AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-353
ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT
North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS
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.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor(a)amsat.org
In this edition:
* Straight Key Night
* This month's satellite awards
* XW-1 1 year anniversary
* AMSAT-UK FUNcube Needs Help
* ARISS Status December 13, 2010
* Satellite Shorts
* Thanks for your support
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-353.01
Straight Key Night
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 353.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 19, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-353.01
STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT ON OSCAR 2011
You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on
OSCAR 2011, conducted by AMSAT for radio amateurs throughout the
world.
This year's event is dedicated to the memory of Dick Peacock, W2GFF,
who died in 2010 aged 91. Dick was an active satellite operator in
the 1970s and 1980s, mostly on CW and usually with a straight key.
He was also active on 50 MHz and the HF bands, and could always be
counted on for a kind word and a friendly QSO.
There are no rules, no scoring and no logs required. Just operate CW
on any OSCAR satellite, using a straight hand key, from 0000 UTC to
2400 UTC on 1 January 2011, working as many SKN stations as you can.
In keeping with the friendly nature of this event, each participant
is asked to nominate one of the operators worked for "Best Fist."
It is not necessary that your nominee have the best fist of anyone
you heard, just of those you worked. Please send your nomination to
W2RS via email at w2rs(a)amsat.org.
Those nominated will be recognized in an ANS bulletin to be publish-
ed in early February, and in The AMSAT Journal.
[ANS thanks Ray, W2RS for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-353.02
This month's satellite awards
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 353.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 19, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-353.02
Here are the awards that I have processed over the last month. This will be
the last posting for 2010.
The following have entered into the Satellite Communicators Club for making
their first satellite QSO.
Alan Murray, Jr., N1ZWL
Richard Lewis, KG6ZVC
The following have earned the AMSAT Communications Achievement Award.
Boris Lanca, 9A2GA #525
Paul Gagnon, N6MA #526
Rick Tejera, K7TEJ #527
Jim Bennett, KE4KOL #528
Tom Deeble, KA6SIP #529
Glenn Barr, WB0KFC #530
The following have earned the AMSAT Sexagesimal Award
Paul Gagnon, N6MA #158
The following have earned the South Africa Satellite Communications
Achievement award
Nick Kucij, KB1RVT #US157
Boris Lanca, 9A2GA #US158
Rick Tejera, K7TEJ #US159
Jim Bennett, KE4KOL #US160
Tom Deeble, KA6SIP #US161
Glenn Barr, WB0KFC #US162
To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com
Bruce Paige, KK5DO
[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-353.03
XW-1 1 year anniversary
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 353.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 19, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-353.03
HOPE-OSCAR 68 HO-68 Commemorates First Anniversary
This week AMSAT China noted the first anniversary of XW-1, also
known as Hope-Oscar 68 HO-68 with an announcement from Michael
Chen, BD5RV/4 at AMSAT-China.
AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW remarked that HO-68 was a
significant milestone for both amateur radio and AMSAT-China.
Barry wrote, "We are very excited to see that HO-68 continues to
operate in good health and that a new member of the AMSAT Inter-
national family has established itself. Again, congratulations on
a placing HO-68 in service and best wishes for the New Year."
>From India, Secretary of the Upagrah Amateur Radio Club at the
ISRO Satellite Centre, Mani, VU2WMY wrote, "Wishing XW 1 HO-68
'A Happy Birthday'. Our good wishes and greetings to HO-68 for a
very long and healthy life to serve the Ham community World wide."
Rick, K7TEJ said, "Many thanks thanks to you and Allan and the rest
of your team for your efforts to make this great bird available to
us. May HO-68 have a long life!"
>From Alaska, Dale KL7XJ commented, "A very Happy Birthday to XW1,
HO-68. A very good satellite to work!"
Roland, PY4ZBZ reported good signals from HO-68 as he worked PY1AT,
PY5LF and UT1FG/MM on his sea voyage in grid FF36.
The latest HO-68 information and operating schedule can be found
on-line at: http://www.camsat.cn/
[ANS thanks BD5RV/4, WD4ASW, VU2WMY, K7TEJ, KL7XJ, and PY4ZBZ for
the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-353.04
AMSAT-UK FUNcube Needs Help
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 353.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 19, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-353.04
AMSAT-UK FUNcube Help needed with educational outreach
AMSAT-UK is looking for people in the educational field to help
develop the educational outreach part of the FUNcube satellite
project.
