twitter account and tagging @AMSAT. I will include all the Rover Awards here for those that do not have Twitter. What will you be doing for AMSAT's 50th Anniversary for the rest of 2019? Operating awards are in full swing and hope you are enjoying them, AMSAT Members and Non-AMSAT Members can participate. AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO Gerald Clouatre, AG5AY Wil Marchant, KW4WZ Bob Keating, N6REK Russ McRee, N3SC John Colville, KC7JPC James Lawson, KC2JED Wayne Morris, AC5V Robert Fielder, Jr, KE4H Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT Tamir Rosenberg, N6JJ David Hoffmann, KL1XI Pedro Dutra Sousa, CU2ZG From Youngsters on the Air in South Africa Jan, ZS4RAL James Lea, ZS6/WX4TV Faith Lea, ZS6/AE4FH Mateo Frigo, ZS6/IU2GGL Franciesco De Giudici, ZS6/IU3GNB Domantas Petrauskas, ZS6/LY1JA Linas Dragunas, ZS6/LY5AT Matthias Pistrol, ZS6/OE1MPR Benjamin Veitschegger, ZS6/OE3BVB Wilhelm Elofson, ZS6/SA6BET Kyle Hooper, ZS6KH Youngsters on the Air, ZS9YOTA Robert van der Meulen, ZU6BOB ------ AMSAT Communications Achievement Award ** Note - Number 590-599 and 601-610 were the special 50th Anniversary Certificates Dmitry Krglov, UA4RAB, #588 Bob Keating, N6REK, #589 Ronald Parsons, W5RKN, #590 Chris Tabor, K7TAB, #591 Brian Karcher, KG5GJT, #592 Christy Hunber, KB6LTY, #593 John E. Stone, KC9VGG, #594 Frank Westphal, K6FW, #595 Dwight Fletcher, N1RCN, #596 David Loftus, K5IX, #597 Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, #598 Casey Tucker, KI7UNJ, #599 Gary Pritchard, W5RTX, #600 Adrian Liggins, VA3NNA, #601 Andrew Northam, KE8FZT, #602 Ruth Willet, KM4LAO, #603 Mike Styne, K2MTS, #604 Robert Hudson, VE3CWU, #605 Stephen Nordahl, NS3L, #606 James Oulman, K4WPX, #607 Paul Locke, KB4PML, #608 Nicholas Mahr, KE8AKW, #609 Robert Sours, K9UO, #610 Brandon Nuss, WH6ETF, #611 Anthony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, #612 James Lawson, KC2JED, #613 Micha Klein, 4Z1KM, #614 Dennis Madarang, KD2QET, #615 David Hoffmann, KL1XI, #616 Robert Switzer, KA2CZU, #617 Cal Spreizter, N3CAL, #618 Pedro Dutra Sousa, CU2ZG, #619 ------ AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award Michael Lozano, KI7WIB, #US211 Bob Keating, N6REK, #US212 Gary Pritchard, W5RTX, #US213 Brandon Nuss, WH6ETF, #US214 Anthony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, #US215 James Lawson, KC2JED, #US216 Dennis MadarangKD2QET, #US217 David Hoffmann, KL1XI, #US218 Robert Switzer, KA2CZU, #US219 Cal Spreitzer, N3CAL, #US220 Pedro Dutra Sousa, CU2ZG, #US221 ------ AMSAT Sexagesimal Communications Achievement Award Pedro Dutra Sousa, CU2ZG, #183 ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award Charles Reiche, N3CRT, #97 Frank Westphal, K6FW, upgraded to 4,000 Adrian Liggins, VA3NNA, upgraded to 4,000 ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI 5,000 Award Adrian Liggins, VA3NNA, #35 ------ AMSAT Rover Award (New for 2019) Rover Call ===== ======== 041 KI7UNJ 042 CJ7EWK/3 043 N7EGY 73...bruce To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org and click on Services the Awards Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 14, Issue 296 (Waving an antenna)
by Michael 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

You miss the point. Of course there is room for all types and not once did I suggest that anyone using a handheld antenna is some sort of "low life". I'm just saying that IMO the easysat mentality has been run in the ground as a selling point for this branch of the hobby. AMSAT needs to break out of that mold and do something new! I'm begging! But, it falls on deaf ears. BTW, that doesn't mean pie in the sky stuff that everyone knows has no chance to come to fruition. I'm not that gullible. I'll crawl back in my hole now, lurk on the reflector and hope for better days when we are pushing the envelope again rather than becoming an also ran. I guess my dues money and paltry donations don't make a difference to the organization. None the less, I will continue to withhold them till I see some change, although I won't be holding my breath! Again, just one man's opinion but if we just continue to maintain the status quo as it stands now, I see a dim future for this organization. Sigh... 73, Michael, W4HIJ > Message: 4 > Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2019 18:31:07 +0000 (UTC) > From: Brad Smith <corlissbs(a)aol.com> > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Waving An Antenna > Message-ID: <1624430397.216251.1564684267582(a)mail.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > <I don't mean to suggest there's anything wrong with easy. I just think, > as a selling point, it's run it's course is all. How many times are you > going to watch a guy at a hamfest with an HT and a handheld? antenna > exchange grid squares? I would think sooner or later people just walk on > by.? "Seen it already, where's the new rigs?" > > There is room in this hobby for all types of radio/satellite contact. I have recently introduced two other hams to satellites by "waving an antenna." They both bought Arrow 2 antennas and now are having great fun with the birds. If I had a rotor system on a tripod, these people would have passed it up as too complicated. Our ham club is going to build our own stressed moxon antennas so everyone can work the birds. Depending if one is trying to get people into the satellite hobby or dazzle them with technology, one has to tailor the display to the crowd. Yes, I belong to the KISS club. (Keep It Simple Stupid) But on the other hand, I do work the SSB birds, receive SSTV images from the ISS and am learning to send packets. I welcome the new ideas. If I have to buy a new radio, so be it. If I have to pay for some air time, so be it. If I have a learning curve, so be it. But I still will be the low life out there waving an Arrow 2 antenna because it is fun, gets the job done, and still gi > ves me a thrill. And all my neighbors think I should have a tin foil hat as I stand in my yard with my antenna in the air.? Brad KC9UQR > > > >

