ANS November 2013

4 participants
4 discussions

ANS-181
by Joe Spier 15 Dec '13

15 Dec '13

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-181 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: * ESA Education Office announce six CubeSats chosen for Phase 1 Initiative * 13 Colonies Special Event Includes Satellite Operations * 2013 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium Starts July 19, 2013 * Two Lithuanian Amateur Radio CubeSats Plan 2013 Launch To ISS * July Space Station Spacewalks To Be Previewed And Broadcast On NASA TV * Upcoming ARISS Contacts * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.01 ANS-181 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 181.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 30, 2013 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-181.01 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESA Education Office announce six CubeSats chosen for Phase 1 Initiative Six student teams and their supervisors have gathered at ESA's ESTEC centre in The Netherlands for the kick-off of the new Fly Your Satellite! Programme under the ESA Education Office. On June 26-28, ESA experts will introduce the objectives and present the activities to be performed during the first phase of the programme. In January, ESA's Education Office announced the 'Fly Your Satellite!' initiative. This is aimed at offering student teams the opportunity to become familiar with good engineering practice to build and perform satellite testing in order to increase the chances of a successful mission. The 2013 edition of the programme is however only focusing on testing selected university-built satellites that are already at an advanced stage of development. 'Fly Your Satellite!' builds on the success of the 'CubeSats for the Vega Maiden Flight' pilot programme. This culminated in 2012 with the launch of seven student-built CubeSats on the first flight of the new ESA Vega launcher. The focus of the kick-off meeting will consist of coordinating the activity to be performed during the first phase of Fly Your Satellite! enabling the teams to complete the construction of their satellite. This will include extensive satellite testing in ambient conditions under the supervision of ESA specialists who will decide which satellites should participate in the next phase of the programme. The second phase will see the satellites tested in the simulated conditions of outer space and in those the satellites will experience at launch. These will include vibration and thermal-vacuum tests. The six CubeSats chosen for Phase 1 are: Robusta-1B from France will validate a radiation test methodology for specific transistor components. Oufti-1 from Belgium will demonstrate the D-STAR digital communication protocol and validate high-efficiency solar cells. ConSat-1 from Canada will analyse radiation characteristics in the South-Atlantic Anomaly, and test technology payloads. e-st@r-II from Italy will test an Active-Attitude Determination Control System. AAUSAT4 from Denmark will test an improved version of student built AIS (Automated Identification System) receivers. Politech.1 from Spain will carry a student built C-band communication system, a "GEODEYE" Earth Observation camera for academic purposes, and solar wind experiments. Read the full ESA article at http://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_and_student_teams_kick-off_Fly_Your_Satell… Fly Your Satellite! initiative http://www.esa.int/Education/Students_are_you_ready_to_fly_your_satellites_… space [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Colonies Special Event Includes Satellite Operations The 13 Colonies Special Event Stations will be active on the air for Independence Week, July 1-6, 2013. Get all of the details at http://www.13colonies.info/ On the high frequency amateur bands the 13 Colonies stations will operate from 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time (1300Z), on July 1st, to 12:00 PM (midnight) Eastern Daylight Savings Time, July 6 (0400Z, July 7). The 13 Colonies Satellite Stations will be active as shown in the table below: STATE SE CALL STATION CALL OPERATOR ----- ------- ------------ -------- NY K2A WB2OQQ Pete VA K2B NL7VX Steve CT K2D WA8SME Mark DE K2E KB2M Jeffrey MD K2F WA3SWJ Bruce MA K2H KB1PVH David NJ K2I KB2M Jeffrey NC K2J N8MH Mark SC K2L K4YYL Art PA K2M WB3U Elizabeth (FM Birds Only) K3BFS Richard (Linear Birds Only) Any satellite station can work the 13 Colonies states off the birds. Please indicate your contacts are Satellite. More information can be found at http://www.13colonies.info/Satellites.htm [ANS thanks the 13 Colonies Special Event for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium Starts July 19, 2013 The 2013 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will start late afternoon on Friday, July 19 and will run through until the afternoon on Sunday, July 21 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK. It