AMSAT-UK's FUNcube is an educational satellite project with the
goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space,
physics and electronics. Additionally it features a 435 to 145 MHz
Linear Transponder for SSB/CW operation for use outside school hours.
It will support the many existing educational Science, Technology,
Engineering and Maths (STEM) initiatives including GB4FUN.
The target audience consists of school pupils and young people gener-
ally, FUNcube will feature a 145 MHz telemetry beacon that will pro-
vide a strong signal for the pupils to receive.
A simple FUNcube dongle SDR receiver has also been developed. This
will connect to the USB port of a laptop to display telemetry and
messages in an interesting way.
The project commenced in October 2009 and it is anticipated that the
satellite will be launched before the end of 2011. More information
can be found at http://www.funcube.org.uk/
As the technical work on the satellite itself is now well underway,
AMSAT-UK is now looking to develop the educational outreach part of
the project. This will include the design and contents of the "ground
station" laptop display, the best method of providing the information
so that it relates to current curricula, and all the supporting infor-
mation that will be needed by the teachers. As they have little current
educational experience Amsat-UK need additional professional advice as
to how to carry it forward.
The FUNcube website now has details of the planned educational aspects
of the project. See http://www.funcube.org.uk (see the "education out-
reach" link).
If you are in the educational field and have experience in curriculum
matters then please consider helping AMSAT-UK with this.
In the first instance please contact Richard G3RWL for further infor-
mation via e-mail: g3rwl at amsat.org
The latest FUNcube information can be found on-line at these pages:
FUNcube website
http://www.FUNcube.org.uk/
FUNcube SDR Dongle
http://www.FUNcubeDongle.com/
FUNcube Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FUNcube/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-353.05
ARISS Status December 13, 2010
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 353.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 19, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-353.05
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report
December 13, 2010
1. AMSAT Covers ARISS Anniversary
The AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) News Service bulletin
(ANS-346) included an article on the tenth anniversary of ARISS.
See: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2010/000468.html
2. Amateur Radio Newsline Reports on ARISS
On December 10, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1739 ran two ARISS
news items under its heading Ham Radio in Space. Covering ten years
of contacts is the story, "ARISS Celebrates its 10th Anniversary."
"ARISSat One Enroute to Moscow" talks about the satellite on its
way to Russia for testing and launch.
See: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt
3. Astronaut Training Status
Astronaut Tom Marshburn, KE5HOC is scheduled for an ARISS introduction
class on December 13. Marshburn is slated to fly with
Expedition 34 in November 2012.
[ANS thanks Carol,KB3LKI, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-353.06
Satellite Shorts
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 353.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 19, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-353.06
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ AMSAT's Keeper of the Keps, Ray Hoad WA5QGD advised that recent
Cubesats launched from Kodiak have been added to the AMSAT KEP
distribution:
RAX - Cat # 37223
OOREOS - Cat # 37224
FASTSAT - Cat # 37225
FAST1 and FAST2 - Cat # 37227 (FAST1 and FAST2 have the same KEPs)
For some reason, yet unknown, Spacetrack is not publishing the KEPs
for the above satellites. Special thanks to Drew Glasbrenner (KO4MA)
for helping find the location of the KEPs for the above satellites.
+ Boris, UA0QJ (Asiatic Russia) in grid PP42TA has been reported to be
active on AO7 mode B. He has been operating CW so far.
+ Listen for Duane, K5VGU operating portable on the satellites from
Kentucky grid EM67 mostly and possibly the Kentucky piece of EM68.
Duane will be in the area December 22 through December 29.
+ Listen for Daniel, VO1DZX operating portable VO2 from Labrador (FO62)
until December 31. Daniel reports that bad operating conditions and
lack of transportation will probably keep him from working any addi-
tional grids. The best time to find him will be on the late afternoon/
early evening AO51 passes as long as he can get on. Weekends will be
a good time to catch him as well.
+ Congratulations to AMSAT's Samudra N3RDX on his selection to present
a technical paper at the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in January
2011 in Orlando, Florida. His paper is: "A Broadband Multi-hop Network
for Earth-Mars Communication using Multi-purpose Interplanetary Relay
Satellites and Linear-Circular Commutating Chain Topology".
+ The next Hudson Valley Satcom Net will be on Thursday, December 23 at
8:00PM EST (UTC - 5). The net meets on the Mt. Beacon 146.970 MHZ re-
peater and also on Echolink N2EYH-L node. More information is on-line
at http://www.hvsatcom.org.