8 11

ANS-216 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Mark D. Johns 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-216 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * CAS-7B Designated BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102) * AMSAT and ARISS Designing Amateur Radio System for Lunar Gateway * ARISS SSTV Owen Garriott Event Underway * AMSAT Member Named Young Ham of the Year * AMSAT member Wins Alabama Outstanding Youth Ham Award * ARISS Next Gen System Completes Critical Flight Certification Tests * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2019 * LightSail 2 Successfully Demonstrates Flight by Light * Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for August 1, 2019 * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-216.01 ANS-216 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 216.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE YYY To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-216.01 CAS-7B Designated BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102) On July 25, 2019, the CAS-7B (BP-1B) microsatellite was launched on a Hyperbola-1 launch vehicle from the Jiuquan Space Center, China. CAS-7B (BP-1B) was developed by the Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT), and in cooperation with the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). CAMSAT completed the project planning, design, build, and testing, and manages the on-orbit operation of the satellite. BIT provided the satellite environmental testing, launch support, and financial support. Many students from BIT were involved with the project, learning about satellite technology and amateur radio. The satellite carries a CW telemetry beacon and FM repeater that has been active since launch. At the request of CAMSAT and the BIT team, AMSAT hereby designates CAS-7B (BP-1B) as BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102). We congratulate the owners and operators of BO-102, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects. [ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations and OSCAR Number Administrator, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT and ARISS Designing Amateur Radio System for Lunar Gateway As announced at the AMSAT Forun at the Dayton Hamvention, AMSAT and ARISS are working on the design of a ham radio system for NASA's Lunar Gateway. The Gateway will be a small spaceship in orbit around the Moon that will provide access to more of the lunar surface than ever before with living quarters for astronauts, a lab for science and re- search, ports for visiting spacecraft, and more. First sections of the Gateway are scheduled for launch in 2022. To make this happen we are leveraging the work and expertise of the world-wide AMSAT organizations and the international ARISS community in this endeavor. We have an international team working this and are meeting 2x a month to mature the concept. In May we presented our solid concept to NASA and got great, positive feedback. This was followed up a few weeks later at the ARISS-I meeting at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in Montreal where we received great feedback from the CSA Gateway Program Manager after he saw our presentation. The AREx (Amateur Radio Exploration) team have done some really good work. The challenge for amateurs will be on the order of a 30 dB signal path loss as compared to LEO. But the link margins on our de- sign seem to close. AMSAT NA, UK & DL and ARISS-together--are working this phenomenal ham radio challenge. Come to the AMSAT-NA Symposium in DC to hear more. [ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium will be held October 18-20 in Arlington, VA. For details, see: https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS SSTV Owen Garriott Event Underway ARISS celebrates the life and accomplishments of astronaut, scientist and ham radio pioneer Owen Garriott with a commemorative SSTV event featuring images from Garriott's work with ham radio during his missions in space. The event began on August 1 at 09:40 UTC and is scheduled to end at 18:15 UTC on August 4. There are currently twelve separate images being sent at 145.800 MHz FM in the SSTV mode PD-120. As always, activities are subject to change dictated by the crew's schedule. Once received, images can be posted and viewed by the public at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php and users can receive a special SSTV ARISS Award for posting images. See https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/ for details. Also for simplicity, a new information tab for SSTV events has been added to the ARISS website, under the General Contacts pulldown menu at www.ariss.org. The latest updates can also be found at the ARISS Facebook site Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and on Twitter @ ARISS_status. [ANS thanks ARISS and Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Member Named Young Ham of the Year Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, of Normal, Illinois, has been selected as the 2019 Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year. Dhruv, 15, is the son of Hari Rebba, VU2SPZ, and Shailaja Panyam. He is entering his sophomore year at the Normal Community High School this fall. He is a member of the Central Illinois Radio Club. Dhruv earned his Technician Class license in 2013 when he was only 9 years old. He followed it up by passing the test for a General Class license a year later. Dhruv says his interest in amateur radio was sparked by a 2013 visit to the Dayton Hamvention(R) with his father, a long-time amateur radio operator from India who settled in the U.S. "He was going to the Hamvention and so I wanted to tag along," Dhruv recalls. "There I got to see all the cool stuff like the Morse-Code keyers and all the radios and everything and I decided to start study- ing for my Technician class." After getting his license, Dhruv became involved in Field Days and public service events with the Central Illinois Radio Club, including the "We Care Twin Cities Marathon" and the "Hop on for Hope Bike Ride/ Walk." Dhruv says he found a way to combine his interest in space and engineering with his new hobby. He joined AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satel- lite Corporation) and pursued his dream of a school contact with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. In October 2017, he served as the lead control operator for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with students at his school - the Chiddix Junior High School in Normal, IL - with astronaut Joe Acaba, KE5DAR. In late July of this year, Dhruv helped to facilitate another ARISS contact with international Scouts attend- ing the World Jamboree in West Virginia and monitored the contact from his home. ARISS presentations at Dayton and Huntsville, his selection as an ARISS mentor and networking with those putting together the ARISS con- tact for the World Jamboree led to his role in the July 2019 contact. In 2018, Dhruv was selected for the Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX Adventure. He traveled to Curacao Island in July 2018 where the PJ2Y team made a record 6,262 contacts with 135 countries over five days. Dhruv says he enjoyed operating his favorite mode, SSB. Dhruv has earned many accolades for his amateur radio pursuits including the "Young Ham Lends A Hand" award at the 2019 Dayton Hamvention Youth Forum; "Presidential Award" from AMSAT; and the "Young Achievers Award" from the Radio Club of America. He also has traveled to India to promote amateur radio awareness and spoke at the ZPH School, NP Kunta, India in January 2018. He discussed the importance of wireless communications and their role during disas- ters. Dhruv started the "Universal Help Foundation" to help underpriv- ileged students on a global scale. Among his first projects was a digi- tal project at a girls' high school in NP Kunta, India this past Jan- uary. Dhruv also has an interest in robotics and has worked as a mentor helping elementary school students build robots. This past April, Dhruv's "MetalCow Robotics" team finished fourth overall in the international competition sponsored by NASA in Detroit. Dhruv says a visit to the AMSAT booth at the 2019 Dayton Hamvention prompted him to sign on for the "Amateur Radio Exploration on the Moon" project. "We're designing an amateur radio system to be on the Gateway Space Station and the Moon," he says. Dhruv will be recog- nized during the Huntsville Hamfest on Aug. 17 in the Von Braun Center, Huntsville AL. The Young Ham of the Year was inaugurated by William Pasternak, WA6ITF, in 1986. Upon his passing in 2015, Bill's name was added to the award as a memorial to his commitment to recognizing the accomplishments of young people to the amateur radio service. Amateur Radio Newsline, CQ Magazine and Yaesu USA are primary sponsors of the award, along with Heil Sound Ltd. and Radiowavz Antenna Company. [ANS thanks CQ Communications, Inc. for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT member Wins Alabama Outstanding Youth Ham Award The 2019 Alabama Outstanding Youth Ham Award goes to Marissa Robledo, W4AQT. This particular Amateur Radio operator gazes at and studies the skies almost daily. She has a deep interest in satellite communication and loves sharing that interest with others. Her passion is evident in awards she has received, forums where she has presented, along with the activities in which she participates. Marissa is a twelve year old General class license-holder who lives in Montgomery, AL and is devoted to consistently learning and growing in the great hobby of Amateur Radio. She exhibits enthusiasm, knowledge, and rapid growth in many areas of Amateur Radio. The formal presentation of this award will take place at the 2019 Huntsville Hamfest on August 17th, 2019 at 12:30 p.m. [ANS thanks Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO, Alabama Section Youth Coordinator, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Next Gen System Completes Critical Flight Certification Tests The Interoperable Radio System (IORS), ARISS’ next generation radio system successfully completed a battery of stressful tests required as part of the final certification of the hardware for launch to and operation on the International Space Station. During the week of July 8, the IORS, consisting of the JVC Kenwood D-710GA Radio and the AMSAT developed Multi-Voltage Power Supply, suc- cessfully completed a series of Electro-magnetic Interference (EMI)/ Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) tests to ensure that the ARISS hardware will not interfere with the ISS systems or other payloads. Testing continued into the following week, where the IORS successfully passed power quality and acoustics testing. These tests verified that the ARISS IORS will not introduce harmful signals back into the ISS power system and is quiet enough to meet ISS acoustic requirements. ARISS Hardware Team members Lou McFadin, W5DID and Kerry Banke, N6IZW were at the NASA Johnson Space Center supporting this two week battery of tests in concert with the NASA test and certification team. Kerry Banke states, “Since the IORS is being qualified to operate on 120VDC, 28VDC and Russian 28VDC as well as transmitting on VHF or UHF, a lot of test combinations were required to cover all cases. Each in- put voltage type was also tested at low, medium and high line voltage. Moreover, additional permutations were required to test the IORS under no load, medium load and full load at each voltage level. So it should not be surprising why the tests took two weeks to complete.” Successful completion of these tests represents a key milestone in preparing the IORS for launch. ARISS can now begin final assembly of the flight safety certification in preparation for launch. ARISS is working towards launch ready status by the end of the year. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $33,250 raised or about 17% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Quick list of scheduled contacts and events as of 2019-07-30 03:00 UTC: Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3KT. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The sched- uled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV. Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-08 at 10:36:37 UTC 56 degrees maximum elevation [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2019 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period July 1, 2019 through August 1, 2019. Congratula- tions to all those who made the list this month! CALL Jul 01Aug AA8CH 550 584 WD9EWK 567 575 NS3L 475 505 AE5B ??? 442 K9UO 400 425 W5TD 381 384 KE8FZT 325 350 K5IX 300 325 PS8ET 211 275 WW8W 201 228 AB1OC 184 215 KJ4EU 151 206 AA4QE 102 204 N7EGY 169 200 ND0C 153 200 PR8KW New 200 LW2DAF 125 130 KC9VGG 102 127 KC9UQR New 113 XE2YWH New 102 K5ZM New 101 N4QX New 100 If you find errors or omissions. please contact W5RKN. 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 omitted. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! [ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- LightSail 2 Successfully Demonstrates Flight by Light The Planetary Society's crowdfunded LightSail 2 spacecraft is success- fully raising its orbit solely on the power of sunlight. Since unfurling the spacecraft's silver solar sail last week, mission managers have been optimizing the way the spacecraft orients itself during solar sailing. After a few tweaks, LightSail 2 began raising its orbit around the Earth. In the past 4 days, the spacecraft has raised its orbital high point, or apogee, by about 2 kilometers. The mission team has confirmed the apogee increase can only be attributed to solar sailing, meaning LightSail 2 has successfully completed its primary goal of demonstrating flight by light for CubeSats. On Monday, July 29, LightSail 2 sent home a new full-resolution image captured by its camera during solar sail deployment. The perspective is opposite to last week’s full-resolution image and shows the sail more fully deployed. LightSail 2's aluminized Mylar sail shines against the blackness of space, with the Sun peeking through near a sail boom. LightSail 2 uses the callsign WM9XPA and transmits its beacon on 437.025 MHz, AX.25, FSK, 9600 bps. Beacon parameters and more informa- tion on the spacecraft may be found at: https://tinyurl.com/y5r6758v [ANS thanks The Planetary Society 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 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for August 1, 2019 The following Amateur Radio satellite has decayed from orbit and has been removed from this week's TLE distribution. TANYUSHA 1 - NORAD CAT ID 42911 - Decayed 07/30/2019 (per Space-Track) The following Amateur Radio satellites have been added to this week's TLE distribution. PSAT 2 - NORAD CAT ID 44354 (per Space-Track) BRICsat 2 - NORAD CAT ID 44355 (per Space-Track) Oculus-ASR - NORAD CAT ID 44356 (per Space-Track) CP9 - NORAD CAT ID 44360 (per Space-Track) Move-IIb - NORAD CAT ID 44398 (per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO) SONATE - NORAD CAT ID 44400 (per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO) The following Amateur Radio satellites have a name change in this week's TLE distribution. CAS-7B (now been designated as BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 or BO-102) has now been assigned NORAD CAT ID 44443. Note that this is the current best guess CAT ID for BO-102. Also the TLE drag number for BO-102 has been rapidly increasing and is now at 0.01093482. BO-102 is expected to decay from orbit in about eight days. Object A (NORAD CAT ID 44339) is now identified as Prox-1. [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations +CY9 St. Paul Island (FN97) – July 31 to August 8, 2019 CY9C will be on St. Paul Island July 31st through August 8th. This is an all bands/mode dxpedition, with EME and Sats as well. More info available at http://cy9c.com/index.html. +Florida Keys (EL95) August 4-11, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF will be operating from EL95 (Key Largo and Brickell Key) as KC3NSG, from August 4 to 11, 2019. FM and Linears. QSL via LoTW. Keep an eye on Philippe’s Twitter feed for further updates: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT +Washington Invasion (CN96/96 & DN06/07/17/17) – August 9-10, 2019 Casey, KI7UNJ, will be heading North to invade the State of Washington, August 9th and 10th. Keep an eye on Casey’s Twitter feed for specific pass announcements: https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ +St Pierre et Miquelon (GN16) – August 10-18, 2019 A DXpedition is planned to St Pierre et Miquelon, August 10th through the 18th. The team will operate as T05M will from Ile aux Marins on 6- 160m, but there is a possibility of some FM Satellites. Keep an eye on their website for updates: http://fp2019.net/ +Santa Rosa Island, CA (CM93) – August 12-14, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, is heading back to Santa Rosa Island, August 12th -14th. When not distracted by the feathered-birds, Ron will be on FM and linear satellites as W6R. Keep an eye on Ron’s Twitter feed for updates at the dates get closer. https://twitter.com/ad0dx +Goose Bay, Labrador (FO93) August 12-14, 2019 Chris, VE3FU, will be visiting family / friends and maintenance of his HF remote station in FO93, but he should be on the FM sats as VO2AC. Chris will try to post here before each pass, so keep an eye on his Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/ChrisVE3FU +6Y - Jamaica (FK18) August 12-19, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF will be operating from JAMAICA (IOTA NA-097 – Grid FK18) in Satellite with the special call 6Y4NF from August 12 to 19, 2019. QRV Satellite in FM and SSB. QSL via LoTW. Keep an eye on Philippe’s Twitter feed for further updates : https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT. Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org Remember to check out W3ZM On the Road for additional upcoming activations! https://www.amsat.org/events/was-w3zm/ [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + The Space Communicator Club of Las Flores, Calif. provide a public website for monitoring Satellite APRS Packets received in the most recent 24 hour period: http://spaceCommunicator.club/aprs (ANS thanks Robert MacHale, KE6BLR, for the above information) + The Federal Communications Commission voted on August 1 to create a new licensing category for small satellite companies that will dramatically reduce launch fees. Full story at: https://tinyurl.com/y4k588ko (ANS thanks Texas Public Radio for the above information) + SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station on July 27, setting a new record for SpaceX's reusable spacecraft. The Dragon, which launched July 25 from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, was on its third mission to space. (ANS thanks Space.com for the above information) + W3XO, the call sign held by former AMSAT President Bill Tynan (SK) has been issued to the Hill Country Amateur Radio Club of Kerrville, Texas, as a memorial. Bill was a leading member and past president of that club, as well as of AMSAT. (ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS, for the above information) + Ballots for the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors election have been mailed. Candidate statements may be found at https://www.amsat.org/2019-board-statements/ + Hackaday, an online journal for technical experimenters, published an article about the history of the AO-7 satellite on August 2. It can be read at: https://tinyurl.com/yyy5oapn (ANS thanks hackaday.com for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite pirates.
by Roy Dean 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