will be preceded by a "Hands-on" CubeSat Workshop. This free workshop will take place at the nearby University of Surrey on Friday, July 19 and this will be followed, at the hotel, by the usual Colloquium "Beginners Session" in the late afternoon. It is anticipated that both the FUNcube-1 and FUNcube-2 missions will be launched later this year and the FUNcube team will be on hand to talk about the missions and the planned educational outreach. A full demonstration of the Engineering Model, which has been performing flawlessly for almost a year, will also be provided. Further details and booking information at http://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2013/ [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Lithuanian Amateur Radio CubeSats Plan 2013 Launch To ISS It is hoped that two Lithuanian satellites will be among the CubeSats sent by Nanoracks LLC to the International Space Station (ISS) on the SpaceX CRS-3 mission in November, 2013. They will be deployed from the ISS by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J- SSOD) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Kaunas University of Technology is developing LituanicaSAT-1 while the Lithuanian Space Federation is working on LitSat-1. 2013 is the 80th anniversary of the historic flight by Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Gire.nas in the airplane Lituanica. On July 15, 1933, they took off from Floyd Bennett Field in New York and flew across the Atlantic Ocean, covering a distance of 6,411 kilometers without landing, in 37 hours and 11 minutes. Tragically they crashed by the village of Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany just 650 km from their destination of Kaunas in Lithuania. LituanicaSAT-1 plans to carry a VGA camera, GPS receiver, 9k6 AX25 FSK telemetry beacon and a 150 mW V/U FM voice transponder. Links: • Google English web http://tinyurl.com/KosmonautaiLituanicaSAT-1 • Google English Wiki http://tinyurl.com/WikiLituanicaSAT-1 • Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lituanicasat1 LitSat-1 is understood to be planning a U/V linear transponder for SSB/CW communications. Links: • Lithuanian Space Association in Google English http://tinyurl.com/LithuanianSpaceAssociation • Facebook https://www.facebook.com/palydovas • Google English article http://tinyurl.com/LitSat-1-Article Google English article on the two Lithuanian CubeSats http://tinyurl.com/LithuanianCubeSats 1933 Lituanica flight http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanica [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JULY SPACE STATION SPACEWALKS TO BE PREVIEWED AND BROADCAST ON NASA TV WASHINGTON -- Two Expedition 36 astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station twice in July on spacewalks to prepare for a new Russian module and perform additional installations on the station's backbone. NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will host a NASA Television briefing to preview the spacewalks at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday, July 2. Reporters may attend the briefing at Johnson and other participating NASA centers, or ask questions by calling Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 1:45 p.m. Tuesday. Briefers will include: -- David Korth, NASA spacewalk flight director -- Ernest Bell, Spacewalk 22 spacewalk officer -- Karina Eversley, Spacewalk 23 spacewalk officer Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will conduct the spacewalks July 9 and July 16 from the station's Quest airlock. Each spacewalk is scheduled to last 6 1/2 hours. Cassidy and Parmitano will replace a space-to-ground communications receiver and wireless video equipment and install power and cables for a Russian multipurpose laboratory module that will be launched later this year. The new module will serve as a research facility, docking port and airlock for future Russian spacewalks and will replace the Pirs module. Cassidy, who is designated EV1 for the spacewalks, will wear a U.S. extravehicular mobility suit bearing red stripes. The spacewalks will be the fifth and sixth of Cassidy's career. Parmitano, who is designated EV2, will wear a spacesuit with no stripes and will be making the first two spacewalks of his career. He will become the first Italian astronaut to walk in space. Both spacewalkers will wear helmet cameras to provide up close views of their work. NASA TV coverage of the spacewalks will begin at 7 a.m. on both July 9 and July 16. Both spacewalks are scheduled to begin at 8:10 a.m. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS contact with Scuola Secondaria grado "Arturo Toscanini", Capiago Intimiano, Italy and Scuola Media Massimiliano Kolbe, Vercurago, Lecco, Italy An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Scuola Secondaria 1? grado "Arturo Toscanini", Capiago Intimiano, Italy and Scuola Media Massimiliano Kolbe, Vercurago, Lecco, Italy on 29 June. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 11:50 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a combination of direct and telebridge with the contact starting with IK1SLD, then proceeds to IZ2WLC and finishes back with IK1SLD . The contact should be audible over Italy. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in Italian. Scuola Secondaria 1? grado "Arturo Toscanini", Capiago Intimiano, Italy The school is located in Capiago Intimiano, a small town in the north part of Italy, 7 km far from Como. Como and the surrounding area can be clearly seen from space due to the unique shape of Lario lake (like a Y upside down). It tooks the name from "Arturo Toscanini", a famous musician and conductor lived across the end of 19th century and early 20th. There are 10 classes and the students are from 11 years old to 14. Scuola Media Massimiliano Kolbe, Vercurago, Lecco, Italy Local secondary school with students aged from 10 to 14. It's located in a building, built in 1950 by the government, originally used as a sanatorium converted into school in late 1970. Vercurago is a small town not far from Lecco, built on the shores of Garlate's lake (as it comes out of Lario lake and become Adda river). Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Why did you decide to become an astronaut? 2. How do you recycle water? 3. How did you feel on your first day in space? 4. What are the main characteristics of the Earth seen from space? 5. What was your first impression of the ISS? 6. How the northern lights appear from space? 7. How is life in space for six months with only five other people? 8. What is the most difficult activity you've carried out in space? 9. When you see the Earth from the space, what do you think? 10. How do you treat waste? 11. Is the Sun different seen from the space? 12. How do you shave in space? 13. What do you usually do in your free time? 14. How does life in orbit influence vital functions? 15. When you'll come back to the Earth, what will be the first thing you'll do? 16. When the Earth is in the dark, which are the brightest cities? 17. Can you see pollution on the Earth from the ISS? 18. What kind of studies did you attend to become an astronaut? 19. Which was the strongest emotion you felt when you passed quickly from the Earth to space? 20. What is the human construction visible from the space station? 21. How hard was the training before departure? 22. What do you eat in space? 23. What did you miss more from the earth? 24. Have you ever experimented how spiders build webs in space? 25. Have you ever had any serious technical problems on the ISS? 26. What kind of experiments are you carrying out? 27. What do you like most about your job? 28. What is the most ambitious project for the future? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be obtained by subscribing to the SAREX maillist. To subscribe, go to http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/ and choose "How to Subscribe". Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): 1. Association Intercultura Onlus, Frascati, Italy, telebridge Sat, 06July2013, 17:02 UTC 40 deg via W6SRJ ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries. ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on- board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters' interest in science, technology, and learning. Further information on the ARISS program is available on the website http://www.ariss.org/ (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada). (ANS thanks David Jordan, AA4KN for this ARISS update) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Satelite Shorts From All Over Kevin, N4UFO reported on June 25 he was able to work three transatlantic contacts via AO-7. The stations he contacted included EA8HB, CT3FM, and G7BTA. Kevin noted, "I must say... three QSOs in one pass, WOW! That was a lot of fun! AO-7 is a grand old bird, long may she live! I just had to share how exciting it was!" (via N4UFO on starcomm-bb) In the July 2013 edition of the ARRL publication of QST, ARRL Chief Executive Officer, David Sumner, K1ZZ, presents a feature on CubeSats. Steve Ford, WB8IMY, presents a column, Eclectic Technology, titled "More Satellites on the Way", a listing of the 7 satellites due to be launched in 2013. (via www.arrl.org ) A CubeSat presentation was given by AMSAT Francophone to a scientific conference held by the Radio Club of Paris F6KVP on May 29, 2013. A video of the presentation has been made available on the web. AMSAT-Francophone site in Google English: http://tinyurl.com/AMSAT-Francophone Radio Club of Paris F6KVP in Google English: http://tinyurl.com/RadioClubParis F6KVP on Twitter: https://twitter.com/F6KVP (via AMSAT-UK) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /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

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ANS-321 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 17 Nov '13

17 Nov '13