+ The December 10 edition of the UK Metro newspaper carried an article
titled 'Celebrating great British science' which featured the AMSAT-UK
FUNcube satellite. Read the article on page 25 of the Online edition
of the Metro newspaper at http://e-edition.metro.co.uk/2010/12/10/?p=25
+ Video of the spectacular night launch of the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft
with Expedition 26 crew members NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, Russian
cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo
Nespoli can be watched at: http://tinyurl.com/2be6w6k (UniverseToday.com)
+ More images, details on SpaceX's Dragon Flight are posted on-line at:
http://tinyurl.com/34dj7gt (UniverseToday.com)
+ Northern winter is beginning in a special way. On December 21, the win-
ter solstice, a lunar eclipse will be visible across all of North
America. Full story at: http://tinyurl.com/285grxy (nasa.gov)
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-353.07
Thanks for your support
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 353.07
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 19, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-353.07
Thank-You For Your Support - ARISSat-1 and FOX PayPal Widget Fundraising
AMSAT-NA VP Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA noted this week that,
"We are just about to cross the $1000 mark on our PayPal fundraiser,
and along with the $710 raised from the Facebook campaign, we are
making a dent in recovering the funds spent on ARISSat-1 and those
funds that will be spent on FOX."
Drew continued, "I want to thank those that donated, and those that
took the time to add the widget to their webpages and QRZ profiles,
and especially recognize two members who have excelled in creating
exposure for our campaign. John Papay, K8YSE and Clint Bradford, K6LCS
have pulled away from the pack in the number and amount of donations
resulting from their copies of the widget, with $290 dollars raised
between them. Gentlemen, thank you!"
Beginning with the $1250 mark, we will be randomly picking a donor
from every $250 increment to receive an item from the AMSAT store.
We currently have two different hats, a nice luggage tag, or a desktop
thermometer/clock set to choose from, all bearing the AMSAT name and
logo. Drew hopes to announce our first recipient soon!
In conclusion, Drew writes, "Thanks again, and if you'd like to donate
to the campaign or share the widget to your own website, please visit
http://www.amsat.org. The widget is on the front page below the ARISSat-1
news, and you can click on "Give" to donate, or "add to site" to receive
the HTML code, or "supporters" to scroll through the statistics. I hope
to soon see more familiar names scrolling across the widget soon, showing
your support for AMSAT's next two satellites."
Donations, memberships, and store purchases may also be made through the
AMSAT store on the website, or by calling Martha at 1 888 322 6728.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA VP Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA 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 additional benefits. Application forms are available
from the AMSAT Office. Remember to track Santa bringing you all the
Happy Christmas Wishes from all the AMSAT volunteers giving their
Time so willingly.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F
nb2f at amsat dot org
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-346
ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North
America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS 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.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor(a)amsat.org
In this edition:
* ARISS Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Student Conversations with ISS
Astronauts
* SpaceX Falcon 9 Mission Successful - Deploys Cubesats
* December AO-51 Schedule Features VHF BBS Test, SKN, Dual SU Downlink
* AMSAT-UK FUNcube Documents On-Line
* Remembering Lost UNITEC-1 - Japan's Akatsuki Problem at Venus Encounter
* Writing Opportunities for Amateur Radio in Space
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-346.01
ARISS Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Student Conversations with ISS
Astronauts
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 346.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 12, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-346.01
On 21 December 2000, astronaut William Shepherd turned from his usual
activities aboard the newly occupied International Space Station
(ISS). Floating over to a "ham" radio attached to a station bulkhead,
he called the Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois and was soon talking
with 14 enthusiastic students from grades 1-8. This month, amateur
radio operators world-wide celebrate the tenth anniversary of this
first school contact from ISS.
Since that first contact, Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) volunteers have conducted 565 successful contacts in
40 countries, allowing thousands of students to share the excitement
of those first 14. Moreover, tens of thousands of students, faculty,
and parents have participated by planning and attending these events.
ARISS contacts have prompted countless students to seriously consider
pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers,
including becoming an astronaut. Educational programs and amateur
radio clubs established at participating schools continue to inspire
students long after the contact has ended.
The use of amateur radio in space began in 1983 aboard the Space
Shuttle Columbia. The Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) flew on
28 shuttle missions, proving the educational and crew morale benefits
of ham radio. Ham radio also proved popular with the cosmonauts aboard
space station Mir. The value of amateur radio in space was so apparent
to NASA and the Russian Space Agency that the ARISS radio became the
first experiment to be activated on ISS.