> > Security and self-policing will keep things legal. I'm curious how we are supposed to "secure" an amateur radio satellite? From what I understand, the only encryption allowed is for command station signals. Self-policing is obviously "used" today, although I think "public shaming" is a better description. :) --Roy K3RLD

1 0

Satellite pirates.
by KC9SGV 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

Hi All, Just getting into this aspect of GEO satellite security... I found this very informative, though old article about satellite pirates and their hacking techniques in the old days of satellite TV (ca. 1993) Since any new ham GEO satellite might be an emolation of these earlier TV satellites, it is imperative that some sort of security for the system might be prudent. http://www.nmia.com/~roberts/sat.pirates Bernard, KC9SGV Sent from my iPad

1 0

ISS SSTV
by Graham 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

I have been monitoring passes of ISS for the SSTV transmissions. So far with good success. However, when unable to be in the shack I leave everything set up to automatically capture any SSTV on 145.800MHz. Late yesterday evening around 2019-08-02 01:35 UTC I received an odd SSTV image which stands out from the other images from the ISS. This image looks like a SSTV from VE1PK but I have not been to find out anything more about it. I have a vague recollection of Bob Buringa mentioning that one of PACSATs can transmit SSTV on 145.800MHZ but I can't find the posting in which that was mentioned - either that or I managed to confuse what was said, I do now the new PCSAT can transmit SSTV on 70cm which may be the source of my confusion. image can be seen here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pd8gcvl45mp9u29/AADp0uH-TG9jhEo3ktU4z_qCa/ISS_SS… It is of course the one which does not look any of the other ISS images. Anyone able to shed some light on this wee mystery? cheers, Graham ve3gtc FN25 near Ottawa Canada

2 1

An AMSAT member wins the Alabama Outstanding Youth Ham Award Recipient
by Jeff Johns 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