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-321 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: * FUNcube-1 Dashboard Software Released * FUNcube Dashboard/Data Warehouse Registration * Hector Martinez, CO6CBF/KF5XYV Earns US Technician License * FUNCube Handbook is Available * Election Results from AMSAT-India * ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano Back Home - Made 231 Random QSO’s * FUNCube PreLaunch Keps * Crossband Transponders on AMSAT Argentina November 23 Balloon Flight * Happy Birthday to AO-7! * KySat-2 Announces Telemetry Dashboard Software and Tracking Aids * Symposium Photos for Journal Requested by December 1 * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.01 ANS-321 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. DATE November 17, 2013 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-321.01 FUNcube-1 Dashboard Software Released In advance of the FUNcube-1 launch next week on November 21st at 07:10:11 UTC, this first release of the FUNcube Dashboard User Interface software is now available for download here: http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard This software, when used with a FUNcube Dongle or other SSB capable VHF receiver, will decode and display all the 58 telemetry channels, all the on-board status flags and also the Fitter messages from the spacecraft. The FUNcube Dashboard will also enable users to upload the telemetry they are receiving to a central Data Warehouse so that others around the world can see what is happening on board. A fully illustrated set of installation and operating guidance notes can also be downloaded from that page. Additionally we also have some IQ and audio files available here that can be used for testing. http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/telemetry-examples/ Full details of the telemetry format, which has considerable heritage from AO-40, can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/ANS321-FuncubeTestFiles We are very grateful to our software development team for their efforts in developing the Dashboard and we look forward to your feedback. Please let us have questions and experiences at the FUNcube forum at http://forum.funcube.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=3 [ANS thanks Graham G3VZV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNcube Dashboard/Data Warehouse Registration With the release of the FUNcube Dashboard and it's associated documentation, we have also released help info on how to register your Dashboard for use with the Data Warehouse. Please visit: http://forum.funcube.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18 If you have any follow up questions, please submit them as replies on the forum so that others can see them. [ANS thanks Dave G4DPZ for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hector Martinez, CO6CBF/KF5XYV Earns US Technician License The idea was first conceived during the 30th AMSAT Space Symposium in Orlando 2012 by Clayton Coleman W5PFG after hearing Hector Martinez CO6CBF’s desire to operate with his own callsign during his visit to the United States. There is no reciprocal agreement between the US and Cuba. At that time he was able toidentify three Volunteer Examiners but they lacked the testing materials to test Hector at that time. Fast forward one year to the 31st AMSAT Space Symposium in Houston. A few weeks before the Symposium Clayton contacted the AMSAT-BB asking for AMSAT members who were ARRL or W5YI VEs to contact him in order to see if we might be able to set up a testing session for Hector. Clayton received many responses and four ARRL VEs stepped up to assist the effort. Douglas Phelps K9DLP took the lead as Team Liaison and brought testing and filing materials with him. Others joining the team included EMike McCardel KC8YLD, Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, and Jerry Buxton N0JY Late Thursday evening, rather serendipitously, three of the VEs happened to find themselves in the same place at the same time. Shortly thereafter Clayton W5PFG, Patrick WD9EWK and Hector also happened by. The team immediately went into planning mode to set up a time and place to conduct the test, preferably early Friday. Then came the suggestion, why wait, everyone is here, why can't we do it now? When the team asked Hector if now would be good his immediate response was, "Yes, yes, NOW!" The team went to their rooms to collect their credentials and materials and then convened 15 minutes later in a quiet, well lit area of the hotel lobby and presented Hector with a copy of the Technician Exam. Hector took and passed the exam. The next morning the exam materials and application were forwarded onto the ARRL VEC by means of US Postal Priority mail which assured delivery by Monday noon, in hope that his license would be granted before his return on Wednesday. At shortly before 3pm CST Monday Hector's license cleared the FCC ULS database and he officially was