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
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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.
[email protected] 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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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)
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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)
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/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Joe Spier, K6WAO
k6wao at amsat dot org
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-237
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:
* ARISS-EU update on the ISS HamVideo
* AMSAT Mentions and Articles of interest in the Press
* New Booster: Japan space agency unveils new rocket Epsilon
* AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots Due By September 15th
* Radio Ham VK3FADO Cited in The Age newspaper
* Message In A Bottle
* AMSAT Symposium is Only 10 Weeks Away
* Ham Radio in Space: Ham Radio Payloads Preparing to Launch
* Ham Radio Cubesats Hope for November Launch
* The USA Lower 48 Worked all 488 Grids non-Award
* Cubebug-1 Good News
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-237.01
ANS-237 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 237.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
DATE August 25, 2013
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-237.01
ARISS-EU update on the ISS HamVideo
How a DATV transmitter on S-band is being added to the ARISS
equipment onboard the International Space Station has been related in
an announcement recently circulated and available at
http://www.ariss-eu.org/HamVideo.pdf
The ARISS Ham Video transmitter is presently onboard Columbus. The
transmitter was delivered by Japanese cargo spacecraft HTV-4, which
launched August 4 and docked 5 days later.
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP / IR0ISS reported that the bags
are stored in Columbus. There are two bags: one for the transmitter,
the other for the power, camera and antenna cables.
Installation will be done by US astronaut Michael Hopkins KF5LJG who
has been trained for the commissioning of the Ham Video equipment.
The commissioning is planned later in the year, possibly the end of
October when there are favourable passes over Italy. Indeed, the
tests transmissions for the commissioning of the onboard equipment
will be received by the ground station of the “Centro di Geodesia
Spaziale” of the Italian Space Agency, located in Matera, Southern
Italy.
We will report in due time on the commissioning procedure which will
involve a series of tests to be performed during 3 or 4 ISS passes.
Possibly, the Ham Video transmitter will transmit continuously
between the commissioning steps offering amateur ground stations the
opportunity to test and tune their receiving equipment. The
transmissions will be performed in automatic mode, without requiring
crew time. The camera, which runs on a battery, will not be used and
the ground stations will receive a black image.
Meanwhile, commissioning is being prepared steadily. The kick-off
meeting took place November 2012 at ESTEC, the European Space
Research and Technology Centre, located in Noordwijk the Netherlands.
Detailed procedures are examined and finalized during weekly
ESA/ARISS teleconferences. A preliminary EST (Experiment Sequence
Test) is planned August 28-29. The test will involve the ARISS ground
station IK1SLD, located in Casale Monferrato in Northern Italy.
IK1SLD, which is an ARISS telebridge station often used for
educational ARISS school contacts on VHF, has been upgraded for S-
band reception. Ham Video manufacturer Kayser Italia has delivered a
1.2 meter dish, a down converter and precision tracking motors, which
are part of the ESA funded equipment. For the EST, the station will
receive a DATV signal from a local low power S-band test transmitter.
The decoded signal will be webstreamed to the BATC server. The
British Amateur Television Club offers ARISS free access to their
server. ESA examiners will connect to the BATC server and evaluate
the reception. Test transmissions at IK1SLD will cover the different
frequencies and symbol rates available on the Ham Video transmitter.
Web streaming will take advantage of the special software developed
by Jean Pierre Courjaud, F6DZP. References are available in the
HamVideo.pdf.
When the Ham Video transmitter will become operational, it will be
used for ARISS educational school contacts. Video will be for
downlink only. Uplink will be VHF FM audio. The Ericsson transceiver
onboard Columbus will be used for reception onboard. This cross band
and double mode operation is called Ham TV. Ham Video is the name of
the DATV transmitter.
[ANS thanks Gaston Bertels, ON4WF for the above information]
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AMSAT Mentions and Articles of interest in the Press
+ Amateur Television Quarterly
In the September issue of Amateur Television Quarterly, Gaston
Betels, ON4WF, ARISS-Europe Chairman contributes "The Columbus
Project: A DATV Transmitter for the International Space Station" In
addition to his fine description of the DATV project and ground
station reception and components he cites AMSAT-NA and its volunteers
for funding and building the dual band VHF/UHF antennas on Columbus.
While giving a chronology of the development of Amateur TV onboard
the ISS he writes
"Meanwhile a possibility opened for the installation of VHF/UHF
antennas on Columbus. The Europena Space Agency wanted a VHF antenna
for a specific payload and was interested in the manner ARISS
antennas had been attached to handrails on the Russian service
module. A similar system was adopted for Columbus and, at the same
time, ESA accepted the installation of a dual band VHF/UHF antenna
for ARISS. The antenna project was funded entirely by AMSAT-NA and
volunteers who built the antennas for both the ESA experiment and for
ARISS. The installation was done per EVA, 21 November 2009. Soon an
Ericsson UHF transceiver, which had served in the early ARISS days,
migrated from the REussian to the American segment of the Space
Station and started Packet Radio operation."
The magazine is available via subscription only. Visit their website
www.atvquarterly.com for more information.
[ANS thanks Amateur Television Quarterly for the above information]
+ Monitoring Times
In September's "On the Ham Bands" column, Kirk A. Kleinschnit, NT0Z,
writes "The Highs and Lows of Amateur Satellites". He cites AMSAT on
numerous occasions in the article and includes a picture of Keith
Baker, KB1SF, working AO-51. He references AMSAT as a source of
information as well as describing AMSAT's efforts with the phase 3
birds, Oscar 10 and 13, our current cooperation with Universities and
other entities and cites our website http://www.amsat.org.