Hello Alabama Section, We have exciting news to share about our youth involvement in Amateur Radio! This year, the ARRL Alabama Youth Committee is pleased to announce the 2019 ARRL Alabama Outstanding Youth Ham Award recipient. This particular Amateur Radio operator gazes at and studies the skies almost daily. She has a deep interest in satellite communication and loves sharing that interest with others. Her passion is evident in awards she has received, forums where she has presented, along with the activities in which she participates. The 2019 Alabama Outstanding Youth Ham Award goes to: Marissa Robledo W4AQT Marissa is a twelve year old General class license-holder who lives in Montgomery, AL and is devoted to consistently learning and growing in the great hobby of Amateur Radio. She exhibits enthusiasm, knowledge, and rapid growth in many areas of Amateur Radio and we are proud to have her representing our hobby as this year’s Alabama Outstanding Amateur Youth! Please join us at the 2019 Huntsville Hamfest on August 17th, 2019 at 12:30pm for the formal presentation of this award to a deserving young Amateur Radio operator. Congratulations Marissa! Keep up the great work and fun you are creating using Amateur Radio. See you in Huntsville. Alabama Outstanding Youth Committee wished to thank everyone for your nominations for 2019. Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO Alabama Section Youth Coordinator -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Alabama Section Section Manager: JVann Martin Sr, W4JVM w4jvm(a)arrl.org --------------------------------------------------------------------

5 5

Re: [amsat-bb] Space-Track TLEs now include PSAT2 and BRICSAT2 (aka USNAP1)
by Robert Bruninga 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

Celestrak is adding PSAT2 and BRICSAT2 to their Amateur Radio TLE list. Bob

5 7

Re: [amsat-bb] Transponders For Rent??? (for free - OTHERNET)
by Robert Bruninga 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

Apparently they are about to release a new OTHERNET Ka band satellitie reeiver: "We are currently in production of the next version, which will include an enclosure and internal antenna. It will be available for sale in about a month." ------------Original Message------------- From: AMSAT-BB On Behalf Of Matthew J Wolf via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2019 8:18 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] OUTERnet becomes OTHERnet (APRS geo feed) I gota Dreamcatcher Data Radiowhen they where on sale for $49. I can confirm that you can replace the supplied USB WiFi NIC with the TP-Link TL-UE3000 USB Ethernet NIC. I have to use a Pringles can on the LNB to get a marginalsignal, SNR -12.5 to -14 dB. Every time it rains I have to readjustthe LNB. I have senta few test ARPS messages from N4MTT-2 via rf to a local i-gate. The messages then were seen on the down link via a text file. The Skylark operating system has a "Messages" application that displays the text file. APRS Link can display the history of the messages sent to OUTNET, https://aprs.link/app/aprs/stations/messages-OUTNET I noticed the messages I sent to OUTNET did not receive a REPLY ACK. There where duplicate messages on the down link from another SSID. I wanted to avoid sending duplicate messages. In Xastir I canceled the messages after the first message transmission. I agreethatit "is a powerful capability" . -Matt, N4MTT ------------- original message ----------------------------- Hi Bob, I have been watching Outernet/Othernet developments for a couple of years and waiting for their system to stabilize (it still has not). I bought a Dreamcatcher 3 Version 3.03 receiver in April when they dropped the price to $49.00US. The User Manual may be of interest: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0770/0935/files/Dreamcatcher_V_3.03_SL_5.… Information about the current state of affairs is unfortunately scattered throughout a number of threads in the Othernet forum. As noted in the following thread, Othernet is/was dumping the Dreamcatcher 3.03 in favor of a "cost-reduced version" of the receiver: https://forums.othernet.is/t/is-sale-price-an-omen/5974 The Dreamcatcher 3.03 uses a LoRa device for KU-band reception unlike the older L-band receiver which was based on an RTL-SDR as noted in the this post: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/othernet-dreamcatcher-on-sale-for-only-49/ I am not aware of any specific information released concerning the upcoming Othernet receiver, but it is supposed to be forthcoming soon. The current North American downlink is about 30 kbps with 8 kbps allocated for an audio stream (Voice of America at the moment) and the rest for files, including the satellite APRS transmissions. The latest kits were sold with a bare LNB, but a number of users have been experimenting with adding a feedhorn to improve reception: https://forums.othernet.is/t/increasing-gain-with-15-degree-cone/5258 Some users are using re-purposed KU-band antennas as well. Hope this helps. Todd AL0I -----Original Message----- From: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2019 4:30 PM Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Transponders For Rent??? (for free) Actually there is a geostationary channel that can be used by Ham Operators that is for free. https://othernet.is/ About 2 years ago, the APRS satellite ground station captures were made available worldwide via three GEO satellites for reception anywhere on earth. But I recently found that the OUTERnet system has changed to a new GEO satellite constellation and no longer uses INMARSAT L band satellites but is now using a KA band downlink over the USA. And that they are now selling a new KA receiver kit for this satellite. Has anyone kept up with them? Here is my original WEB page but with the links changed from OUTnet to OTHERnet, but otherwise, not kept up to date. http://aprs.org/othernet.html If anyone has one of their receivers or is receiving the downlink and/or wants to help me get my web page all cleaned up to what has changed over the last two years, let me know. This is a powerful capability. I hope we can keep it working. The way it is supposed to work is that you can send a specially formatted APRS packet (position, status or message) on any APRS network (terrestrial or satellite) and it should get parsed by the APRS-IS. Therer it can be captured by the OTHERNET non-profit ground station and uplinked to the APRS channel on their satellites to the downlink that anyone can receive. Ostensibly a ham radio volunteer global emergency backup channel. Its round-about, but a possible play-point... Bob, Wb4APR

1 0

AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 14, Issue 296 (Waving an antenna)
by Nicholas Mahr KE8AKW 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

Michael, I like your points and ideas but with-holding donations or membership will not help you or the organization. How can you expect to have AMSAT do anything if they dont have your support; that it be financial, promoting AMSAT, or even volunteer work. And yes your donations and membership do make a difference. While your or my donations and membership by itself isn't a lot, every members contribution little by little combined makes a big difference to AMSAT. You also have to keep in mind times are different; Space is mostly about making money now, its unfortunately not really about being a "space cowboy" anymore like it was in the Phase 3 Project satellite days. I myself also enjoy riving for a challenge and doing things in amateur radio that haven't been done before or are uncommon to do. I do really enjoy reading peoples ideas and thoughts on what they would like to see happen, but keep it mind the only thing that is going to change anything is not so much words but physical work. My physical work I mean donating, keeping membership, possibly volunteering if you can, or even just promoting amateur radio in space in general to the public. As for AMSAT's current state, its been better then it ever has been before, We have launched more satellites in recent AMSAT history then ever before. We have a very strong presence in LEO, more so then ever before. Yes I want to go to HEO/GEO and so does everyone else, but we must support and work with each other for that to happen! I do believe great times are ahead for AMSAT. All the best, Nick KE8AKW

1 0

Top 25 SatGates
by KE6BLR Robert 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

These are the Satellite APRS Packets provided in July 2019 per Callsign + SSID. I am always curious about station setup: antenna, radio, TNC, iGate software, altitude, location, etc. I have been considering reaching out to each operator to gather specs. This topic might make a neat article for AmSat, ARRL, or similar magazine. 1459 YF1ZQA-10 1071 KG4PID-14 1030 N6DAN-2 1013 EA8BQD 1008 N6DAN-1 957 VK5ATN-3 778 VK6HAM-2 662 VK2TV-4 587 PY5LF-10 507 NH6Y-2 442 W0ARP-15 363 KK4NAM 352 KC5ILO-12 325 DM0AI-10 322 W7KKE-13 310 ON7EQ-10 305 OK2KOJ-14 289 OE4ENU-2 262 K4KDR-15 246 CU2ZG-1 231 N6BA-10 223 HS3LSE-11 207 W0ARP-1 201 SV3CIX-1 183 T2SPAIN2 73 Robert MacHale . KE6BLR Ham Radio License . http://spaceCommunicator.club/aprs <http://spacecommunicator.club/aprs> . Supporting Boy Scout Merit Badges in Radio, Robotics, and Space Exploration

