AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-231.01
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 dot 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:
* AMSAT 2018 Symposium Second Call for Papers * Call for Technical Papers & Presentations at DCC * AMSAT Board of Director Elections Corrected Ballots Due September 15, 2018 * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-231.01 ANS-231.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 231.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
August 19, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-231.01
AMSAT 2018 Symposium Second Call for Papers
AMSAT has issued the second call for papers for the 2018 AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL on the weekend of November 2-4. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. Prospects should send a tentative title of their presentation as soon as possible. The final copy must be submitted by October 15th for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org
[ANS thanks Dan Schultz, N8FGV for the above information.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Call for Technical Papers & Presentations at DCC, Albuquerque, New Mexico September 14-16, 2018
The ARRL and TAPR DCC is an international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work, and present new ideas and techniques. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and software advances, theories, experimental results, and practical applications.
All digital topics are covered at the DCC including digital voice, data & video, SDR, DSP, precise timing, spread spectrum, networking technologies and mesh networking.
Technical papers are being solicited for presentation at the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) and printed in the annual Conference Proceedings published by the ARRL. Presentation at the conference is not required for publication although authors who attend receive priority for a scheduling a presentation during the technical forums.
If you would like to present a technical topic at the DCC and not submit a technical paper email the topic of your presentation to the TAPR Office at: taproffice at tapr dot org
Submission of technical papers for publication should be submitted ASAP to Maty Weinberg, ARRL 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 or via the Internet to maty at arrl dot org
More details about technical papers and guidelines for paper submissions are available at: http://www.tapr.org/dcc#dcccallforpapers
[ANS thanks Mark Thompson for the above information.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NASA Assigns Crews to First Test Flights, Missions on Commercial Spacecraft
NASA introduced to the world on Friday the first U.S. astronauts who will fly on American-made, commercial spacecraft to and from the International Space Station - an endeavor that will return astronaut launches to U.S. soil for the first time since the space shuttle's retirement in 2011.
"Today, our country's dreams of greater achievements in space are within our grasp," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "This accomplished group of American astronauts, flying on new spacecraft developed by our commercial partners Boeing and SpaceX, will launch a new era of human spaceflight. Today's announcement advances our great American vision and strengthens the nation's leadership in space."
The agency assigned nine astronauts to crew the first test flight and mission of both Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon. NASA has worked closely with the companies throughout design, development and testing to ensure the systems meet NASA's safety and performance requirements.
"The men and women we assign to these first flights are at the forefront of this exciting new time for human spaceflight," said Mark Geyer, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It will be thrilling to see our astronauts lift off from American soil, and we can't wait to see them aboard the International Space Station." Additional crew members will be assigned by NASA's international partners at a later date.
NASA's continuous presence on the space station for almost 18 years has enabled technology demonstrations and research in biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, human health, physical sciences. This research has led to dramatic improvements in technology, infrastructure and medicine, and thousands of spinoff technologies that have improved quality of life here on Earth.
The new spaceflight capability provided by Boeing and SpaceX will allow NASA to maintain a crew of seven astronauts on the space station, thereby maximizing scientific research that leads to breakthroughs and also aids in understanding and mitigating the challenges of long-duration spaceflight.
NASA's Commercial Crew Program is facilitating the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit. The public-private partnerships fostered by the program will stimulate growth in a robust commercial space industry and spark life-changing innovations for future generations.
Further information at https://tinyurl.com/nasa-commercial-crew.
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Board of Director Elections Corrected Ballots Due September 15, 2018
Corrected ballots were mailed and members should have received them. The new ballots, labeled "CORRECTED BALLOT 7/20/2018" are printed on yellow-colored cardstock.
Using the Yellow Ballots, please vote for no more than three of the 2018 candidates:
Tom Clark, K3IO Mark Hammond, N8MH Scott Harvey, KA7FVV Bruce Paige, KK5DO Peter Portanova, W2JV
Candidate biographies can be viewed at: https://www.amsat.org/bios2018/
The Directors positions will go to the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternate members chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received.
Ballots must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15, 2018 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America were sent via air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your location, please contact the AMSAT office. Completed ballots should be returned as promptly as possible, and those from outside North America preferably by air mail.
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Satellite Operations as of 9/19/2018
Geneva Switzerland - August 20-22, 2018 Brennan, N4QX, will be visiting Geneva Switzerland August 19-29, operating under the call HB9/N4QX. This will be a holiday style, FM only trip. Specific pass and grid activations will be posted on his Twitter page, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/BrennanTPrice
Santa Rosa Island (CM93 and CM94) - August 20-22, 2018 Ron, AD0DX, using the call sign W6R, will be operating from Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands August 20-22 to activate grid square CM93, with a few passes from the CM93/CM94 grid line. Ron will be mainly active on the FM satellites AO-91, AO-92 and SO- 50. Just learning to operate on the linear birds, he hopes to be active on FO-29, CAS-4A and CAS-4B. More information is available on AD0DX's QRZ page, with updates while on the island will be posted on Twitter, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/ad0dx
Minnesota (EN27) - August 25-31, 2018 Kirk, N0KK, will be in EN27, with possible road trips to EN16/17 and EN36, August 10th and 11th. Kirk Will attempt as many FM passes as possible on AO-91/92, SO-50. Specific pass announcements will be posted to Twitter, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/radiozerokk
Lawrence, KS (EM28, EM29) - August 26-28, 2018 Greg, N4KGL, will be in activating the EM28/EM29 gridline, while in Lawrence Kansas. More specific plans are forthcoming.
