ANS April 2015

3 participants
5 discussions

ANS-116.02 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 25 Apr '15

25 Apr '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-116.02 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-NA Opportunity for Rideshare to Geostationary Orbit * Nayif-1 CubeSat mission will have FUNcube transponder * Central States VHF Society Annual Conference, July 23 - 26 * Current and Upcoming Satellite Operations * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention - Third call for volunteers * Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! - Submission Deadline May 30 * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.02 ANS-116.02 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.02 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. April 26, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.02 AMSAT-NA Opportunity for Rideshare to Geostationary Orbit AMSAT is excited to announce that we have accepted an opportunity to participate in a potential rideshare as a hosted payload on a geostationary satellite planned for launch in 2017. An amateur radio payload, operating in the Amateur Satellite Service, will fly on a spacecraft which Millennium Space Systems (MSS) of El Segundo, CA is contracted to design, launch, and operate for the US government based on their Aquila M8 Series Satellite Structure. A meeting to discuss this potential rideshare took place on April 13 at Millennium Space Systems that included Dr. Bob McGwier, N4HY; Franklin Antonio, N6NKF, co-founder of Qualcomm; Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President of Engineering and member of the board for AMSAT- NA; Dr. Tom Clark, K3IO, Director and President Emeritus of AMSAT-NA; Phil Karn,KA9Q; and Michelle Thompson, W5NYV. Hosting the meeting for MSS were Stan Dubyn as founder and chairman of MSS, Vince Deno as president of MSS, Jeff Ward, K8KA, of MSS as VP for Product Development, formerly with SSTL and University of Surrey Space Center, and Ryan Lawrence of MSS as Project Manager on the spacecraft mission. Attending by telephone were Dr. Jonathan Black, Associate Research Director of Hume Center for Aerospace Systems and Associate Professor of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering and Dr. Michael Parker, KT7D, founder of RINCON Research Corp. Following the meeting, Dr. Bob McGwier, N4HY, Director of Research at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology of Virginia Tech, and former director and former VP Engineering of AMSAT, described this as an opportunity to go forward with "AMSAT-Eagle" which, in the 2006-2008 timeframe, evolved into a microwave payload to be flown to geostationary orbit as a hosted payload. It would have provided digital communications to small terminals on the ground and a linear bent pipe transponder had it flown. This failed to go forward in part due to lack of an affordable flight opportunity. McGwier outlined the next steps toward developing this mission: 1) To organize an effort at Virginia Tech to make a firm proposal to MSS and its US government sponsor, and organize an effort to raise sufficient funds to pay for development of the mission. 2) Enable Dr. Jonathan Black to lead the construction project at Virginia Tech in the [email protected] Center. Sonya Rowe, KK4NLO, Project Manager at the Hume Center will be the project manager. 3) Work for development of a low-cost microwave ground station for amateur radio still needs to be determined. 4) Dr. Michael Parker, KT7D, will solicit the cooperation of the Rincon Research Corp. for development of the software radio technology for this payload. The AMSAT Board of Directors has accepted the invitation to participate in this potential rideshare payload opportunity. AMSAT expects to be involved in the development of the ground station and the payload RF development, and will serve as the amateur radio (hosted) payload operator once the satellite has been launched. McGwier summarized, "The launch is currently scheduled for 2017 and the payload must be delivered for testing and integration by Spring of 2016. It is an ambitious schedule and all involved will have to gain and maintain a serious level of commitment to that which they agree to undertake." AMSAT President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW, said, "The AMSAT leadership is excited to fly a Phase-IV geostationary amateur satellite payload. This is an evolving development as we collaborate with the VT Hume Center with a project that provides technical challenges to create a new amateur radio capability in space that will provide a variety of benefits not only for amateurs but also for emergency communications and STEM educational outreach." The transponder is expected to support a wide range of voice, digital, and experimental advanced communications technologies. A decision is expected soon specifying the microwave uplink and downlink bands. Additional information on the Aquila M8 Series Satellite can be viewed on-line: http://www.millennium-space.com/ http://www.millennium-space.com/platforms#aquila AMSAT has posted a photo of the GEO opportunity team with the Millennium Aquila satellite at: http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks Bob McGwier, N4HY and AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Nayif-1 CubeSat mission will have FUNcube transponder AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL are delighted to announce that a FUNcube communications package has been selected as a major payload for the Nayif-1 CubeSat mission. This mission is intended to provide Emirati students with a tool to design and test systems in space. It is being developed by the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) in partnership with American University of Sharjah (AUS). It is expected that this payload will provide a large amount of valuable environmental data from space together with a new, enhanced, UHF to VHF linear transponder. The AMSAT team will be working closely with the Emirati students, in collaboration with support partner, ISIS - Innovative Solutions In Space B.V. from the Netherlands, to develop this new system in time for the launch which is scheduled to take place towards the end of 2015. This exciting news was announced on April 25, 2015 during the Dutch "Interessedag Amateursatellieten" or "Satellite Interest Day" event in Apeldoorn. More information, with details of frequencies and planned operating schedules, will be made available as soon as possible. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Central States VHF Society Annual Conference, July 23 - 26 The Central States VHF Society Annual Conference for 2015 is being held in the Denver Colorado Metro area between Thursday July 23rd and Sunday July 26th. The local sponsor this year is Rocky Mountain Ham Radio. The convention site is the Denver Marriott Westminster; the venue is available for booking at the Society special conference rate of $109 per night. Please plan on booking your vacation around the conference as the special room rate is available from Monday July 20th through Wednesday July 29th. The conference will feature the traditional activities, Banquet, Luncheons and hospitality suites, technical programs, noise figure measurement, antenna range, Rover vehicle show and tell. Speaker for the Saturday evening banquet is Rick Roderick K5UR First Vice President of ARRL and an avid VHFer. There are a wide variety of activities available along the Front Range of Colorado and there will be an offering of a choice of side trips designed to entertain the entire family. Operating opportunities under consideration include operating from the Rocky Mountain Ham Radio remote base station in Pueblo, microwave operating from local mountain tops and the chance to score a microwave VUCC in a weekend! Just bring your own equipment! There will be introductory programs geared to newcomers to weak signal operation on the VHF+ bands that will be promoted locally and designed to encourage younger hams to get involved in DX'ing and contesting. Conference registration, as well as a link to the conference venue for bookings, is now available at http://2015.csvhfs.org/ Please visit the site if you need any other additional information [ANS thanks Doug K2AD for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Current and Upcoming Satellite Operations The following information is from the AMSAT "Upcoming Satellite Operations" page that is maintained by Paul Stoetzer N8HM. The following information was last updated April 25, 2015. The most current information can be viewed anytime by visiting http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=3921 Maritime Mobile - Captain Yuri Bodrov, UT1FG/MM, is heading north from the Panama Canal through the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean en route to the Port of Sept-Îles in Quebec aboard the M/V Greenwing. He is active on all satellites as well as six meters and HF from open water grids. Track his progress on MarineTraffic. Note that Yuri operates half duplex, so do not attempt to call while he is talking. Arkansas (EM23/EM33) - Dave Swanson, KG5CCI, will be active on two passes of FO-29 (2038Z and 2222Z) and one pass of AO-7 (2059Z) from the EM22/EM23 line just north of Texarkana, AR on April 25, 2015. Cuba (FL11) - Pavel, CO7WT, is active on SO-50 from FL11 in eastern Cuba, mostly on evening passes during the week, and all day on weekends. Norway (KQ50) - Erling, LA4FPA, will be active from Vardø, Norway (KQ50ni) with an FT-847 and an Arrow Antenna April 25 - April 30, 2015. Florida / Dry Tortugas Islands (EL84) - Mike, WA0SPG, will be active on FO-29 and SO-50 as WA0SPG/4 from the Dry Tortugas (EL84) May 4 - May 6, 2015. QSL via home call. He will also be active on HF. See the March 2, 2015 edition of the OPDX Bulletin for more details (Thanks to John, K8YSE via the AMSAT-BB for this information). Scotland (IO76) - The Camb Hams will be active on all satellites from the Isle of Mull as GS3PYE/P May 15 - May 21, 2015. For more information, see http://dx.camb-hams.com/ Cayman Islands (EK99) - Bill, NZ5N, will be active from the Cayman Islands as ZF2EM on SO-50 May 20 - May 25, 2015. This is primarily an EME DXpedition and they will only be on SO-50 passes when the moon is not up. Guernsey (IN89) - Peter Goodhall, 2E0SQL, will be active from Guernsey (IN89) as 2U0SQL/P July 22 - July 28, 2015. He will likely be using an FT-817 as the uplink transmitter and a FUNcube Dongle with a laptop as the downlink receiver with an Arrow Antenna. Operation may be sporadic and/or by sked only as the primary purpose of the trip is for the IOTA contest. Please submit any additions or corrections to n8hm at arrl.net Satellite Schedule Notes AO-73 (FUNcube-1) - Currently in full time transponder mode until the evening of April 26, 2015 (UK time). AO-7 - Currently operating in Mode B while in sunlight. As of April 5, 2015, the satellite appears to be losing power upon entering eclipse several times per day and, by design, resets into Mode B when it powers up. Since it is entering eclipse several times per day, the 24 hour timer that switches the satellite into Mode A is reset and never has the opportunity to switch the satellite to Mode A. Note that in the past, the satellite has unexpectedly switched modes. This has often been observed to coincide with the presence of extremely strong signals in the passband. Pleae limit your uplink power to no more than 100 watts ERP. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention - Third call for volunteers The Dayton Hamvention is less than four weeks away! Last year, we had 52 people assist with the AMSAT booth at Dayton. We've had a good response so far to our call for volunteers, but we could really use another 10-15 people. The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. Meet or renew acquaintances, exchange operating tips, and find out what antennas, software and equipment other AMSAT members use. We currently expect all of the AMSAT senior officers and 5 of the 7 board members to be there too. The 2015 Hamvention is May 15-17. Would you consider helping AMSAT at Dayton this year? If you're an experienced operator, great! We can use you and your experience. If you've never operated a satellite before, but want to learn more, that's OK. We can use your help too. Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Steve, n9ip(a)amsat.org if you can help. Thank you! [ANS thanks Steve, N9IP, Dayton Team Leader, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! - Submission Deadline May 30 At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first step." The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals * Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills * Enhance international goodwill * Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers * Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions * Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes." Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea. Design Implementation - CubeSat platform Estimated timeline Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units Launch - how does it get to orbit Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future. In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him, (n0jy(a)amsat.org using Subject: Design the Next AMSAT Satelleite), for more details on the criteria. A guidebook to the criteria is now available for download at http://tinyurl.com/ANS032-SatelliteGuide. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or establishing a new partnership. "Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a particular trap because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most people who are not already involved in the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss satellite projects with foreign nationals." While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules. Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name is well known. "It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization." The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in September 2015. For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal. The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward. Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite! [ANS thanks AMSAT Engineering for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between East Coast Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., Youth In Aviation Program (ECCTAI YIAP) and Oxon Hill High School, Oxon Hill, Maryland, USA and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using Callsign NAISS. The contact began 2015-04- 24 16:41:27 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via K6DUE. ARISS Mentor was KA3HDO. Contact Audience was about 180-190 VIPs included two documented original Tuskegee Airmen and one WWII Navy Veteran. Over a dozen from the East Coast Chapter Tuskegee Airmen organization attended and wore Red Jackets commemorating the Tuskegee Airmen. The school live-streamed the event on their school newspaper website, and recorded 100+ views the day of the event. Indirect participants is confirmed and expected to increase when more are confirmed. The contact was streamed into all the Price Georges County, Maryland Schools. News organizations: WUSA9 (TV), WRC News4 (TV), Andrews Gazette(Newspaper), CTV Prince George's County News (TV-Local Cable), Prince George's County Public Schools Communication Office. 12 questions were asked and 11 were answered. The last question was barely discernable in the static. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Double School Contact Sol Plaatje Primary School, Mahikeng, South Africa. and South Africa, and Scuola Secondaria di I Grado, Caprino Bergamasco, Italy The contact will be a telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF Contact is a go for: Sat 2015-05-02 14:34:27 UTC School Information Scuola Secondaria di I Grado: Caprino Bergamasco and its school are located atop of hills in between Bergamo and Lecco region. The school facility, recently built, serve the small community of 3000 people, it has pupils from age 3 to 14. Students from 11 to 14 have been involved in the ARISS activity, belonging to classes 1E, 2E, 2F and 3E. Sol Plaatje Primary School: It is a co-ed school having Gr.0-Gr.7. There are 1216 learners in the school, planet Earth and beyond is part of the curriculum and as a school they try to develop the learner's knowledge about space bodies and inculcate a love for the subject within the learners. Sol Plaatje Primary School participated on at the 2014 SAASTA Astronomy Quiz with a team - made by Ebenitha Esterhuizen, Kgotlholela Seagisa, Oratile Selatlhedi and Orefile Morule, prepared by the teacher Ms Micalla Lucas - and resulted the best among more than 1.700 schools. Upcoming Russian Contacts Ryazan, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is a go for Thu 2015-05-07 08:30 UTC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Mikhail Korniyenko RN3BF Kursk, Russia, WWII veterans, direct via TBD Contact is a go for Sat 2015-05-09 08:20 UTC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Gennady Padalka RN3DT >From 2015-05-11 to 2015-06-14, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] ARISS passes along our condolences to the families of recent silent keys: Max IW1CNF who helped with many of the ARISS Italian telebridge contacts. Clive G3CWV who was very active in AMSAT [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Videos of the presentations from The 2015 CubeSat Workshop held April 1 at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) are now available on YouTube. http://tinyurl.com/ANS116-CubesatVideos The presentation schedule and slide PDF's are at http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/events/cubesat2015.html [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] + March/April AMSAT Journal - in the Mail Members began receiving their AMSAT Journals in the mail this week. Keep an eye out for yours. Membership in AMSAT is required to receive the Journal. Annual membership is $44.00, Join today! http://tinyurl.com/ANS116-JoinAMSAT --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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ANS Special Bulletin ANS-116.01 AMSAT-NA Opportunity for Rideshare to Geostationary Orbit
by JoAnne Maenpaa 25 Apr '15

25 Apr '15

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.01 ANS-116 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE Month Day, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.01 AMSAT-NA Opportunity for Rideshare to Geostationary Orbit AMSAT is excited to announce that we have accepted an opportunity to participate in a potential rideshare as a hosted payload on a geostationary satellite planned for launch in 2017. An amateur radio payload, operating in the Amateur Satellite Service, will fly on a spacecraft which Millennium Space Systems (MSS) of El Segundo, CA is contracted to design, launch, and operate for the US government based on their Aquila M8 Series Satellite Structure. A meeting to discuss this potential rideshare took place on April 13 at Millennium Space Systems that included Dr. Bob McGwier, N4HY; Franklin Antonio, N6NKF, co-founder of Qualcomm; Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President of Engineering and member of the board for AMSAT-NA; Dr. Tom Clark, K3IO, Director and President Emeritus of AMSAT-NA; Phil Karn, KA9Q; and Michelle Thompson, W5NYV. Hosting the meeting for MSS were Stan Dubyn as founder and chairman of MSS, Vince Deno as president of MSS, Jeff Ward, K8KA, of MSS as VP for Product Development, formerly with SSTL and University of Surrey Space Center, and Ryan Lawrence of MSS as Project Manager on the spacecraft mission. Attending by telephone were Dr. Jonathan Black, Associate Research Director of Hume Center for Aerospace Systems and Associate Professor of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering and Dr. Michael Parker, KT7D, founder of RINCON Research Corp. Following the meeting, Dr. Bob McGwier, N4HY, Director of Research at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology of Virginia Tech, and former director and former VP Engineering of AMSAT, described this as an opportunity to go forward with "AMSAT-Eagle" which, in the 2006-2008 timeframe, evolved into a microwave payload to be flown to geostationary orbit as a hosted payload. It would have provided digital communications to small terminals on the ground and a linear bent pipe transponder had it flown. This failed to go forward in part due to lack of an affordable flight opportunity. McGwier outlined the next steps toward developing this mission: 1) To organize an effort at Virginia Tech to make a firm proposal to MSS and its US government sponsor, and organize an effort to raise sufficient funds to pay for development of the mission. 2) Enable Dr. Jonathan Black to lead the construction project at Virginia Tech in the [email protected] Center. Sonya Rowe, KK4NLO, Project Manager at the Hume Center will be the project manager. 3) Work for development of a low-cost microwave ground station for amateur radio still needs to be determined. 