4 4

Waving An Antenna
by Brad Smith 02 Aug '19

02 Aug '19

<I don't mean to suggest there's anything wrong with easy. I just think, as a selling point, it's run it's course is all. How many times are you going to watch a guy at a hamfest with an HT and a handheld? antenna exchange grid squares? I would think sooner or later people just walk on by.? "Seen it already, where's the new rigs?" > There is room in this hobby for all types of radio/satellite contact. I have recently introduced two other hams to satellites by "waving an antenna." They both bought Arrow 2 antennas and now are having great fun with the birds. If I had a rotor system on a tripod, these people would have passed it up as too complicated. Our ham club is going to build our own stressed moxon antennas so everyone can work the birds. Depending if one is trying to get people into the satellite hobby or dazzle them with technology, one has to tailor the display to the crowd. Yes, I belong to the KISS club. (Keep It Simple Stupid) But on the other hand, I do work the SSB birds, receive SSTV images from the ISS and am learning to send packets. I welcome the new ideas. If I have to buy a new radio, so be it. If I have to pay for some air time, so be it. If I have a learning curve, so be it. But I still will be the low life out there waving an Arrow 2 antenna because it is fun, gets the job done, and still gives me a thrill. And all my neighbors think I should have a tin foil hat as I stand in my yard with my antenna in the air. Brad KC9UQR

4 3

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2019
by Ronald G. Parsons 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period July 1, 2019 through August 1, 2019. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL 01Jul 01Aug AA8CH 550 584 WD9EWK 567 575 NS3L 475 505 JOHN C DYER ??? 442 K9UO 400 425 W5TD 381 384 KE8FZT 325 350 K5IX 300 325 PS8ET 211 275 WW8W 201 228 AB1OC 184 215 KJ4EU 151 206 AA4QE 102 204 N7EGY 169 200 ND0C 153 200 PR8KW New 200 LW2DAF 125 130 KC9VGG 102 127 KC9UQR New 113 XE2YWH New 102 K5ZM New 101 N4QX New 100 If you are “John C Dyer”, please contact ARRL Awards Desk to correct your record.QRZ.COM has no listing for that name. 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 most of the work! Ron W5RKN

3 2

W3XO
by Ray Soifer 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

You probably knew this already, but I just learned that Bill Tynan's call sign, W3XO, has been issued to the Hill Country Amateur Radio Club of Kerrville, Texas, as a memorial. Bill was a leading member and past president of the club, to which I belonged when I lived in nearby Fredericksburg, TX. 73 Ray W2RS

3 2

Very interesting podcast about satcom security.
by KC9SGV 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Hi All, I came upon this very interesting podcast about communications satellite security since the 1980's. It runs for about 19 minutes, is fairly recent, and is very informative. Surely today, these communications satellites are more security protected than what is described in the podcast ? Let's all be careful with the design of such a ham radio system. Security has to be integrated. Listen to "Satcom crackdown. After the show." https://toppodcast.com/podcast_feeds/signals-everywhere-after-the-show/ Bernard, KC9SGV Sent from my iPad

2 1

ARISS SSTV event commemorating Owen Garriott achievements
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

I just received two images commemorating Owen Garriott's achievements in space from the scheduled SSTV event. Audio was good and strong!! Dave, AA4KN ARISS PR --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

1 0

Transponders For Rent???
by Brad Smith 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Yes, I would rent in a minute. This would be my solution for working the sats. in the Wisconsin Winter! Brad Smith KC9UQR <So, like "FM Tower for Rent", signs as seen all over the U.S., could we soon see "GEO TV Satellite transponder for rent" as well ?Maybe this could be an answer to a ham GEO transponder ?>

11 14

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2019 -- Reformatted
by Ronald G. Parsons 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period July 1, 2019 through August 1, 2019. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL 01Jul 01Aug AA8CH 550 584 WD9EWK 567 575 NS3L 475 505 JOHN C DYER ??? 442 K9UO 400 425 W5TD 381 384 KE8FZT 325 350 K5IX 300 325 PS8ET 211 275 WW8W 201 228 AB1OC 184 215 KJ4EU 151 206 AA4QE 102 204 N7EGY 169 200 ND0C 153 200 PR8KW New 200 LW2DAF 125 130 KC9VGG 102 127 KC9UQR New 113 XE2YWH New 102 K5ZM New 101 N4QX New 100 If you are “John C Dyer”, please contact ARRL Awards Desk to correct your record.QRZ.COM has no listing for that name. 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 most of the work! Ron W5RKN

1 0

Just expanding on my previous thoughts about AMSAT perception....
by Michael 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

Expanding on my previous thoughts pasted at bottom... It seems to me that the 'easy" thing has run it's course. Again, just one mans opinion but I think if you had some sort of setup outside a hamfest with a card table and a folding chair, a sat rig and an Arduino based rotator controller running off a laptop or I-pad and antennas on a "WRAPS" ( I think?) type tripod tracking both Azimuth and Elevation, you'd attract the more technically savvy hams. Probably more youth too. I know in my model railroading hobby that the fact we can now run trains with a smart phone is a big draw. Back in the day, on the not so great passes, I would sometimes fire up the shack computer and my BASIC STAMP based Sabretrack homebrew rotor controller and walk outside and watch my old surplus OR-360 TV rotators moving my homebrew antennas to track the sat across the sky. To me there was a certain "coolness factor" in that which can't be matched by the guy holding the antenna in his hand and waving it about. In fact, my whole idea in buying the beat up telescope tripod was to sit outside at a table with a couple of HT's and my old notebook computer driving the thing with a couple of light weight antennas on board. Yes, I know that I don't necessarily need to track elevation with an LEO but watching the antennas track both is awesome to me. I think we miss the boat sometimes by constantly harping on and touting the "easy" aspect of it. Sometimes complex and high tech is more attractive. Digital modes, SDR and computers have made HF radio hi tech and cool again, at least for me, yet the sat hobby seems to be bending over backwards to over simplify and make things BORRRING! Even model railroads are computer controlled these days! It doesn't have to be super expensive either. An Arduino and some DC motors and gears can be had for less than the cost of a meal for four at Mickey D's. All my OR-360's were was Mabuchi style hobby motors hooked to a gear train. You controlled direction by switching polarity of 12VDC sent up the line and they had position pot feedback. EasyComm format for AZ/EL. But hey, what do I know, I've only been in this hobby forty one years. Just my opinion anyway. That and five bucks will get you a "Venti" designer coffee at Starbucks. 73, Michael, W4HIJ Just from the outside looking in... AMSAT APPEARS only to be interested in hoisting flying repeaters and PACSAT/APRS and showing the average ham how "easy" it is to work sats with a handheld and a simple antenna. I guess that's all well and good but I didn't get in the sat end of the hobby for "easy". I wanted a new challenge. I was too late for A0-40 because of lack of funds for a station but I did have fun for awhile chasing AO-51, FO-29, AO-7 etc. with a TS-2000X and a homebrew rotator and antenna system. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I needed family funds so the Kenwood hit Ebay and I'm inactive on the birds now. I sometimes consider buying a couple of Baofengs (you should ALWAYS operate full duplex but that's another thread) and getting back in on the cheap, I even recently bought a beat up old telescope with a computer tracking tripod system I spotted at Goodwill, but honestly, the challenge isn't there to give me motivation. Before everyone flames me, as I said, this is from the outside looking in and just one man's opinion. I really wish AMSAT would do something, anything, to change my perception. Seems to me I saw something about a YL running for the board who's interested in open sourcing stuff. Her candidate statement was IMHO, a much needed breath of fresh air but I'm no longer a member and don't keep up so no idea if she got elected. If AMSAT wants my membership and donation dollars back, they need to change perception and I suspect there are many out here in the community who feel the way I do.

