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Hawkeye 360 2nd cluster in the chamber.
by Robert McGwier 31 Jul '20

31 Jul '20

Hawkeye 360's next cluster is in the chamber getting tested. This is so cool. I will never forget my experience testing the Microsats for AMSAT the last century. Thank you AMSAT for all you have been to me. Check this photo out. 73s Bob N4HY https://drive.google.com/file/d/1StsK2w7x05tHcHP6wHfFZF8iFX-Quuqs/view?usp=…

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Re: [amsat-bb] Hawkeye 360 2nd cluster in the chamber.
by Roy Dean 31 Jul '20

31 Jul '20

That's exactly what my ham shack looks like. --Roy K3RLD > Check this photo out. > > 73s Bob N4HY > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1StsK2w7x05tHcHP6wHfFZF8iFX-Quuqs/view?usp=… > >

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The future of AMSAT
by Ray Soifer 31 Jul '20

31 Jul '20

Joe, With a little ingenuity, including choice of licensing country, we can have legal digital gateway stations. Operating rules can be changed if necessary, although we have to stay within license regulations. I didn't say that such stations would be cheap, although such a network would cost a lot less than trying to build our own HEO. As a point of reference, AO-40 cost about $5 million in today's dollars, roughly half of which was raised by AMSAT-NA and ARRL. It was my bad luck to be acting president of AMSAT-NA during the failure and partial recovery of AO-40. I'll never forget the great work done to get it back in operation, and those who did it. I hope we'll never have to go through something like that again, but after all it IS rocket science. 73 Ray W2RS

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Jan King
by Edson W. R. Pereira 31 Jul '20

31 Jul '20

Hi Ray, Do you have an email address to Jan King? I read a paper he wrote about experiments with cubesats in the Ka band, but the email he used seems no longer valid. 73, Edson PY2SDR

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-07-31 02:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 30 Jul '20

30 Jul '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-07-31 02:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: American School of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Contact was successful: Thu 2020-07-30 16:41:42 UTC 78 deg (***) Watch for live simulcast starting about 10 minutes before AOS at: https://youtu.be/MSyfzEHYwrE (***) ######################################################################################################################################## A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No new schools Cancelled: No new schools The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2020-07-31 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. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-07-31 02:30 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The Proposal Window of February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 has now closed. For future proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ******************************************************************************* All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 134 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1393. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1326. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 62 now on orbit Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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AO-73 Frequency Shifts
by Albert Ozias 30 Jul '20

30 Jul '20

Why is AO-73 frequency more effected by time in sunlight than other birds? Is this a design flaw or a component failure?

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Once again, because I am being asked . . .
by Brennan Price 30 Jul '20

30 Jul '20

I have previously addressed the bylaws requirement of Article III, Section 3: <<Duly nominated and eligible candidates . . . shall have use of the corporation’s mailing lists for election-related purposes at no cost to the corporation.>> I construed this section to mean the postal mailing list, and the list provided to candidates who chose to accept it contained only names, call signs, and postal addresses. Beyond the previously described conditions on the duration of access and agency necessary to comply with data protection regulations, I have not and will not micromanage how candidates choose to use or cross-reference this list to public databases for election-related purposes, as it wouldn't be appropriate for me to do so. 73, Brennan Price, N4QX Secretary, Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation

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Save the Alabama Space Camp!
by Clint Bradford 30 Jul '20

30 Jul '20

The Alabama Space & Rocket Center is in financial trouble. Article and below that is this GoFundMe site: almost $500K of the needed $1.5MIL. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/us/us-space-rocket-center-alabama-close-dona… <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2020%2F07%2F29%2…> https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/savespacecamp <https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/savespacecamp> Clint Bradford K6LCS PS Thought we had an Alabama ham around here … Guess he hasn't heard of this wonderful institution!

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Reply to W5PFG's letter of 10 July 2020
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 30 Jul '20