ARISS is a volunteer program that inspires students the world over to
pursue STEM careers by providing amateur radio communications
opportunities with the International Space Station (ISS) on-orbit
crew. Students learn about life on board the ISS and explore Earth
from space through science and math activities. ARISS provides
opportunities for the school community (students, teachers, families,
and local residents) to become more aware of the substantial benefits
of human spaceflight and the exploration and discovery that occur on
spaceflight journeys while learning about technology and amateur radio.
ARISS is an international working group comprising delegations from 9
countries, including several countries in Europe as well as Japan,
Russia, Canada, and the USA. The organization is run by volunteers
from national amateur radio organizations and international AMSAT
(Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) organizations in each member
country. ARISS team members in each country work with their respective
space agencies (ESA, NASA, JAXA, CSA, and the Russian Space Agency).
In the USA, ARISS works with the NASA Teaching From Space program.
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-346.02
SpaceX Falcon 9 Mission Successful - Deploys Cubesats
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 346.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 12, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-346.02
SpaceX launched the Dragon spacecraft from Florida on a two-orbit
test flight Wednesday, December 8 and the company brought the auto-
mated capsule back to Earth less than three-and-a-half hours later.
A video of the Falcon 9 liftoff can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi9ljTW3GEQ
Liftoff photos from pad cameras can be viewed at:
http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/002/remotes/SpaceFlightNow.com's Photo Gallery of the launch can be viwed at:
http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/002/press/
Photos of the Dragon parachute landing in the Pacific can be
viewed at: http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/002/splashdown/
During the flight four cubesats were deployed from the "trunk"
section of the Dragon spacecraft. At press time the function of
two of the cubesats have been identified.
The University of Southern California's (USC) CAERUS cubesat was
deployed SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. CAERUS is part of the "MAYFLOWER"
Next Generation Technology CubeSat that is a joint effort with
Northrop Grumman NOVAWORKS group. CAERUS is licensed by the FCC
in the Experimental Service. It also has an amateur callsign and
a downlink in the 70cm band:
Call Sign: KJ6FIX
Downlink Frequency: 437.600 MHz (not coordinated by IARU)
Beacon Output Power: 900mW
Modulation Type: AFSK, 1200 baud
TLE: Updated on website, right after launch.
The CAERUS website is at: http://tinyurl.com/37w8map. The beacon
data can also be translated with the jar applet provided on this
website.
The second cubesat identifed aboard the Falcon X launch was the
US Army SMDC-ONE nanosatellite mission which is a store and for-
ward satellite. The primary objective of the first flight wass to
receive data from a ground transmitter and relay that data to a
ground station. The technology is planned to be expanded to build
a number of identical satellites and deploy them together into Low
Earth Orbit to simulate enhanced tactical communications capability.
[ANS thanks Omair A. Rahman at the University of Southern California,
SpaceDaily.com, and SpaceFlightNow.com for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-346.03
December AO-51 Schedule Features VHF BBS Test, SKN, Dual SU Downlink
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 346.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 12, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-346.03
AMSAT-NA VP Operations Drew KO4MA says the December 2010 AO-51 schedule
has been released. Some of the dates of mode changes may move a day or
so according to command station availability.
Note the 2m up BBS test beginning December 12. Beginning on December 17
a dual downlink of UHF and S-band will be available. AO-51 will feature
its CW up, FM down mode for Straight Key Night.
At the end of December we go back into eclipses for a LONG time, so the
overall power budget will shrink, and the command team will reinstate
the new PL mode, and the satellite will likely be off in eclipse.
December 12 (late UTC)
----------------------
FM Repeater, V/U
Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM (no PL tone)
Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM
9k6 Baud PBBS Operations, V/U
Uplink: 145.860 MHz FM at 9600 baud
Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM at 9600 baud
December 17 (late UTC)
----------------------
FM Repeater, V/SU
Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM (no PL tone)
Downlinks: 2401.200 MHz FM *and* 435.300 MHz FM (at low power!)
December 22 (late UTC)
----------------------
FM Repeater, V/U
Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM (no PL tone)
Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM
9k6 Baud PBBS Operations, L/U
Uplink: 1268.705 MHz FM at 9600 baud
Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM at 9600 baud
December 30 (late UTC)
----------------------
CW/FM Repeater, V/U For Straight Key Night
Uplink: 145.880 MHz CW
Downlink: 435.300 MHz CW over FM
9k6 Baud Telemetry
Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM at 9600 baud
As always, keep up with the latest AO-51 Control Team news at:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-346.04
AMSAT-UK FUNcube Documents On-Line
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 346.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 12, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-346.04
AMSAT-UK says they intend to publish as many of the working documents
as possible for their FUNcube satellite and the first two documents
are now available. The Mission Requirements Specification and the PA
Board Specification can be downloaded from:
http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/
Pictures and videos from the recent FUNcube developers meeting
at Martlesham are at:
http://funcube.org.uk/working-meetings/cubesat-mtg-1314-nov-2010/
The UK Space Agency is proposing to use the AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards
as part of its innovative new CubeSat UKube-1 slated for launch in
December 2011.
