ANS-005 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

5 Jan 2020


      AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-005
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT, 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 commun-
icating 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.
You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service
Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see:
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In this edition:
* AMSAT Member KC9ZJX Receives 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Award
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for January 2, 2020
* Space Fence nearing operational acceptance by U.S. Air Force
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for January 2020
* Winter Field Day to Include Limited Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-005.01
ANS-005 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 005.01
...
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2020 Jan 05
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-005.01
AMSAT Member KC9ZJX Receives 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Award
Congratulations to AMSAT member Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, winner of the
Bloomington and Normal (Illinois) Human Relations Commissions 2020
Martin Luther King Jr. award. The commission chooses people who re-
flect the ideology of the late Dr. King.
Rebba is a sophomore at Normal Community High School. He is a volun-
teer and/or member of YMCA/YWCA, Illinois 4-H, Multicultural Leader-
ship Program (MCLP), National Computer Science Honor Society, and
First Robotics. He is also Amateur Radio Newsline's 2019 Young Ham
Of The Year. Rebba gave the youth presentation at AMSAT 36th Annual
Symposium Huntsville, Alabama in 2018 where is also received AMSAT's
Presidential Award.
The announcement is posted on-line at:
https://www.wglt.org/post/bloomington-normal-mlk-awards-announced
[ANS thanks WGLT.org, NPR Radio from Illinois State University,
 for the above information]
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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for January 2, 2020
Correction to the addition of FloripaSat 1 to last week's TLE distri-
bution:
FloripaSat 1 is NORAD CAT ID 44885.
Also the first part of the TLE distribution was left off the
orb19360.2l.amsat file sent last week. The second file sent
orb19361.2l.amsat contained the full list of satellites.
We are still awaiting the identification of CAS-6. Or... Use the keps
for FloripaSat 1 (NORAD CAT ID 44885) for CAS-6 per suggestion of Joe
Fitzgerald, KM1P. This, of course, assumes that CAS-6 is in fact
transmitting???
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the
 above information]
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Space Fence nearing operational acceptance by U.S. Air Force
According to NASA’s most recent Orbital Debris Quarterly News, NASA
calculates about 17.6 million pounds of objects are in earth orbit.
That number will only grow as more commercial space projects launch
massive constellations with thousands of smallsats, presenting a huge
problem for both U.S. government and commercial organizations.
That’s where the U.S. Air Force’s Space Fence will play a crucial role.
Using advanced solid-state S-band radar technology, the Space Fence
radar located on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, it will play
a critical role in the everyday lives of Americans who are becoming
more dependent on space-based technologies for everything from weather
forecasting, banking, global communications to GPS navigation.
Today, these critical services are being threatened by hundreds of
thousands of objects and space debris orbiting the Earth. Frequent col-
lisions and deterioration of assets, such as defunct satellites and
rocket boosters, have increased the amount of space debris and raised
the risk of future collisions in space.
The Air Force Space Surveillance Network currently tracks about 25,000
objects. When Space Fence comes online, the catalog will experience
significant growth and when fully operational, Space Fence will be the
world’s largest and most advanced radar system, providing unprecedented
space situational awareness.
Beyond cataloging objects, Space Fence will detect closely-spaced ob-
jects, breakups, maneuvers, launches and conjunction assessments from
LEO through GEO.
Space Fence is currently in a trial period and expected to become fully
operational in 2020.
[ANS thanks Milsat Magazine for the above information]
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Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
          25% of the purchase price of each product goes
            towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
              https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for January 2020
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the
ARRL for the period December 3, 2019 through January 1, 2020.
Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
            DEC  JAN
AA5PK      1064 1074
AA8CH       620  641
N3GS        601  624
WD9EWK(DM43)585  597
NS3L        526  551
W5CBF       179  533
K9UO        500  528
AA9LC       416  514
W7QL        451  478
PS8ET       303  326
G0ABI       306  320
WB7VUF      206  319
AA4QE       204  305
KC9VGG      200  228
KC9UQR      172  196
N9FN        103  194
W4AQT         153  179
W5CBF(EM21) New  179
W0NBC       152  176
KJ4M        102  170
W9VNE         New  169
VE1VOX         126  155
W4DFU         116  151
AI9IN         125  150
WD9EWK(DM41)127  148
WD9EWK(DM23)104  137
N7AME         127  128
WA9JBQ         104  125
VU2LBW         100  114
KC8AMH         New  101
N3CAL         New  100
YO2CMI         New  100
If you find errors or omissions, please contact W5RKN at w5krn.com.
This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the
two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apolo-
gies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are rov-
ing to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the
work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]
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Winter Field Day to Include Limited Satellite Operations
Winter Field Day runs for 24 hours during the last full weekend in Jan-
uary each year from 1900 UTC (2pm EST) Saturday to 1900 UTC (2pm EST)
Sunday. For 2020 the dates are January 25th and 26th. Station set-up
may commence no earlier than 1900 UTC (2pm EST) on the Friday before.
Station setup may consume no more than 12 hours total.
All Amateur bands, HF, VHF, & UHF except 12, 17, 30 and 60 meters. Any
mode that can faithfully transmit the exchange intact without a conver-
sion table... CW, SSB, AM, FM, DStar, C4FM, DMR, Packet, PSK, SSTV,
