June 2014 - ANS - mailman.amsat.org

ANS-173 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 13 Jul '14

13 Jul '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-173 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: * 2014 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced * Russian Dnepr rocket lofts record haul of 37 satellites * Amateur Radio Role on Space Station Featured at ISS Research and Development Conference * Successful launch of amateur radio satellite payloads * Dnepr Launch for D-STAR Satellite * FUNcube-3 payload launch information * Upcoming AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-173.01 ANS-173 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 173.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 22, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-173.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced The 2014 candidates, in alphabetical order by last names are: Jerry Buxton, N0JY Tom Clark, K3IO Steve Coy, K8UD Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA Frank Griffin, K4FEG Bryan Klofas, KF6ZEO Lou McFadin, W5DID JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM Normally there would be 3 full Board seats open this year, plus 2 alternates. However, with the passing of Tony Monteiro, AA2TX (SK), there will be an additional full Board seat open to fill the remaining year of his term. This means that the top three recipients of votes will have two-year terms, the fourth most vote recipient will serve as full member for one year, and the fifth and sixth highest vote recipients will serve as first and second alternate respectively. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT-NA membership by 15 JUL 2014 and must be received at the AMSAT office by 15 SEP 2014 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America will go by air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your QTH, please contact the AMSAT office. Returned ballots should be sent as promptly as possible, and those from outside North American preferably by air mail. Election of board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that will accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. You have the option to vote for up to four candidates. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Russian Dnepr rocket lofts record haul of 37 satellites A Russian Dnepr rocket launched a record-breaking thirty-seven satellites on Friday morning local time, deploying a cluster of spacecraft for scientific research and commercial operation. The mission departed on schedule from Dombarovsky in Southern Russia at 01:11 local time (19:11 UTC on Thursday). Dnepr Record Breaker: With thirty-seven satellites aboard the Dnepr, Friday’s launch saw the record for most spacecraft launched by a single rocket broken for the fourth time in less than a year. The previous record was set at 34 by January’s Antares launch with Orbital Sciences’ first CRS mission to the International Space Station. Thirty-three of the satellites werre deployed directly by the Dnepr – as opposed to being released by other payloads or transported to the International Space Station for later deployment – which is also a new record. That record had previously been held by an American Minotaur launch which occurred last year. Deimos-2, KazEOSat-2 and Hodoyoshi-3 and 4 were the main payloads for what was the twentieth Dnepr launch. Z3Built by South Korea’s SATREC Initiative for Deimos Imaging of Spain, the Deimos-2 satellite follows on from the smaller Deimos-1 which launched in 2009. Based around the SI-300 bus, Deimos-2 has a mass of around 300 kilograms (660 lb). It will be used for high-resolution Earth imaging; it’s EOS-D imager is capable of producing pictures at resolutions as high as 0.75 metres (2.5 feet). KazEOSat-2, which was previously known as the Medium Resolution Earth Observation Satellite, or DZZ-MH, will be operated by Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary, the main contractor to the space programme of Kazakhstan. Built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited of the United Kingdom, KazEOSat-2 is based upon the SSTL-150+ satellite bus and carries a camera which can image the Earth at resolutions of up to 6.5 metres. The 185 kilogram (408 lb) satellite will complement the larger and higher-resolution KazEOSat-1, which was launched by Europe’s Vega rocket in April. The University of Tokyo’s Hodoyoshi-3 and 4 are prototype remote sensing satellites. With masses of 60 and 66 kilograms (132 and 145 lb) respectively, Hodoyoshi-3 carries two cameras with resolutions of 40 and 200 metres (131 and 656 feet), while Hodoyoshi-4 is equipped with a single, more powerful, instrument providing a resolution of 6 metres (20 ft) per pixel. The spacecraft are also equipped for further technology demonstration, and store-and-forward communications. The other payloads on the Dnepr include AprizeSat-9 and 10, which will be used for commercial communications. The ownership of these satellites is not entirely clear; they were built by SpaceQuest, who will operate them for the early phases of their missions. Once operational, the two twelve kilogram satellites may be transferred to exactEarth or retained for operation by SpaceQuest. They are the eleventh and twelfth satellites in a series which was originally named LatinSat. BRITE-Toronto and BRITE-Montreal, also known as BRITE-CA 1 and 2, are the fourth and fifth members of the six-satellite Bright Star Target Explorer (BRITE) constellation, a joint venture between Canada’s Universities of Toronto and Montreal, Austria’s University of Vienna and the Polish Academy of Sciences. The two satellites launched on Friday form the Canadian part of the constellation, although the University of Toronto were responsible for designing all six satellites and manufacturing most of them. The final BRITE satellite, Poland’s Heweliusz, is scheduled to be launched atop a Chang Zheng 4B rocket from China later this year. The BRITE programme is aimed at studying variations in the amount of light coming from the brightest stars visible from Earth. The Canadian satellites are identical apart from the filters used in their telescopes; Toronto’s satellite will use a red filter to study the lower-energy end of the spectrum, while Montreal’s will study light with shorter wavelengths using a blue filter. BugSat-1, which will be operated by Argentina’s Satellogic S.A, is a 22 kilogram technology demonstrator. Intended to demonstrate a medium-resolution camera in addition to UHF and C-band communications systems, the satellite will be made available for amateur radio users at the end of its primary mission. Saudi Arabia’s SaudiSat-4 spacecraft will be used to study whether a phenomenon called the photoelectric effect, which causes metals to emit electrons when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, can be use to cancel out electrical charges which build up in satellite components over time. The 100-kilogram (220 lb) satellite was built by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in association with NASA’s Ames Research Center. TabletSat-Aurora was developed by Russian company Sputnix. A 25 kilogram (55 lb) spacecraft, the satellite will be used to test the TabletSat-2U-EO bus upon which it is based. In addition, the spacecraft will observe the Earth, returning images with a resolution of up to 15 metres (49 feet). The UniSat-6 satellite, of Rome’s La Sapienza University, is a technology demonstration mission which follows on from last year’s UniSat-5 mission. Like UniSat-5, UniSat-6 carries CubeSat dispensers however it lacks the PocketQube deployers flown on the previous mission. Four CubeSats are expected to be deployed from UniSat-6 at a later date. AeroCube-6 is an American technology demonstration satellite which will be operated by The Aerospace Corporation. Intended to test a new CubeSat bus, it is a single-unit satellite with sides of 10 centimetres (3.9 in), which will collect data on radiation levels in low Earth orbit. It is joined by Lemur-1, a prototype Earth-imaging satellite for NanoSatisfi Incorporated, also of the United States. The three-unit CubeSat carries visible-light and infrared imagers, however its primary objective is to demonstrate how the satellite bus functions under operational conditions. A three-unit CubeSat, TigriSat, is the first satellite to be launched for Iraq. Built for the country’s Ministry of Science and Technology by Iraqi students working at the La Sapienza University in Rome, TigriSat will be used to monitor dust storms in Iraq. Iraq previously claimed to have launched a satellite in 1989, however this was discredited after footage of the rocket exploding during first stage flight surfaced. Analysts have also determined that it was unlikely to have been an orbital launch attempt in any case. Antelsat, the fourth satellite to be deployed from UniSat-6, will be Uruguay’s first spacecraft. It is a two-unit CubeSat, which will be used for amateur radio, Earth observation and to advance Uruguayan satellite technology. In addition to the CubeSats aboard UniSat-6, twenty-one more will be deployed from the Dnepr itself. DTUSat-2 is a Danish satellite being launched for the Danmarks Tekniske Universitet. It will be used to aid studies of bird migration by relaying data from GPS trackers attached to the birds. Duchifat-1 is a single-unit CubeSat which will be operated by Israel’s Herzliya Science Centre. The spacecraft has served as an educational project and once in orbit will be used to test location determination, with the satellite returning data on its calculated position to be plotted onto maps on the ground. Eleven Flock-1c spacecraft will be launched for Planet Labs’ Flock constellation. Earth imaging spacecraft, each three-unit CubeSat is equipped with cameras capable of producing photographs at resolutions of up to three metres. Following four technology demonstration missions using Dove satellites, the first twenty-eight Flock-1 spacecraft were carried into orbit by January’s Cygnus mission, for subsequent deployment from the ISS. Twenty-eight more satellites will be launched aboard the next Cygnus mission, currently scheduled for July. NanoSatC-Br 1, a single-unit Brazilian spacecraft, is based on a kit purchased from ISIS. The spacecraft carries a magnetometer to study the South Atlantic Anomaly, an area where the Van Allen belts are unusually close to the Earth’s surface exposing satellites to greater radiation levels than would otherwise be expected at those altitudes. The Platform for Attitude Control Experiments (PACE) CubeSat will be used by Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University to test an attitude control system, returning data on how the satellite’s orientation changes as it attempts to manoeuvre. By studying its performance, the satellite’s operators hope to be able to develop better attitude control systems for small satellites. Perseus-M 1 and 2 are the first six-unit CubeSats to launch, with dimensions of 30 by 20 by 10 centimetres (12 by 8 by 4 in). The satellites will be operated by Russia’s Dauria Aerospace, having been constructed by Dauria’s American subsidiary Canopus Systems. Each spacecraft carries an AIS receiver intended to collect data on the position and status of ships at sea. Ukraine’s PolyITAN-1 will be operated by the country’s National Technical University. Itis intended to demonstrate that Ukraine can conduct a CubeSat mission and study the performance of the satellite’s single-unit bus in