30 Jul '20

Hi. The following is the text of a letter sent on behalf of Michelle Thompson W5NYV and me to AMSAT President Clayton Coleman W5PFG, along with everyone who co-signed Clayton's letter of 10 July 2020. Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK ********************************* Text of forwarded letter is below ********************************* July 27, 2020 AMSAT Board Members Clayton Coleman, President Dear Sirs and Madam: I am writing in my capacity as counsel to Michelle Thompson and Patrick Stoddard regarding the letter to members entitled “AMSAT Leadership Explains 2018-2020 Legal Expenses” posted on July 10, 2020 (“Letter”). Through the course of my representation of my clients, I know that information included in this letter is patently false and defamatory and has resulted in reputational harm to Ms. Thompson and Mr. Stoddard. On behalf of my clients, I demand that appropriate corrective action be taken to address these falsehoods and prevent further harm to their reputations. The most egregious falsehood, among several, is the statement that AMSAT is “under attack” by my clients. Ms. Thompson and Mr. Stoddard have consistently worked to improve AMSAT – and have done nothing to attack or undermine the organization they support. It is true that my clients have worked diligently to evaluate the mission, activities, finances, and procedures of AMSAT. Specifically, they have taken steps to increase the financial transparency of AMSAT, enforce the provisions of its existing bylaws, and obtain access to corporate and financial documents. They have done all of this work as volunteers, deeply invested in the well-being and success of AMSAT as an organization. While I understand that certain AMSAT officials may interpret my clients’ actions to be critical of their personal actions, it is simply not true that AMSAT as an organization is “under attack.” The broad dissemination of a statement to the contrary is false, harms Ms. Thompson’s and Mr. Stoddard’s ability to serve AMSAT and calls into question their integrity. As you know, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Stoddard were improperly denied access to AMSAT’s corporate records. They had to retain my firm just to be able to carry out their corporate responsibilities as Directors. They now are questioning the propriety of the legal expenditures as they have not been given any evidence that these expenses were ever approved by board action, much less in advance of the engagement, as is required by Article II, Section 1 of AMSAT’s bylaws. One of the principal fiduciary responsibilities of all board members is to obey the provisions of the organization’s governing documents. Rather than “disrupt and possibly defame” or “publicly attack the integrity and honor” of AMSAT Officers and Directors, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Stoddard have merely been trying to review whether the AMSAT board has met this important fiduciary obligation. You noted, “[t]he only powers that Directors have is when the Board is in session and Board members make their vote” – and yet, we are not aware of any Board meeting in which this Letter was discussed. The fact that five of the current Directors have decided to sign this letter without conferring as a Board is good evidence that Directors may choose to exercise his or her individual oversight role in the absence of a Board meeting. In conclusion, my clients are doing their best to improve financial transparency and good governance in AMSAT. We agree that “a poisonous atmosphere makes it impossible for good ideas to be heard” and my clients both wish to create instead an “atmosphere of collaboration and common purpose.” They ran on a reform platform and were duly elected by the members to carry out that mandate. With this letter, Ms. Thompson and Mr. Stoddard formally request that the Letter be retracted and removed from AMSAT’s public website. Alternatively, the Letter should, in consultation with my clients, be corrected to accurately reflect the reality of their interactions with AMSAT and its Board. Given that the unfounded accusations against my clients harm their reputation and question their integrity, we request action be taken no later than ten (10) days after the receipt of this demand. We look forward to your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely, Carolyn A. Klamp, Counsel cc: Dr. Tom Clark Keith Baker, Jerry Buxton, Dr. Mark Hammond, Paul Stoetzer, Martha Saragovitz, Robert Bankston, Drew Glasbrenner, Bruce Paige Michelle Thompson Patrick Stoddard

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Fwd: AMSAT Critical Election
by Ray Soifer 30 Jul '20

30 Jul '20

Subject: Re: AMSAT Critical Election Howie,, Thanks for including me in your distribution. I am not endorsing any candidate, nor do I think my endorsement would matter anyway. As you know, there already is a HEO amateur satellite payload in orbit. It was mainly built by AMSAT-DL as a "passenger" on a GEO satellite placed into orbit by a friendly Arab government. It cannot be directly accessed from North America but there is nothing to prevent a North American ham from accessing it through a gateway via the Internet. No, such a contact wouldn't count for DXCC, but as you said, not all hams are interested in awards or contests. Unfortunately, the US does not have a ham-friendly government. After rejecting the comments of AMSAT and ARRL in the "small satellite" rulemaking, FCC seems more interested in creating obstacles to amateur HEOs (e.g., the orbital debris docket). I won't even mention ITAR/EAR. Does it really matter who builds the next one? If so, why? I must admit that I get a bit nervous when somebody mentions that he wants to build a satellite interesting to commercial users. Why should amateur bands be used for such things? I am not speaking here for IARU, but I spend a fair amount of time helping to review the proposals we get for frequency coordination. Quite a few of them are really commercial projects, dressed up to use amateur bands. Our bands are precious; we need to keep protecting them. Finally, not all hams are interested in awards or contests, but many are. AMSAT has always had a combination of techies and operators, each doing what they do best. Long may that continue. 73 Ray W2RS

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