RTTY, Olivia, Satellite, etc... (note FT8 is excluded).
Satellite contacts do not count as a new mode/band multiplier. Satel-
lite contacts are limited to ONE ONLY per entry so as to not tie up
satellite frequencies with stations calling CQ WFD.
Three operating categories are available:
Indoor: Operation from inside a remote, insulated, heated, and weather-
protected structure where an Amateur station is normally not available.
Outdoor: Operation from a location partly or fully exposed to the ele-
ments and at least 30 feet away from your normal station location and
not using any part of a previously erected antenna system or station.
Home: Operation from inside a home or inside another structure attach-
ed to a home that could or would be the usual location of an Amateur
station.
For additional information, see: https://www.winterfieldday.com/
[ANS thanks the Winter Field Day Association for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
    and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
           AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
                  Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
        https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space?
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating
through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meet-
ings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.
Current schedule:
  January 6, 2020 West Valley Amateur Radio Club, Sun City, AZ
  January 11, 2020 Thunderbird ARC Hamfest, Glendale, AZ
  January 17-18, 2020 Cowtown Hamfest, Fort Worth, TX
  February 7-9, 2020 Hamcation, Orlando, FL
  March 6, 2020 Irving Hamfest, Irving, TX
  May 15-17, 2020 Hamvention, Xenia, OH
  June 12-13, 2020 Ham-Con, Plano, TX
A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download at:
https://tinyurl.com/yx7lc7m8
This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded
into a tri-fold handout.
To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration,
please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.
For additional information on the AMSAT Ambassador Program, see:
https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, Director, AMSAT Ambassadors for
 the above information]
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Due to weather concerns, the W5M/MM satellite expedition to EL58 is
    being postponed to Sunday Jan 5th. For updates, follow on Twitter
     at https://twitter.com/ad0dx
Lucas Gusher Special Event (EM20) January 11-12, 2020
    The Beaumont Amateur Radio Club will be operating using the call-
    sign K5S on various HF bands including as many CAS-4A, CAS-4B,
    AO-91, AO-92 passes that we can. SO-50 and XW-2A also possible.
    More information about K5S can be found on qrz.com.
Labrador (GO11 +) January 19-27, 2020
    Chris VE3FU, Dave VE9CB, and Frank VO1HP will be active as VO2AC
    in the 2020 CQ160 CW contest, January 24-26, from Point Armour
    Lighthouse, in Labrador. If time permits before the contest, they
    may be active on FM satellites from GO11 as VO2AC or VO2AAA.
    Depending on weather and timing of passes, you might catch them on
    FM satellites as they make their way from FO93 to GO-11, passing
    through FO92, GO02, GO13, GO12, and GO22 along the way, but no
    promises. They will also make the reverse trek on January 27.
Big Bend National Park (DL88)  March 16-17, 2020
    Ron AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will operate from Big Bend
    National Park to put grid DL88 on the air.  Details will be added
    here, as they come available, but you are more than welcome to
    keep an eye on their individual Twitter feeds:
    https://twitter.com/ad0dx, https://twitter.com/dtabor, and
    https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP User Services for
 the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
    radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
          be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
   Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ TAPR PSR Digital Journal Winter 2020 Edition Available at:
  http://tapr.org/psr/psr143.pdf
  (ANS thanks TAPR for the above information)
+ The January/February 2020 SARC Communicator newsletter is available
  at: http://bit.ly/SARC20JanFeb This edition has 75 pages of projects,
  news, views, and reviews from the SW corner of Canada. Find out
  about the northernmost amateur radio station: "VY0ERC: What is life
  like at the farthest north Amateur Radio Club in Canada?" starting
  on page 14.
  (ANS thanks Surrey Amateur Radio Communications for the above info)
+ A CBC Hamilton news feature on John David, VA3JHD, and his work with
  the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio Systems (CFARS), briefly mentions
  amateur satellites. See the article at: https://tinyurl.com/rmbpfxa
  (ANS thanks CBC Hamilton for the above information)
+ Work is going "smoothly" on the Chandrayaan-3 mission to put a rover
  probe on the moon's surface, Indian Space Research Organisation
  chairman K. Sivan told a press conference. India is seeking to become
  only the fourth nation after Russia, the United States and China to
  put a mission on the moon's surface and boost its credentials as a
  low-cost space power. The country's Chandrayaan-2 module crashed on
  the moon's surface in September.
  (ANS thanks spacedaily.com for the above information)
+ China has just released the first batch of #ChangE4 science data! The
  first ever mission to land on the the far side of the Moon. This is
  actually a really cool and user friendly website. To access in En-
  glish visit: http://moon.bao.ac.cn/index_en.jsp
+ E-members of AMSAT-UK can now download the December 2019 edition of
  OSCAR News, issue 228. For details, see:
  https://amsat-uk.org/2019/12/31/december-2019-oscar-news/
  Also, a video on a recent moonbounce and satellite expedition to
  Botswana may be found on the AMSAT-UK website:
  https://amsat-uk.org/2019/12/27/a21eme-moonbounce-qo100/
  (ANS thank AMSAT-UK and Trevor Essex, M5AKA, for the above informa-
  tion)
+ Congratulations to Chris Taron, NK1K, on the achievement of DXCC via
  LEO satellite! This is a remarkable achievement matched by few.
  (ANS thanks Twitter @NK1K for the above information)
+ Congratulations to WA7FWF on uploading 1 million Fox Telemetry
  frames to the server. For more information on capturing telemetry
  from the Fox satellites, see:
  https://www.amsat.org/foxtelem-software-for-windows-mac-linux/
  (ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Board Member, 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 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,
K0JM at amsat dot org

Mark D. Johns

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