orbit. POPSAT-HIP-1 will test attitude control and imaging systems for Singapore’s Microspace Limited. It is a three-unit CubeSat. The last two CubeSats, QB50P1 and QB50P2, form part of the QB50 programme which aims to launch and operate a constellation of fifty small satellites for scientific research. These two demonstration satellites will be operated by Belgium’s von Karman Institute with contributions from other institutions. QB50P1 carries an Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer, an attitude control experiment, a thermocouple to monitor the spacecraft’s temperature and FUNCube-3, an amateur radio payload for the Dutch branch of AMSAT. QB50P2 carries the same attitude control system and thermocouple, combining them with a French amateur radio system and the FIPEX experiment for the Technical University of Dresden, which will study the oxygen flux in the satellite’s environment. Converted from the R-36 missile, the Dnepr is a three-stage rocket which incorporates the two stages of the R-36MUTTH, with the missile’s post-boost module converted to act as a third stage and satellite dispenser. The R-36 originally served as an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering an 18 megaton nuclear warhead, although later versions were equipped to carry up to ten Multiple Independently- Targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs), each armed with a nuclear device. Another variant, the R-36O, was designed to place its warhead into orbit, and then deorbit it onto a target anywhere in the world. This was subsequently banned under an international treaty in 1979. The Dnepr made its first launch in April 1999, when it deployed Britain’s UoSAT-12. Among the other payloads it has launched on previous missions are the two Genesis demonstrators for Bigelow Aerospace. Launched in 2006 and 2007, these prototype inflatable space station modules paved the way for the work Bigelow is now doing on inflatable space habitats and an experimental module for the International Space Station. Friday’s launch marked the Dnepr’s twentieth flight, with only one of its previous missions ending in failure. That came in July 2006, when a first stage hydraulic failure brought down a cluster launch which had been carrying eighteen satellites. The Dnepr launched from a silo at Site 370/13 of Russia’s Dombarovsky launch site. The first stage did not ignite until the missile is clear of the silo, with ejection being accomplished by means of a gas generator at the aft of the vehicle which separated shortly after ejection is complete. The first stage was powered by four RD-263 engines, while an RD-0255 powers the second stage and an RD-869 powered the third. The payloads were enclosed within a Gas Dynamic Shield, which protected them from the exhaust of the third stage, in addition to a regular payload fairing. This shielding is necessary because, due to its missile heritage, the third stage flies backwards with the payloads mounted on the same side as its engine nozzles. Spacecraft separation occurred while the stage was still firing, with the satellites ejecting from the back of the rocket. Once separation was complete, the stage continued to burn to remove itself from the operational orbit. The Dnepr launch was the thirty-fourth orbital launch of 2014, and the first to make use of a Dnepr. The Dnepr’s next launch is scheduled for no earlier than August, with five satellites including Japan’s Hodoyoshi-1 and Asnaro-1. Russia’s next launch, in early July, will see a Proton-M orbit a Luch communications satellite. This will be a return-to-flight mission for the Proton, which suffered its ninth failure in ten years in May. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-UK, & the NASA Spaceflight.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio Role on Space Station Featured at ISS Research and Development Conference Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will have a prominent place at the third annual ISS Research and Development Conference this week. The conference, organized by American Astronautical Society (AAS) in cooperation with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space and NASA, takes place June 17-19 in Chicago. ARISS International Chairman and AMSAT Vice President for Human Spaceflight Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, will be the lead presenter for a program compiled by members of the ARISS US team — which includes ARISS International Secretary and ARRL Delegate Rosalie White, K1STO, ARRL Education Services Manager Debra Johnson, K1DMJ, and E. Mike McCardel, KC8YLD, of AMSAT. “ARISS — Inspiring and Educating Youth through Direct Connections with the ISS Crew” focuses on ARISS and its role in education. ARISS is the first and longest continuously running educational outreach program involving the International Space Station. The first ARISS school contact took place in late 2000, and nearly 900 such Amateur Radio contacts have taken place since then. ARISS functions with participation from the ARRL, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS), CNES, JAXA, CSA and AMSAT. It allows students, as part of a science and technology curriculum, to speak with a member of the ISS crew and ask questions about life in space or other space-related topics. ARISS conducts about 100 such school contacts per year, each about 10 minutes long — the time of a typical ISS pass — with students in the US and around the world. Preparation for the ARISS experience motivates both students and teachers to further their educations. Educators involved in an ARISS event can learn about electronics and wireless technology through the hands-on training provided in an ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology session — several are held each year. In similar fashion, youngsters preparing for a contact with an ISS crew member may learn about radio waves, space technology, science experiments onboard the ISS, geography, and the space environment. Some 15,000 students are touched directly by an ARISS contact each year, and many more become aware the program and its benefits either directly or via news media coverage resulting from an event. The ARISS presentation at this week’s AAS conference will provide some historical background on the ARISS program, describe the international volunteer team responsible for making program a success, and provide an overview of the process for schools to apply for an ARISS school contact. It will also explain how the ARISS team, partnered with NASA Education Office’s Teaching from Space program to engage schools and students. And it will describe some of the educational outcomes from ARISS, including data and feedback from schools, students, and organizations. In addition to inspiring an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curricula and careers, ARISS offers an opportunity for Amateur Radio experimentation and for evaluating new technologies. Today the ISS is only very rarely without an Amateur Radio licensee onboard, and the complement of Amateur Radio equipment on the ISS has expanded considerably since the early days of the ARISS program. While the initial hand-held VHF and UHF transceivers remain in use, mobile-type transceivers have been installed since, the ISS has slow-scan TV and digital capabilities, and, more recently, the ARISS program completed the commissioning of digital Amateur Radio television equipment to transmit video from space in conjunction with ARISS school contacts. That effort remain under development. The emphasis of the overall AAS conference is on ISS research and development — Discoveries in Microgravity Science; Discoveries in Space Science, Earth Science, Engineering and Education; Applications Benefitting Earth; Applications Enabling Technology and Exploration; and Opportunities. [ANS thanks AMSAT-BB, ARISS, & the ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Successful launch of amateur radio satellite payloads On Thursday, June 19, 2014 at 19:11:11 UT a Dnepr rocket was launched from Dombarovsky near Yasny in the Russian Federation carrying 37 satellites, 12 of which had amateur radio payloads. Among the amateur radio payloads are a SSB/CW linear transponder, FM voice transponder, D-STAR Parrot Repeater and three Packet Radio Digipeaters. In total 33 satellites were deployed, the remaining four, Tigrisat, Lemur 1, ANTELSat and AeroCube 6, are being carried by the microsatellite UniSat-6 and should be deployed on Friday, June 20. In the hours immediately after launch signals were reported from POPSAT, QB50p1, QB50p2, UniSat-6, BugSat-1, NanosatC-BR1, Duchifat-1 and TabletSat-Aurora. The two QB50 precursor Cubesats on the launch carry amateur radio transponders. They were deployed at 19:32 UT and CW signals from both were received shortly after by Andre Van Deventer ZS2BK in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Brian Best ZS5SB also reported receiving QB50p1. Richard Dailey N8UX in Kentucky, USA made use of the Southampton University Wireless Society (SUWS) WebSDR to receive the QB50P2 beacon when the satellite was in range of the UK. The details of the initial 145 MHz CW transmission format for both QB50p1, and its near twin QB50p2, is at http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html QB50p1 carries the FUNcube-3 400 mW inverting linear 435/145 MHz transponder provided by AMSAT-NL. • 145.815 MHz BPSK telemetry • FUNcube inverting 400 mW SSB/CW transponder - 435.035-435.065 MHz Uplink LSB - 145.935-145.965 MHz Downlink USB QB50p2 carries a 435/145 MHz FM transponder and FX25 data transmitter from AMSAT-F. • 145.880 MHz BPSK telemetry • 145.840 MHz 9600 bps FSK FX25 It is expected that both these transponder payloads will be activated after the science missions have been completed. QB50 precursor amateur radio operator page http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html There were 37 satellites and a 2U Mass Dummy on the launch, frequencies at http://r4uab.ru/?p=6393 For a short description of each of the satellites see http://www.zarya.info/Calendar.php#Dnepr Article about the launch and payloads http://www.spaceflight101.com/dnepr-launch-updates—2014-cluster- launch.html Southampton University Wireless Society WebSDR http://websdr.suws.org.uk/ [ANS thanks the AMSAT-UK for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dnepr Launch for D-STAR Satellite The D-STAR satellite TabletSat-Aurora launched with 11 other satellites carrying amateur radio payloads from Dombarovsky near Yasny on Thursday, June 19, 2014 at 19:11:11 UT. It carries a D-STAR Parrot (Store and Forward) Repeater running 0.8 watts of GMSK on 437.050 MHz (+/- 10 kHz) to a whip antenna. It can store up to 8 seconds of voice message. There are two other transceivers on the satellite that operate on 435.550 MHz and 436.100 MHz. Their power can be varied by command from the ground station between 0.8 and 2.0 watts and it is understood they will be used for command and control and transmit GMSK telemetry data. There is also a downlink on 8192 MHz. Dmitry Pashkov R4UAB reports the D-STAR repeater could become operational in early July. It is understood that when the D-STAR repeater is active the telemetry transmitters will be inactive. Description of TabletSat-Aurora in Google English http://tinyurl.com/TabletSat-Aurora-Description A description of the satellites amateur radio capability is at https://www.facebook.com/SPUTNIX.ltd/photos/a.336584396454237.77484.2 93701294075881/569763353136339/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SPUTNIX.ltd/ There are 37 satellites and a 2U Mass Dummy on the launch and it is thought a dozen of them are carrying amateur radio payloads. A list of frequencies is at http://r4uab.ru/?p=6393 For a short description of each of the satellites see http://www.zarya.info/Calendar.php#Dnepr Article about the launch and payloads http://www.spaceflight101.com/dnepr-launch-updates—2014-cluster- launch.html [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNcube-3 payload launch information The FUNcube team anticipate that the Dnepr launch of the amateur radio FUNcube-3 payload on the QB50p1 CubeSat will take place as previously stated. This Thursday is the day! To be precise, lift off is expected to take place from Yasny on June 19, 2014 at 19:11:11 UT and the deployment of the various payloads will take place over the Indian Ocean in a similar fashion to the launch of FUNcube-1 last November. Pre-launch Keplerian elements / Two-Line Elements (TLEs) can be seen below. The details of the initial 145 MHz CW transmission format for both QB50p1, and its near twin QB50p2, is at http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html QB50p1 carries an inverting linear UV transponder with 400 mW output provided by AMSAT-NL and which is similar to that on FUNcube-1. • 145.815 MHz BPSK telemetry • FUNcube inverting 400 mW SSB/CW transponder - 435.035-435.065 MHz Uplink LSB - 145.935-145.965 MHz Downlink USB QB50p2 carries an UV FM transponder and FX25 data transmitter from AMSAT-F. It is expected that these payloads will be activated after the science missions have been completed. • 145.880 MHz BPSK telemetry • 145.840 MHz 9600 bps FSK FX25 AMSAT-UK will be monitoring the launch event and watching for signal reports on the #cubesat IRC channel throughout the evening. A web client is available at http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#cubesat QB50 precursor amateur radio operator page http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html There are 37 satellites and a 2U Mass Dummy on the launch, frequencies at http://r4uab.ru/?p=6393 For a short description of each of the satellites see http://www.zarya.info/Calendar.php#Dnepr Article about the launch and payloads http://www.spaceflight101.com/dnepr-launch-updates—2014-cluster- launch.html Preliminary orbital information: Launch Time: 19:11:11 UT Separation of Platform A: 19:27:07 UT Separation of QB50p1: 19:32:07 UT Separation of QB50p2: 19:32:27 UT 1st pass over Delft/VKI: 20:46:46 UT QB50p_PRELAUNCHKEPS 1 00362U 00362A 14170.81049769 .00000000 00000-0 10000-4 0 7 2 00362 97.9897 66.2289 0012982 291.8733 244.3145 14.85013404 03 FUNcube website http://www.funcube.org.uk/ FUNcube Yahoo Group http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/ FUNcube Forum http://forum.funcube.org.uk/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). Thursday through Sunday, 17-20 July 2014 – ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford CT. AMSAT will host a day-long Satellite Workshop on Thursday, and have a booth at the convention along with an AMSAT Forum and demonstrations throughout the convention. Friday through Sunday, 12-14 September 2014 – ARRL Southwestern Division Convention 2014 in San Diego CA (north of the city center, near Montgomery Field airport & I-805/CA-163 interchange) – AMSAT will have a booth at this convention, there will be on-air demonstrations using satellites throughout the convention, and a presentation on amateur satellites and AMSAT [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Upcoming Contacts as of 2014-06-16 Focus Camps in Sterrenlab, Italy and European Space Center, Transinne, Belgium are scheduled for a joint telebridge contact via IK1SLD on Fri 2014-06-20 18:36:47 UTC 46 deg. (more information below) The questions will be asked alternately by participants of the Focus Camp in Italy and by participants of the Mission X Closing Event at the Euro Space Center in Belgium. Focus Camp, Candriai, Italy The radio contact with the ISS will take place during the Focus Campus, a science summer camp addressed to children aged 8 to 13 organized by Focus Junior - the most popular science magazine for children in Italy - and Sterrenlab, the camp organizer. During the week children will participate to science laboratories, learn about science topics and challenge themselves to design and build experiments and machines. The Focus Campus in Candriai (Trento) focuses on tinkering and DIY activities ("Una scienza da creare" - "A science to create"). Children will also have the opportunity to do sport in the morning, play with their friends and visit the alpine nature surrounding the camp premises. Euro Space Center, Redu, Belgium About 150 youngsters from all over Europe celebrate the International Closing Event for Mission X 2014 at the Euro Space Center in Belgium. “Mission X train like an astronaut” is an international education project that encourages children to take part in a challenge, adopting a life style reflecting astronaut training. The Closing Event offers participants the opportunity to meet astronauts and trainers, to experience the training simulators for astronauts, to simulate a Shuttle mission and to build a rocket. The telebridge contact with Euro Space Center was a success. - 14 questions answered by Alex Gerst - audience 70 - signals 5.9 in the middle of the pass The landline with Candriai Focus Camp was still down. Students at Ufa University, Ufa, Russia are planning a direct contact for Sat 2014-06-21 14:45 UTC. No additional information has been provided. A direct contact with students at Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf, Markt Indersdorf, Bavaria, Germany, via DN4OD is planned for Thu 2014- 06-26 12:08:49 UTC 66 deg. The contact is expected to be conducted in German. The grammar school/high school of Markt Indersdorf (Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf GMI, Germany) began operations in the school year of 2001/2002. In 2007 the first students graduated successfully with the certificate qualifying them to go to university (Abitur). Currently, about 90 teachers instruct approximately 1,100 pupils aged 10 to 19, about 250 of them are in the qualification phase (years/grades 11 and 12). The GMI offers the choice between two faculties, the linguistic and scientific-technological one. Approximately 75 percent of the pupils decide for the latter. The pupils obtain an education in science from the 5th year/grade on, the subject Physics is taught from year/grade 8 on for both faculties, in the scientific-technological profile additional hours for more in-depth education are mandatory. In years/grades 11 and 12, the pupils have the choice between Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Experience has shown that about 30 to 40 per school year decide to take Physics. About half of them vote for Astrophysics in the 12th year/grade. From 5th year/grade on, all pupils study English as their first foreign language. The ISS Project The pupils are divided for this project into different groups that are each responsible for one of the following activities: • Technology: Installation, commissioning and maintenance of the antenna system respectively the radio station as well as all the necessary hardware and software • Planning and monitoring: Organization of the overall sequence of events, initiation of a school's competition to select the questions to the astronauts, organization of rehearsals • Presentation and documentation: Design of the facilities in question, elaboration of exhibitions and wall papers, construction of a model of the ISS, photo, audio and video documentation • Public Relations (local and trans-regional): Press, TV, radio and website. Pupils of all ages should participate in selecting the questions to the astronauts. The examination of questionnaires of other schools which already made contact with the ISS should secure the creation of uncommon and interesting questions that are not asked in every interview. At the event in question - depending on the date and time - a large number, if possible, of the school family should be present in the assembly hall, for example, to attend a live broadcast from the radio room. Successful Contacts A direct contact with Slavic Nations Ham Radio Conference, Sochi, Russia was successful Thu 2014-06-12 15:40 UTC. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over Subject: [amsat-bb] NanosatC-BR1 Hi The first Brazilian cubesat are working well. Video; http://youtu.be/FZdiZMX9rcI Preliminary TLE: NANOSATC-BR1 1 00362U 00362A 14170.81049769 .00000000 00000-0 10000-4 0 7 2 00362 97.9897 66.2289 0012982 291.8733 244.3145 14.85013404 03 Doppler for SatPC32: NANOSATC-BR1,145868.0,,USB,,,,TLM Thank you PY5LF Luciano Fabricio Curitiba-PR-BR GG54jm http://www.qrz.com/db/PY5LF [ANS thanks Luciano, PY5LF & the AMSAT-BB 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, Joe Spier, K6WAO

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ANS-180 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 29 Jun '14

29 Jun '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-180 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: * AMSAT Symposium Events and Tours * W5PFG/P Activating DL79/DL89 Grids * Send Your Name to the Asteroid Bennu! * ARISS News SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.01 ANS-159 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 30, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-180.01 AMSAT Symposium Events and Tours The AMSAT Symposium committee had a meeting this past weekend and made some decisions on tours that will be held in conjunction with the symposium. Note that we will have two events scheduled Sunday morning (October 12)--the Area Coordinators Breakfast and the ARISS Operations Team Meeting. Similar to last year’s symposium, two opportunities for tours are planned for the 2014 Space Symposium: 1) On Sunday October 12 (Afternoon), several Small Group/Light Rail tours are being planned. Symposium participants can choose one of the following tours: Baltimore Inner Harbor Tour (including the Aquarium), the B&O Railroad Museum, Edgar Allen Poe House or the National Electronics Museum 2) On Columbus Day, Monday October 13 we will take a bus to the Washington Dulles airport area to tour the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum. Udvar Hazy is a phenomenal museum with hundreds of aircraft and spacecraft, including the Space Shuttle Discovery, SR-71, Enola Gay, and many others. The plan is to leave the hotel at 9 am and return around 4 pm. In order to get maximum benefit from all the holiday weekend events, the symposium committee suggests that symposium participants consider scheduling their airline flights for no earlier than 6 pm on Monday October 13. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Symposium Committee, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- W5PFG/P Activating DL79/DL89 Grids Clayton, W5PFG, has announced that he will be in the Big Bend area of Texas next week. He will operate satellite passes as his schedule allows. June 29 - Small potential for very late evening passes from DL89 June 30 thru July 1 - Random passes from DL79/89 July 2 - Potential morning passes from DL89, evening from DM80 July 3 - Morning passes from DM80, some evening passes from DM70 July 4 - Random passes from DM80 There will be no visit to DL88jx on this trip. [ANS thanks Clayton, W5PFG, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Send Your Name to the Asteroid Bennu! NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard a spacecraft headed to the asteroid Bennu in 2016. The "Messages to Bennu!" microchip will travel to the asteroid aboard the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft. The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the asteroid, which has a width of approximately 1,760 feet (500 meters). The spacecraft will collect a sample of Bennu's surface and return it to Earth in a sample return capsule. The deadline to submit names online is Sept. 30, 2014. Participants who submit their names to the "Messages to Bennu!" campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement. For more information and to submit your name, visit http://planetary.org/bennu. Participants who "follow" or "like" the mission on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OSIRISREx) will receive updates on the location of their names in space from launch time until the asteroid samples return to Earth in 2023. Facebook fans also will receive mission progress and late-breaking news through regular status updates. For more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex and http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu. Questions about this opportunity should be directed to tps(a)planetary.org. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- June 12, 2014 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Scheduled contacts and events: Ufa University, Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD Contact was successful Sat 2014-06-21 14:45 UTC (***) An ARISS contact is planned Wednesday July 2, 2014 at 12:05:13 UTC, which is 14:05:13 CEST. ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst KF5ONO will answer questions from students at DLR Project Lab, Neustrelitz, Germany. Signals from the ISS will be audible over Europe on 145.800 FM. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is one of Europe's largest and most modern research institutions. Here is where the aircraft of the future are being developed and pilots trained, rocket engines tested and images of distant planets analyzed. In addition, over 7,700 DLR staff members are investigating next-generation high-speed trains, environmentally responsible methods of generating energy, and much more ... DLR_School_Lab Neustrelitz was opened in September 2011 at DLR in Neustrelitz in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Here is where the data from various satellites are received by means of large antennas, and subsequently processed. The student lab is available for visits of one or several days by school classes from this most northerly German state and further afield. The contact will be conducted in German. ARISS is requesting listener reports for the above contact. 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. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. **************************************************************************** From 2014-11-10 to 2014-12-07, ARISS will be going into a period of no contacts as there will be no hams onboard. **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 117 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 102 Francesco IKØWGF with 101 **************************************************************************** Expedition 39/40 on orbit Steve Swanson Aleksander Skvortsov Oleg Artemyev Expedition 40/41 on orbit Maxim Suraev Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO 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 onboard 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. [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, 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-175 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - Field Day ISS Voice Contacts
by JoAnne Maenpaa 24 Jun '14

24 Jun '14

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-175.01 ANS-175 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - Field Day ISS Voice Contacts AMSAT News Service Bulletin 175.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 24, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-175.01 Possible ISS Voice Contacts on Field Day David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS Public Relations Current discussions between the ARISS team and NASA suggest the possibility of voice contacts with the International Space Station (ISS) during Saturday's ARRL Field Day activities this coming weekend. In a June 23 email, Kenneth Ransom, the ISS Ham Radio payload developer, stated "I have received a response from astronaut (Reid) Wiseman that he is willing to try and work some stations on Saturday. Pass times begin very soon after the start of Field day." Wiseman would operate under the call sign, NA1SS. Should Alex Gerst participate, he would use the call sign, DP0ISS. If voice operation does occur, It will likely take place from the Columbus (COL) module using the standard Region 2 uplink frequency of 144.49 MHz and 145.800 MHz for downlink. It's expected that the packet system will be operational on 145.825 MHz during periods when the crew is not available. It's not clear whether any of the Russian crew would participate from the Russian module, but if so, they would be directed to use 437.550 MHz for any contacts using the call sign RS0ISS. The COL would also be available to their crew using the VHF frequencies above, if Wiseman is not operating. Listed below are approximate pass times and a chart showing ISS passes for the Field Day weekend. The pass times shown are not definite, scheduled times with the crew. They may or may not be able to support these times. And, updates to this tentative plan will be released as they become available. Saturday, June 28: + N. America (18:11-18:33 UTC) + Hawaii (19:36 - 19:47 UTC) + N. America (19:48-20:10 UTC) This news release including a color map showing all ISS passes for Field Day weekend for North America can be viewed on-line at: http://www.amsat.org/?p=2860 [ANS thanks David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS Public Relations for the above information] /EX

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ANS-166 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 15 Jun '14

15 Jun '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-166 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: * FOX-1 Featured in HamRadioNow Episode 151 * AMSAT Field Day Reminder - June 28-29 * NASA TV to air Russian spacewalk * ARTSAT1: INVADER Recovered * OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1, LO-78 * 3rd Annual ISS Research and Development Conference * Send Your Name to the Asteroid Bennu! * ARISS News - Ian MacFarquhar, VE9IM appointed as ARISS Regional Representative * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.01 ANS-166 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 15, 2104 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.01 FOX-1 Featured in HamRadioNow Episode 151 HamRadioNow Episode 151 features Keith Baker KB1SF, VA3KSF and Burns Fisher W2BFJ talking about FOX-1. The duo are interviewed on FOX-1 during the Dayton Hamvention by Gary Pearce KN4AQ of HamRadioNow. Their interview begins at about the 19:27 into the 38 minute video. It begins with a short tribute to Tony Montiero AA2TX, then Keith and Burns talk about the the general construction of the FOX-1 satellite and its capabilities and functionality in space. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrC_52JcdeU&feature=em-subs_digest [ANS Thanks HamRadioNow for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Field Day Reminder - June 28-29 Field Day is now just 2 weeks away! Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day as a "picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!". The event takes place during a 24- hour period on the fourth weekend of June. For 2014 the event takes place during a 27-hour period from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 28, 2014 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 29, 2014. Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 29 can operate only 24 hours. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event. Your Field Day on-the-air exchange with other stations via satellite is the same as the ARRL exchange for all bands and modes. AMSAT Field Day Rules in PDF format can be found on the AMSAT web: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=216 The rules document also includes a copy of the Field Day Satellite Summary Sheet which should be used for submission of the AMSAT Field Day competition when sending your report to Bruce, KK5DO, by e-mail or postal mail. Your Summary Sheet must be received by 11:59 P.M. CDT, Monday, July 14, 2014. The preferred method for submitting your log is via e-mail to kk5do at amsat dot org or kk5do at arrl dot net. You will receive an email back(within one or two days) from me when I receive your email submission. If you do not receive a confirmation message, then I have not received your submission. Try sending it again or send it to Bruce's other email address. You may also use the postal service but give plenty of time for your results to arrive by the submission date. If mailing your submission, the address is: Bruce Paige, KK5DO Director of Awards and Contests PO Box 310 Alief, TX 77411-0310 Please include photographs or other interesting information that can be used in an article or the AMSAT Journal. Remember, AMSAT rules limit the use of the FM single channel satellites(such as SO-50) to one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. This includes the International Space Station. You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice. You will also be allowed one digital QSO with the ISS or any other digital, non-store-and-forward, packet satellite (if operational). A lot of good contacts can be made on the linear transponder satellites including AO-73, VO-52, FO-29, and AO-7. During Field Day the transponders come alive like 20 meters on a weekend. The transponders on these satellites will support multiple simultaneous SSB or CW contacts. The AMSAT Field Day 2014 event is open to all Amateur Radio operators. The AMSAT competition is to encourage the use of all amateur satellites, both analog and digital. [ANS thanks AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA TV to air Russian spacewalk NASA Television will air live coverage of a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk by two Russian International Space Station crew members beginning at 9:15 a.m. EDT Thursday, June 19. Expedition 40 Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency will don their Orlan spacesuits and exit the Pirs airlock at 9:50 a.m. to install new communications equipment on the Zvezda service module. They also will reposition hardware. The spacewalk will be the 180th in support of space station assembly and maintenance and the first for both Skvortsov and Artemyev. Another spacewalk for the pair is planned for late August. Skvortsov will be designated as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1) and will wear a spacesuit bearing red stripes. Artemyev will be designated as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV2) and will wear a suit with blue stripes. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTSAT1: INVADER Recovered The ARTSAT members have successfully recovered the ARTSAT1: INVADER. The reset command for the power OBC was sent. They are planning to work digi-talker again. Your reports are very helpful for the recover. Thank you very much for your cooperation. Please enjoy to litsen the satellite continuously. They predict it will be about one month before re-entry. [ANS thanks Masahiro JI1IZR for the above information via AMSAT-BB] --------------------------------------------------------------------- OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1, LO-78 In a message to the LituanicaSAT-1 team, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced, "LituanicaSAT-1 has met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number. My findings from information provided to AMSAT-NA and IARU officials confirm this to be true. Accordingly, under the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I do hereby assign LituanicaSAT-1 the designation LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78, or LO-78. I, and all of the amateur radio satellite community, wish LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78 a long and successful mission." On behalf of the LituanicaSAT-1 team, Simon Kareiva, LY2EN replied, "It is my honor and pleasure to accept this assignation. Our team is focused to keep LO-78 operational for the benefit of amateur radio as long, as it is possible for a small cubesat. Thank you very much, Simon LY2EN." The LituanicaSAT-1 team has announced activation of the FM transponder. A general rule to find out if the transponder is working at the moment is to monitor the beacon frequency on 437.275 MHz. If you can hear CW FM beacon it means that transponder is off, if you cannot hear it - the transponder is on. The transponder frequencies are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS. In response to the news Simon Kareiva LY2EN responded, "It is my honor and pleasure to accept this assignation. Our team is focused to keep LO-78 operational for the benefit of amateur radio as long, as it is possible for a small cubesat." [ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Annual ISS Research and Development Conference The 3rd Annual ISS Research and Development Conference will be held this week June 17-19, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago. This conference focuses on ISS Research and Development -- Discoveries in Microgravity Science; Discoveries in Space Science, Earth Science, Engineering and Education; Applications Benefitting Earth; Applications Enabling Technology and Exploration; and Opportunities. This is the only annual gathering offering perspectives on the impressive breadth of research and technology development on the ISS - one stop for understanding the full suite of opportunities available now. The conference is organized by the American Astronautical Society in cooperation with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and NASA. AMSAT's V.P. Human Sapceflight, Frank Bauer KA3HDO will be lead presenter for a presentation compiled by members of the ARISS-US team, Bauer, Rosalie White K1STO, Debra Johnson K1DMJ and E. Mike McCardel KC8YLD. The Presentation "ARISS---Inspiring and Educating Youth through Direct Connections with the ISS Crew" focuses on Amateur Radio on the International Space station (ARISS). Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) represents the first and longest continuous operating educational outreach program to fly on the International Space Station (ISS). ARISS is sponsored by NASA, many international space agencies, and several international amateur radio societies. Its primary purpose is to allow students, engaged in a science and technology curriculum, to speak with an astronaut orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station. Using amateur (ham) radio, the students ask questions about life in space or other space-related topics. Students fully participate in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio ground station at the school and then using that station to talk directly with the on-board crew member for approximately ten minutes, the time of an ISS overhead pass. ARISS conducts about 100 school contacts per year with students in the US and around the world. Since its beginnings 14 years ago, ARISS has conducted nearly 900 school contacts, inspiring and engaging students, worldwide, to pursue STEM careers--as only NASA can! Preparation for the ARISS experience motivates both students and teachers to further their education. Through one of our US team partners, the American Radio Relay League, ARISS educators can learn about electronics and radio technology through a hands-on training program called the Teacher's Institute. Also, in preparation for their contact with the ISS crew, the children learn about radio waves, space technology, science experiments on ISS, geography and the space environment. In many cases, the students help write press releases and give presentations on the contact to their fellow students and to the local community. And on contact day, the entire local community shares in the ARISS experience. Through this hands- on, grass-roots experience, students are engaged and educated in STEM fields, and are inspired to pursue STEM-related careers choices. Approximately 15,000 students are touched directly by an ARISS contact each year and tens of millions from the general public witness the contact either directly or through the news media. Thei presentation will provide some historical background on the ARISS program, it will describe the international volunteer team that is responsible for making this low-cost, high payoff program such a huge success, and provide an overview of the proposal submittal, selection and contact preparation process. Most importantly, it will convey how the ARISS team, partnered with the NASA Education Teaching from Space program, engages the schools and students in educational opportunities. And it will describe some of the educational outcomes from ARISS, including data and feedback from schools, students, and organizations. [ANS thanks The American Astronautical Society for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Send Your Name to the Asteroid Bennu! NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard a spacecraft headed to the asteroid Bennu in 2016. The "Messages to Bennu!" microchip will travel to the asteroid aboard the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft. The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the asteroid, which has a width of approximately 1,760 feet (500 meters). The spacecraft will collect a sample of Bennu's surface and return it to Earth in a sample return capsule. The deadline to submit names online is Sept. 30, 2014. Participants who submit their names to the "Messages to Bennu!" campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement. For more information and to submit your name, visit http://planetary.org/bennu. Participants who "follow" or "like" the mission on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OSIRISREx) will receive updates on the location of their names in space from launch time until the asteroid samples return to Earth in 2023. Facebook fans also will receive mission progress and late-breaking news through regular status updates. For more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex and http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu. Questions about this opportunity should be directed to tps(a)planetary.org. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- June 12, 2014 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Ian MacFarquhar, VE9IM appointed as ARISS Regional Representative The Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) has appointed Ian MacFarquhar, VE9IM to be the new ARISS Regional Representative. Ian replaces former representative, Daniel Lamoureux, VE2KA. Rosalie White K1STO, ARISS-ARRL Delegate and ARISS-International Secretary-Treasurer comments by saying . "Canadian ARISS representatives have always been a huge benefit to the ARISS team. Not only have the Canadians contributed a great deal of sound thinking and hard work, but many have been highly active with IARU long before getting involved in ARISS -- this was a huge benefit since ARISS is an international group. Also, because Canadians, generally, are talented in multiple languages, Canadian ARISS reps take on schools and education groups in Mexico, Central America, and South America (in addition to Canada) who send ARISS education proposals. Historically, Canadian ARISS reps have handled the election processes for ARISS international officers. We know Ian will add a lot to our team, as well." In a recent press release from RAC, Geoff Bawden VE4BAW, RAC President says ."Mr. MacFarquhar has been Vice President, supervised the successful insurance program and has been a pillar in RAC for longer than he cares to remember." sources: RAC web site: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-166-RAC [ANS thanks David Jordan, AA4KN and ARISS for the above information] Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Focus Camps - Sterrenlab, Italy and European Space Center, Transinne, Belgium telebridge via IK1SLD Contact is a go for: Fri 2014-06-20 18:36:47 UTC Ufa University, Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is a go for Sat 2014-06-21 14:45 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + The American Astronautical Society's "Space Times" Volume 53, Issue 2 (March/April 2014) is now online in PDF Format http://www.astronautical.org/spacetimes/53-2 + Visit with other Amateur Radio Space enthusiasts on the AMSAT North America Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/7828379515/ + A wealth of information and updated and breaking news can be found on the AMSAT-NA Website http://www.amsat.org/ + Special event station GB1JSS will be active on the amateur radio satellites during the Summer Solstice on Saturday, June 21, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The event is open to all radio amateurs and listeners. http://amsat-uk.org/2014/06/11/gb1jss-summer-solstice/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] + 50th anniversary of historic Chelmsford EME contact http://tinyurl.com/ANS-166-50thAnniversary [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] + For those who subscribe to AMSAT-UK's Oscar News, digitally, The next edition of Oscar News (Number 206 - June 2014) is now ready for download. It contains details of how to book the Colloquium. Please note that the hotel will only reserve our rooms until 24 June - so please make your booking for accomodation with the hotel before then. After that date its 'subject to availability', as the saying goes! The AMSAT-UK Oscar News web site is at http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/on You must be a member, with login, to acquire the newsletter this way. [ANS Thanks Jim G3WGM 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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AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1
by JoAnne Maenpaa 09 Jun '14

09 Jun '14