granted callsign KF5YXV. We can't laud Maria Somma AB1FM and the folks at the ARRL enough for their efficiency. Minutes after all became aware that Hector had been assigned his callsign, he began working the birds. Clayton reports, "We had a blast on Monday evening through Wednesday working every satellite pass available to us. He was as exciting to watch as a kid getting his license for the first time." Hector adds "Thanks very much for all your help and the great time! It was very fun to operate for first time on AO-7 mode B." Congratulations to Hector and all who participated in this expression of International Goodwill. [ANS thanks Clayton W5PFG and EMike KC8YLD for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNCube Handbook is Available on funcube.org The FUNCube handbook is now at the funcube.org website. http://tinyurl.com/ANS321-FUNCubeHandbook A French and Italian version has also been published [ANS thanks Richard G3RWL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Election Results from AMSAT-India The AGBM was held as per schedule and all points as per the agenda were discussed and closed. Following members have been elected as office bearers of AMSAT INDIA. President - Ramesh Ramsubbu, VU2RMS Vice President - Dr. M.S.Giridhar, VU2MGD Secretary - Nitin Muttin, VU3TYG Treasurer- Venkatesh Katta, VU3ICC Technical Director- M.R. Raghavendra, VU3GTI Director, Educational Relations - B.A Subramani, VU2WMY Executive Committee Somashekhar Kummur- VU3HCJ Ganesan. N- VU3GEK Somashekhar- VU3JBA Dr. Raveendranath P - VU2RVJ K Balaji- VU3PZA Air Cmde V.Subramanian - VU2UV We would like to thank all those members who attended the AGM and participated actively in the proceedings. We would also like to thank all those members who wished (by email and phone) us for a successful AGM. [ANS thanks Nitin VU3TYG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano Back Home - Made 231 Random QSO’s 11 November 2013 ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, Russian commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg returned to Earth, landing in the Kazakhstan steppe. Their return flight, landing at 02:49 GMT (03:49 CEWT), was in the same Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft that flew them to the International Space Station on 29 May. Luca spent five months on the International Space Station for his VOLARE mission under a bilateral agreement with the Italian space agency and NASA. He conducted more than 30 scientific experiments, performed two spacewalks and operational tasks as well as maintaining the orbital outpost. Luca Parmitano has proven to be an enthusiastic and passionate radioamateur with great availability for ARISS school contacts. When all questions prepared by the students could not be answered during the scheduled pass, Luca used to come back whenever possible to continue the space talk on the following orbit. In terms of ARISS school contacts performed during a single expedition, Luca Parmitano is 4th in ranking of the ISS astronauts. Luca expressed his feelings regarding amateur radio in a message entitled "Message in a bottle", published on the ESA blog. Luca Parmitano went beyond his mandate as ISS crew member and HAM operator for ARISS school contacts, performing many random contacts with hams on earth. Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF served as manager for the IRØISS logbook, collecting reports from ISS for most of the random contacts, totaling 231 QSO’s. Our thanks to Luca Parmitano who did the effort to log the QSO’s and to forward the log to earth for almost all random contacts. All details about IRØISS random contacts during the "Volare" mission are available at: https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000293001 Many thanks also to ARISS Europe School Contacts Manager Francesco De Paolis IK0WGF for his great work and support. [ANS thanks Gaston Bertels ON4WF for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNCube PreLaunch Keps Here are some provisional pre-launch keps. We may well receive an updated set nearer to the day of launch but we expect that these should be good enough for the first few hours/days after launch. Satellite: FUNCUBE-1 Catalog number: 99991 Epoch time: 13325.309563080 Element set: 1 Inclination: 97.7956 deg RA of node: 38.2570 deg Eccentricity: 0.0059925 Arg of perigee: 198.5190 deg Mean anomaly: 336.5388 deg Mean motion: 14.77841394 rev/day Decay rate: 0.00000106 Epoch rev: 1 FUNCUBE-1 1 99991U 00000 13325.30956308 .00000106 00000-0 10000-3 0 00010 2 99991 097.7956 038.2570 0059925 198.5190 336.5388 14.77841394000015 The particular method of deployment used by this Dnepr launch vehicle means that the dispersion of all the objects may be somewhat more rapid than we are commonly used to, so this may help the experts determine which object is which. FUNcube-1 will initially be transmitting only about 30 mW of output power, this is its "Safe Mode", so a steerable yagi