+ CQ VHF
The Summer edition of CQ VHF holds several articles related to
satellite and EME. Of particular note are "Add ISS Packet Operation
to Your Satellites Activity" by The AMSAT Journal Editor-in-Chief,
Joanne Maenpaa, K9JKM. This article originally appeared in the
proceedings of the 2012 AMSAT Symposium.
In his "Satellites" column, Keith Pugh, W5IU, writes "Dayton, Ham-
Com, Field Day, ARISS Update, and What's New for Working the Birds."
Needless to say, the article covers a lot of territory and includes
pictures of Tony AA2TX and Wendell W2BFJ, Barry WD4ASW, and Keith
W5IU.
+ QST
Check out pages 46-47 of the September QST for an article, "Decibels
and dBm Demystified" written by AMSAT member and AMSAT Journal
columnist Bob DeVarney, W1ICW.
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New Booster: Japan space agency unveils new rocket Epsilon
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on Tuesday unveiled its new
solid-fuel rocket Epsilon before its launch with a scientific
satellite next week.
Epsilon, a three-stage rocket with 24.4 meter in length, 2.6 meters in
diameter and 91 ton in weight, is to be launched from the state-run
agency's Uchinoura Space Center in southwestern prefecture of
Kagoshima.
The rocket is a successor of the M-5 rocket that was retired in 2006
and is planned to carry a telescope named SPRINT-A, world's first
space telescope for remote observation of planets.
The agency originally scheduled to launch the rocket Thursday but
postponed until next Tuesday due to wrong wiring in communication
equipment.
The original article can be found on-line at:
http://tinyurl.com/New-Japan-Epsilon (Space-Travel.com)
[ANS thanks Space-Travel.com, the Xinhua News Agency, and JAXA for the
above information]
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AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots Due By September 15th
A reminder that all members in good standing should have received
their ballots. In order for your ballott to be counted, it will need
to be RECEIVED at the AMSAT office by September 15th.
This year we have 8 candidates for 4 voting Board members and 2 non-
voting Alternates. Your vote is especially important this year in
selecting those who will help guide AMSAT-NA. If you have not
submitted your ballot, please review the candidate biography and
position statements you received, as well as the Minutes of the Board
Meeting published in the May/June issue of the AMSAT Journal. Then
make your voice heard by voting.
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information]
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Radio Ham VK3FADO Cited in The Age newspaper
The Age newspaper reports on Jonathan Oxer VK3FADO who has been
developing the ArduSat CubeSats which carry amateur radio payloads
The article, by Ben Grubb, says for the past 10 months, Jon VK3FADO
has been involved in designing and building two crowd-funded micro-
satellites that will allow anyone to conduct their own space
experiments.
Named ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X, the low-cost, miniature satellites
are aboard the International Space Station ready to be put into orbit
between October and March 2014.
Read the full article at
http://tinyurl.com/m56pj4n
ArduSat Open Source Ham Radio CubeSats
http://amsat-uk.org/2013/08/09/ardusat-open-source-ham-radio-cubesats/
This article was posted at:
http://tinyurl.com/k7jjvbt
[ANS thanks Southgate for the above information]
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Message In a Bottle
Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, relates his first random amateur
radio experience aboard the ISS in his blog entry “Message in a
Bottle”
This excerpt from the blog demonstrates one of the thrills many of
us have or hope to experience.
"I set the radio to the ‘random’ contacts frequency, and without
knowing what to expect, I put on the headphones. Physically, the
International Space Station was still many kilometres away from the
coastlines of Europe, but our horizon stretches out beneath us for
thousands of kilometres and the various European ground stations
could already see us. My ears were immediately overwhelmed by a
cacophony of unidentifiable sounds and noises, voices, screeching and
white noise. Then suddenly, a voice surfaced above the other sounds;
it was a young man, in my mind barely more than a boy. He was calling
the ISS American radio call sign (NA1SS) and repeating his own call
sign. I was taken aback by the emotion that rose in me as I tried to
reply to the call, using the Italian call sign (IR0ISS). But my
excitement was nothing compared to the sheer astonishment and
disbelief I heard in that voice, thousands of kilometres away.
Speaking English with a beautiful Portuguese accent, the radio
operator on the other side of the signal only managed to say a few
words – “I don’t know what to say… This is a dream come true for
me!”
Luca finishes by writing,
"Men, women, young and old, experts and complete beginners – they
have all wrapped me in a warm blanket of friendship and gratitude,
oblivious to the fact that I’m the one who should be thanking them
for opening up the doors to an experience that began with that young
man in Portugal, and that crossing space and time, reaches the heart
of each and every amateur radio operator even before it reaches their
ears."
Read the entire blog entry at
http://tinyurl.com/lfuejod
The August 19 ARRL news rlease of the blog can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/kzpts4c
[ANS thanks the ANS Editors for the above information]
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AMSAT Symposium is Only 10 Weeks Away
The 2013 AMSAT Space Symposium, hosted by the Johnson Space Center
Amateur Radio Club, promises to be exciting and informative.
This years Symposium will be held in Houston November 1-3 at the The
Beautiful Marriott Hobby Airport Hotel. The Space Symposium will
feature a full array of talks by knowledgeable AMSAT members and
others regarding satellite construction and operation, plus other
space-related subjects.
The AMSAT Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the Space
Symposium, provides you the opportunity to hear about AMSAT’s future
plans and voice your own thoughts and opinions to AMSAT Board of
Directors members and other AMSAT officials.