The United Kingdom Space Agency website now includes some more details
of the UKube-1, a 3U CubeSat (10 * 10 * 30cm) project. See:
http://www.ukspaceagency.bis.gov.uk/20084.aspx
The baseline design for this satellite includes a set of FUNcube
boards to provide the educational outreach for the project. AMSAT-UK
are presently discussing the precise details of this arrangement with
the UKube-1 project team. This development will enable a much higher
level service to be provided for Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) outreach to schools than would be possible with
just a single spacecraft.
An information pack is provided by the UK Space Agency is at
http://www.ukspaceagency.bis.gov.uk/assets/ZIP/CubesatAOpayload.zip
BBC report on UKube: http://tinyurl.com/2w3rgyc (bbc.co.uk site)
FUNcube website
http://www.FUNcube.org.uk/
[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA, AMSAT-UK, and the SouthGate ARC News
for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-346.05
Remembering Lost UNITEC-1 - Japan's Akatsuki Problem at Venus Encounter
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 346.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 12, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-346.05
UniverseToday reported that Japan's first Venus space probe has arrived
at the planet but encountered problems while attempting orbit insertion
and went into safe mode. It took longer than expected (an hour and a
half) to regain communications after a known 22 minute blackout with the
Akatsuki spacecraft, and apparently controllers are still trying to
ascertain the spacecraft's orbit. They have regained some radio communi-
cations. Telemetry analysis confirmed the spacecraft was in safe mode.
The planned orbit for Akatsuki ranged between 300 and 80,000 kilometers
(186 to 49,600 miles), looking for signs of lightning and active volcan-
oes.
Once communications were restored JAXA was able to determine that the
probe's High Gain Antenna is working and telemetry from the spacecraft
is back to normal function as is full control and stabilization. AKATSUKI
is in a Sun circular orbit after not reaching Venus orbit.
Read the UniverseToday story at: http://tinyurl.com/2cfgw5p
and at: http://tinyurl.com/2vvl8yd (SpaceCoalition.com)
The May 21, 2010 Akatsuki launch also carried the UNITEC-1 amateur radio
satellite with the callsign of JQ1ZUN. Its 5840.000 MHz, 4.8W beacon was
initially copied from low earth orbit but the signal was lost days later.
UNITEC-1 would have become the world's first university satellite which
went beyond Lunar orbit.
[ANS thanks UniverseToday for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-346.06
Writing Opportunities for Amateur Radio in Space
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 346.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 12, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-346.06
IAA Conference on University Satellites Missions and Cubesats
-------------------------------------------------------------
The December 18 deadline for abstract submissions for the 1st IAA
Conference on University Satellites Missions and Cubesat Conference
is rapidly approaching. This conference will be held in Rome on
January 24-29, 2011. Early registration closes on January, 10th.
Those who register before this date will have a discount rate.
Full information is posted at: http://www.gaussteam.com under the
"Events" tab.
Call for papers for 2011 SA AMSAT Space Symposium
-------------------------------------------------
The 2011 SA AMSAT Space Symposium will be held in Gauteng on Saturday
26 March 2011 at Vodaworld in Midrand. This is the first call for pap-
ers. Authors are invited to submit a synopsis in a MSWord document not
exceeding 300 words. The synopsis should be mailed to:
saamsat(a)intekom.co.za (with Space Symposium 2011 in the subject line).
The theme of the conference is Innovation in Space Communication. Clos-
ing date for paper proposals and a synopsis is 20 January 2011. For more
details visit: http://www.amsatsa.org.za.
Call for Papers: 15th Annual SEVHF Society Conference
-----------------------------------------------------
The Southeastern VHF Society is calling for the submission of papers
and presentations for the upcoming 15th annual Southeastern VHF Soc-
iety Conference to be held in Huntsville, Alabama on April 29th and
30th, 2011. Papers and presentations are solicited on both the tech-
nical and operational aspects of VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal
amateur radio.
