AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-218
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* Return of Experimenter's Wednesday to AO-85 * ARISS contact planned for YOTA, England * VUCC Awards/Endorsements for July 2017 * ARRL PR Poster Features Amateur Radio in Space * AMSAT Phase 4 Groundstation at DEFCON * AMSAT-NA BoD Ballots Due At AMSAT Office By September 15, 2017 * AMSATSA/SARL Workshop To Focus On Taking SDR To A New Level * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-218.01 ANS-218 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 218.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
August 6, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-218.01
Return of Experimenter's Wednesday to AO-85
With the recent popularity of Slow Scan Television (SSTV) from the ISS, AMSAT Operations is bringing back Experimenter’s Wednesday to AO- 85.
On a trial basis, we invite users to exchange pictures using Robot 36 SSTV mode via the FM repeater on AO-85 during UTC Wednesdays. Please identify prior to beginning transmissions, and only send when the uplink is clear.
Stations are requested to only uplink if they have a reasonable expectation of maintaining a full-quieting signal for the duration of the image transmission.
Smaller stations are encouraged to focus on receiving the images.
Please don’t send questionable or provocative images. If in doubt, pick another one.
Expect all ages to be participating.
Feedback is encouraged, and comments may be directed via email to me at ko4ma at amsat dot org.
[ANS thanks Drew KO4MA for the above information]
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ARISS contact planned for YOTA, England
An International Space Station ARISS contact has been planned for astronaut Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA and the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) event, which takes place in UK.
The ARISS contact is scheduled Tuesday August 8, 2017 at approximately 18.38 UTC.
This will be a direct radio contact, operated by GB4YOTA.
Downlink signals will be audible in parts of Europe on 145.800 MHz narrowband FM. Moreover, Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA will operate the HamVideo transmitter.
The Goonhilly receiver will be activated sometime Friday (4th August) and will remain active over the weekend and continue to track the ISS until Wednesday morning, 9th August. Goonhilly, will be one of several European HamTV reception ground stations contributing to the reception of the HamTV signal for the contact itself.
Two web streams will be available:
1. The normal ARISS/BATC website will be available at https://ariss.batc.tv/hamtv ; This shows only the HamTV video downlink as an output from the merger facility, with an indication of which registered HamTV stations are providing signal input to the merger.
2. The ARISS Operations UK Team will be web streaming from the YOTA event itself at https://ariss.batc.tv/ ; This web stream includes introductions and presentations from the RSGB and the YOTA participants before the actual contact itself according to the timetable of the event below.
The timetable of the event is as follows. ALL times are UTC times: 17:30 - All participants and guests to be present at the location. The event web stream (https://ariss.batc.tv/) will start at approximately this time to capture some of the build-up.
17:40 - Formal start of the RSGB/YOTA introductions and presentations.
18:20 - ARISS Operations in the UK take over the event, give the background to what is happening, how it is organised and how all the different elements of the contact are managed.
18:38 - Scheduled time for start of contact with Nespoli operating as NA1SS. The YOTA participants will be using the GB4YOTA callsign.
18:50 - Approximate end of contact with Nespoli. After closing the contact, the operator will invite RSGB/YOTA to formally close down the ARISS event.
[ANS thanks Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, ARISS Europe for the above information]
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VUCC Awards/Endorsements for July 2017
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period July 1, 2017 through August 1, 2017. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
CALL GRIDS
KD8CAO 1240 N8RO 1010 N8HM 980 N4UFO 675 WA5KBH 630 KG5CCI 616 KK4FEM 476 WD9EWK 375 PV8DX 313 NJ7H 203 KX9X 158 KA9P 150 XE3DX 117 OX/NJ7H 110 (NEW VUCC) PT9BM 100 (NEW VUCC)
Eduardo PY2RN wrote, "Congratulations to aGustavo, PT9BM for the first VUCC-SAT in South America (below the Equator), way to go!"
This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for July 1st and August 1st, 2017. 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!
[ANS thanks John K8YSE for the above information]
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ARRL PR Poster Features Amateur Radio in Space
The ARRL offers a series of six posters that promote Amateur Radio to the general public. These were originally designed by ARRL for the 2017 National Scouting Jamboree, but may be used for any outreach effort. Each poster is 11" x 17".
One of the posters features amateur radio in space.
The six posters are based around the theme, "Ham Radio Is..."
Those themes are:
+ Adventure (Portable operating of all kinds) + Discovery (Making/Building/DIY) + Friendship (Community and Mentoring) + Out Of This World (space communications/satellites) + Ready (Publc Service) + The Game (Contesting and Awards)
A link to ARRL's "What Is Ham Radio" page is provided as both a URL and a QR code on each poster.