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.02 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.02 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. June 8, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-159.02 OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1 In a message to the LituanicaSAT-1 team, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced, "LituanicaSAT-1 has met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number. My findings from information provided to AMSAT-NA and IARU officials confirm this to be true. Accordingly, under the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I do hereby assign LituanicaSAT-1 the designation LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78, or LO-78. I, and all of the amateur radio satellite community, wish LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78 a long and successful mission." On behalf of the LituanicaSAT-1 team, Simon Kareiva, LY2EN replied, "It is my honor and pleasure to accept this assignation. Our team is focused to keep LO-78 operational for the benefit of amateur radio as long, as it is possible for a small cubesat. Thank you very much, Simon LY2EN." The LituanicaSAT-1 team has announced activation of the FM transponder. A general rule to find out if the transponder is working at the moment is to monitor the beacon frequency on 437.275 MHz. If you can hear CW FM beacon it means that the transponder is off, if you cannot hear it - the transponder is on. The transponder frequencies are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS. [ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator for the above information] /EX

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ANS-159 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 08 Jun '14

08 Jun '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-159 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: * Last Week to Submit AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations * AMSAT Field Day Reminder - June 28-29 * ISEE-3 Spacecraft Reboot Project Update SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.01 ANS-159 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 8, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-159.01 Last Week to Submit AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations It is time to submit nominations for the upcoming open seats on the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors. A nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Three terms expire normally this year. In addition, a forth Director will be elected for one year to fill the remainder of an unexpired term. Up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which remains unchanged and is the preferred method, nominations may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, FAX, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to MARTHA(a)AMSAT.ORG or faxed to (301) 822-4371. Written nominations, consisting of names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. Please note the new mailing and FAX instructions. [ANS thanks Alan, WA4SCA, AMSAT Corporate Secretary, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Field Day Reminder - June 28-29 It's that time of year again: Summer and Field Day! Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day as a "picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!". The event takes place during a 24-hour period on the fourth weekend of June. For 2014 the event takes place during a 27-hour period from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 28, 2014 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 29, 2014. Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 29 can operate only 24 hours. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event. If you are considering ONLY the FM voice satellite SaudiSat-Oscar-50 for your AMSAT Field Day focus . don't . unless you are simply hoping to make one contact for the ARRL rules bonus points. The congestion on FM LEO satellites was so intense in prior years that we must continue to limit their use to one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. This includes the International Space Station. You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice. You will also be allowed one digital QSO with the ISS or any other digital, non-store-and-forward, packet satellite (if operational). A lot of good contacts can be made on the linear transponder satellites including AO-73, VO-52, FO-29, and AO-7. During Field Day the transponders come alive like 20 meters on a weekend. The transponders on these satellites will support multiple simultaneous SSB or CW contacts. The AMSAT Field Day 2014 event is open to all Amateur Radio operators. Amateurs are to use the exchange as specified in ARRL rules for Field Day. The AMSAT competition is to encourage the use of all amateur satellites, both analog and digital. For the complete listing of the AMSAT Field Day Rules please refer to the AMSAT web: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=216 [ANS thanks AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISEE-3 Spacecraft Reboot Project Update Dennis Wingo KD4ETA has released an update on the attempts by volunteers, including radio amateurs, to gain control of the NASA ISEE-3 spacecraft. The International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE-3), a spacecraft that was launched in 1978 to study Earth?s magnetosphere and repurposed in 1983 to study two comets. Renamed the International Cometary Explorer (ICE), it has been in a heliocentric orbit since then, traveling just slightly faster than Earth. It's finally catching up to us from behind, and will be closest to Earth in August, 2014. In his report Dennis says that the spacecraft was successfully commanded into engineering telemetry mode and he mentions the work of radio amateurs Achim Vollhardt DH2VA (AMSAT-DL Bochum) and Phil Karn KA9Q. [Achim Vollhardt DH2VA and Mario Lorenz DL5MLO plan to attend the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in Guildford July 26-27 to give a presentation of their work. The event is open to all] Regarding the possibility of Lunar impact Dennis says ?If we can maneuver the spacecraft by June 17th we get the very small delta V number for the maneuver above. However, this starts to climb rapidly as the spacecraft gets closer to the moon. Also we cannot at this time rule out a lunar impact. It is imperative that we get a ranging pass as soon as possible. We also need time to not only evaluate the health of the spacecraft, but to test the systems, the catalyst bed heaters for the propulsion system, the valve heaters, analyze the rest of the propulsion, power, and attitude control system as rapidly as possible. This will be a lot of commanding so we have to move into high gear next week. This is a very fluid situation and we have made amazing progress, thanks to the support of those who believed in us in our crowd funding and the support of our NASA sponsors at NASA Ames and NASA headquarters. More to come soon!!? Read the report at http://spacecollege.org/isee3/isee-3-reboot-project-update-bullseye-and-mor… Watch ISEE-3 Reboot Project ? Recovering a 30 year old space probe ISEE-3 / ICE Telecommunications Summary http://mdkenny.customer.netspace.net.au/ISEE-3.pdf Dennis Wingo KD4ETA blog http://denniswingo.wordpress.com/ Can radio amateurs command the ISEE-3 / ICE spacecraft ? http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/19/can-radio-amateurs-command-the-isee-3-ice-sp… Radio amateurs receive NASA ISEE-3 / ICE Spacecraft http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/radio-amateurs-receive-nasa-isee-3ice-spacec… Radio hams help attempts to command NASA spacecraft http://amsat-uk.org/2014/05/21/radio-hams-help-attempts-to-command-nasa-spa… ISEE-3/ICE on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ISEE3returns [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK 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-152 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joe Spier 01 Jun '14

01 Jun '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-152 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: * AMSAT Prepares for ARRL Centennial Celebration * May/June 2014 AMSAT Journal is Ready * First Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers * AMSAT Forum and AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Videos from Dayton Hamvention * Soyuz-2 Launch June 28 Satellite List * Dnepr Launch June 19 Satellite List * LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Active until June 4 * SPROUT Slow Scan TV and Digitalker Active * KLETSkous Linear Transponder Demonstration * TshepisoSAT / ZACUBE-1, Six Months on Orbit * 2014 FUNcube missions – May Update * Shin-En2 Satellite Linear Transponder Frequencies * Radio hams help attempts to command NASA spacecraft * Upcoming AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.01 ANS-152 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 01, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-152.01 ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------- AMSAT Prepares for ARRL Centennial Celebration AMSAT is preparing for its participation at the ARRL Centennial Celebration and National Convention in Hartford Connecticut July 17 through 19. On Thursday an AMSAT team with present the all day Training Track, "An Introduction to Amateur Satellites", AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW will be the facilitator for the event which will begin at 8:30 am and run through 4:30pm. Baines explains, "The training session is to serve as a 'Soup to Nuts' approach to getting started with working Amateur Radio Satellites." Baines will lead the training with an Overview of the History of Amateur Radio in Space, including our future; Director of Educational Outreach Joe Spier K6WAO will cover Understanding Orbits, Kepler Elements, and Doppler Shift; V.P. for Educational Outreach E. Mike McCardel KC8YLD will discuss Satellite Tracking and Tracking Software with an emphasis on SATPC32; Director Field operations Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK/VA7EWK and Area Coordinator Peter Portanova W2JV will address Station Configuration and Satellite Operation including general operation, Easy Sats, FM Birds, CW and SSB Birds and telemetry; AMSAT Fox-1 Software Team Co-Leader Burns Fisher W2BFJ will present an overview and discuss the capabilities of AMSAT's Fox-1 Satellite due to launch in 2015. AMSAT will also host a Forum, "An Overview of AMSAT" Friday at 2pm in room 25. Immediately following the Forum Peter Portanova W2JV will present "Working the Amateur Radio FM Satellites with Your HT", in the same room. Throughout the weekend AMSAT will be staffing Booths 500 and 501. The booth will feature the legacy of Amateur Radio in Space with prototypes and models of OSCAR-1, AO-07, and Fox-1 on display. During the weekend an ARISS contact will be held nearby the convention venue at the Connecticut Science Center. Local students will be asking questions directly to an astronaut via Amateur Radio. The contact time has yet to be determined. For more information on the ARRL Centennial and National Convention visit http://www.ARRL2014.org [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- May/June 2014 AMSAT Journal is Ready The May/June 2014 AMSAT Journal is completed and is at the print shop. Look for it in your mailbox soon. In this issue you will find: + AMSAT Announcements 2014 Symposium First Call for Papers 2014 Board of Directors Election Reminder + Apogee View by Barry Baines, WD4ASW + AMSAT Office Moves to New Quarters + AMSAT at Ham Radio University by Peter Portanova, W2JV + AMSAT at the Greater Houston Hamfest by Allen Mattis, N5AFV and Andy MacAllister, W5ACM + Full Circle - 1983 to 2014 Inspiration of a Student by Dr. Michael Butler, G4OCR + The FUNcube Dongle and SDR Software School Experiments at UCF in Cuba by Hector Martinez, CO6CBF/KF5YXV + Insights Into Fox-1 Development - The IHU and Telemetry Simulator by Burns Fisher, W2BFJ + Stefan Wagener, VE4NSA Named ARISS Canadian Delegate + WRAPS Rotor Enhancements Add a Second Beam and Circular Polarization by Mark Spencer, WA8SME Our editors, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM; Douglas Quagliana, KA2UPW/5; Bernhard Jatzeck, VA6BMJ; and James Howard, K3JPH look forward to receiving your articles, photos, and news. Please send your material to journal(a)amsat.org. There is an AMSAT Journal Author's Guide posted at: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=1709 For circulation problems and address changes please contact Martha at the AMSAT Office (martha(a)amsat.org) for fastest service. You can also give Martha a call at: 301-822-4376. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Journal Editors for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------- ----- First Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers This is the first call for papers for the 2014 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 10-12, 2014, at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than August 1. The final copy must be submitted by September 15 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org [ANS thanks the 2014 Baltimore Symposium Committee for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------------------- ----- AMSAT Forum and AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Videos from Dayton Hamvention Links to videos from Dayton Hamvention 2014 have been posted on the AMSAT NA webpage. The videos are from the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet and the AMSAT Forum by Steve Belter, N9IP. The videos included are presentations from: Tom Clark, K3IO - 60 Years a Slave to Amateur Radio Barry Baines,WD4ASW - AMSAT Update Jerry Buxton, N0JY - Fox Satellites Update Howard Long, G6LVB - FUNcube Satellite Update Drew Glasbrenner, K04MA - Satellites on the Horizon Frank Bauer, KA3HDO - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station EMike McCardel, KC8YLD - AMSAT Education Update http://www.amsat.org/?p=2766 [ANS thanks Steve Belter, N9IP and AMSAT-NA for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Soyuz-2 Launch June 28 Satellite List Launch of Soyuz-2.1b, Fregat-M [28 Jun 2014, 15:58 UTC, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan] Satellites Manifest AISSat-2, University of Toronto, Institute for Aerospace Studies, Norway Baumanets-2, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Russia DX-1, Dauria Aerospace, Russia Meteor-M-N2, NPP VNIIEM, Russia M3MSat, CSA/COM DEV, Canada Relek (MKA-PN-2), Lavochkin, Russia SkySat-2, Skybox Imaging, USA TechDemoSat-1, SSTL, UK UKube-1, UK Space Agency, UK Venta-1, Ventspils University, Latvia UKube-1 Transponder uplink 435.040 - 435.020 MHz Transponder downlink 145.940 - 145.960 MHz (Inverting) Telemetry downlink 145.840 1200bps BPSK S Band downlink 2401.000 QPSK or OQPSK myPocketQub 437.425 - 427.525 MHz http://amsat-uk.org/2014/04/01/ukube-1-june-19-launch-date/ FU Ncube-2 boards subsystem Transponder uplink 435.080 - 435.060 MHz Transponder downlink 145.930 - 145.950 MHz (Inverting) Telemetry downlink 145.915 1200bps BPSK http://amsat-uk.org/2012/10/20/funcube-2-boards-delivered-to-clyde-< br>space/ DX-1 Uplink Command and Control 144.975 - 145.025 MHz Downlink Telemetry data 434.975 - 435.025 MHz Uplink AIS ship tracking RX 162.0125 - 162.0375 MHz Downlink data 2269.500 - 2270.500 MHz http://amsat-uk.org/2014/04/27/dx-1-microsatellite-baikonur/ < br>[ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Dnepr Launch June 19 Satellite List Launch of Dnepr [19 Jun 2014, 19:11 UTC, Dombarovsky SC, Russia] Satellite Manifest 1. AeroCube6 (non-amateur) The Aerospace Corporation, USA 2. ANTELSat Antel (the national telecom service provider) and FING (Facultad de Ingenieria de la Universidad de la Republica), Uruguay 437.575MHz 1200bps AFSK, 2403.000MHz 1Mbit GFSK/MSK, 437.280MHz CW 3. AprizeSat-9,10 (non-amateur) SpaceQuest, USA 4. BRITE-Toronto(CANX-3E) (non-amateur) UTIAS (University of Toronto, Institute for Aerospace Studies), Canada 5. BRITE-Montreal(CANX-3F) (non-amateur) UTIAS (University of Toronto, Institute for Aerospace Studies), Canada 6. BugSat-2,3 (unknown) Satellogic S.A., Argentina 7. Deimos-2 (non-amateur) Satrec Initiative (SATRECI), Spain 8. ESTELLE University of Tartu, Estonia UHF GMSK/BPSK downlinks up to 19k2 bps and a series of HDRT experiments including 2.4GHz downlink using GFSK/BPSK at up to 1Mbps, 5.8GHz downlink using GFSK and BPSK at up to 10Mbps and 10GHz downlink at up to 10Mbps 9. Hodoyoshi-3,4 (non-amateur) University of Tokyo, Japan 10.KazEOSat-1 (non-amateur) Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary (KGS), Kazakhstan 11.Kompsat-3A(Arirang-3A) (non-amateur) Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), South Korea 12.Lemur-1 (unknown) 13.NanosatC-Br1 Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil Uplink UHF 1200bps FM, Downlink 145.865MHz 9600bps BPSK 14.QB50p1/FUNCube-3 The Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium 435.035-435.065MHz transponder uplink 145.935-145.965MHz transponder downlink 145.815MHz 1200bps BPSK packets 15.QB50p2 The Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium 145.880MHz 1200bps BPSK 145.840MHz 9600bps FSK 16.SaudiSat-4 Saudi National Satellite Technology Program (NSTP), Saudi Arabia Ka-Band Transponders 17.Serpens (unknown) 18.SkySat-3 (non-amateur) Skybox Imaging, USA 19.TigriSat (non-amateur) La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy 20.UniSat-6 GAUSS, La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy 437.425MHz 9600bps GMSK 21.UNSA-SAT1 QB50 & Instituto Astronomico y Aeroespacial Pedro Paulet, Peru Downlink 3.4GHz 230kbps BPSK [ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------------------- ----- LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Active until June 4 The LituanicaSAT-1 team have announced the FM transponder should be active until June 4, 2014. Dear radio amateurs, Due to favorable orbit conditions LituanicaSAT-1 is now operating under 100% sunlight until about 4th of June. Thus we have decided to turn the transponder on during this period. The CW fm beacon and packet telemetry are also on right now. 73, Laurynas Maciulis LY1LM, LY5N LituanicaSAT-1 FrequenciesFrequency are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS. The tiny satellite is just 10x10x10 cm with a mass of 1.090 kg yet it has a VGA camera and a 145/435 MHz FM voice transponder, designed and built by Lithuanian radio amateurs. The prototype of the FM repeater has been operating in the home of its designer Žilvinas Batisa LY3H in Elektre.nai, Lithuania. Further information at http://ly3h.epalete.com/?p=303 FM transponder operating techniques http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=44412 LituanicaSAT-1 CubeSat http://amsat-uk.org/2014/02/27/lituanicasat-1-cubesat/ Reports should be sent to: ly5n at qrz.lt [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- SPROUT Slow Scan TV and Digitalker Active Slow Scan TV (SSTV) images in Scottie 1 format have been successfully received from the amateur radio satellite SPROUT on 437.600 MHz FM (+/- 9 kHz Doppler shift). The Digitalker has also been active. SPROUT, a 20 x 20 x 22 cm amateur radio nano-satellite with a mass of 7.1 kg, launched successfully with the L-band (1236.5 MHz/1257.5 MHz/1278.5 MHz) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite ALOS-2 on May 24, 2014 at 0305 UT. SPROUT is now in a 654 km, 97.9 degree inclination Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). SPROUT (Space Research On Unique Technology) was built by students from Nihon University and its objectives are: 1. Operation of satellite by radio amateurs. A FM Digitalker will enable the satellite to speak to amateurs around the world. The Voice Message Box will record transmissions from radio amateurs and play them back. Pre-loaded images from the Message Gallery can be transmitted using Slow Scan TV (SSTV). Pictures of the Earth can be transmitted by SSTV and radio amateurs can receive it using free software such as MMSSTV. As part of the Earth mapping project the team ask radio amateurs to contribute pictures they have received from the satellite for display on the SPROUT website. The satellite also has a packet radio Digipeater and Text Message Box function. Demonstration of the deployment of the combined membrane structure and verification of the design method of the structure SPROUT has a triangular membrane supported by two tubes like framework. They are folded and stored in the satellite before the launch. After the launch, the nitrogen gas is injected into the tubes in space, and they extend, so that the membrane deploys (called “combined membrane structure”). 3. Demonstration of attitude determination and control of a nanosatellite using the sun sensors, gyros, geomagnetic sensor and magnetic torquers. Callsign: JQ1ZJQ Size: 214x210x220 mm Weight: 7.1 kg Mode: 1200bps AFSK, 9600bps GMSK CW downlink 437.525 MHz FM packet downlink 437.525 MHz Digipeater uplink 437.600 MHz Digitalker downlink 437.600 MHz SSTV downlink 437.600 MHz SPROUT English website http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/ SPROUT Japanese website http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout/ Nihon-Univ. Miyazaki Laboratory on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nihon-Univ-Miyazaki-Laboratory/4065666428188… Telemetry Software http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e /2-Software-e.html Tele metry format http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Formats%20of%20 telemetr y-e.html SPROUT launch data page http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Launch%20data-e.html TLE’s from the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) are also available at http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt Adding new satellites to SatPC32, Gpredict and Nova http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/23/adding-new-satellites-to-satpc32/ Free Slow Scan TV (SSTV) software MMSSTV http://hamsoft.ca/pages/mmsstv.php The JE9PEL website has information on other satellites on this launch http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/jaxalos2.htm [AN S thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- KLETSkous Linear Transponder Demonstration A video shows a demonstration, given on May 24, 2014, of the KLETSkous 1U Cubesat amateur radio transponder. A 435/145 Linear transponder is planned with a bandwidth of 20 kHz. Currently the team are considering frequencies in the 435.100 to 435.140 MHz range for the uplink and 145.860 to 145.980 MHz for the downlink. The scientific payload will be an experiment analysing “Worm Holes”. This experiment will try and find the portholes between Sun and Earth. Further information at http://zr6aic.