AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-222
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:
* Crowdfunding for Fox-1C Launch * 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers Deadline Approaching * ARISS Contact Success * France WIll Now Allow Students Third Party Communication With The ISS * CubeSat Launch Initiative: 50 CubeSats from 50 States in 5 years * An Amateur Radio Village at EMF 2014
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-222.01 ANS-222 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 222.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. Auguat 10, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-222.01
Crowdfunding for Fox-1C Launch
AMSAT has set up a campaign page with FundRazr to help launch Fox-1C next year. In order to maximize our success in raising the required funds, please visit the following link and use the buttons to share the campaign with your friends and contacts on social media and via email. The more it is shared, the more people will see it, and the more support we will receive.
http://fnd.us/c/6pz92/sh/561Zd
We will continue to explore other fundraising venues between now and launch, so please follow us on Twitter (AMSAT), Facebook (The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)), and at www.amsat.org for updates.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information]
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2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers Deadline Approaching
This is the first call for papers for the 2014 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 10-12, 2014, at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. The final copy must be submitted by September 15 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org
[ANS thanks the 2014 Baltimore Symposium Committee for the above information]
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ARISS Contact Success
A direct contact via 8J3AK with students at Amino Kita Elementary School, Kyotango, Japan on Wed 2014-08-06 10:25:43 UTC 68 deg was successful. Students conducted the interview in English with astronaut Gregory Wiseman, KF5LKT and received answers to 23 questions.
[ANS thanks the ARISS Team for the above information]
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France Will Now Allow Students Third Party Communication With The ISS
On July 16, 2014 the French State Secretary for Digital Affairs, Axelle Lemaire, responded to a request by the Deputy of Haute-Vienne Province, Daniel Boiserrie, authorizing French students to participate directly in ARISS educational school contacts under the supervision of a licensed operator. Until now, the French administration was very restrictive. For direct school contacts, the operator read the questions prepared by the students. Even this is "third party", but was tolerated by the French regulatory authority.
Most European countries allow students to participate directly in ARISS school contacts under the supervision of a licensed operator. Permission to do so requires varying procedures from country to country, but the issue of enabling "third party" communications can generally be solved. Until now, the only exception was France. Notwithstanding years and years of efforts, French schoolchildren had no access to the mike for direct amateur radio communications with the ISS. The letter from the Secretary of State in charge of telecommunications now changes the game.
On behalf of the European ARISS partners, Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, ARISS-Europe Chairman, extends thanks to Sylvain Valat, F1UJT, who led this successful effort.
[ANS thanks the ARISS Team for the above information]
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CubeSat Launch Initiative: 50 CubeSats from 50 States in 5 years
As part of the White House Maker Initiative, NASA is seeking to leverage the growing community of space-enthusiasts to contribute to NASA's space exploration goals. NASA is broadening the CubeSat Launch Initiative to promote a spacecraft nation and develop innovative technology partnerships among NASA, U.S. industry and educational institutions to build upon an existing successful initiative and expand it to include launching 50 small satellites from 50 states within five years. The initiative will enable the acceleration of flight-qualified technology that will increase our understanding of Earth and assist in bridging current strategic knowledge gaps needed to extend human exploration of space beyond low-Earth orbit, potentially reducing our nation's cost for future exploration efforts.
A new announcement of launch opportunity for CubeSat developers has been released. It is the first step to broaden its reach to all 50 states by targeting the 21 "rookie states" that have not previously been selected by the CubeSat Launch Initiative, and will leverage the Space Grant network of colleges and universities. Those states include: Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming and Puerto Rico. CubeSats provide the opportunity for Makers to build small satellites to demonstrate new innovative technologies and conduct scientific research in a space environment.
Applicants must submit proposals electronically by 4:30 p.m. EST, Nov. 25. NASA will select the payloads by Feb. 6, 2015, but selection does not guarantee a launch opportunity. NASA will not provide funding for the development of the small satellites.
CubeSat Launch Initiative satellites selected to date come from 29 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin
More information about the CubeSat Launch Initiative, including previously- selected Respondents, is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/CubeSats_initiative.html
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
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An Amateur Radio Village at EMF 2014
There will be an amateur radio village and special event station GB2EMF at the Electromagnetic Field EMF 2014 event taking place August 29-31 at Bletchley near Milton Keynes.
EMF 2014 is a festival for anyone interested in radio, electronics, space, homebrewing, robots, UAVs, 3D printing, DIYBio, Internet culture or pretty much anything else you can think of. It is a volunteer effort by a non-profit group, inspired by European and US hacker camps like Chaos Communication Camp, HAR, and toorcamp.
Imagine a camping festival with a power grid and high-speed internet access; a temporary village of geeks, crafters, and technology enthusiasts that's lit up by night, and buzzing with activity during the day. Over a thousand curious people will descend on the friendly open space to learn, share, and talk about what they love.
Over a long weekend, you can expect to see a huge variety of talks across three stages, a slew of workshops, as well as music, games, and installations dotted around the site.
Attendees are invited to set up their own villages --- camps within the camp --- where like-minded people can camp together and put on their own activities. The hard-working EMF team of volunteers will supply you with power and internet to your tent.
The special event station GB2EMF will be run from the Amateur Radio Village, it had been hoped to have a 70cm/2m crossband FM repeater operational during the event but it looks as though Ofcom licensing issues may preclude this.
At each EMF event the organisers try and give the attendees a great camp badge. Not just a 'Hello my name is" sticker but a nice fun piece of technology that they can take away and use after the event.
EMF 2014 takes place August 29-31 near Newton Longville, just South of Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK17 0BU.
EMF 2014 https://www.emfcamp.org/ Twitter @emfcamp Facebook https://www.facebook.com/emfcamp
Report on the EMF 2012 event http://amsat-uk.org/2012/09/01/emf-2012-milton-keynes/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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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, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org