For the AMSAT Space Symposium, the Marriott offers:
FREE parking (unusual for a large city hotel)
$94.00 per night room rate
FREE breakfasts, 2 per room per day
FREE WiFi throughout the hotel
FREE Airport Transportation
Make plans NOW to attend the 2013 AMSAT Space Symposium
Hotel reservations can be made by calling 713-943-7979. Visit their
website at http://tinyurl.com/houhh-houston-hobby-airportmar
Ask For The AMSAT Block or Use the Code AMSAMSA when reserving your
room.
The AMSAT 2013 Symposium Registration Form can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/AMSAT-Symposium
On line Symposium Registration is expected to be available in late
August.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information]
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Ham Radio in Space: Ham Radio Payloads Preparing to Launch
Two CubeSats carrying SSB/CW and FM voice transponders are scheduled
to be launched into a 600 km orbit during the first half of next
year. That news came during the QB50 Project presentation at the
AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium earlier this summer. The QB50
project team has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with AMSAT-UK,
AMSAT-Francophone and AMSAT-NL to enable two Amateur Radio payloads
to fly on two yet-to-be-named "precursor" CubeSats in advance of the
main mission, to deploy about 40 double satellites. The CubeSat
launch allows for the testing of key satellite and payload
components. In addition, the precursor mission allows for
experimentation and validation of the QB50 operational concept. The
Amateur Radio payloads will become the primary payload of the
spacecraft once all QB50-related experimentation has been concluded.
The AMSAT-F payload for one of the satellites will be an FM voice
relay with VHF uplink and UHF downlink. It will also transmit FX25
telemetry at 9.6 kbit. The AMSAT-NL payload on the other precursor
satellite will incorporate an SDR-based, linear V/U transponder core.
It will provide a telemetry downlink at 1.2 kbit. The QB50 spacecraft
generally will have downlinks in the 435-438 MHz Amateur Satellite
Service allocation, although some are expected to use 2.4 GHz.
Meanwhile, the Baltic nation of Lithuania is hoping that its first
two satellites will be launched later this year from the
International Space Station (ISS). The nanosatellites carrying
Amateur Radio payloads could be among the CubeSats sent by payload
handler NanoRacks LLC to the ISS on the SpaceX CRS-3 mission this
November. The Kaunas University of Technology is developing
LituanicaSAT-1, while the Lithuanian Space Association is working on
LitSat-1.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the historic flight by
Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Gireenas in the
Lituanica aircraft. On July 15, 1933, they took off from Floyd
Bennett Field in New York and flew across the Atlantic, covering a
distance of 6,411 kilometers in 37 hours and 11 minutes. Tragically
they perished after crashing in Germany, just 650 kilometers from
their destination of Kaunas, Lithuania.
LituanicaSAT-1 will carry a VGA camera, GPS receiver, 9600 bps AX25
FSK telemetry beacon and a 150 mW V/U FM voice transponder. LitSat-1
is planning a U/V linear transponder for SSB/CW communications. --
AMSAT News Service/AMSAT-UK
[ANS thanks AMSAT News Service/AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Ham Radio Cubesats Hope for November Launch
On Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 14:39 UT Korea’s satellite KOMPSAT-5
launched on a Dnepr from Dombarovsky near Yasny
This marked the first flight of the Dnepr launcher since August 2011
and the successful launch should clear the way for the launch in
November of another Dnepr from Yasny believed to be carrying up to 23
satellites from 13 nations.
Most of the satellites will carry amateur radio payloads and it
should be the largest single deployment of amateur radio satellites
since the ill-fated Dnepr launch of July 26, 2006.
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2006/dnepr_failure.htm
The launch had originally been planned for September 2012 but was
postponed while the future of the Dnepr launch program was discussed.
Among the satellites carrying payloads operating in amateur radio
bands that may be on the November launch are:
• UniSat-5 microsat which will deploy Eagle-1, Eagle-2, QB-Scout,
estar-2, Wren and PUCP-SAT-1 which it turn should release a further
satellite Pocket-PUCP
• Delfi-n3Xt
• Triton-1
• Triton-2
• GOMX-1
• FUNcube-1
• UWE-3
• CubeBug-2
• BRITE-PL1
• Humsat-D
• CPUT ZAcube-1
• HinCube
• BeakerSat
• NEE-02 KRYSAOR (910 MHz)
[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
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The USA Lower 48 Worked all 488 Grids non-Award
John Papay K8YSE, recently announced, on the AMSAT-BB, that he has
just completed working all 488 grids in the Lower 48 states.
John writes,
"Some of the active grid chasers on the birds are aware that KA6SIP
just gave me my last USA grid when he operated from CN72 in Oregon.
And I thought it might be interesting to look at the stats and how
one manages to work and confirm all 488 USA lower 48 States grids.
"Satellite operators come and go and grids come and go with them. A
grid might have a very active operator in it and then it is off the
air when that person goes away for whatever reason. Interestingly,
about half of the 488 grids that were worked were from those
operating portable, not in the sense of using a radio with batteries,
but in the traditional sense of operating away from their home
station location. Once you have experienced being on the other end
of a small pileup, you will want to do it again. Just ask W7LRD who
tried it recently and is planning another trip."
In his post John goes on to list operators who exited the comfort of
their home station and put a grid on the air.
John further reflects,
"I started with satellites in June 2006 and only had 47USA grids by
August 2008. From August 2008 till Jan 2009 I worked another 109. In
2009 199 were worked. 2010 was 76 and 2011 was 44. Only 4 new grids
were worked in 2012 and 9 were snagged in 2013. Eight of those final
9 grids were handed out by Tom KA6SIP. He heard about the need and
decided to make a grid expedition to put them on the air. He did 7
of them in one trip. Then Bob W7LRD went to the beach in CN77,
operating away from home for the first time. That left CN72. Tom
just got back from Hawaii and quickly made plans to camp out in CN72
and gave me the final grid on AO-7B, 20 August 2013 at 2332z. Then
he put CN71 on the air on 22-23August, also a very rare grid square
but one that I already had. Many others worked him there.
