July 2015 - ANS - mailman.amsat.org

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 207
by E.Mike McCardel 26 Jul '15

26 Jul '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-207 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, AMSAT-DL, and Virginia Tech Announce Potential Phase-3E Opportunity * AMSAT Awards Update * Request for help with SPROUT Telemetry Collection * QIKCOM-2 Satellite messages * NEON - Upcoming NASA Education Events For Your Attention * 73 on 73 Awards #21-#26 * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-207 ANS-207 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 207 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. July 26, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-207 AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL, and Virginia Tech Announce Potential Phase-3E Opportunity Virginia Tech has approached the US Government to fly the Phase 3-E space frame into High Earth Orbit (HEO) in order to support scientific payloads as well as serve as an amateur radio satellite. During the AMSAT-DL Annual Meeting on 4 JUL 15, the AMSAT-DL membership approved the concept, agreeing to allow the Phase 3-E space frame that is currently stored in Germany to be shipped to Virginia Tech in the USA for further construction, testing and preparation for eventual launch to HEO should the US Government formally agree to fund such a mission. Should the project move forward, AMSAT-NA will apply for frequency coordination from the IARU Satellite Advisor and satellite licensing from the FCC as the satellite's initial operator. Stay tuned to the AMSAT-DL Journal, the AMSAT-NA Journal, and the AMSAT-NA News Service for further developments and details as they become known. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL, and Virginia Tech for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Awards Update Here are our newest award recipients and quite a good batch we have this time. The following have entered into the Satellite Communicators Club for making their first satellite QSO. Andrew Chaloupka, KB9WHV Lesley Swann, KM4BKO Joseph Kornowski, KB6IGK Bill Dillon, KG5FQX ------ AMSAT Communication Achievement Award Toralf Renkwitz, DJ8MS #563 Steve Kristoff, AI9IN #564 ------ AMSAT Sexagesimal Award Toralf Renkwitz, DJ8MS #167 David Webb, KB1VPH #168 ------ AMSAT Century Award David Webb, KB1PVH #43 Paul Stoetzer, N8HM #44 ------ AMSAT South Africa Communication Achievement Award Toralf Renkwitz, DJ8MS #US191 Steve Kristoff, AI9IN #US192 ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Satellite Operator Achievement Award for 1000 contacts Michael McCoy, KC9ELU #83 with 2000, 3000, 4000 endorsements ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Satellite Operator Achievement Award for 5000 contacts Michael McCoy, KC9ELU #32 Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com/awards.html [ANS thanks Bruce KK5DO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Request for help with SPROUT Telemetry Collection Students from Japan's Nihon University are requesting help gathering telemetry from the SPROUT satellite SPROUT was launched at May 24, 2014 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. There are 3 main missions in SPROUT. ·Deployment demonstration of inflatable membrane structure. ·Demonstration of attitude determination and control technology for several kilogram class nano-satellite. ·Upbringing of human resources of a space sector For more information http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/ An English document describing SPROUT's FM Telemetry Data Format can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ANS207-SPROUT The students at Nihon University have deployed the demonstration of inflatable membrane structure. They find it necessary to collect as much data as possible to get information on the satellite. They are requesting reception cooperation from anyone who has the means of colecting the data, specifically mebers of AMSAT and amateur radio satellite enthusiasts. If you would like to assist contact, cssu12036 (at) g.nihon-u.ac.jp for more information. [ANS thanks Nihon University Students for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- QIKCOM-2 Satellite messages In a message to the AMSAT-BB on July 22 Bob Bruninga WB4APR, invites proposed standard messages for the next APRS Satellite: Bob writes, "Our next QIKCOM-2 APRS satellite will accept 2 digit uplink DTMF messages to be spoken on the downlink. We have already programmed all of the ARRL standard radio grams and emergency messages. But there is room for more. So think.... What kind of message would you want to send (that is not included in the existing ones) from your HT out in the wilderness. At a hamfest? or any other HAM Radio event or opportunity. Keep them simple and of the same order of length as the existing ones. The existing ones are listed here: http://nts.ema.arrl.org/node/30 But the implementation cannot include blanks for fill-in like the regular ones. But any sentence that stands alone can work. Just thought I'd open it up. Plenty of RAM and only 1 week before delivery... Serious considerations only." To clarify some thought processess Bob added in a subsequent follow- up, "Well, took a few moments and here are some of my ideas. I just realized I can allow a single digit modifier, so the digit can go from 0 to 8. Demonstrating APRStt at Hamfest Demonstrating APRStt to friends I am on schedule. I may be delayed N hours I may be delayed N days I may be early N hours I May be early N days I may quit early N stops I may go