2 2

Satellite Challenge
by ka3hdo＠gmail.com 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

All, Many of you probably were not at Hamvention when we announced this at the ARISS forum and the AMSAT forum, but if you want a *real* challenge, AMSAT and ARISS are working on the design of a ham radio system for the Lunar Gateway. To make this happen we are leveraging the work and expertise of the world-wide AMSAT organizations and the international ARISS community in this endeavor. We have an international team working this and are meeting 2x a month to mature the concept. In May we presented our solid concept to NASA and got great, positive feedback. This was followed up a few weeks later at the ARISS-I meeting at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in Montreal where we received great feedback from the CSA Gateway Program Manager after he saw our presentation. The AREx (Amateur Radio Exploration) team have done some really good work. The challenge for each of you will be on the order of a 30 dB signal path loss as compared to LEO. But the link margins on our design seem to close. I just wanted you all to know that AMSAT NA, UK & DL and ARISS-together--are working this phenomenal ham radio challenge. Come to the AMSAT-NA Symposium in DC to hear more. 73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO ARISS International Chair AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs ----------------- From: Michael <mat_62(a)charter.net <mailto:[email protected]> > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 14, Issue 292 (HEO's, AMSAT perception) Message-ID: <a285ca79-e3af-048c-9d8b-85d8345cb2e9(a)charter.net <mailto:[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Just from the outside looking in... AMSAT APPEARS only to be interested in hoisting flying repeaters and PACSAT/APRS and showing the average ham how "easy" it is to work sats with a handheld and a simple antenna. I guess that's all well and good but I didn't get in the sat end of the hobby for "easy".? I wanted a new challenge. I was too late for A0-40 because of lack of funds for a station but I did have fun for awhile chasing AO-51, FO-29, AO-7 etc. with a TS-2000X and a homebrew rotator and antenna system. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I needed family funds so the Kenwood hit Ebay and I'm inactive on the birds now. I sometimes consider buying a couple of Baofengs (you should ALWAYS operate full duplex but that's another thread) and getting back in on the cheap, I even recently bought a beat up old telescope with a computer tracking tripod system I spotted at Goodwill, but honestly, the challenge isn't there to give me motivation. Before everyone flames me, as I said, this is from the outside looking in and just one man's opinion. I really wish AMSAT would do something, anything, to change my perception. Seems to me I saw something about a YL running for the board who's interested in open sourcing stuff.? Her candidate statement was IMHO, a much needed breath of fresh air but I'm no longer a member and don't keep up so no idea if she got elected. If AMSAT wants my membership and donation dollars back, they need to change perception and I suspect there are many out here in the community who feel the way I do. 73, Michael, W4HIJ -------------------------------------------- Frank H. Bauer FBauer Aerospace Consulting Services (FB-ACS) Phone: 301-804-0173 Cell: 301-873-0890 NASA E-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> Frank.Bauer(a)nasa.gov FB-ACS E-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> fbaueraerospace(a)gmail.com

3 2

Radio chest pack
by Roger - W7TZ 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

Recently someone asked about radio packs. I just discovered these on Amazon reg $23 on sale for $18.69 and free shipping with Prime. Tactical Chest Rig, Heavy Duty Radio Chest Harness 73, Roger W7TZ CN83ia Grid Busters w7tz.webs.com

4 4

AMSAT website?
by skristof＠etczone.com 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

Anyone else having trouble getting into the AMSAT website or is it just me? Steve AI9IN

2 3

AMSAT'S Cost for Launching the SATS
by Gerald Witalec 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

Just curious. It seems as though it is getting difficult about placing he ham SATS dueto cost. I wonder what may happen if the cost is so prohibitive that AMSAT could possibly go by the way side. Just asking. Jerry

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 14, Issue 292 (HEO's, AMSAT perception)
by Michael 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

Just from the outside looking in... AMSAT APPEARS only to be interested in hoisting flying repeaters and PACSAT/APRS and showing the average ham how "easy" it is to work sats with a handheld and a simple antenna. I guess that's all well and good but I didn't get in the sat end of the hobby for "easy". I wanted a new challenge. I was too late for A0-40 because of lack of funds for a station but I did have fun for awhile chasing AO-51, FO-29, AO-7 etc. with a TS-2000X and a homebrew rotator and antenna system. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I needed family funds so the Kenwood hit Ebay and I'm inactive on the birds now. I sometimes consider buying a couple of Baofengs (you should ALWAYS operate full duplex but that's another thread) and getting back in on the cheap, I even recently bought a beat up old telescope with a computer tracking tripod system I spotted at Goodwill, but honestly, the challenge isn't there to give me motivation. Before everyone flames me, as I said, this is from the outside looking in and just one man's opinion. I really wish AMSAT would do something, anything, to change my perception. Seems to me I saw something about a YL running for the board who's interested in open sourcing stuff. Her candidate statement was IMHO, a much needed breath of fresh air but I'm no longer a member and don't keep up so no idea if she got elected. If AMSAT wants my membership and donation dollars back, they need to change perception and I suspect there are many out here in the community who feel the way I do. 73, Michael, W4HIJ >> Somewhere in AMSAT there is someone who has "Project Managed" long enough >> (or has access to process-flow diagrams) and can publish a generic work >> breakdown of both the steps and resources needed to put a highly elliptical >> (presumably less expensive) or Geostationary (presumably more expensive) >> bird into orbit and manage it. >> >> If that person (or people) could publish that along with a "checkmark" >> next to the items that are "already in place", "in active progress", and >> "needs sponsor/enthusiast" then we are more likely to fill-in the gaps. >> >> Remember the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game (a.k.a. "Bacon's Law")? >> Let's play it out here! >> Ev, W2EV >> >> On Tuesday, July 30, 2019, 6:15:19 PM EDT, Jerry Buxton via AMSAT-BB < >> amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: >> >> On 7/28/2019 18:46, Ev Tupis via AMSAT-BB wrote: >>> What are the top barriers to revisiting highly elliptical and AO-40 type >>

2 1

AMSAT-NA
by Ray Soifer 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

I am not a candidate for the AMSAT BoD (been there, done that) nor am I endorsing or opposing anyone. Most of you know me; if not, please see my QRZ.com page. As the the then EVP, it was my fate to be Acting President during the failure and partial recovery of AO-40. AMSAT's basic problem is financial. Universities and even high schools get NASA up.money to build and launch Cubesats, while AMSAT's limited resources are slowly drying up. I don't have a solution, but I am not running for the BoD. I urge those who are to put their solutions forward, not just their gripes. 73 Ray W2RS

14 25

QSO’s on AO 91 WA9JBQ
by Rick Wyrwas 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

For this who contacted me on AO91 at 18:42 utc Pass. My recorded turned off Please email rwyrwas48 @gmail and I will log LOTW. From DN55 Thanks Rick WA9JBQ -- Rick Wyrwas

1 0

HEO/Elliptical [was: AMSAT-NA solution: DX (HEO) to attract more interest and revenue]
by Nicholas Mahr KE8AKW 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

I know we currently have AMSAT-DL's P3E sitting in storage in Germany. Perhaps some day we can find a good opportunity under the government to fly P3E with a bunch of experiments for them like what AMSAT found under the Virginia Tech P3E opportunity in 2015 which dident happen because they wanted us to pay 4M to insure on time integration. I do think advocating that it can be used for emergency communications and for flying their experiments could definitely help us find a rare opportunity in that Molniya type orbit. I assume that the de-orbiting could possibly be done with its Kicker Motor? Ultimately, we are under the mercy of the launch providers and government regulations. I do think that with hard work from our wonderful AMSAT volunteers, we can get back to HEO/GEO at soon. Also the work on Phase 4 ground has been wonderful. I wish the best fpr Phase 4 project and the GOLF program. 73, Nick KE8AKW

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] ISS-SSTV Aug 1-4 (and PSAT2)
by Robert Bruninga 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

And while you are waiting to see SSTV from ISS, remember PSAT2 also has SSTV. It turns out PSAT2's strings of passes and ISS strings of passes are more-or-less alternating. So if ISS passes are generally in view now, PSAT2's are not. And if you have to wait several hours for ISS, then check and see if PSAT2 passes are in the area. PSAT2 is object number 44354. SSTV downlink is 435.350 +/- Doppler. SSTV is only on when the satellite is in Sun. It helps to keep the PSAT2 transponder up if there is someone also on the PSK31 uplink during the pass on 29.4815 MHz. Bob, WB4aPR -------------------------------Original Message-------------------------------------------- From: Amsat Argentina via AMSAT-BB Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2019 1:20 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS-SSTV Aug 1-4 On http://www.ariss.org ARISS plan to send SSTV from ISS on 145.800 KHz PD-120. Opportunity to start or complete ARISS-SSTV Diploma http://amsat.org.ar?f=9 Congrats to IK1SLD, IU4APB, LW9DVW and DL4YCD for theirs Diplomas achievement. Passes at http://amsat.org.ar/pass?satx=iss Good luck on capture ! 73, LU7AA, AMSAT Argentina http://amsat.org.ar