"There is no award for working all 488 grids on satellites as there
is for six meters (FFMA). The ARRL awards committee has looked at it
and will implement it if someone on the Board of Directors brings it
up for a vote and it passes. Hopefully that will happen soon.
Having that type of award gives everyone something to work for. It
promotes grid expeditions and interest in working through the
satellites. If we all contact our ARRL Director, it might just
happen.
"There may be others who have already worked all 488 grids on
satellites. K6YK might be one of them. I know there are several
others who are getting close. It is not any easy thing to accomplish
even if you operate every day. It is something you can work towards
over the years.
"I want to thank everyone that made satellite contacts with me that
ultimately led to working all 488. Many went out of their way to put
on a grid. Over half of the grids worked were from grid expeditions!
If you haven't experienced operating away from home, please consider
it. With new operators showing up on the birds every day, there is
always a need for an uncommon grid. And you will have a lot of fun
doing it! Just ask anyone on my list."
John's original post, including the list of those who worked him
portable, can be found in the bulletin board archives
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/48hour/msg98283.html
Congratulations on your accomplishment, John!
[ANS thanks JohnK8YSE for the above information]
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Cubebug-1 Good News
The satellite launched April this year known as Capitan Beto, is
recovering from its balance of energy that caused its transmitter to
be turned off for several days.
The recovery was achieved after one of the AMSAT-LU stations in
coordination and in conjunction with Satellogic team, sent a command
to reconfigure onboard software that turned off attitude control
circuits feeding magnetorquers this last weekend .
Telemetry text mode command taken before change can be seen at
http://www.amsat.org.ar/images/cubebug130818.txt .
Operation was done using RTL dongle, connected directly to antenna,
using HDSDR recording software as IF mode only, that helped not to
record big amount of data from Orbitron connected to DDE, also
automatically compensating Doppler, see
http://www.amsat.org.ar/images/cubebug130818.jpg
which at top shows command sent and satellite response below.
After reset, Cubebug-1 went to 'mission state', batteries showing
adequate level of charge.
Good reports were received from several amateurs from different
parts of the globe.
This activity was performed as part of the agreement of mutual
collaboration that Satellogic & Amsat-LU signed in July 2013.
The satellite transmits at 1200 bps AFSK, on 437.438 KHz,
broadcasting packets every 30 seconds, signal is low requiring
directional antenna and preamp for adequate reception.
Cubebug-1 telemetry information can be found at
http://1.cubebug.org/coms/telemetry
It is hoped that the packet radio digipeater, that is onboard
Cubebug-1, will be activated for amateur radio use after its primary
mission objectives have been met.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-LU for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
Successful Contacts
+ A Successful contact was made between Epet No. 2, Gral. Pico,
Argentina and Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, using callsign NA1SS.
The contact began 2013-08-06 11:48 UTC and lasted about nine and a
half minutes. Contact was telebridged via LU8YY. IKØWGF and IKØUSO
served as ARISS mentors.
+ A Successful contact was made between Ecole Primaire Pasteur,
Fleurance, France and Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, using
callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-08-07 11:01 UTC and lasted
about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via LU1CGB.
IN3GHZ and F6ICS served as ARISS mentors.
+ A Successful contact was made between 14th World Scout Moot Canada
2013, Camp Awacamenj Mino, Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec, Canada and
Astronaut Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, using callsign IRØISS.
The contact began 2013-08-12 18:46 UTC and lasted about nine and a
half minutes. Contact was telebridged via IK1SLD. VE3TBD served as
ARISS mentor.
+ A Successful contact was made between Centro Educativo No9 Dr.
Juan Lleren, Villa Mercedes, Argentina and Astronaut Luca Parmitano,
KF5KDP, using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-08-14 16:42 UTC
and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via
LU8YY/Q. IKØWGF and IKØUSO served as ARISS mentors.
+ A Successful contact was made between North-Western Regions
Obesstvennoj The Cosmonautics Federation Of Russia, Russia and
Cosmonuat Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, using callsign RSØISS. The contact
began 2013-08-17 16:25 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes.
Contact was direct via RA1AJN. RV3DR served as ARISS mentor.
+ A Successful contact was made between Facultad de Ingeniería y
Ciencias Económico-Sociales, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Villa
Mercedes, Argentina and Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, using
callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-08-19 14:14:35 UTC and
lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via LU8YY/Q.
IKØWGF and IKØUSO served as ARISS mentors.
+ A Successful contact was made between Festive event Berkan,
Ile de La Réunion and Cosmonuat Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, using
callsign RSØISS. The contact began 2013-08-19 21:31 and
lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via
FR1GZ. ON4WF and RV3DR served as ARISS mentors.
Upcoming ARISS Contacts
+ Youth Forum near the Black Sea, via TBD
Contact is a go for 2013-08-26 15:30 UTC
+ Amicale Space Camp organized by Sterrenlab for children of the
European Patent Office/NL, Leiden, The Netherlands (Summer Space
Camp, Noordwijk, Netherlands), Netherlands, via PA3GUO
Contact is a go for: Wed 2013-08-28 13:49:07 UTC
+ Gwalior Glory High School, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India,
telebridge via IK1SLD
Contact is a go for: Sat 2013-08-31 11:22:58 UTC
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana AJ9N and ARISS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Captain Yuri, UT1FG/mm is back at sea, he picked up his ship in
Santos, Brazil, which is very far south in Brazil (GG66) and out
of all satellite range for North America and he is headed SOUTH!