Contact Steve Kostro, (e-mail: SVHFS2011 AT downeastmicrowave DOT com)
by January 8th, 2011 if you wish to make a presentation or submit your
paper. Deadline for the submission of papers is March 11, 2011. For
further information and updates about the conference please go to:
http://www.svhfs.org
Call for Papers: 45th Central States VHF Society Conference
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Central States VHF Society is hosting their 45th Conference
July 29-30, 2011 in Irving Texas. They are currently looking for
papers relating to amateur radio above 50 MHz. Anticipated topics
include: Design and build of VHF thru microwave equipment, VHF
DXPeditions, Antenna Design, Weak Signal Reception Techniques.
Deadline for papers is May 1, 2011. Papers should be sent to:
Kent Britain <wa5vjb(a)flash.net>
[ANS thanks the IAA, SA AMSAT, and Robin Midgett K4IDC 2011 Conference
Program Co-Chair, SVHFS; Chuck Clark, AF8Z for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-346.07
Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 346.07
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 12, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-346.07
+ For those who collect archived publications here is a link to a
recently posted digitized copy of the 1985 1296/2304 MHz Conference
which has evolved into the Microwave Update MUD Conference. Thanks
to the work of Brian, WA1ZMS, these proceedings have been digitized
and can be downloaded in 7 sections from http://www.wa5vjb.com in
the Reference Section.
+ The AMSAT India newsletter is back after a long break and will be
published every month. A softcopy of the newsletter can be found at:
http://amsatindia.org/Newsletter/AMSATINDIA-News-Dec2010.pdf
Archives are at http://amsatindia.org/Newsletter/
(via Nitin, VU3TYG, Secretary, AMSAT India)
+ AMSAT-ZL's Fred Kennedy, ZL1BYP says the KiwiSAT team is in need of
a small quantity supply source of space quality thermally conductive
epoxy for KiwiSAT. They will need probably less than 10 grams total
over the last few months of KiwiSAT construction. Minimum order quan-
tities have been quoted as 100 tubes and this amount is not needed
nor can be afforded. Contact Fred at: fredk(a)kcbbs.gen.nz if you can
help.
+ Henk, PA3GUO has posted a YouTube video (HD) that features the
O/OREOS satellite from launch to telemetry reception and decode,
including DK3WN's Softwar and Mission control upload:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh6lH5vqw-Y
Henk also has a video of the 'bare' telemetry stream at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Ka-RVpEHU
O/OREOS audio recording: http://www.pa3guo.com/OOREOS_PA3GUO.mp3
FASTRAC/FAST1 audio recording: http://www.pa3guo.com/FAST1_PA3GUO.mp3
(Henk says you can use MixW with your MP3 your player to decode the
telemetry.)
+ Roland PY4ZBZ reports that Yuri UT1FG/MM, has been active at sea
from the vessel M/V "MOTTLER", on SO-50, FO-29 and HO68, in the
squares: GG85, GG54, GE06, FD37, FD29, FE82, FE81, FE20 and FE21,
from Rio de Janeiro to Chili via the Strait of Magellan.
+ UniverseToday.com declares, "What a view!" A photograph taken by
one of the astronauts on the International Space Station shows
several snow-covered volcanoes on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
See: http://tinyurl.com/24ccnz4
+ The Nanosail-D nanosatellite may have failed to eject from FASTSAT.
NASA had planned to eject Nanosail-D from its cannister on December 6.
Initial telemetry indicated that ejection was successful. It also now
appears that the solar sail may not have unfurled. NASA continues to
investigate. The NanoSail-D amateur radio beacon will transmit a one-
half second data signal every 5 seconds on 437.270 MHz if it becomes
active. The satellite will operate primarily on battery power because
of the short duration of the mission.
+ The next crew arriving at the International Space Station on December 17
includes two radio amateurs: US astronaut Catherine Coleman, KC5ZTH, and
the European Space Agency's Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA.
[ANS thanks everyone 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 additional benefits.
Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. And with that
please keep in mind that upon receiving his invitation to his radio
club's Christmas Party the ham decided it was time to get spruced up.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
K9JKM at amsat dot org
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-339
ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America,
The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS 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.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor(a)amsat.org
In this edition:
* ARISSat Status
* UO-11 Report
* STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT ON OSCAR 2011
* Satellite Shorts
* ARISS Status - 29 November 2010
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-339.01
ARISSat Status
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 339.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 3rd, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-339.01
ARISSat and the backup unit are in Germany, they are schedulted for
delivery to Moscow on Saturday. We will know Tuesday if there were
any problems getting them through customs. Lou McFadin, W5DID and
Mark Steiner, K3MS will be heading to Moscow on the 10th of December
to assist with integration and testing of the Kursk experiment and
battery.