Kansas QSO Party (DM97) - August 26 Ron, AD0X will be participating in the Kansas QSO Party from DM97. Updates will be posted on Twitter, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/ad0dx
Please submit additions or corrections to ke4al at yahoo dot com.
[ANS thanks Robert, KE4AL for the above information.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
+ Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-08-17 02:30 UTC Friedrich-Franz-Gymnasium Parchim, Parchim, Germany, direct via DC1RSN
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be DPØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Gerst KF5ONO Contact is a go for: Sat 2018-08-25 09:52:16 UTC 58 deg Vidya Mandir Inter College, Meerut, India, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Ricky Arnold KE5DAU Contact is a go for: Thu 2018-08-23 08:22:00 UTC 47 deg Glenden State School, Glenden, Queensland, Australia, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT (***) Contact is a go for: Fri 2018-08-24 09:45:17 UTC 54 deg
[ANS thanks Charles Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools:
Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 131 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 106
[ANS thanks Charles Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Rocket Fever" in Downey CA, 18 August 2018 AMSAT will be part of a larger effort representing amateur radio at "Rocket Fever", an event at the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey, California. This event will take place on Saturday, 18 August 2018. More information about the event is available at:
http://columbiaspacescience.org/news-events/event/rocket-fever-4/
The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach and the Downey Amateur Radio Club will be the local radio clubs spearheading the amateur radio booth at the event:
http://aralb.org/ (ARALB) http://darcarc.wordpress.com/ (Downey ARC)
During the day, there will be demonstrations using different satellites from the grounds of the Columbia center. Most likely, WD9EWK will be the call sign used for these demonstrations. If you hear the demonstrations on the air, please feel free to call and join in. The Columbia center is in grid DM03, Los Angeles County. If WD9EWK is used for the satellite demonstrations, I will upload the QSOs to Logbook of the World after the event, and QSL cards will be available on request (no QSL card or SASE is needed; just e-mail me with QSO details).
During this event, I will use my @WD9EWK Twitter account to post updates and pictures. Even if you don't use Twitter, these posts are available to anyone using a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
+ While many are preparing for the first Phase 4 amateur payload in a geostationary satellite, the first Phase 5 amateur payload is already operational in an elliptical orbit around the Moon. The last transmissions from LongJiang 2 were on 2018-08-05 from 00:30 to 02:30 UTC and from 07:30 to 09:30 UTC on 435.400 MHz and 436.400 MHz.
Various experiments are being carried out with GMSK and JT4G downlink signals. Stations with 'normal' amateur equipment can receive the downlinks quite well. Downlink signals have even been received with no more than an Arrow antenna, no preamp.
DK5LA was the first to have his signals relayed through LongJiang 2 on 2018-07-15. On August 4, the first picture of an onboard camera was downlinked with SSDV. Other experiments will follow later. Why not give LongJiang 2 a try?
[ANS thanks Nico, PA0DLO for the above information.]
+ The South Indian Ocian has many active satellite operators in the region, mainly from Mauritius (3B8), Reunion (FR), South Africa (ZS) as well as from Madagascar 5R8 sometimes. In spite many countries reachable particularly on FO-29 they report not hearing much traffic except for regular QSO's with Thailand thanks to Kob, E21EJC.
Active operators reachable around the Indian Ocean (West Africa, Middle-East, Asia and Oceania) may not be looking that way as they are not expecting any traffic and also due to time difference.
Stations in the South Indian Ocean area would like to QSO with others in that part of the globe. "Look for us on the birds!"
[ANS thanks Jean Marc, 3B8DU for the above information.]
+ The AMSAT-UK payload for the ESEO satellite was delivered to Italy last week. The mode LV transponder and the antennas will be integrated into the satellite over the next few weeks.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and David Bowman, G0MRF for the above information.]
+ There will be an AMSAT village at EMFcamp. The Electromagnetic Field event takes place at Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire Aug 31-Sept 2. Electromagnetic Field (EMF) is a non-profit UK camping festival for those with an inquisitive mind or an interest in making things: hackers, geeks, scientists, engineers, artists, and crafters.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.]
+ The FCC has issued call sign WJ2XLT to LeoLabs for satellite and space debris tracking from Menlo Park CA at 2.9-3 GHz with a transmission power of 2,500,000 W. The licensee requested that details be withheld from the public for 10 years.
[ANS thanks Experimental Radio Service for the above information.]
+ Chinese state missile maker CASIC and its commercial space subsidiary Expace is preparing to launch its Kuaizhou-1A (Y8) solid rocket before the end of September, carrying the Centispace-1-1S test satellite into 700 km SSO.
This mission will be additional to the approximately 35 being planned by main space contractor CASC for 2018.This means that together with CASC, emerging players like Expace, Landspace and potentially OneSpace, there could be around 40 Chinese launches in 2018.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and Andrew Jones 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, Chris Bradley aa0cb at amsat dot org