Next port is in Uruguay, even further SOUTH! He apparently did not
have WiFi access while in Santos, Brazil, but friends expect that
Captain Yuri will contact one of them as soon as he can to give
us some updates on where his next ports will be. (Frank, K4FEG on
starcomm-bb)
+ DUBUS issue 4/2012 is available as free sample in PDF format (16MB)
here: http://bit.ly/14tWuOf
DUBUS is a quartlery published magazine for technique and DX on
VHF/UHF/SHF covering all bands from 6m to light. More information is
available on www.DUBUS.org (Southgate)
Source: Joe ,DL8HCZ/CT1HZE
+ Ham Technology: The Radio Documentation Project Manuals for China
Built Radio Gear
If you own a China built hand-held and have questions that the
manual does not answer, there's now a new source of information.
Calling itself the Radio Documentation Project, this website plans
to provide high quality and in-depth open source documentation user
manuals for mainland-China built handheld two-way radios.
Its first completed work is a PDF file containing a well documented
manual for the popular Baofeng UV-5R dual bander. The instructions
are clearand distinct. Best of all it is available as a free
download at tinyurl.com/new-uv5r-booklet. (Southgate)
Source: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1879 - August 16 2013
+ This past week arising out of Australia's ACMA reason for not
continuing the high power trial for radio amateurs was an observed
lack of understanding of operator's obligations with regard to
Electromagnetic Magnetic Radiation. As part of the emphasis on
education regarding Electromagnetic Magnetic Radiation, the Wireless
Institute of Australia (WIA) posted a web page, "Amateur Radio And
Electromagnetic Radiation Issues" at:
http://www.wia.org.au/members/technical/emr/
Topics on the WIA web include:
* What is EMR ?
* Understanding Electromagnetic Radiation Compliance for Amateur
Radio Stations
* Compliance
* File For Download - VK3UM EMRCalc Ver 7.07
Where the specifics apply to Australia the information on this web
page provide a common sense tutorial for amateur radio operators
worldwide. The VK3UM EMRCalc is a fascinating software tool allowing
you experiment with transmitted power levels, antenna height, and
antenna gain.
Source: Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA)
+ APRS has standardized an ID series for amateur Oscar spacecraft.
APOxxx.
At the request of Juan Carlos, LU9DO, AMSAT-LU wanted a series of
APRS designators for uniquely identifying AMSAT APRS applications.
He suggested those beginning with the letter O for OSCARS.
ALL APRS applications include this identifier in their packets so
that the source of APRS data can be known. See the list
http://aprs.org/aprs11/tocalls.txt
Source: Bob, WB4aPR via AMSAT-BB
+ Help Requested for Cleaning up Old Mac Applications
As part of moving features to the new AMSAT.ORG site, we are
cleaning out old programs which are no longer used or useful.
Alan, WA4SCA, would appreciate Mac users looking at the old
programs and letting him know which ones are still useful,
or not.
http://tinyurl.com/ANS237-AMSAT-web-archive
The old archive WILL be available, but we want to clean out the
dead wood for current programs.
Hopefully with a refreshed site we will also have new programs
available.
Source: Alan, WA4SCA, via AMSAT-BB
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/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
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-216
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:
* HamTV Transmitter Launched to ISS
* AMSAT.ORG Gets Make Over
* Have You Received Your 2013 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballot?
* AMSAT Mentions and Articles of interest in the Press
* Radio Scouting – ARISS Contact Reception Report
* Radio Ham’s Leaky Spacesuit
* Curiosity First Anniversary Event
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-216.01
ANS-216 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 216.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
DATE August 4, 2013
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-216.01
HamTV Transmitter Launched to ISS
On Saturday, August 3 at 1948 UT the Japanese HTV-4 cargo vessel was
successfully launched to the International Space Station (ISS). On-
board was the HamTV transmitter and a number of CubeSats carrying
amateur radio payloads.
The Japanese space agency JAXA has announced details of four
CubeSats on the launch. They will be deployed from the ISS by the JEM
Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) between October 2013 and
March 2014.
The four CubeSats are:
• PicoDragon a 1U CubeSat developed by Vietnam National Satellite
Center(VNSC), University of Tokyo, IHI aerospace. CW beacon on
437.250 MHz and 1k2 AFSK AX.25 telemetry on 437.365 MHz
• ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X 1U CubeSats developed by Nanorack,
NanoSatisfi. ArduSat-1 437.325 MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink. ArduSat-X
437.345MHz 9k6 MSK CCSDS downlink.
• TechEdSat-3 a 3U CubeSat developed by NASA Ames Research Center
The company NanoRack has announced it is sending 36 Units of
CubeSats to the ISS (believed to be 26 separate CubeSats, some 2U or
3U in size). At the time of writing it is believed they will be going
on a later cargo vessel.
The main mission of HamTV is to perform contacts between the
astronauts on the ISS and school students, not only by voice, but
also by unidirectional video from the ISS to the ground within the
ARISS program.
The ESA Columbus module on the ISS will host the 2.4 GHz video
transmitting station in addition to the existing 144 MHz FM amateur
radio station. This new equipment can broadcast images from the ISS
during the school contacts or other pre-recorded video images up to
24 hours a day to allow ground stations tuning.
It is planned to transmit DVB-S signals on 2.4 GHz at either 1.3Msps
or 2.3Msps with 10 watts of RF.
The IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel have
announced frequencies of 2422.0 MHz and 2437.0 MHz.