The schedule still has ARISSat going to the ISS via a Progress
vehicle in late January 2011 and release from the ISS in
late February 2011.
[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-332.02
UO-11 Report
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 332.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 5th, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-332.02
This report covers the period from 29 October to 30 November 2010. During
this time the satellite has been heard from 30 October to 09 November and 19
to 29 November . At the time of writing it is is expected to switch-on 10
December.
Excellent signals have been reported from stations located around the world,
and good copy obtained from decoded telemetry frames.
The satellite is now transmitting during eclipses, although signals are
weaker at those times. This indicates that there is still some capacity
remaining in the battery.
The on-board clock is now very stable. It gained eight seconds during
November. This is comparable with its accuracy when the satellite was fully
operational, when it gained approximately one minute per year. However,
there is still an accumulated loss of
309 days, which has occurred during eclipses of the last few years.
Operation during eclipses and stability of the on-board clock suggest that
some part of the system may have recently failed 'open circuit' thus
reducing the overall power drain of the system, and allowing more power to
be available during eclipses.
When analogue telemetry was last transmitted, an unexplained current drain
was observed. This fault may have cleared.
The Beacon frequencies are -
VHF 145.826 MHz. AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry
UHF 435.025 MHz. OFF
S-band 2401.5 MHz. OFF
Reception reports have been received from Gene WA4UKX, Horatio CX8AF, David
G8OQW and Michael M0MPM/PA3BHE . Many thanks for those and to everyone who
posted reports on the satellite status website.
At the present time, while OSCAR-11 is operating in a predictable way, I no
longer need direct reports by e-mail. However, could you continue to enter
reports on the general satellite status website. This is a very convenient
and easy to use facility, which shows the current status of all the amateur
satellites, and is of use to everyone. Reports around the expected times of
switch-on and switch-off are of special interest. The URL is
http://oscar.dcarr.org/index.php
OSCAR-11 transmits on 145.826 MHz., set receiver to NBFM. The satellite has
a characteristic sound, rather like raspy slow morse code, sending "di di
dah dah dah dah dah dah dah" sent over a period of five seconds. If you are
receiving a very weak signal, switch the receiver to CW or SSB. You should
hear several sidebands around the carrier frequency and should be able to
hear the characteristic 'morse code like' sound on at least one sideband.
Please note that you need a clean noise-free signal to decode the signals,
and your receiver must be set to NBFM mode, for a decoder to work.
If you need to know what OSCAR-11 sounds like, there is an audio clip on my
website www.g3cwv.co.uk/ which may be useful for identification and as a
test signal for decoding.
The current status of the satellite, is that all the analogue telemetry
channels, 0 to 59 are zero, ie they have failed. The status channels 60 to
67 are still working. The real time clock is showing a large accumulated
error, but is now incrementing accurately to within a few seconds per month.
The day of the month has a bit stuck at 'one' so the day of the month may
show an error of +40 days for some dates. The time display has switched into
12 hour mode. Unfortunately, there is no AM/PM indicator, since the time
display format was designed for 24 hour mode.
The spacecraft computer and active attitude control system have switched
OFF, ie. the satellite' attitude is controlled only by the passive gravity
boom gradient, and the satellite is free to spin at any speed.
The watchdog timer operates on a 20 day cycle. The ON/OFF times have tended
to be very consistent. The average of many observations have shown this to
be 20.7 days, ie. 10.35 days ON followed by 10.35 days OFF.
Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my website.
If you need to know what OSCAR-11 should sound like, there is a short audio
clip for you to hear. The last telemetry received from the satellite is
available for download. The website contains an archive of news & telemetry
data which is updated from time to time. It also contains details about
using a soundcard or hardware demodulators for data capture. There is
software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry. The URL is
www.g3cwv.co.uk .
73 Clive G3CWV
[ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-339.03
STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT ON OSCAR 2011
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 339.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 5th, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-339.03
STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT ON OSCAR 2011
You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR
2011, conducted by AMSAT for radio amateurs throughout the world.
This year's event is dedicated to the memory of Dick Peacock, W2GFF, who
died in 2010 aged 91. Dick was an active satellite operator in the 1970s
and 1980s, mostly on CW and usually with a straight key. He was also active
on 50 MHz and the HF bands, and could always be counted on for a kind word
and a friendly QSO.
There are no rules, no scoring and no logs required. Just operate CW on any
OSCAR satellite, using a straight hand key, from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC on 1
January 2011, working as many SKN stations as you can..
