AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-320
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:
* Special-Event Station for 40th Anniversary of OSCAR 7 Launch * 4M – End of Mission * Predictions App for Deep Space Ham Radio Satellite * Allocate Portion of Your eBay Sales as a Donation to AMSAT * FUNcube-1's Birthday * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-320.01 ANS-320 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 320.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE November 16, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-320.01
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Special-Event Station for 40th Anniversary of OSCAR 7 Launch
Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK/VA7EWK has secured the special call sign W7O (WHISKEY SEVEN OSCAR) for use in commemorating the 40th anniversary of the launch of OSCAR 7 on 15 November 1974. He plans on having this call on the air between 15 and 24 November 2014, working satellites and possibly other bands. He will work satellite passes from Arizona, including AO-7 passes, and hopes to recruit a small group of operators who can work other passes that cover eastern North America along with other places that he can’t work from his home QTH (i.e. Europe, north Africa, South America). He may also recruit some operators to work HF with this call.
Patrick will handle the QSL requests for W7O during this period.
“I am thinking of incorporating the original QSL card design AMSAT used to confirm AO-7 reception reports from the 1970s in the W7O card. (Does anyone have a good scan of both sides of that 1970s QSL card? Not the 30th anniversary AO-7 card – I have those, and there is a copyright on that design I do not wish to violate.) The QSL cards will be printed after the W7O activity wraps up. I will also upload W7O QSOs to ARRL’s Logbook of the World system.”
Please contact Patrick directly (patrick at wd9ewk dot net) if you have any questions related to this operation, or if you are willing to operate on satellites and/or HF as W7O during this 10-day period.
*Late Breaking*
Patrick followed up the original announcement with this communication of directives via the AMSAT-BB.
“Thanks to all who have posted in public forums and sent me private e-mails about the upcoming W7O operation. I am now ready to take sign-ups for those who would like to operate as W7O during the 15-24 November (UTC time) period.
“An important point regarding who can operate as W7O… W7O can only be operated from US territory, where amateur radio is regulated by the FCC. It cannot be used from outside US territory, as these 1×1 special calls – just like US club calls – are not covered by any of the arrangements like CEPT, IARP, or other agreements between the USA and other countries. I have been asked by some non-USA hams who were interested in operating as xxx/W7O or W7O/xxx in their countries. I’m sorry – this is not possible.
“For the HF/6m operating, I will take signups for one-hour increments on the HF bands (excluding 60m) plus 6m, for CW, phone, and digital modes. For the 30m band, only CW and digital modes. I am wanting to avoid two stations operating on the same band/mode combination as W7O at the same time. If you are willing to operate for 2, 4 or more hours at one time – please feel free to sign up for more consecutive slots. Also, please let me know about your HF station – rig(s), antenna(s), etc. If you do sign up, please follow through with being on the air at the specified times. Stations will be looking for W7O on the different bands.
“For the satellites, I am looking for operators in different parts of the USA. In particular, operators in the eastern USA capable of working Europe, north Africa, and South America along with North America will be welcomed. Other operators who are not able to work other continents are also welcome, but there has been interest from hams outside of North America to work W7O on the satellites – especially AO-7. I plan on working W7O on the satellites during weeknights and as much as possible on the two weekends during this 10- day period, but would be happy to share the work with others who may want to work as W7O during those times.
“Operators would need to operate within the limits of their amateur licenses. The W7O call does not grant additional privileges to the operator. Operators are required to give their personal call signs once per hour when operating under a 1×1 special call. For example, saying “W7O, operated by (operator’s call)” would satisfy this requirement. On the satellites with passes that are typically 10 to 20 minutes in length, giving the “W7O, operated by (operator’s call)” announcement around the midpoint of each pass worked would be a good thing.
“Once I get some operating commitments from operators, I will publish the schedule through a link on my WD9EWK QRZ.com entry and my web page. This way, others will know where and when to look for W7O during this 10-day period.