HamVideo is the name of the onboard DATV S-band transmitter. HamTV
is the name of the complete system, comprising DATV downlink and VHF
voice uplink. Kaiser Italia SRL was the prime-contractor for the
design and development of the flight and ground segment
http://www.kayser.it/index.php/exploration-2/ham-tv
Read the HamTV overview paper here.
HamTV Link Budget
http://www.amsat.it/Amsat-Italia_HamTV.pdf
HamTV on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Hamtvproject
ARISS DATV Antennas Installed on Columbus
http://www.ariss-eu.org/columbus.htm
Spaceflight story – Japan’s HTV-4 launches supplies and science to
the ISS http://tinyurl.com/ANS-216-C
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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AMSAT.ORG Make Over
Thanks to the effort of a bunch of people , especially Brent Salmi,
Steve Kenwolf and Brent Salmi, we have pushed a new, more colorful
theme to the AMSAT web site, as well as some updated content. We
are by no means done, and welcome the assistance of others to
generate content and features for the site. We are using the
WordPress content management system. so changing content is much
simpler than earlier schemes used on www.amsat.org. It's got a nice
web based interface that should be familiar to anyone with basic word
processing skills. If you see something you think you can improve on,
drop Joe Fitzgerald note, jfitzgerald at alum dot wpi dot edu !
[ANS thanks Joe KM1P for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Have You Received Your 2013 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballot?
Ballots were mailed to members in good standing by July 15th, and
must be returned to the AMSAT-NA office no later than the close of
business on September 15th, 2013. If you have not received your ballot
by August 5th, please contact the AMSAT Office. Ballots sent to
members outside North America are automatically sent via air mail. It
is suggested that they be returned the same way.
This year there are eight candidates running for the AMSAT-NA Board of
Directors. The four candidates receiving the highest number of votes
will be seated as voting Board Members with two year terms. The two
candidates receiving the next highest number of votes will be
non-voting Alternate Board Members with terms of one year. Please
vote for no more than four candidates.
AMSAT-NA Board candidates in alphabetical order by last name:
Barry Baines, WD4ASW
Alan Biddle, WA4SCA
Steve Coy, K8UD
Frank Griffin, K4FEG
Mark Hammond, N8MH
Brian Klofas, KF6ZEO
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
Tony Monteiro, AA2TX
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information]
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AMSAT Mentions and Articles of Interest in the Press
The August CQ Magazine mentions the Fox-1 Ham Radio CubeSat
frequency announcement and the availability of the 2013 Dayton AMSAT
Forum on YouTube. In addition to these are articles on EME from
Antartica and the ESTCube-1 CubeSate
The August Monitoring Times cover story is "How to Become an ISS
APRS Gateway", by Christopher Friesen, VE4CWF. Keith Pugh's,
KB1SF/VA3KSF, Amateur Radio Satellites column covers Saudisat 1C (SO-
50, ESTCube-1 and Fox-1A.
Note that Grove Enterprises has announced that it will cease
publication of Monitoring Times in December of this year.
[ANS thanks ANS Editors for the above information]
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Radio Scouting – ARISS Contact Reception Report
The Boy Scout’s of America 2013 Jamboree included many radio
activities by the club station K2BSA. The station was on the air on
various frequencies and modes of operation and had a planned contact
with astronauts aboard the international space station as part of the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.
ARISS contacts are important opportunities for students to learn
about amateur radio, space exploration, science and technology. They
also offer radio hobbyists a unique opportunity to monitor
communications from the most impressive human-built structure ever
sent into a Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Participating in “Radio Scouting,”
the general term used to describe the activities associated with
amateur radio and scouting, also affords scouts the opportunity to
earn their radio merit badges.
The space station was making a relatively low 30 degree pass to the
south of my location. I copied amateur radio station NA1SS’s half of
the contact by climbing to the peak of my roof to get as free from
the trees and other rooftops as possible and used my Yaesu FT-60R
handheld transceiver and my “Slapshot” antenna.
The following is my official reception report:
Date: July 20, 2013
Time: 15:34 to 15:38 UTC
Frequency: 145.800 +/- Doppler shift
Mode: FM
Signal: Full quieting
Comments: I copied NA1SS making contact with K2BSA and begin
answering questions. It sounded like Italian astronaut Luca
Parmitano, KF5KDP was conducting the QSO. Parmitano answered
questions about whether he was a scout, how they clean up after
themselves, and the use of robotics in space. I copied two audio
clips, the first and clearest clip is 3 minutes long. Fortunately my
clip contains the audio with both call signs being used by Parmitano.
See the full article with links to the audio at
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-216-B (Flash player required)
[ANS thanks Christopher VE4CWF for the above information]
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Radio Ham’s Leaky Spacesuit
In edition 683 of Jonathan’s Space Report (JSR) Jonathan McDowell
provides the history of the spacesuit of radio amateur Luca Parmitano
KF5KDP which developed a water leak inside the helmet during a
spacewalk on July 9, 2013.
The spacewalk was abandoned and he was assisted back to the
International Space Station (ISS) by Chris Cassidy KF5KDR.