will greatly help reception. Telemetry will be transmitted from the spacecraft on 145.935 MHz. When the spacecraft is eventually transmitting data in its normal "Educational Mode" the signal is expected to be about 10dB louder. To stay up-to-date with what has happening with the FUNcube project and, in particular, with the FUNcube-1 spacecraft please visit www.funcube.org.uk You can register for automatic email notifications of all the updates by clicking on the "follow this blog" tab towards the bottom right hand corner of the front page. [ANS thanks Graham G3VZV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Crossband Transponders on AMSAT Argentina November 23 Balloon Flight AMSAT Argentina says they plan to fly a high altitude balloon on November 23 at approximately 1200 EST from Victorica, La Pampa, Argentina (36.234304S, 65.40298W Grid: FF73HS). This flight will carry launch experiments for the AMSAT Argentina LUSEX satellite. The Betty III Payload includes: + FM Voice Transponder Uplink: 435.950 MHz 123Hz CTCSS), Downlink: 145.950 MHz + CW and APRS Beacon on 144.930/145.950 MHz + SSTV R-36 pictures live on 145.950 MHz. The Mafalda Payload includes: + Linear Mode A Transponder for Multiple simultaneous users CW, PSK, JT, RTTY, Hell, etc. Uplink: 28.226 MHz USB Downlink: 145.850 MHz FM + PSK31 Beacon on 28.227 MHz The flight can also be tracked via aprs.fi - search for the LU7AA-11 callsign. [ANS thanks AMSAT Argentina for the above information] [ANS thanks for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Happy Birthday to AO-7! Launched on 11/15/1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Continued congratulations to all those involved in the design, building, launch, and operations of this satellite. It's an amazing achievement that, other than the batteries, most of the circuitry continues to function normally 39 years after launch. Here's to hopefully many more years of service to the amateur community! For more information about the lead-up to and the launch of AO-7, as well as the first years of operation, see the 1974-1981 AMSAT Newsletters on KA9Q's website: http://www.ka9q.net/AMSAT-Newsletter-1974.pdf http://www.ka9q.net/newsletters.html N4HY has a wonderful gallery of photos from the construction and launch of AO-7 on his Smugmug page: http://n4hy.smugmug.com/AMSAT/AMSAT-Oscar-7 [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- KySat-2 Announces Telemetry Dashboard Software and Tracking Aids The KySat-2 CubeSat launch is scheduled as part of the ORS-3/ELaNa-4 mission on November 19 from Wallops Island, VA. The Kentucky Space Team request that Amateur Radio stations track and help in the collection of telemetry data. To help track KySat-2, a web page has been setup to assist radio amateurs. To help decode packets from KySat-2, software for radio amateurs to download and install is available at: http://ssl.engineering.uky.edu/amateur-radio-operators/ Initially, the software will support receive-only operation, but after spacecraft checkout, it is intended that the software will also support limited commanding. An Advanced Satellite Orbit Tracking Tool to visualize KySat-2's orbit in real-time can be viewed at: http://k2asot.engr.uky.edu/ For more information on general information on KySat-2, visit: http://kysat2.engr.uky.edu/ and http://kentuckyspace.com/ [ANS thanks the KySat-2 Team at Kentucky Space for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Symposium Photos for Journal Requested by December 1 AMSAT Journal Editor JoAnne Maenpaa K9JKM would appreciate receiving selected photos, or a link to your on-line albums for photos from the 2013 AMSAT Symposium and Annual General Meeting. With the November/December Journal in-progress it is time to begin planning for full coverage of the Symposium, Banquet, and tour of the Johnson Space Center in the January/February 2014 AMSAT Journal. Please send you photos and/or link information to me by December 1. Submit to k9jmk at amsat dot org [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Rancho Romero Elementary School Alamo, CA USA and Astronaut Michael S. Hopkins KF5LJG using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-11-13 19:44 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via KJ6TWN. ARISS Mentor was W6MU. A detailed write-up of this contact was reported in the November 13 San Jose Mercury News http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24517762/headline + A Successful contact was made between Cradle of Aviation Museum Garden City, NY USA and Astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP using callsign IRØISS. The contact began 2013-11-04 14:24 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via IK1SLD. ARISS Mentors were W2CYK and KB9UPS. + A Successful contact was made between Warren County Technical School Washington, NJ USA and Astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-11-04 14:08 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via KC2WT. ARISS Mentor was AA4KN. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Salisbury Middle Schools, Salisbury, New Brunswick, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ Contact is a go for: Wed 2013-11-20 17:18:42 UTC ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 112 Francesco IKØWGF with 100 Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 869. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 848. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Radio Amateurs Launch Fun In A Cube (Satellite) Satnews Publishers has just carried a story "AMSAT UK, AMSAT-NL + ISIS BV?Radio Amateurs Launch Fun In A Cube (Satellite)" http://www.satnews.com/story.php?number=474690875 [ANS thanks Jill Durfee and Satnews.com for the above information] + KUDOS, KU4OS ANS-293 was Lee McLamb's KU4OS 100th issue that he has edited since Dec 2007. Congratulations, Lee! [ANS thanks ANS Editors for the above information] + ARRL Kids Day is always the first Sunday of January and the third Saturday of June, from 1800UTC – 2359 UTC. This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate working satellites and a chance to give kids some hands on experience. This is especially true with the launch of FUNCube and other satellites next week. [ANS thanks Sean Kutzko, KX9X for the above information] + 2014 Year in Space Calendars Now Available The Year In Space in cooperation with The Planetary Society has published their 2014 edition calandar of YearInSpace. More information can be found at http://www.yearinspace.com/ They also maintain a free weekly online calendar at http://www.yearinspace.com/the-week-in-space.html In addition is a free weekly email newsletter available for subscription. http://www.yearinspace.com/weekly-e-mail.html [ANS thanks Steve Cariddi, Publisher for the above information] + Indian Gujarat Video Claudio Ariotti, IK1SLD recently received a link from India about the ARISS contact (November 14, 2012) between Sunita Williams KD5PLB and Gujarat Council of Science City - Ahmedabad - Gujarat. This is the youtube link: http://youtu.be/Dz7Sto3zXWg [ANS thanks Claudio IK1SLD for the above information] + Minotaur-1 mass CubeSat launch November 19 The launch window for KySat-2 and over a dozen other CubeSats from Wallops Island opens November 19, see http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/12/kysat-2-in-november-cubesat-launch/ [ANS thanks Trevor M5AKA for the above information] + Czech Statocaching APRS ham radio balloon http://tinyurl.com/ANS321-czech-statocaching [ANS thanks Trevor M5AKA for the above information] + Frequencies for the 37 satellites carrying amateur radio payloads expected to be deployed in the next 10 days http://tinyurl.com/ANS321-NovCubeDeployments [ANS thanks Trevor M5AKA 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, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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ANS-314 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 10 Nov '13

10 Nov '13

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-314 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: * Maritime Mobile Satellite Operations * AMSAT Office Status * AMSAT at the Fort Wayne, TX Hamfest * 31st Annual AMSAT Space Symposium International Attendance Correction * FUNcube Handbook Now Available * 2014 Space Exploration Educators Conference SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-314.01 ANS-314 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 314.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 10, 2013 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-314.01 Maritime Mobile Satellite Operations Yuri, UT1FG/MM is reported to be heading north which will increase opportunity to make a contact with him. Frank, K4FEG and Rick, WA4NVM contacted Yuri when he was sailing in Grid FG43 during a 2 minute pass on AO7 Mode B at 1034 UTC. His next port will be Punta Patache, Chile in Grid FG49. UT1FG can be tracked on the web at marinetraffic.com. Use either the ship name(SILVER), port name (Coquimbo) or the ship's call(5BNC3). When he is getting prepared to leave port the ship's information will change to show his next destination. [ANS thanks Frank, K4FEG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Office Status Our AMSAT office manager Martha had a leg injury which resulted in a cast on her left leg which cannot bear any weight. This of course limits her mobility. Unfortunately there have been issues in the building in which our office is housed, including basic power and elevator failures. The combination has caused significant delays in store order fulfillment and returned calls and email. The building management reports that the power and other issues should be resolved soon. We regret the perfect storm, and appreciate your patience and understanding. [ANS thanks Martha and Alan, WA4SCA, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Fort Wayne, TX Hamfest The 