The posters are available for free download in PDF format. http://www.arrl.org/pr-posters
We suggest printing on high-gloss paper and framing them for maximum effect.
[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information]
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AMSAT Phase 4 Groundstation at DEFCON
Amateur Radio and AMSAT were prominently featured this year at DEFCON Hacking Conference. In addition to the license exam session run by one of the many local DEFCON Groups, there were amateur radio demonstrations of software defined radio, Phase 4 Ground, and GNU Radio flowgraphs at WiFi Village, one of the many subject-specific subcategories at DEFCON. The amateur satellite service was of great interest!
At an estimated 30,000 attendees, outreach was highly successful. Participants were diverse, technical, curious, and came ready with the questions! A very high fraction were already licensed or interested in getting their license.
Amateur radio was also part of the WiFi Village Capture the Flag competition. Word on the street is that next year we expect to see a lot more ham content in this exciting signal intelligence competition. AMSAT Phase 4 Ground will next present at the GNU Radio Conference in September, in San Diego, CA.
Register now at https://www.gnuradio.org/grcon-2017/
After that, we will be at the AMSAT Symposium in October, in Reno, NV. More information at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/ Thank you to Paul Williamson and Steve Conklin for helping staff the booth, bringing cool custom swag, setting up demonstrations, and answering hundreds and hundreds of questions. We are already looking forward to next year!
[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NYV for the above information]
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AMSAT-NA BoD Ballots Due At AMSAT Office By September 15, 2017
Ballots for AMSAT-NA's Board of Directors were mailed to members in good standing on July 15. Members are encouraged to complete their ballots and return them as soon as possible. Ballots must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15 in order to be counted.
This year AMSAT-NA will be electing four voting members of the Board of Directors. These will go to the four candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be one alternate chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received.
The 2017 candidates, in alphabetical order by last name are:
Jerry Buxton, N0JY Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA Peter Portanova, W2JV Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that will accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. You have the option to vote for up to four candidates.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information]
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AMSATSA/SARL Workshop To Focus On Taking SDR To A New Level
The AMSAT SA/SARL workshop, to be held on Saturday 19 August at the SARL National Amateur Radio Centre at Radiokop Roodepoort, will focus on how to get more out of Software Defined Radio, and will take participants to another level in Amateur Radio activity.
The workshop will be presented in two sessions. Session one will deal with the VHF SDR dongle and how to have more fun, such as listening to satellites, receiving weather satellites pictures, and astronomy projects. The second session will discuss a HF Dongle and the SARL HF Noise floor monitoring project, with details and a demonstration of how to automate this and how to build an autonomous system using a raspberry Pi.
For more details and to check your registration status, point your browser to www.amsatsa.org.za or send an e-mail to admin at amsatsa.org.za
[ANS thanks SARL weekly news in English 2017-8-5 for the above information]
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ARISS News
+ A Successful contact was made between VCP-Bundeszeltplatz, Großzerlang, Germany and Astronaut Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA using Callsign OR4ISS. The contact began 2017-08-01 18:20 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via DP9S. ARISS Mentor was Peter IN3GHZ.
+ A Successful contact was made between Frontiers of Flight Museum/ Moon Day, Dallas, TX, USA and Astronaut Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA using Callsign OR4ISS. The contact began Sat 2017-08-05 18:02:31 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Telebridge via ON4ISS. ARISS Mentor was Keith W5IU.
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Free SpaceUK Magazine
Edition 47 of the UK Space Agency's free magazine SpaceUK is now available for download
The latest edition is packed with interesting content, including a feature on growing the UK space sector, a look at the next mission to Mars and an interview with Tim Peake KG5BVI / GB1SS.
Download your copy of SpaceUK from http://tinyurl.com/ANS218-SpaceUK
Sign up for email updates http://tinyurl.com/ANS218-EmailUpdates
UK Space Agency blog https://space.blog.gov.uk/
[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
+ Satellite has deployable VHF crossed Yagi antenna
Radio amateurs Sean Hum VA3SHV and Jeff Nicholls VA3NGJ worked on the design for a deployable VHF crossed Yagi antenna on the recently launched NORsat-2
The very high frequency (VHF) antenna was designed to unfold from the CubeSat after receiving a command from the Norwegian Space Center to deploy once in orbit.
“This antenna is a completely new type of deployable antenna — it unfolds to be more than three times as large as the satellite that took it into orbit,” says Hum. “This is the first time that a deployable antenna of this type has been contemplated and successfully used as a main mission antenna for a CubeSat.”
On July 20, cameras on board the CubeSat confirmed the successful deployment of the antenna.
Read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/ANS218-Cubesats
[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
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/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information.
73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM aa8em at amsat dot org