The suit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP used for the extravehicular activity
(EVA) was EMU 3011. It had three previous station tours, here is its
flight history:
Flight 1 STS-79 1996 Sep 16-1996 Sep 25 (Apt, not used)
Flight 2 STS-83 1997 Apr 4-1997 Apr 8 (Spacelab, Gernhardt,
not used)
Flight 3 STS-94 1997 Jul 1-1997 Jul 17 (Spacelab, Gernhardt,
not used)
Flight 4 STS-91 1998 Jun 2-1998 Jun 12 (Chang, not used)
Flight 5 STS-95 1998 Oct 29-1998 Nov 7 (Robinson, not used)
Flight 6 STS-96 1999 May 27-1999 Jun 6 (Barry, 1 EVA)
Flight 7 STS-101 2000 May 19-2000 May 29 (Horowitz, not used)
Flight 8 STS-106 2000 Sep 8-2000 Sep 20 (Backup, not used)
Flight 9 STS-97 2000 Dec 1-2000 Dec 11 (Tanner, 3 EVA)
Flight 10 STS-100 2001 Apr 19-2001 Jul 25 (ISS tour, Hadfield (2),
down on 104)
Flight 11 STS-109 2002 Mar 1-2002 Mar 12 (HST, Massimino(2))
Flight 12 STS-111 2002 Jun 5-2005 Aug 9 (ISS tour, Sellers
(3),Pettit(2), down on 114)
Flight 13 STS-126 2008 Nov 15-2009 Nov 27 (ISS tour, down on 129,
not used)
Flight 14 STS-132 2010 May 14-present (ISS tour; Williams (1),
Hoshide (2), Parmitano(2))
EMU 3011 incorporates the PLSS 1011 backpack – this contains most of
the systems and you can think of it as the core of the suit
considered as its own spaceship, with the other components as a
relatively inert bubble containing the human occupant. Before the EMU
3000 series nomenclature was adopted, PLSS 1011 flew multiple times:
Flight 1 STS 61-B 1985 Nov 27-1985 Dec 3 EMU 1070/PLSS 1011
(Spring, 1 EVA)
Flight 2 STS-26R 1988 Sep 29-1988 Oct 3 EMU 1090/PLSS 1011
(Lounge, not used)
Flight 3 STS-27R 1988 Dec 2-1988 Dec 6 EMU 1090/PLSS 1011
(Ross, not used)
Flight 4 STS-29R 1989 Mar 13-1989 Mar 18 EMU 1090/PLSS 1011
(Springer, not used)
Flight 5 STS-28R 1989 Aug 8-1989 Aug 13 EMU 1098/PLSS 1011
(Brown, not used)
Flight 6 STS-36 1990 Feb 28-1990 Mar 4 EMU 2008/PLSS 1011
(Thout, not used)
Flight 7 STS-41 1990 Oct 6-1990 Oct 10 EMU 2008/PLSS 1011
(Akers, not used)
Flight 8 STS-39 1991 Apr 28-1991 May 6 EMU 2008/PLSS 1011
(Harbaugh, not used)
Flight 9 STS-48 1991 Sep 12-1991 Sep 18 EMU 2008/PLSS 1011
(Buchli, not used)
Flight 10 STS-46 1992 Jul 31-1992 Aug 8 EMU 2021/PLSS 1011
(Chang, not used)
Flight 11 STS-73 1995 Oct 20-1995 Nov 5 EMU 2034/PLSS 1011
(Coleman, not used)
So, this PLSS has flown a total of 25 times in space over 28 years –
although of course there’s a bit of a “grandfather’s axe” paradox
involved as it’s not clear how many of the original components remain.
The article includes a video of NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy KF5KDR
showing where the water leaked. See the full story with video at
http://tinyurl.com/mp3h2dm
Jonathan’s Space Report (JSR)
http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html
NASA press release
http://www.nasa.gov/content/tuesday-spacewalk-ended-early/
[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
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Curiosity First Anniversary Event
NASA officials and crew members aboard the International Space
Station will observe the first anniversary of the Curiosity rover's
landing on Mars at a public event in Washington from noon-1:30 p.m.
EDT Tuesday, August 6.
The event will be broadcast on NASA Television and streamed live on
the agency's website.
Media and the public are welcome to attend to hear highlights from
the Mars Science Laboratory's first year of investigations, learn
about upcoming NASA robotic missions to the red planet, and speak
with astronauts conducting experiments in space that will enable
human exploration of Mars in the 2030s.
Those interested in attending should plan to arrive at NASA
Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, by 11:30 a.m. Seating is limited.
Participating will be:
• Charles Bolden, NASA administrator
• Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR and Karen Nyberg, NASA astronauts, live from
the space station
• Jim Green, director, Planetary Division, NASA's Science Mission
Directorate
• Sam Scimemi, director, NASA's International Space Station Program
• Prasun Desai, acting director, Strategic Integration, NASA's Space
Technology Mission Directorate
The Mars Science Laboratory mission successfully placed the one-ton
Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, UTC and EDT
(evening of Aug. 5, 2012, PDT), about 1 mile from the center of its
12-mile-long target area.
Within the first eight months of a planned 23-months primary
mission, Curiosity met its major science objective of finding
evidence of a past environment well-suited to support microbial life.
With much more science to come, Curiosity's wheels continue to blaze
a trail for human footprints on Mars.
To follow the conversation online about Curiosity's first year on
Mars, use hashtag #1YearOnMars or follow @NASA and @MarsCuriosity on
Twitter.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about NASA's exploration of Mars, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mars
For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
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ARISS News
+ A Successful contact was made between Italian Bilingual School,
Leichhardt (Sydney), New South Wales, Australia and Astronaut Luca
Parmitano, KF5KDP using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-07-30
08:26 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was
telebridged via VK4KHZ. IN3GHZ served as the ARISS Mentor.
The Italian Bilingual School in New South Wales Australia offers
your child a unique educational opportunity to achieve excellence
through bilingualism. The study of Italian offers students a window
into a culture of beauty, a vehicle for creative individuality and an
appreciation of the musicality in language. Italian is, after
English, the most widely spoken language in Australia. Over half a
million Italian Australians use the language every day.