“After the 24th, W7O operators would need to send me a log of stations worked, with the usual bits of data – date/UTC time, call, band (or bands, for satellite QSOs), mode, and (for satellites) satellite name. I can handle ADIF log files, Excel spreadsheets, text files, and logs pasted into the body of e-mails. If you are not able to send me a file in any of these formats, please let me know, so we can work out a way to get the logs. Logs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, and I (WD9EWK) will handle the QSL cards for W7O.
“Please e-mail me directly (patrick at wd9ewk dot net) if you’re interested in operating as W7O, or if you have any other questions about this operation.”
[ANS thanks Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above information]
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4M – End of Mission
The JT65B amateur radio payload, which successfully completed a lunar flyby, has fallen silent after transmitting for 438 hours.
During the afternoon of November 10 the battery voltage dropped from 13.1V to 12.1V and continued falling. The last signal was received by Rein W6SZ at 01:35 UT on November 11 when the battery voltage had fallen to 8.4 volts.
Ghislain LX2RG posted the following to the Moon Net list: Here at Luxspace, we have to thank you all for the reports, for the tracking, and we also hope that we provided you with the challenges you expected.
4M may possibly awaken from time to time if illumination becomes better.
We shall now endeavor to prepare the next one.
Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M) LX0OHB-4M http://moon.luxspace.lu/blog/
4M Lunar Payload http://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/15/4m-lunar-payload-integrated-keps- released/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Predictions App for Deep Space Ham Radio Satellite
Two amateur radio satellites ARTSAT2: DESPATCH (437.325 MHz CW) and Shin’en 2 (145/435 MHz linear transponder + 437 MHz WSJT) should be launched into deep space at the end of November.
Masahiro JI1IZR has announced that prediction software is available for ARTSAT2: DESPATCH: One of the new deep space small satellites, “ARTSAT2: DESPATCH”, will be launched on the end of this month. I developed a predict utilities that display the information got from the Web API data provided by the “ARTSAT” project team.
You can get the utilities and information from: http://ji1izr.air-nifty.com/ham_satellite/in_english/index.html
You will also have the information of the satellite “ARTSAT2: DESAPTCH” from: http://artsat.jp/en/project/despatch http://pre.artsat.jp/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ despatch_abstract_en_ver1.0.1.pdf
I appreciate your notice for the project. Thank you. Masahiro Sanada JI1IZR
Art and Ham Radio in Deep Space http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/03/art-and-ham-radio-in-deep-space/
Shin’en 2 has a linear transponder http://amsat-uk.org/2014/09/01/japanese-asteroid-mission-to-carry- amateur-radio/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Allocate Portion of Your eBay Sales as a Donation to AMSAT
If you are selling items via eBay consider making a donation to AMSAT by allocating a portion of your sale.
eBay describes their program as, "Integrated into eBay's regular buying and selling platform, eBay Giving Works makes it easy for people to support important causes, both in the U.S. and abroad. It enables sellers to donate a portion of their sales and buyers to shop while supporting their favorite charities - all the while giving nonprofits an opportunity to engage new supporters."
Here is a link to AMSAT on the eBay Giving Works program. It includes information on how to sell via the Giving Works program: http://tinyurl.com/amsat-ebay
eBay users can also make direct contributions to any eBay Giving Works-listed nonprofit using their PayPal account.
[ANS thanks eBay for the above information]
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FUNcube-1's Birthday
The FUNcube Team reports: It seems amazing to us that FUNcube-1 – AO73, was launched nearly one year ago, in fact at 07:10 UTC on 21 Nov 2013. The very first signals were received by ZS1LS in South Africa at 07:37 UTC and he was even able to upload the resulting data to the Warehouse so the results could be seen immediately.
We are extremely happy to say that, since then, the satellite has been performing very satisfactorily, the battery voltage doesn’t drop below 8 volts, and becomes fully charged within about 7 – 10 minutes after re-entering sunlight from eclipse.