1 0

ISS-SSTV Aug 1-4
by Amsat Argentina 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

On http://www.ariss.org ARISS plan to send SSTV from ISS on 145.800 KHz PD-120. Opportunity to start or complete ARISS-SSTV Diploma http://amsat.org.ar?f=9 Congrats to IK1SLD, IU4APB, LW9DVW and DL4YCD for theirs Diplomas achievement. Passes at http://amsat.org.ar/pass?satx=iss Good luck on capture ! 73, LU7AA, AMSAT Argentina http://amsat.org.ar

1 0

Satellite APRS Packets
by KE6BLR Robert 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

Our club provides tools and tutorials for Boy Scouts seeking merit badges in Radio, Robotics, and Space Exploration. We provide a public website for monitoring Satellite APRS Packets. Feel free to give it a test drive and bookmark for future use: http://spaceCommunicator.club/aprs This covers all packets from all satellites. Packets waterfall after 24 hours. 73 Robert KE6BLR

1 0

ARISS News Release (ANR) No. 19-13
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

ARISS News Release No. 19-13 Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org July 31, 2019 ARISS Next Generation Radio System Completes Critical Flight Certification Tests The Interoperable Radio System (IORS), ARISS' next generation radio system successfully completed a battery of stressful tests required as part of the final certification of the hardware for launch to and operation on the International Space Station. During the week of July 8, the IORS, consisting of the JVC Kenwood D-710GA Radio and the AMSAT developed Multi-Voltage Power Supply, successfully completed a series of Electro-magnetic Interference (EMI)/Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) tests to ensure that the ARISS hardware will not interfere with the ISS systems or other payloads. Testing continued into the following week, where the IORS successfully passed power quality and acoustics testing. These tests verified that the ARISS IORS will not introduce harmful signals back into the ISS power system and is quiet enough to meet ISS acoustic requirements. ARISS Hardware Team members Lou McFadin, W5DID and Kerry Banke, N6IZW were at the NASA Johnson Space Center supporting this two week battery of tests in concert with the NASA test and certification team. Kerry Banke states, "Since the IORS is being qualified to operate on 120VDC, 28VDC and Russian 28VDC as well as transmitting on VHF or UHF, a lot of test combinations were required to cover all cases. Each input voltage type was also tested at low, medium and high line voltage. Moreover, additional permutations were required to test the IORS under no load, medium load and full load at each voltage level. So it should not be surprising why the tests took two weeks to complete." Successful completion of these tests represents a key milestone in preparing the IORS for launch. ARISS can now begin final assembly of the flight safety certification in preparation for launch. ARISS is working towards launch ready status by the end of the year. 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 (STEM) 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. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

1 0

ARISS News Release (ANR) No. 19-12
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

ARISS News Release No. 19-12 Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org July 30, 2019 SSTV Event planned for Early August ARISS plans to celebrate the life and accomplishments of astronaut, scientist and ham radio pioneer Owen Garriott with a commemorative SSTV event featuring images from Garriott's work with ham radio during his missions in space. This event is currently scheduled to begin on August 1 at 09:40 UTC and ends at 18:15 UTC on August 4. Please make note that the content of these upcoming SSTV transmissions may change. An update is expected after Friday, July 26 as to what the image content will be for the August 1-4 dates. If this change takes place, the Owen Garriott image transmissions will be postponed until another event can be scheduled toward the end of August. Transmissions will be sent at 145.800 MHz FM in the SSTV mode PD-120. Once received, images can be posted and viewed by the public at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php and you can receive a special SSTV ARISS Award for posting your image. See https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/ for details. Also for simplicity, we have added a new information tab for SSTV events, under the General Contacts pulldown menu at www.ariss.org . The latest updates can also be found at the ARISS Facebook site Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and on Twitter @ ARISS_status. 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 (STEM) 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. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

1 0

BO-102/CAS-7B Short life
by Pedro Converso 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

If trying QSO via BO-102, better hurry up, forecast shows reentry on August-9. 196 19043A 44443 19211.720223 19221.562494 (2019 August 9) Reentry Calc with program at http://amsat.org.ar/satevo.zip BO-102 is 2019-043A. Latest Keps at http://amsat.org.ar/keps.txt Will be interesting to watch when and where is reentry thru latest receptions. Passes, frecs and height at http://amsat.org.ar/pass?satx=cas7b 73, lu7abf, Pedro

1 0

CAS-7B BO-102 over SA
by Pedro Converso 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

High activity on FM repeater on BO-102 sat, at 03:00z, orbit 91. Many contacts, using 10w and 5 elem yagis, strong CW TLM. Congrats on new designation and for this useful sat 73, lu7abf, Pedro

1 0

ANS-212 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - CAS-7B Designated BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102)
by Paul Stoetzer 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-212 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * CAS-7B Designated BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102) SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-212.01 ANS-212 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 212.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE July 31, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-212.01 CAS-7B Designated BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102) On July 25, 2019, the CAS-7B (BP-1B) microsatellite was launched on a Hyperbola-1 launch vehicle from the Jiuquan Space Center, China. CAS-7B (BP-1B) was developed by the Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT), and in cooperation with the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). CAMSAT completed the project planning, design, build, and testing, and manages the on-orbit operation of the satellite. BIT provided the satellite environmental testing, launch support, and financial support. Many students from BIT were involved with the project, learning about satellite technology and amateur radio. The satellite carries a CW telemetry beacon and FM repeater that has been active since launch. At the request of CAMSAT and the BIT team, AMSAT hereby designates CAS-7B (BP-1B) as BIT Progress-OSCAR 102 (BO-102). We congratulate the owners and operators of BO-102, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects. 73, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator [ANS thanks AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, for the above information.] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

1 0

Best APRS software for Windows (and Pi and Android)?
by Ken M 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

Hello everyone, I'm seeking suggestions for good APRS client software packages for Windows? There are a number of ancient packages out there but it would be nice to find one that's thoroughly modern and still being maintained. I'm also looking for an APRS client for the Raspberry Pi and maybe Android down the road. What's your favourite? Thanks & 73, Ken VA7KBM

3 2

Re: [amsat-bb] Still ok to use AO-85 in daylight?
by Andrew Glasbrenner 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

Yes, please feel free to use it while illuminated! 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Scott via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Sent: Jul 30, 2019 5:42 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Still ok to use AO-85 in daylight? > >Good day! > >Just wanted to make sure it was still ok to use AO-85 when it's illuminated. > >Here it is just after 5:30pm local time on a sunny day and I almost had the >entire pass all to myself across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, & >Mid-Atlantic until George (WA5KBH) finally came in right at the end of my >footprint. > >Made me worry that I might have missed an instruction about the use of >AO-85 since this is not what you normally expect on an FM satellite mid-day. > >Thanks! > >-Scott, K4KDR >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed >are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

1 0

Still ok to use AO-85 in daylight?
by Scott 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

Good day! Just wanted to make sure it was still ok to use AO-85 when it's illuminated. Here it is just after 5:30pm local time on a sunny day and I almost had the entire pass all to myself across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, & Mid-Atlantic until George (WA5KBH) finally came in right at the end of my footprint. Made me worry that I might have missed an instruction about the use of AO-85 since this is not what you normally expect on an FM satellite mid-day. Thanks! -Scott, K4KDR

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] Transponders For Rent??? (for free)
by Robert Bruninga 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