The study of Italian prepares our students for the challenges of a
multicultural global community by deepening their understanding of
cultural diversity.
+ A Successful contact was made between Oshkosh Air Venture Air
Show, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA and Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP
using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-08-01 17:01 UTC and
lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via
AH6NM. KA3HDO served as the ARISS Mentor.
With 500,000 visitors to EAA's AirVenture each year and a student
membership of more than 20,000, the Experimental Aircraft Association
(EAA) is a gateway to aerospace for many young people. The young
people present for the contact with the space station were very
diverse and reflect the range of people who are active in our
organization. This includes a large group of 125 young women and
their mentors as part of WomenSoar, where young women can find
amazing opportunities with aerospace. Attending, also, were groups
from aviation high schools from Florida and California whom
participated in the ham radio contact with the ISS crew. And
finally there were additional attendees of all ages who listened and
participated with great interest. The EAA believes that inspiring
the next generation is work worth doing. We believe in working to
grow interest by sharing compelling, real life stories of people who
have found rewarding careers and lifestyles through Aerospace. We
hope to grow participation in aviation and space and all of its
related areas through this once in a lifetime opportunity to talk
with astronauts in space and the folks we will have with us on the
ground. The ARISS contact an amazing way to help these outstanding
students reach that goal.
+ A Successful contact was made between Space Jam 7 at the Octave
Chanute Aerospace Museum, Rantoul, IL, USA and Astronaut Christopher
J. Cassidy, KF5KDR using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-08-03
20:46 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was
telebridged via LU8YY. AJ9N served as the ARISS Mentor.
We live in a fast-paced world impacted by evolving technology. Space
Jam 7 was developed to catch up with the interests and needs of our
youth involved in scouting. While scouting will always address
camping and pioneer skills, Our objective at the event was to teach
STEM technology merit badges and skills required by tomorrow's
pioneers, the astronauts. Three of our 44 major activities involved
robotics. In addition to 2 Space Exploration classes we taught the
Aviation merit badge (including actual flights), introduction to
Scuba, Metal Work, Geology, Inventing, Electronics and Electricity.
For the first time we offered Cinematography merit badge and a class
where Scouts and adults could earn their ham radio license.
We were attended by 2000 Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and leaders from 20
different states, who flew, drove and took the train from across the
country. 350+ volunteers put this together because they love what
they do. Of course our signature merit badge was again the Duck Tape
merit badge that we do just for fun.
Our theme this year was the Future of Space Exploration and our
answer to that implied question is not so much about going to the
planet Mars but the education of these youth who will get us there
and who asked questions of the astronauts aboard the International
Space Station.
Upcoming Contacts
Epet Nº 2, Gral. Pico, Argentina, telebridge via LU8YY
Contact is a go for: Tue 2013-08-06 11:48:35 UTC
Ecole Primaire Pasteur, Fleurance, France, telebridge via LU1CGB
Contact is a go for: Wed 2013-08-07 11:01:18 UTC
ARISS is requesting listener reports for the above contacts. Due to
issues with the Kenwood radio that are not fully understood at
present,the Ericsson radio is going to be used for these contacts.
ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance.
US Hams, don’t forget that there is a new process for US school
proposals. For US schools to have an ARISS contact, they must fill
out a proposal, submit it to NASA, and see if they are approved or
not. Once a school is approved and put on the list, an ARISS mentor
will be assigned to assist the school.
NASA will have two open windows a year for schools to submit a
proposal. You must go through NASA to get the proposal material.
Contact Teaching From Space, a NASA Education office, at
JSC-TFS-ARISS at mail dot nasa dot gov or by calling them at
(281) 244-2320.
The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS
contact: Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, North Dakota, Rhode Island,
South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern
Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands.
Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and
questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites,
and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf
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 Dave AA4KN for the above
information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ 432 and Above EME Newsletter is now online
http://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/em70cm.html
+ Frank Griffin, K4FEG, reported to the AMSAT-BB, "it is my opinion
that we are quickly approaching the end of the Eclipse Cycle for AO7
this season.
In May of 2014 I hope to look at the beginning of the Eclipse Cycle
and work at predicting the beginning and end of it better.
This has been a fun exercise for me and I appreciate those from
around the world that forwarded their observations to me.
Now it is time to sit and wait to see if the switches start back on
August 2, 2013 at @21:00 UTC"
+ In a follow-up post Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, adds "The "AMSAT-OSCAR 7
Technical Operator's Plan And Experimenter's Guide" found starting on
page 75 of this PDF, http://ka9q.net/AMSAT-Newsletter-1974.pdf says
that the clock automatically switches the satellite to Mode B at 0000
GMT. If the clock is reset by eclipse to 0000, it stands to reason
that it would always come up in Mode B out of eclipse."
Paul later reported Interestingly, it looks like it's still in Mode
B based on status reports, and hasn't switched to Mode A at all
despite being in full illumination for more than 48 hours at this
point.
Even though it's not fully eclipsed at any point in it's orbit now,
maybe it's still not receiving enough sunlight to remain powered up
at some point during it's orbit?
Telemetry reports would be very interesting to see what the onboard
clock is reading.
+ AMSAT-NA has several presences on Social Media. AMSAT-NA join us
on FACEBOOK, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube
+ Note that the Editors of ANS appreciate any and all information
and stories relative to our membership. If you see a mention of AMSAT
in the news, are planning a demonstration or deliverying a speech,
let us know. Send your stories, announcements and reports to
ans-editor(a)amsat.org.
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/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
EMike McCardel, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org