4) Dr. Michael Parker, KT7D, will solicit the cooperation of the Rincon Research Corp. for development of the software radio technology for this payload. The AMSAT Board of Directors has accepted the invitation to participate in this potential rideshare payload opportunity. AMSAT expects to be involved in the development of the ground station and the payload RF development, and will serve as the amateur radio (hosted) payload operator once the satellite has been launched. McGwier summarized, "The launch is currently scheduled for 2017 and the payload must be delivered for testing and integration by Spring of 2016. It is an ambitious schedule and all involved will have to gain and maintain a serious level of commitment to that which they agree to undertake." AMSAT President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW, said, "The AMSAT leadership is excited to fly a Phase-IV geostationary amateur satellite payload. This is an evolving development as we collaborate with the VT Hume Center with a project that provides technical challenges to create a new amateur radio capability in space that will provide a variety of benefits not only for amateurs but also for emergency communications and STEM educational outreach." The transponder is expected to support a wide range of voice, digital, and experimental advanced communications technologies. A decision is expected soon specifying the microwave uplink and downlink bands. Additional information on the Aquila M8 Series Satellite can be viewed on-line: http://www.millennium-space.com/ http://www.millennium-space.com/platforms#aquila AMSAT has posted a photo of the GEO opportunity team with the Millennium Aquila satellite at: http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks Bob McGwier, N4HY and AMSAT-NA for the above information] /EX

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ANS-109 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 18 Apr '15

18 Apr '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-109 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-1C and Fox-1D Include L-Band Uplink; Fox-1E Linear Transponder Announced * Immediate Volunteer Opening at AMSAT: Cubesat Thermal Engineering * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Second call for volunteers * "GB4MBC" - Special Event Station - Cancelled * Clive Wallis – G3CWV – SK * Cayman Island on Satellites May 20-25 * NASA Cube Quest Challenge SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.01 ANS-109 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 109.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. April 19, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-109.01 Fox-1C and Fox-1D Include L-Band Uplink; Fox-1E Linear Transponder Announced AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, announced plans to incorporate an L band receiver in Fox-1C and Fox-1D. The addition will allow ground commanded selection of the U/v (normal Fox-1 bands) or the new L/v 1.2 GHz (23 cm) mode. Both bands will operate as FM single channel. Rather than adding a complete new receiver, the L band "Project Downshifter" will convert the received L band signal down to the Fox-1 uplink frequency and feed it to the regular UHF receiver on the Fox-1 satellite. The design will not require an additional antenna on the satellite because the existing UHF antenna will work for L band receive as well. In concert with the development of the satellite segment, a new group of volunteers is working on a companion uplink station to convert UHF to the L band uplink frequencies: + Bruce Herrick, WW1M + Dan Hubert, VE9DAN + Elizabeth Schenk, KC1AXX + Dave Smith, W6TE + Alfred Watts, AF5VH The team is planning to have an affordable L band uplink ground station available to amateurs by the time Fox-1C is on orbit. In further news, Jerry announced the plan to construct a Fox-1E "Evolution" variation of the Fox-1 series which will carry a Mode J linear transponder. The transponder is planned to be 30 kHz wide and will also include a 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon. The purpose of the project is to test a design for a linear transponder that could be made available to CubeSat builders as a secondary, or even primary radio payload thus bringing more opportunities for amateur radio in space as well as offering AMSAT's proven communications skills as a telemetry option. AMSAT has been approached for a launch opportunity for Fox-1E in 2016, but launch details can not be shared at this time. Jerry concluded, "It is important that we find additional resources to help the Fox-1 Team with these new endeavors. We are looking for volunteers who have solid RF building and testing experience to work on both the downshifter and the transponder prototyping and construction." If you would like to help and be a part of the success of Fox-1C/D and Fox-1E, please contact Jerry through the AMSAT Engineering volunteer form page on-line at: http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1121. [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Immediate Volunteer Opening at AMSAT: Cubesat Thermal Engineering AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, says he has an immediate need for a volunteer who is experienced in thermal engineering. Opportunities include upcoming AMSAT CubeSats up to 6U in LEO and HEO, and larger spacecraft up to 150 kg. Jerry says Sinda, Thermica, and Patran software experience would be helpful. If you would like to help and be a part of the success of Fox-1C/D and Fox-1E, please contact Jerry through the AMSAT Engineering volunteer form page on-line at: http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1121. [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Second call for volunteers The Dayton Hamvention is less than five weeks away! It is time to be creating your shopping list and making your travel plans. If you can stay for more than a day and you want to stay at the AMSAT hotel, contact Martha ASAP. Last year, we had 52 people assist with the AMSAT booth at Dayton. We've had a good response so far to our call for volunteers, but we could really use another 10-15 people. The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. Meet or renew acquaintances, exchange operating tips, and find out what antennas, software and equipment other AMSAT members use. We currently expect all of the AMSAT senior officers and 5 of the 7 board members to be there too. The 2015 Hamvention is May 15-17. Would you consider helping AMSAT at Dayton this year? If you're an experienced operator, great! We can use you and your experience. If you've never operated a satellite before, but want to learn more, that's OK. We can use your help too. Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Steve, n9ip(a)amsat.org if you can help. Thank you! [ANS thanks Steve, N9IP, Dayton Team Leader, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "GB4MBC" - Special Event Station - Cancelled With respect to the planned activation of the Special Event Station - "GB4MBC" on HF and satellite during 24th -27th April 2015 -Location: " Flatholm Island" EU124. Due to circumstances beyond our control ,"Barry Amateur Radio Society" South Wales, regrets that the visit and activation has been cancelled. An attempt for contacts from our mainland station with its Marconi special call GB0MDI -Locator IO81JJ [ANS thanks Ken, GW1FKY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Clive Wallis – G3CWV – SK From Jim Heck, G3WGM, Hon Sec AMSAT-UK It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that I have just learnt of the passing of our dear friend Clive Wallis, G3CWV on 27th March 2015. Clive has been a very staunch supporter of AMSAT from the very early days. Many will recall his intense interest and loyalty in following UOSAT-2/UO-11. He maintained a very comprehensive web site with details of the spacecraft’s activities. He wrote many articles for Oscar News about his activities. He attended many AMSAT-UK Colloquia. For 17 years between 1996 and 2013 Clive produced monthly reports on OSCAR-11 (UoSAT-2). The report archive is at http://www.g3cwv.co.uk/newsarch.htm Clive’s OSCAR-11 page http://www.g3cwv.co.uk/oscar11.htm In 1993 Clive Wallis G3CWV took over distribution of satellite related BBC software http://amsat-uk.org/2011/12/11/bbc-micro-and-amsat-uk-software-library/ He was awarded the Louis Varney cup for 2015 by the RSGB, and although he knew of the award before his passing, the formal presentation is not until 25 April. His funeral is to be held on Tue 22 April 2015 at 3.00pm at Christchurch, Bedford Road, Hitchin, Herts, UK. I am sure that his family would appreciate the presence of any AMSAT members who are able to be there. We send our condolences to his widow, Janet. RIP, Clive. 73s Jim Heck G3WGM Hon Sec AMSAT-UK [ANS thanks Jim Heck, G3WGM, Hon Sec AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cayman Island on Satellites May 20-25 ZF2, CAYMAN ISLANDS. Operators Pete/N8PR and Bill/NZ5N will be active as ZF2EM from the Cayman Islands between May 20-25th. Main activity will be focused on 2 meter EME, but with some HF SSB and maybe JT65HF. They will also have 2m/440 and an Elk antenna for some possible FM satellite QSOs if the passes are at times when the moon is not up. QSL via N8PR. [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1210 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Cube Quest Challenge The Cube Quest Challenge, sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate Centennial Challenge Program, offers a total of $5 million to teams that meet the challenge objectives of designing, building and delivering flight- qualified, small satellites capable of advanced operations near and beyond the moon. 1) You are cordially invited to subscribe to the official, new, Cube Quest Challenge mailing list! The Cube Quest mailing list will: * Broadcast official announcements regarding the Challenge * Enable list members to post messages, share ideas, collaborate, and offer Challenge-related services * Be monitored by Cube Quest to approve list members and keep posts on-topic To subscribe, visit: https://lists.nasa.gov/mailman/listinfo/cube-quest-challenge and follow the instructions. 2) Revised Operations and Rules and other documents have recently been posted to the Cube Quest web pages. To keep up-to-date, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cubequest/details/ and keep your eyes on the News and Updates announcements. (News and Updates will also be posted to the Cube Quest mailing list.) 3) Cube Quest judges Dr. David Klumpar and Bruce Yost will be attending the April 22-24 CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly, so be sure to say "hi". 4) Less than 108 days before the first Cube Quest Ground Tournament! There's still time to register your team. Download the official Operations and Rules document, then visit the http://www.nasa.gov/cubequest/details/ "how to enter" link to register your team. [ANS thanks Jim Cockrell 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-102 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 12 Apr '15

12 Apr '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-102 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. [Ed. note - Apologies for the delay in the distribution of the ANS bulletins this week. Our regular editor is dealing with a family emergency.] In this edition: * TAPR/AMSAT Dinner Featured Speaker at Dayton * AMSAT Hotel Room Reservations for Dayton Hamvention * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers * AMSAT Awards Update * Updates to Format in AMSAT Weekly Keplerian Elements Distribution * AMSAT on Newsline Video Update SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-102.01 ANS-095 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 095.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE April 12, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-102.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- TAPR/AMSAT Dinner Featured Speaker at Dayton The ninth annual TAPR/AMSAT Banquet will be held on Friday night, May 15, at 1830 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) and TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) activities during the Dayton Hamvention. This year's speaker will be Michael Ossmann, AD0NR, "Adventures of a Hacker Turned Ham". Michael Ossmann, AD0NR, grew up as a computer nerd embracing the hacker ethos. Eventually Michael became very interested in the security of wireless systems such as remote keyless entry, garage door openers, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. He designed Ubertooth One, a Bluetooth sniffer that was successfully funded on Kickstarter. Not one to rest, Michael later designed and successfully funded HackRF One, an open source SDR platform that attracted the attention of the amateur radio community. Michael will talk about his unique perspective on the community as an outsider looking in, why he resisted getting a license for years, and why he finally decided to join. Michael will also share his thoughts on what it means to be a hacker, what it means to be a ham, and what amateur radio may look like in the decades to come. Tickets ($35 each) must be purchased online in advance on the AMSAT website at www.amsat.org through the AMSAT Store tab. Tickets will not be sold at the Hamvention or at the door. Tickets purchased online may be collected at the AMSAT booth (433-435, 444-446). The Banquet will take place at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way, Kettering, OH 45429 (just south of Dayton). The cash bar will open at 1830 EDT, with the dinner commencing around 1900 EDT. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Hamvention Posse for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Hotel Room Reservations for Dayton Hamvention Once again, this year, as in previous years AMSAT has reserved a block of rooms for the Dayton Hamvention at the Country Inn & Suites in Fairborn, Ohio. The cost is $109 per night. The cutoff date for reservations is April 12. First priority will be given to AMSAT members assisting with the booth operations, satellite operating demonstrations, and the AMSAT Forum presentations. Call Martha at the AMSAT office at 301-822-4376 to give her your arrival/departure dates and your credit card information. [ANS thanks Martha at the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers Last year, we had 52 people assist with the AMSAT booth at the Dayton. It was the efforts of those volunteers that made the 2014 Dayton Hamvention a success for AMSAT. The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. The 2015 Hamvention is May 15-17. Would you consider helping AMSAT at Dayton this year? Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Steve, n9ip at amsat.org if you can help. [ANS thanks AMSAT's Hamvention Chairman Steve Belter, N9IP for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Awards Update Here are the awards that have been submitted thus far in 2015. Here are our latest inductions into some of the AMSAT awards community. The following have entered into the Satellite Communicators Club for making their first satellite QSO. Nicolas Romero, KG5BON Steve Kristoff, AI9IN Hope Lea, KM4IPF Faith Hannah Lea, WA4BBC Zechariah Lea, WX4TVJ To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com/awards.html [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Updates to Format in AMSAT Weekly Keplerian Elements Distribution The AMSAT verbose format will no longer be distributed by AMSAT email. This is the element set that looks like the following: Satellite: AO-07 Catalog number: 07530 Epoch time: 15021.49149419 Element set: 174 Inclination: 101.5028 deg RA of node: 001.3581 deg Eccentricity: 0.0011670 Arg of perigee: 228.2064 deg Mean anomaly: 245.5090 deg Mean motion: 12.53610988 rev/day Decay rate: -1.6e-07 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 83887 Checksum: 279 Please note that the following NASA 2-line (TLE) format will continue to be sent. The NASA 2-line TLE) format looks like this: AO-07 1 07530U 74089B 15021.49149419 -.00000016 00000-0 17235-3 0 1747 2 07530 101.5028 001.3581 0011670 228.2064 245.5090 12.53610988838873 On January 22, 2015 I requested comments on discontinuing the AMSAT verbose format and the comments that I have received to date indicate that very few people would be affected by this change. The AMSAT verbose format has out lived its usefulness. Those that are affected by this change are considering work-arounds to allow them to use the NASA 2-line (TLE) format. Note that most satellite tracking programs readily accept the NASA 2-line (TLE) format if the correct upload options are chosen. The NASA 2-line elements will continue being sent each week as they are now. In effect, the weekly email that you now receive will consist only of one email entitled orbYYDDD.2l.amsat (for example). The YY in the email title is the year (15 for 2015) and DDD is the Julian day of the year (022 for January 22nd). The email entitled orbYYDDD.amsat (for example) will NOT be sent. One more time, the weekly NASA 2-line element (NASA TLE) format email will continue to be sent each week as usual. Joe Fitzgerald notes that another source of current Keplerian 2-line data (TLE) is now available. The following URL has current data for the AMSAT satellite list including the ISS and is updated at least daily using the latest ISS elements from Johnson Spaceflight Center. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftp/keps/current/nasabare.txt New satellites are added as soon as possible - so there is no need to wait for the Thursday bulletin if you need an update right now. [ANS thank Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Keeper of the Keps, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT on Newsline Video Update AMSAT gets a nice mention in the Amateur Radio Newsline video report this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HXBAsjdt0bA At about the 3 minute point Newsline reports on our ANS bulletin about the new 2015 updated "Getting Started" book will be released at Dayton. [ANS thanks the Amateur Radio Newsline 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, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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ANS-095 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 04 Apr '15

04 Apr '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-095 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 Plans Dayton Rollout for 2015 "Getting Started" Satellite Book * TAPR/AMSAT Joint Hamvention Banquet Will be on May 15 * March/April Edition of the AMSAT Journal Sent to Printers * LibreCube Open Source CubeSat Projects * AMSAT-SM Announces Committee for 2015-2016 * ISS Slow Scan TV Expected Weekend of April 11 * GRACE mission P-PODs including Fox-1A were integrated in the NPSCuL * Wisconsin Balloon Launch Includes 2M Voice Beacon * Student Spaceflight Experiments Program -- Mission 9 to the International Space Station * 21st Century Teacher Academy * US ARISS School Proposal Window Closes in 10 Days * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-095.01 ANS-095 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 095.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE April 5, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-095.01 AMSAT Plans Dayton Rollout for 2015 "Getting Started" Satellite Book Gould Smith's book, "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites", is being updated to tell you all about how you can get ready to operate through the Fox-1 satellites launching later this year. Additional chapters in the book tell you about tracking software, orbital mechanics, antennas, radios, Doppler tuning, and operating techniques. Chapters are also being added to tell you about the new satellites soon becoming available for amateur radio. Going beyond brief descriptions in hamfest flyers, this book will provide a complete reference for new satellite users to assemble a basic station and to make your first satellite contacts. Also this book you will teach you how to incrementally upgrade your initial FM satellite station, time and budget permitting, to include automated tracking as well as operating through the CW/SSB linear passband satellites. A companion Fox-1A reference sheet is also being planned for release at Dayton. This will be made available for AMSAT's FieldOps team for distribution at hamfests and satellite operating demonstrations. Watch for the 2015 "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites" book and reference sheet at the AMSAT booth at the Dayton Hamvention. The book will also be available in the AMSAT Store shortly after Dayton: http://store.amsat.org/catalog/ [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- TAPR/AMSAT Joint Hamvention Banquet Will be on May 15 Join us at the Dayton Hamvention this year for the TAPR/AMSAT Banquet on Friday evening, May 15. Doors open at 1830 for a cash bar, with buffet dinner served at 1900. Reservations must be made in advance in the AMSAT Store: http://store.amsat.