In keeping with the friendly nature of this event, each participant is asked
to nominate one of the operators worked for "Best Fist." It is not necessary
that your nominee have the best fist of anyone you heard, just of those you
worked. Please send your nomination to W2RS via email at w2rs(a)amsat.org,
Those nominated will be recognized in an ANS bulletin to be published in
early February, and in The AMSAT Journal.
[ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-339.04
Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 339.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 5th, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-339.04
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Look for Drew, KO4MA operating on the satellites from the area
around NASA Stennis and Slidell, Louisiana. This is a work trip
so operating time will be limited to free time in the evenings.
Drew said he favors transponder satellite operating over FM so
look for him on SSB 20 KHz or more above the center of the pass-
band. He will return QSL 100% with SASE. He will be enroute to
Stennis from Tampa on December 6.
+ The Zooniverse started the Zooniverse Advent Calendar, similar
to the one-a-day-chocolate-treat calendars we all love, but this
calendar includes a surprise each day such as special images,
downloads and even a couple of very big pieces of space news:
http://www.zooniverse.org/advent
The Boston Globe's Big Picture has their third annual Advent
Calendar of Hubble Pictures: http://tinyurl.com/232ssyj
If you'd like to send an e-card specifically to the astronauts
on board the International Space Station, NASA has a website just
for you: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/postcard/
You can send Chandra X-Ray Observatory E-Cards with a holiday
theme from: http://tinyurl.com/27lf8s2
The Space Science Institute invites you to investigate their
selection of e-cards at:
http://www.spaceweathercenter.org/ecard/01/gallery.php
If you love Hubble, and want to send space-themed holiday cards
the folks from the Hubble Space Telescope have a great collection
of beautiful cards you can download, and send. The cards are des-
igned to be printed out at photo stores or online photo labs,
though you can also use a home printer. See:
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/holiday/
+ The next Hudson Valley Satcom Net is Thursday December 9 at 8PM EST
(UTC - 5) on the 146.970 MHz Mt. Beacon ARC Repeater. The Echolink
node N2EYH-L will also be carrying the net. More information is
on-line at: http://www.hvsatcom.org or E-Mail wa2aqh(a)amsat.org
The date for next year's Mt. Beacon ARC "Beaconfeste" is Sunday
April 10, 2011 at Tymor Park in Central Dutchess County, NY.
More information is available on-line at:
http://www.wr2abb.org/home/ (Stu, WA2BSS)
+ NASA Television will provide live coverage of the prelaunch news
conference for the COTS 1 Falcon 9 launch Monday, Decemeber 6,
at 1:30 p.m. The first SpaceX Falcon 9 demonstration launch for
NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program is
targeted for liftoff on Tuesday, Dec. 7. Liftoff will occur from
Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The launch window extends from 9:03 a.m. to 12:22 p.m. EST. If
necessary, launch opportunities also are available on Dec. 8 and
Dec. 9 with the same window. (SpaceDaily.com)
+ Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV reminds users that the SO67 sched-
ule is posted at http://www.amsatsa.org.za . It changes weekly with
the Americas the first week of the month, Europe the second week,
Middle East/India the third week and Australia and Japan fourth week.
Special requests with time in UTC should be sent to:
saamsat(a)intekom.co.za
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-339.05
ARISS Status - 29 November 2010
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 339.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
December 5th, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-339.05
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) Status Report November 29, 2010
1. Italian Students Question Astronaut via ARISS
On Wednesday, November 24, on-orbit astronaut Doug Wheelock,
KF5BOC participated in an Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS) contact with students attending the Istituto
Leopardi - Liceo classico e scientifico in Lecco, Lecco, Italy.
The activity was the high point of the school's curriculum which
included astronautics, astronomy, radio and English. Approximately
200 students, teachers and guests were present for the event and
listened as Wheelock answered 13 questions posed by the youth.
Video streamed on the Web received over 100 connections. ESA
covered the contact in an article posted to its Web site.
See: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMSPVFMTGG_Italy_0.html
2. Video of Wheelock Working Ground Stations
Doug Wheelock had a video made while on-orbit in which he gives a
tour of the ISS as well as of the amateur radio station. He
demonstrates what it is like for an astronaut to handle general
contacts with multiple ground stations calling at the same time.
AMSAT included this news in its November 28
ANS report: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2010/000464.html
The video has been posted to YouTube.
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h73EYcyszf8
[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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 additional benefits. Application forms
are
available from the AMSAT Office.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F
nb2f at amsat dot org