2013 Fort Wayne Hamfest & Computer Expo and the will be held on November 16th and 17th at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and Exposition Center, located at 4000 Parnell Avenue in Fort Wayne (at the corner of Parnell and Coliseum Blvd). An AMSAT Forum will be held at 1:30 PM on Sat. 16 Nov. More information about the Fort Wayne Hamfest can be found at the hamfest website www.fortwaynehamfest.com [ANS thanks Doug, KA8QCU, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 31st Annual AMSAT Space Symposium International Attendance Correction Israel was inadvertently omitted from the list of participating countries in the Symposium summary in ANS-307. Below is the updated list of Countries represented. Attendees from all over the the world were present, making this year's Symposium a truly international event. Global representation from South Africa, Israel, Brazil, United Kingdom, Cuba, Canada, United States, and the Republic of Tejas. There were also approximately 18 members who joined in over Echolink for the Annual Meeting. The ANS Editorial team apologizes for the oversight. [ANS thanks EMike, KC8YLD, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNcube Handbook Now Available The first edition (in English) of the FUNcube handbook is now available. Unfortunately the main Funcube website has an upload limit smaller than the book so it will need to be downloaded from the following link. <http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/FUNcube/files/Funcube%20Handbook/Funcube Handbook En v1.pdf> A version in French will be published once it has been translated. [ANS thanks Richard, G3RWL, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Art and Ham Radio in Deep Space Students at the Tama Art University are planning to send a sculpture ARTSAT2 DESPATCH along with an amateur radio payload into deep space. The ARTSAT2 Deep Space sculpture "DESPATCH" is planned to launch in mid 2014 on a H-IIA rocket with the asteroid explorer Hayabusa 2 as the main payload. Hayabusa 2 will be making a round-trip to the C-type asteroid 1999 JU3 arriving at the asteroid in mid 2018. The sculpture, which is 50 by 50 by 45 cm with a mass of 30 kg, was developed at the Tama Art University using a 3D Printer. The containment vessel will carry a CW beacon in the 435 MHz band using an omni-directional antenna. The satellite should provide the ultimate in ham radio DX reception when at its maximum operational distance of 3 million km from Earth about a week after launch. Being battery powered without solar panels it will have a low transmit cycle to maximize the life span. ARSAT2: DESPATCH in Google English http://tinyurl.com/ARTSAT-DESPATCH ARTSAT on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/artsat [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Space Exploration Educators Conference Make plans to attend the 20th Annual Space Exploration Educators Conference, to be held Feb. 6-8, 2014, at Space Center Houston. This conference is for all K-12 educators. Activities presented use space-related themes to teach across the curricula and can be used for science, language arts, mathematics, history and more. Attend sessions hosted by scientists and engineers working on the International Space Station, Mars exploration and the planets beyond. Hear from astronauts who will be leading the charge in exploration. Attend sessions presented by educators and receive ready-to-implement classroom ideas. Attendees can earn up to 24 hours of continuing professional education credit. Early Bird Registration closes on Nov. 10, 2013. For more information, visit http://spacecenter.org/education-programs/teacher-programs/teachers-se ec/. If you have any questions about the conference, please call 281-244-2129 or email seec(a)spacecenter.org. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express 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, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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ANS-306 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - Annual Meeting Via Echolink Today
by JoAnne Maenpaa 02 Nov '13

02 Nov '13

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-306 In this edition: * 2013 AMSAT-NA Annual General Meeting Simulcast Today via Echolink SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-306.01 ANS-306 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 306.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. DATE November 2, 2013 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-306.01 The AMSAT-NA Annual General Meeting will be simulcast today, Saturday, November 2 at 15:45 - 17:15 CDT (UTC-5) via the AMSAT Echolink node 101377. AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW will give his annual President's Report during this time. [ANS thanks the 2013 Symposium Committee for the above information] /EX

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ANS November 2013