Actually there is a geostationary channel that can be used by Ham Operators that is for free. https://othernet.is/ About 2 years ago, the APRS satellite ground station captures were made available worldwide via three GEO satellites for reception anywhere on earth. But I recently found that the OUTERnet system has changed to a new GEO satellite constellation and no longer uses INMARSAT L band satellites but is now using a KA band downlink over the USA. And that they are now selling a new KA receiver kit for this satellite. Has anyone kept up with them? Here is my original WEB page but with the links changed from OUTnet to OTHERnet, but otherwise, not kept up to date. http://aprs.org/othernet.html If anyone has one of their receivers or is receiving the downlink and/or wants to help me get my web page all cleaned up to what has changed over the last two years, let me know. This is a powerful capability. I hope we can keep it working. The way it is supposed to work is that you can send a specially formatted APRS packet (position, status or message) on any APRS network (terrestrial or satellite) and it should get parsed by the APRS-IS. Therer it can be captured by the OTHERNET non-profit ground station and uplinked to the APRS channel on their satellites to the downlink that anyone can receive. Ostensibly a ham radio volunteer global emergency backup channel. Its round-about, but a possible play-point... Bob, Wb4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org> On Behalf Of Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2019 4:03 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Transponders For Rent??? Yes, I would rent in a minute. This would be my solution for working the sats. in the Wisconsin Winter! Brad Smith KC9UQR <So, like "FM Tower for Rent", signs as seen all over the U.S., could we soon see "GEO TV Satellite transponder for rent" as well ?Maybe this could be an answer to a ham GEO transponder ?>

1 0

PSAT2 Elliptical Orbit visibility cycles
by Robert Bruninga 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

As PSAT2's elliptical orbit is reaching its smallest footprint in the northern hemisphere, we updated her general predictions. At a latitude of about 40 degrees, the difference in best elevation angles is about 20 degrees. With best being 29 and worst being about 9 degrees now.. The Apogee/Perigee cycle repeats every 34 days. For northern hemisphere stations, maximum footprint apogee was 11 July and will be max again August 13th, etc meaning its about at its worst now. The cycle for local time-of-day pass times is every 48 days. Noontime passes were around July 20 and will return about sept 6, moving earlier each day. Though day-by-day local pass times appear to be about 5 minutes later each day as shown on the PSAT2 page. http://aprs.org/psat2.html with a new pass arriving about 90 minutes earlier every other day. Northern Hemisphere passes begin around sunrise and Southern Hemisphere is entering a great operating period with high elevation angles and all passes now occurring in afternoon daylight and the SSTV will be taking images with full sun power. PSAT2 will remain in DTMF uplink mode. PSK31 and SSTV are also on. Bob, WB4APR http://aprs.org/sats.html <== all APRS sats

1 0

CAS-7B
by PY5LF 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

Hi CAS-7B looks like a little insensitive . Best return I got using 80W on uplink . Object 2019-043A are working perfectly for me . 73 -- *PY5LF * *Luciano Fabricio* *www.falautomation.com.br <http://www.falautomation.com.br>* <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Livre de vírus. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…>. <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

3 3

Deschutes County Fair Demos - W7D
by KI7UNJ Tucker 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

All, I will be doing FM Demos at the Deschutes County Fair (Oregon CN94) at the High Desert Amateur Radio Group booth this coming Thur/Fri/Sat. I will be doing the demos as call sign W7D. The call is for the special event of the "100th Deschutes County Fair" Come say Hi! THURSDAY AUGUST 1st UTC AO-91 2041 PO-101 2140 FRIDAY AUGUST 2nd UTC AO-91 1925 PO-101 2149 AO-85 2234 SATURDAY AUGUST 3rd UTC AO-92 1811 AO-91 1946 PO-101 2023 AO-85 2118 -- Casey Tucker KI7UNJ AMSAT Ambassador https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ https://www.qrz.com/db/KI7UNJ http://bit.do/ki7unj <https://www.google.com/url?q=http://bit.do/ki7unj&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=…>

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-07-30 03:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 30 Jul '19

30 Jul '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-07-30 03:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Kyoto Tachibana Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3KT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV (***) Contact is go for: Thu 2019-08-08 10:36:37 UTC 56 deg (***) The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) For many years I have on purpose not given the actual hyperlinks; I assume the user would do a copy/paste into their favorite browser. I am now thinking that the browsers have all grown up and most should be able to handle the link. Please let me know you experience any issues. So now you should be able to directly click on the link. (***) 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 2019-07-30 03:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2019-07-27 22:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 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: http://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) http://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 http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 120 **************************************************************************** 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 1325. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1268. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correctio… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Aleksey Ovchinin Nick Hague KG5TMV Exp. 60 on orbit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Alexander Skvortsov Drew Morgan KI5AAA **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] HEO/Elliptical [was: AMSAT-NA solution: DX (HEO) to attract more interest and revenue]
by Daniel Schultz 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: >> What needs to be donated? Technical expertise? Parts? Ground transportation? >> Meeting rooms? Negotiation skill? Political contacts? Clean room time? Payload space? The main thing that we need is a launch vehicle. Once we find a ride to orbit, everything else will follow... ------ Les Rayburn wrote: >One application for a geostationary satellite that should not be discounted would be emergency communications. AMSAT has pitched the emergency communications angle to FEMA and other agencies, so far none have bitten on it. ------ Jean Marc (3B8DU) wrote: >E.g. Apollo moon landing success was made just by the vision of a strong leader >(and surely the team behind him) who federate a nation (US) behind same. The fear that the USSR would get to the Moon first was a powerful motivation for Apollo, one that convinced the US Congress to commit up to 4% of the national budget. I'm afraid that AMSAT does not have the capability to inspire that level of fear. 73, Dan Schultz N8FGV

1 0

GEO Satellite transponders for rent ?
by KC9SGV 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

So, like "FM Tower for Rent", signs as seen all over the U.S., could we soon see "GEO TV Satellite transponder for rent" as well ? Maybe this could be an answer to a ham GEO transponder ? See this interesting announcement by AT&T... https://qz.com/1480089/att-just-declared-the-end-of-the-satellite-tv-era-in… KC9SGV Sent from my iPad

1 0

Correction: Chandrayaan-2 not using "Earth Gravity Assist"
by Scott 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

Hello! One of the things I enjoy most about the hobby is learning new things. If that comes at the expense of correcting something I said or did incorrectly, that's fine. I recently posted on Twitter about how fortunate I had been to be in the right place at the right time to record an entire 2-hour fly-by of the ISRO Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft which is working towards a moon landing in a few weeks. https://twitter.com/scott23192/status/1155528793831944193 ... in that post, I referred to the situation as an Earth "gravity-assist". That was not the correct term for the flight of Chandrayaan-2 and if you'd like to hear what the difference is, please read on. Edgar, DF2MZ, was kind enough to fill me in on the distinction. To accomplish a gravity-assist, an object (Chandrayaan-2 in this example) needs to fly by another object (Earth in this case) in a path ideally described as "hyperbolic". Put simply, it's a one-time fly-by as opposed to a recurring orbit. You can read about the theory of this type of alignment here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist This is not the case with Chandrayaan-2, which is why the ISRO is using a schedule of rocket firings to boost its orbit farther and farther from Earth. When an object like Chandrayaan-2 is in a recurring orbit (often described as "elliptical"), it's more-or-less going to stay there unless outside forces change that. I guess the most common forces would be gravity or rocket firings. For an amazing, mathematically correct animation of Chandrayaan-2's journey (complete w/ on-schedule rocket firings), check out: http://sankara.net/chandrayaan2.html (the last "big loop" that eventually makes the lunar capture possible will blow your mind) So that's the difference between the two circumstances and I wanted to set the record straight. I greatly enjoyed being able to record the spacecraft's S-Band downlink throughout the entire pass but didn't want to leave an incorrect description of the pass hanging out there. In the end it was a nice bonus to learn something new about the nature of orbits since they play such a major role in our hobby. Thanks, -Scott, K4KDR

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] HEO/Elliptical [was: AMSAT-NA solution: DX (HEO) to attract more interest and revenue]
by Roy Dean 29 Jul '19

29 Jul '19

> > What needs to be donated? Technical expertise? Parts? Ground > transportation? Meeting rooms? Negotiation skill? Political contacts? > Clean room time? Payload space? > Everyone always thinks "money". (As much) money isn't needed if "what > money buys" is available for negotiation, barter, or "in the store house > awaiting donation". What are the top barriers? Inquiringly yours, > Ev, W2EV I think, in this case, the top barrier, by FAR, is MONEY. The ride to geostationary or HEO is the biggest barrier. The way I see it, there are two solutions: Buy a ride, or mooch a ride. So again, it's down to money or some amazing negotiating skills. Somebody more in tuned with this endeavor will correct me if I'm wrong (and I often am). --Roy K3RLD

3 3