On Friday 21 Nov 2014, we will be celebrating the satellite’s first birthday. To mark the occasion, we will be activating the transponder earlier than normal – late on Thursday 20 Nov, so that it will be available for use during the whole of Friday. So please make as many contacts as possible through the transponder during Friday, FUNcube’s actual birthday. You are invited to make a note of any stations worked on this day, or any other comments on the FUNcube Forum. Please use the existing “FUNcube-1's Birthday” topic, under the Welcome heading. The URL of the Forum is http://forum.funcube.org.uk/
Please also remember the ’73 on 73" Award which is kindly being organized by Paul Stoetzer N8HM. See http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/ for more details.
We would like to take this opportunity of thanking all of our 'users’, both those who download telemetry and forwarding it to the warehouse, and of course, all users of the transponder. This telemetry data is invaluable, both as an educational resource and to enable us to see how the spacecraft systems are performing and surviving. So far we have collected almost 400MB of unique data via stations from all around the world.
Of course we are hoping that the satellite continues to function nominally for several more years to come even though we may never reach AO7’s record!
The AMSAT-UK Flickr Group is at https://www.flickr.com/groups/amsatuk/ Please upload your pictures of amateur satellites, satellite ground stations, satellite demonstrations or any other satellite related event.
73 on 73 Award http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/
Data Warehouse – Telemetry Archive http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/
Dashboard App – Telemetry Decoder http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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AMSAT Events
Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations).
* Saturday, 6 December 2014 – Superstition Superfest 2014 in Mesa AZ (Mesa Community College, Dobson Road between Southern Avenue & US-60 exit 177) * Sunday, 4 January 2015 – Ham Radio University in Bethpage NY (Briarcliff College) * Saturday, 10 January 2015 – Thunderbird Hamfest 2015 in Phoenix AZ (43rd Avenue, between Greenway and Bell Roads) * Friday and Saturday, 20-21 February 2015 – Yuma Hamfest in Yuma AZ (Yuma County Fairgrounds, 32nd Street between Pacific Avenue & Avenue 3E, south of I-8 exit 3) * Saturday TBD in mid-March 2015 – Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in Scottsdale AZ * Saturday, 28 March 2015 – Tucson Spring Hamfest in Tucson AZ (22nd Street, east of Columbus Blvd.) * Saturday TBD in early May 2015 – Cochise Amateur Radio Association Hamfest in Sierra Vista AZ * Saturday TBD in early June 2015 – White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low AZ
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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ARISS News
Upcoming Contacts
* From 2014-11-10 to 2014-12-07, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team.
Latest News
* Lycée Européen Charles de Gaulle, Dijon, France, telebridge via IK1SLD. Contact was successful at 2014-11-13 09:00 UTC 48 deg
The ARISS team reported: "The Russian telebridge contact with Lycée Charles de Gaule in Dijon, France went very well. Cosmonaut Elene Serova gave detailed answers and 9 questions were answered. Signals were loud and clear. Claudio IK1SLD did an excellent job, as usually.
Audience of 150, including school teachers and students as well as regional and local authorities listened in. "
[ANS thanks ARISS, Gaston, ON4WF and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
Updated W7O QSO Information
I'll be on AO-73 this (Friday 11/14) evening as W7O, for the pass around 0458 UTC. On Saturday morning(11/15), I'll work 3 passes before I get tied up with work-related stuff...
SO-50 at 1422 UTC FO-29 at 1430 UTC AO-73 at 1651 UTC
From what I've heard, John K8YSE/7 made the first W7O satellite QSO this evening on SO-50 at 0011 UTC. Christy KB6LTY was on the W7O mic from southern California for that QSO. I know others have been working HF as W7O, and I'm gaining operators and filling more slots in the W7O HF schedule. Sounds like there have been some interesting stories from stations working W7O, including some who worked the satellite in its first lifetime in the 1970s.
Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to work as W7O, whether on the satellites or the HF bands. The number of W7O lookups on QRZ was reset when I put the current information on there, and several hundred lookups have been recorded already. There is interest among the ham community in this old satellite. 73!
[ANS thanks Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK and the AMSAT-BB 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, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org