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=88 with the cost of $35 per person. Tickets will not be sold at Dayton. Tickets purchased online may be picked up at the AMSAT booth (433- 435, 444-446). Orders must be placed by 1800 EDT, Tuesday, May 12th. No exceptions. Come hungry and loosen your belt a notch. The dinner menu includes: + Choice of entree: o Prime Rib of Beef o Chicken Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce o Medallions of Grilled Pork Tenderloin + Fresh Mashed Potatoes + Wild Rice Pilaf with Pecans and Apricots + Fresh Garden Tossed Salad + Rolls + Assorted Cakes and Cheesecakes + Coffee and Ice Tea + There will be a cash bar serving beer, wine, and mixed drinks. Watch for the upcoming announcement of this year's after dinner speaker. The dinner will be held at: Jefferson Room The Kohler Presidential Banquet Center 4548 Presidential Way Kettering, OH 45429 [ANS thanks the AMSAT Dayton Hamvention Posse for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- March/April Edition of the AMSAT Journal Sent to Printers March/April edition of the AMSAT Journal was sent to the printers March 31. Editor JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, Would like to thank Bernhard, VA6BMJ; Douglas, KA2UPW/5; James, K3JPH; and Joe, KB6IGK, for their help on getting this issue ready. Contents include + AMSAT Announcements - Board of Directors Nominations Notice + Apogee View Barry Baines, WD4ASW + Amateur Satellites at Anchorage Engineer's Week Craig Bledsoe. KL4E + Pairing SDR dongles with smaller Windows 8.1 tablets Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK + The Gizmo Revisited Art Payne VE3NGF + AMSAT Field Day + The Satellite Attitude Manipulating System (SAMS) Prototype Mark Spencer WA8SME + AMSAT Nets Keith Pugh W5IU + IARU: 29 MHz Uplinks Ray Soifer W2RS + AMSAT Engineering Update Jerry Buxton NØJY + ARISS SSTV Results + AMSAT at the HamCation + AMSAT and University of Iowa Partner on Scientific Payload for Fox-1D + Orbital Debrief for March/April 2015 Paul Stoetzer N8HM + Minutes of the 2014 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Meeting [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- LibreCube Open Source CubeSat Projects Those of you interested in open source may want to have a look at www.librecube.net where you will find a number of common CubeSat products available for you. You may freely modify, produce, improve, and share them. Please read the included license files for details. They are hosted by LibreCube, a non-profit initiative that has the objective to promote open source CubeSat design and foster collaboration among the CubeSat community. Your Feedback is most welcome. [ANS thanks LibreCube and the CubeSat mailing list for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-SM Announces Committee for 2015-2016 AMSAT-SM Committee for 2015-2016 has been announced Chairman Hakan - SM7WSJ Secretary Lars - SM0TGU Treasurer Kim - SM1TDX. At the moment AMSAT-SM has 148 members but only a few are active via satellite. But, we are still alive and we are very active with news on our website and Twitter. AMSAT-SM is the Swedish section of AMSAT with aprox 150 members (2015). One of our objectives is to inform Swedish hams about the fun with amateur satellites! Not many SM hams are active via satellite at the moment. With the help from our swedish webpage and HF-net we hope that more swedish hams should be using amateur satellites. The AMSAT-SM annual meeting is held every spring. We run a HF-net on 80 meters every Sunday with lots of news about satellites and space. AMSAT-SM website http://www.amsat.se/ English language website http://www.amsat.se/english-info/ AMSAT-SM is using the Internet homepage for members information and news. You can find articles, news, links and lots of more information about satellites. The large main page is only in Swedish because there are allready a lot of good sites about amateur satellites in english. We provide the following information: FAQ and technical page New amateur satellites update Latest telemetry from several microsats A news service on the homepage called e-Journal Active on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. See links on right frame on webpage. AMSAT-SM has a mailing list (just like the AMSAT-BB list) that was started in 1998. Most of the mail are in swedish, but you are welcome to subscribe. Send an e-mail to: amsat-sm-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.co.uk Contact: You can reach AMSAT-SM at: AMSAT-SM c/o Lars Thunberg Revirvägen 17 192 73 Sollentuna Sweden E-mail: info at amsat.se English website http://www.amsat.se/english-info/ [ANS thanks Lars Thunberg SM0TGU and AMSAT-SM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISS Slow Scan TV Expected Weekend of April 11 In commemoration of the 54th anniversary of the first human spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin which took place on April 12, 1961, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) announced that SSTV activity will take place from the ISS. As with similar to events this past winter the images can be captured on 145.800 MHz FM using SSTV mode PD180. Those capturing images are encouraged to upload them to http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/submit.php Uploaded images may be viewed at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/ Please be advised that situational demands on crew time could result in postponement or cancellation of any ARISS activity. Please pay attention to the possibility of any change in scheduling. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- GRACE mission P-PODs including Fox-1A were integrated in the NPSCuL UPDATE - The P-PODs were delivered to Naval Postgraduate School this week and have been integrated in the NPSCuL. The video linked below was provided to all of the GRACE mission CubeSat teams by Justin Foley of Cal Poly. Justin says "A few years back we put together a video that outlines the process we go through to get CubeSats on the Atlas V. This video follows the payload we put on NROL-36, aka OUTSat, which launched from VAFB and carried 11 cubes. The process is very similar to what your satellites are going through now." https://youtu.be/6OMT493w29M Photos of the P-POD integration in the Cal Poly clean room, which is where this video begins the story, can be viewed at http://www.amsat.org/. The last two CubeSats were integrated in their P-POD March 26. All of the P-PODs then head up to the Naval Postgraduate School next week for integration in the NPSCuL and acceptance testing, and then be sent on to Vandenberg (cue video) - [ANS Thanks to Justin D. Foley for the YouTube video link and AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisconsin Balloon Launch Includes 2M Voice Beacon Wisconsin HAB is doing our second launch, which is participating as part of the Global Balloon Space Challenge. Date: 4/18/2015 Time: 8:00 AM CDT Setup, 9:00 AM CDT Launch If you want to see it in person, EVERYONE is welcome to stop out and watch. It's at a park so there's lots of room. Join us! Highland Village Park, located at 755 N Park St, Highland, WI 53543 (about 1 hour West of Madison, WI) If you can't make it in-person, watch it LIVE on YouTube. That's right, we will be streaming LIVE on YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvs2jdcJdek If you're into amateur radio, you can monitor our chase & tracking at FM38 http://www.fm38.org/tiki-index.php. Additionally, we will be transmitting a voice beacon on 146.430 MHz and using Simplex @ 146.550 Mhz during the recovery effort. If you are a visual person and want to follow the balloon via Google Maps, you can visit http://aprs.fi/. Additionally, we will be updating Facebook and tweeting @WisconsinHAB https://twitter.com/WisconsinHAB/ [ANS thanks Wisconsin High Altitude Ballooning and the Balloon_Sked at yahoogroups.com mailing list for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Student