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/KLETSkous and at http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- TshepisoSAT / ZACUBE-1, Six Months on Orbit The South African CPUT TshepisoSAT team were invited to give a mission update at the SA AMSAT‘s Space Symposium on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria. The event was well attended and even had representatives from SANSA in attendance. Presentations on other CubeSats included Denel Dynamics’ DynaCube, FUNcube-1 and SA AMSAT’s own KLETSkous project. This paper gives a brief introduction to the F’SATI programme, the constructed CubeSat and mission. An outline of the milestones reached thus far with the Tshepiso nano-satellite are given, the outstanding activities that must still be completed and challenges faced. Some of the images captured by the satellite are also presented. Read TshepisoSAT, six months on orbit. http://www.cput.ac.za/blogs/fsati/files/2014/05/Paper-SA-AMSAT-Spa ce- Symposium-Pretoria-2014.pdf CPUT F’SATI News http://www.cput.ac.za/blogs/fsati/blog/ Southern African Amateur Radio Satellite Association (SA AMSAT) http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- 2014 FUNcube missions – May Update The FUNcube team have received confirmation that UKube-1, which is hosting the FUNcube-2 payload, is now scheduled for a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on Saturday, June 28 with the following day as a back-up. The launch time has been quoted as 15:58:28 UT with separation some 9253 seconds later. The team still understand that, immediately after deployment and activation, UKube-1 will commence transmitting a CW beacon and that this will be later followed by an AX25, 1200 bps BPSK beacon. Both beacons will be on 145.840 MHz. The FUNcube-2 payload, with its telemetry downlink for educational outreach, is expected to be tested later. FUNcube-3 is the transponder only payload on the QB50 precursor CubeSat “QB50P1". This mission is now scheduled to launch on June 19 on a Dnepr launch vehicle from Dombarovsky near Yasny. The launch time has been quoted as 19:11:11 UT but this has not yet been confirmed. The initial beacon signals, from the main transceiver, are also expected to be AX.25, 1200 bps BPSK packets on 145.815 MHz. Again more information will be provided as soon as it becomes available! UKube-1 communications subsystem: • 145.840 MHz Telemetry, CW, 1k2 BPSK • 2401.0 MHz S Band Downlink • 437.425-437.525 MHz UKSEDS myPocketQub Downlink • 145.915 MHz FUNcube beacon • FUNcube 400 mW inverting SSB/CW transponder - 435.080-435.060 MHz Uplink LSB - 145.930-145.950 MHz Downlink USB QB50p1 communications subsystem: • 145.815 MHz 1200 bps BPSK telemetry • FUNcube inverting 400 mW SSB/CW transponder - 435.035-435.065 MHz Uplink LSB - 145.935-145.965 MHz Downlink USB FUNcube website http://www.funcube.org.uk/ FUNcube Yahoo Group http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/ FUNcube Forum http://forum.funcube.org.uk/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Shin-En2 Satellite Linear Transponder Frequencies The IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel has announced frequencies for the Shin-En2 linear transponder. Shin-En2 is a 2.85 kg satellite measuring 490×490×475 mm built by students at Kagoshima University in Japan which will carry a 145 to 435 MHz linear transponder into a deep space orbit. The aims of the mission are: • To establish communication technologies with a long range as far as the moon. • To establish a new technology of the ultra-light-weight satellite. Proposing a WSJT 29dBm UHF downlink and a 29dBm 20 kHz linear transponder and a CW beacon all on UHF with a VHF uplink for the transponder. The orbit will be quite different from the previous satellites. Shin-En2 will have an elliptic orbit around the Sun and travel to a deep space orbit between Venus and Mars. Its inclination will be almost zero, which means Shin-En2 will stay in the Earth’s equatorial plane. The distance from the Sun will be between 0.7 and 1.3 AU. An Astronomical Unit (AU) is 149,597,871 km. Shin-En2 IARU coordinated frequencies: • 437.505 MHz CW beacon • 437.385 MHz WSJT telemetry • Inverting SSB/CW transponder - 145.940-145.960 MHz uplink LSB - 435.280-435.260 MHz downlink USB Shin-En2 is expected to launch in the 4th quarter of 2014 with another amateur radio satellite ARTSAT2:DESPATCH on a H-IIA rocket with the asteroid explorer Hayabusa 2 as the main payload. Kagoshima University satellite development team http://tinyurl.com/Kagoshima-Satellite Shin-En2 English Website http://www.eee.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/~fuku-lab/sinen,english.html ARTSAT2:DESPATCH – Art and Ham Radio in Deep Space http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/03/art-and-ham-radio-in-deep-space/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Radio hams help attempts to command NASA spacecraft An IEEE article describes how volunteers, including many radio amateurs, are attempting command a 35-year-old NASA spacecraft, the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3). Rachel Courtland interviews Dennis Wingo KD4ETA about the project and mentions the Bochum facility where AMSAT-DL members will be using their 20 metre dish antenna to help establish communications. Software-defined radio peripherals built by Ettus Research (founded by Matt Ettus N2MJI) have been purchased, which can be used to implement modulator and demodulator programs that would once have had to be built in hardware. Read the IEEE article at http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/space-hackers- prepare-to-reboot-35-year-old-spacecraft The Watts Up With That website has a more detailed article on the project. The section about the AMSAT-DL Bochum facility mentions two of the team, Achim Vollhardt DH2VA and Mario Lorenz DL5MLO. The problems caused by ITAR are noted. Read the Watts Up With That article ISEE-3 Reboot Project: Aiming for First Contact at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/15/update-isee-3-reboot-project- aiming-for-first-contact/ ISEE-3 / ICE Telecommunications Summary http://mdkenny.customer.netspace.net.au/ISEE-3.pdf Dennis Wingo KD4ETA blog http://denniswingo.wordpress.com/ Can radio amateurs command the ISEE-3 / ICE spacecraft ? http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/19/can-radio-amateurs-command-the-isee-3-ice-sp… Radio amateurs receive NASA ISEE-3 / ICE Spacecraft http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/radio-amateurs-receive-nasa-ise e-3ice- spacecraft/ ITAR restrictions on US radio amateurs to be eased http://amsat-uk.org/2014/05/19/itar-restrictions-to-be-eased/ ISEE-3/ICE on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ISEE3returns [ANS thanks IEEE & AMSAT-UK for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Upcoming AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). Saturday, 7 June 2014 – Kachina Amateur Radio Club‘s White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low AZ (eastern Arizona, south of US-60/AZ-77/AZ-260) – AMSAT will have a table at this hamfest, and satellite demonstrations are planned. Friday and Saturday, 13-14 June 2014 – Ham-Com in Plano TX (north of Dallas) Thursday through Sunday, 17-20 July 2014 – ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford CT. AMSAT will host a day-long Satellite Workshop on Thursday, and have a booth at the convention along with an AMSAT Forum and demonstrations throughout the convention. Friday through Sunday, 12-14 September 2014 – ARRL Southwestern Division Convention 2014 in San Diego CA (north of the city center, near Montgomery Field airport & I-805/CA-163 interchange) – AMSAT will have a booth at this convention, there will be on-air demonstrations using satellites throughout the convention, and a presentation on amateur satellites and AMSAT [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- ARISS News Upcoming Contacts There will be a lapse in contacts during the period from 2014-05-12 to 2014-06-15. Licensed crew members will join crew on board the ISS and contacts are expected to resume in late June. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over Canadian Hams Attempt to Cross the Pond on Two Meters A group of Amateur Radio operators from Atlantic Canada will operate from Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, from 4-12 July 2014 in a bid to complete a 2 meter Trans-Atlantic QSO and claim the Brendan Trophy. The expedition will operate from Maidenhead Grid GN37os on 144.155 MHz. It will run 750 watts into a 30 meter long rope yagi with a gain of more than 23 dB over a dipole. The group will concentrate its efforts on JT65B, a digital mode that offers greatly enhanced performance over more conventional modes. It will have the capability to use other modes including CW and SSB if conditions warrant however. The callsign used will be VC1T. Members of the expedition include Fred Archibald, VE1FA, Roger Sturtevant, VE1SKY, Helen Archibald VA1YL, Rich Pieniaszek, VA1CHP, and Al Penney, VO1NO. The Brendan Trophy is a series of awards offered by the Irish Radio Transmitters Society to the first Amateur Radio operators to complete a 2 meter Trans-Atlantic QSO. Details on the expedition can be found on the team's website www.brendanquest.org. Real time information on operating modes and schedules will be posted during the expedition on the team's web site, the ON4KST site and the G4CQM Shoutbox. Facebook users are also welcome to join the group's page "Brendan Quest 2M meterTrans-Atlantic Attempt 2014. Background Information: 2014 Transatlantic Two Meter "Brendan Quest" Objectives: 1. Complete one or more legal, confirmed, two-way QSOs between North America and Europe on the Amateur Radio 2 meter band using terrestrial propagation modes; 2. Complete such contacts using both "traditional" (CW or SSB) and "non traditional" (JT65B or ISCAT) modes; and; 3. Failing the above, to be heard in Europe. Operators (North America): Fred Archibald VE1FA; Helen Archibald VA1YL; Al Penney VO1NO; Rich Pieniaczek VA1CHP; Roger Sturtevant VE1SKY. Operation: 4 to 12 July 2014. Call: A special event callsign will be used - VC1T. Frequency and Modes: 144.155 MHz +/- 20 Hz operating 24 hours a day for the entire period, transmitting full legal power on even minutes and receiving on odd minutes using JT65B. Other modes may be attempted as required. Audible transatlantic JT65B reception and QSO will be followed by a CW attempt. North America QTH: Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, Canada. Latitude 47.76942 North, Longitude 52.76384 West Elevation: 65 feet (20 meters) above sea level. Grid Square: GN37os. IOTA island NA-027. Antenna height is 85 feet (26 meters) above sea level on a bluff on the edge of the Atlantic. There is no land between the transmit location and Europe through bearing range of 013 to 108 degrees True. The transmit location is 3040 km from Irish coast, 3400 km from Poldhu, and 23 km from Marconi's 1901 reception site. Antenna: Horizontally polarized "rope ladder" Yagi, with 43 elements consisting of 1 reflector, 1 driven element and 41 directors, suspended and aligned on 2 strands of Kevlar rope 65 cm apart. Its overall length is 30 meters. Because the ground slopes towards the ocean, the height of the antenna varies from 6 meters above ground at the reflector, to 8.5 meters at the opposite end. Its feedpoint impedance is 50 ohms, and it will employ a ferrite choke balun. The SWR is 1.1 to 1.2. Forward gain is 23.9 dB over a dipole. The front to back ratio is 32 db, while the front to side ratio is greater than 25 db (270 degrees). The take off angle of the main lobe is 4.5 degrees. The beamwidth is 15.6 degrees at the -3db points, and beam thickness is 4.7 degrees at the -3db points. When driven with 750W, the Effective Radiated Power in the center of the major lobe should be about 150kW. Antenna coverage in Europe at -3db points: Based on an antenna azimuth of 062 degrees True and a beamwidth of 15.8 degrees at the -3db points, the antenna beam width will be 069 degrees to 054 degrees True, so straight line propagation will cover all Ireland, UK, and parts of Norway, France, and Holland. Of course propagation paths may be skewed. [ANS thanks the Make More Miles on VHF Newsletter 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, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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