Spaceflight Experiments Program -- Mission 9 to the International Space Station The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education, in partnership with NanoRacks LLC, announce an authentic science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, opportunity for school districts across the U.S. and space station partner nations. The newest flight opportunity, Mission 9 to the International Space Station, or ISS, gives students across a community the ability to design and propose real experiments to fly in low-Earth orbit on the ISS. This opportunity is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, or SSEP. Each participating community will receive a real microgravity research minilaboratory capable of supporting a single microgravity experiment and all launch services to fly the minilab to the space station in spring 2016 and return it to Earth. An experiment design competition in each community -- engaging typically 300+ students -- allows student teams to design and propose real experiments vying for their community's reserved minilab. Content resources for teachers and students support foundational instruction on science in microgravity and experimental design. Additional SSEP programming leverages the experiment design competition to engage the community, embracing a learning community model for STEM education. This competition is open to students in grades 5-12 and college. Informal education groups and organizations are also encouraged to participate. Interested communities must inquire about the program no later than April 30, 2015. The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education is available to help interested communities in the U.S. secure the needed funding. To learn more about this opportunity, visit the SSEP Mission 9 to International Space Station National Announcement of Opportunity at http://tinyurl.com/ANS095-New-Flight-Opp. SSEP is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a national laboratory. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (http://www.iss-casis.org/) is a national partner on SSEP. To view a list of all SSEP national partners, visit http://ssep.ncesse.org/national-partners/. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email SSEP National Program Director Jeff Goldstein at jeffgoldstein(a)ncesse.org. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- April 2, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Century Teacher Academy The 21st Century Teacher Academy, or 21CTA, is a unique educator professional development workshop opportunity for K-12 educators. The workshop is designed to immerse teachers in the best practices and methodologies to develope and implement real-world, project based learning, or PBL, curriculum using NASA's missions. 21CTA is sponsored by the Office of Education and Public Outreach at NASA's Ames Research Center, and funded by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. 21CTA is a two-week workshop held July 8-22, 2015. The workshop will be led by content experts, PBL experts, technical subject matter experts and a master teacher. The workshop will take place at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Attendees will receive a $4,500 stipend. Teacher teams are highly encouraged! Applications are due April 30, 2015. Interested K-12 educators should apply through NASA's One-Stop Shopping Initiative website at http://go.nasa.gov/1ECJ0kz. If you have questions about the 21st Century Teacher Academy, please email ARC-TeacherAcademy(a)mail.nasa.gov. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- April 2, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- US ARISS School Proposal Window Closes in 10 Days ARISS is now accepting proposals for U.S. schools wishing to schedule contacts between their students and the International Space Station for the next cycle. Details on submitting proposals can be found below in the attached ARRL News Release. Message to US Educators Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals Proposal Window February 15 - April 15, 2015 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between *January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016*. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is April 15, 2015. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in contact dates and times. Amateur Radio organizations around the world, NASA, and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe sponsor this educational opportunity by providing the equipment and operational support to enable direct communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world via Amateur Radio. In the US, the program is managed by AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and ARRL (American Radio Relay League) in partnership with NASA. More Information Interested parties can find more information about the program at www.ariss.org and www.arrl.org/ARISS. For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Sessions go to www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. Please direct any questions to ariss at arrl.org. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between CEPES, Jodoigne, Belgium and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using NA1SS The contact began 04-01 09:20 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via K6DUE. ARISS Mentor was ON4WF. + A Successful contact was made between Mimar Sinan Özel Okullari, Istanbul, Turkey and Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using NA1SS The contact began 04-01 09:20 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via K6DUE. ARISS Mentor was ON4WF. >From 2015-05-11 to 2015-06-14, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over Links to ISS and SSTV Related Links as Reported by AMSAT-UK.ORG ISS Fan Club - Tracking / Predictions http://www.issfanclub.com/ Free MMSSTV Slow Scan TV software http://hamsoft.ca/pages/mmsstv.php iOS SSTV App https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sstv/id387910013 For more on Slow Scan Television SSTV, see this article SSTV - The Basics http://www.essexham.co.uk/sstv-the-basics How to be successful with the ISS Slow Scan Television (SSTV) imaging system http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtoisssstv.html IZ8BLY Vox Recoder, enables you to record the signals from the ISS on 145.800 MHz while you're away at work http://antoninoporcino.xoom.it/VoxRecorder/ ARISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV) Blog and Gallery http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.co.uk/ Information on the MAI-75 SSTV experiment http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/researches/education-26.html Video showing reception of SSTV using the FUNcube Dongle Pro SDR and SDR-RADIO going into Virtual Audio Cable (VAC) then to MMSSTV software https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6MOrX9iZCk ISS SSTV received online with SUWS WebSDR http://amsat-uk.org/2014/09/06/iss-sstv-on-suws-websdr/ [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, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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ANS April 2015