farther N stops We are camping and enjoying it greatly. We are hiking and enjoying it greatly. We are sailing and enjoying it greatly Call me on my cell Call my cell on the hour. Or there can maybe be 1-to-8 different whole word modifiers too. Like: Please Send ___ (Money, food, water, supplies, shoes, sleeping bag, blanket,fuel) We are operating on ___ power (Solar, wind, battery, generator, emergency) We are staying with ____ (Mom, dad, sister, brother, uncle, aunt,friends) Please pass to ____ (Mom, dad, sister, brother, uncle, aunt,friends) Just thinkin..." [ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEON - Upcoming NASA Education Events For Your Attention NEON - NASA Educators Online Network Free NASA STEM Education Webinars -- NASA Educator Professional Development Audience: In-service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal Educators + July 27, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. EDT: Exploring Strange New Worlds Series: Exoplanets and Kepler Mission (Grades 4-8) - Celebrate The centuries-old quest for other worlds like our Earth has been rejuvenated by the intense excitement and popular interest surrounding the discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other stars. There is now clear evidence for substantial numbers of the three types of exoplanets; gas giants, hot super-Earths in short period orbits, and ice giants. During this webinar, teachers will learn to use tools scientists use to determine planet characteristics, learn about the mission and explore and interpret data from the mission. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/133574 + July 28, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. EDT: ISS Across the Curriculum: Social Studies and Geography in Space (Grades 4-8) - The International Space Station (ISS) is not just a science and math mission. It is a unique, orbiting laboratory that travels around the world and across your curriculum. This webinar will explore how the ISS can also be integrated into your social studies and geography curriculum with NASA inquiry lessons, online resources and teaching strategies. Let the ISS bring space and the world around us together in your classroom. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/129777 + July 29, 2015, at 6:30 p.m. EDT: Art and the Cosmic Connection (Grades K-16) - Celebrate New Horizons arrival at Geology meets art! Let you inner geologist use art to recreate craters, mountains, rivers, wind driven landscapes and more. Learn to read planetary images as well as Earth images. Meets NGSS for Earth Place in the Universe, Earth Systems, and with Social Studies integrations. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/134190 + July 30, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. EDT: Rockets 2 Racecars: Session 4 - Educators Go Green (Grades 3-9) - Get your students revved up about science, technology, engineering and mathematics with NASA's Rockets 2 Racecars (R2R) STEM Education webinar series! In this webinar you will have access to various solar and engineering activities for the classroom and will discover various solar energy uses in space as well as on planet Earth. Join NASA Specialists to discuss how NASA utilizes the power of the Sun in our missions, such as the International Space Station and Mars Exploration Rovers, as well as how Pocono Raceway uses solar energy at the Pocono Raceway track! This webinar is guaranteed to brighten your day! Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/133233 For the NASA STEM Educator Professional Development webinar schedule, go to: http://www.txstate-epdc.net/events/ [ANS thanks NEON - NASA Educators Online Network for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 73 on 73 Awards #21-#26 Several 73 on 73 Awards have been recently issued. Congratulations to all! #21 - Kiyosi Hasegawa, JA3FWT #22 - Mariusz Kocot, SQ9MES #23 - Hector Luis Martinez, W5CBF #24 - George Carr, WA5KBH #25 - Michel Ribot, F6GLJ #26 - Paul Stoetzer, N8HM (application reviewed and award issued by W5PFG) For more information on the award see http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/ [ANS thanks Paul N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between [Entity, City, State, Country] and Astronaut [NAME, CALLSIGN] using Callsign [CALLSIGNE. The contact began [YEAR, Month, Date Time] UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was[direct/telebridge] via K6DUE. ARISS Mentor was KA3HDO. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule United Space School, Seabrook, TX 12:52 UTC July 28 An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at United Space School, Seabrook, TX on 28 July. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:52 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH The contact should be audible over the west coast of the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. The United Space School is the premier educational program hosted by the Foundation for International Space Education (FISE). For two weeks each summer, FISE invites approximately 50 students from 23 different countries to the Clear Lake, Texas area to introduce them to aspects of working in the space sciences. During their stay, the students work together in teams to assemble a manned mission to Mars, utilizing knowledge gained from guest lecturers and interactive field trips. The Foundation for International Space Education Board of Directors has two head teachers and five team mentors to assist the students in their day-to-day activities. United Space School culminates in a project presentation, in which the students present their final project to a panel of industry experts and the public. Upon successful completion of their final project presentation, the students are awarded a graduation certificate. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. How has your understanding of the universe changed now that you are seeing it from space? 2. What do you think about the plans of some multi-billion dollar investors to mine raw materials on asteroids and satellites? 3. If you were in an emergency situation inside the ISS where an ammonia leak is quite high and the hatches don't work, what would you propose as escape route to save you and your team, and why? 4. What is the most interesting experiment to perform, and why? 5. Do you see the speed of space travel progressing much further than the point it's at now (within our own solar system)? 6. When you return to Earth what do you think you will miss most about the Space Station? 7. What are your expectations of the manned trip to Mars? 8. Isn't the NanoRacks deployer a cool temperature when it's actually working? 9. How do you maintain a natural sleep pattern aboard the ISS? 10. What were the steps you took to become an astronaut? Do you have any advice for those of us who wish to go into space? 11. What do you think the biggest challenge to the space industry today, besides budget? 12. In terms of hardware, if you could have one thing installed on the ISS, what would it be? 13. What went through your mind while listening to the final countdown before lift-off? 14. How does the ISS keep away from space junk? 15. What are the first effects that you feel in zero gravity? 16. What was a favorite experience of yours while in space school? 17. How many meals do you eat in a day, and has your appetite changed at all? 18. Is moving around in microgravity conditions always fun, or does it get uncomfortable and annoying? 19. What do you think the most important decision you made that put you on the path to becoming an astronaut? 20. Have you ever seen anything weird in space you couldn't explain? 21. What planet would you like to investigate more, aside from Mars? Next planned event: 23rd World Scout Jamboree Nippon Boy Scout Amateur Radio Club, Bunkyo-ku, Japan, direct via 8N23WSJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for: Fri 2015-07-31 11:26 UTC PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Exp. 44 is now on orbit. Welcome aboard! Oleg Kononenko RN3DX Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS >From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, 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. ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + On July 22, 1962 the first live public trans-Atlantic TV broadcast was relayed by Telstar 1, a communications satellite that had been launched two weeks earlier. The broadcast featured CBS's Walter Cronkite and NBC's Chet Huntley in New York and the BBC's Richard Dimbleby in Brussels. Later that same day the satellite relayed the first telephone call to be transmitted through space. Although it is no longer fully functional, Telstar 1 is still in orbit around Earth. https://youtu.be/xdaHYAReYkg + What does it take to test, build and launch a compact (yet highly sophisticated) satellite into orbit? U-M students explain in this behind-the-scenes look at U-M's latest CubSat: http://tinyurl.com/UMich-Cubesat --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX AMSAT User Services and the Editors of the AMSAT New Service pass on our condolences to ANS Weekly Co-Editor Joe Spier K6WAO and his family on the death of Joe's mother this week. 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-206 Special Bulletin - AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL, and Virginia Tech Announce Potential Phase-3E Opportunity
by JoAnne Maenpaa 25 Jul '15

25 Jul '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-206 In this edition: * AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL, and Virginia Tech Announce Potential Phase-3E Opportunity SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-206.01 ANS-206 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 206.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. July 25, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-206.01 AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL, and Virginia Tech Announce Potential Phase-3E Opportunity Virginia Tech has approached the US Government to fly the Phase 3-E space frame into High Earth Orbit (HEO) in order to support scientific payloads as well as serve as an amateur radio satellite. During the AMSAT-DL Annual Meeting on 4 JUL 15, the AMSAT-DL membership approved the concept, agreeing to allow the Phase 3-E space frame that is currently stored in Germany to be shipped to Virginia Tech in the USA for further construction, testing and preparation for eventual launch to HEO should the US Government formally agree to fund such a mission. Should the project move forward, AMSAT-NA will apply for frequency coordination from the IARU Satellite Advisor and satellite licensing from the FCC as the satellite's initial operator. Stay tuned to the AMSAT-DL Journal, the AMSAT-NA Journal, and the AMSAT-NA News Service for further developments and details as they become known. /EX

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ANS-200 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 18 Jul '15

18 Jul '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-200 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 Board of Directors Ballots in the Mail * W5KUB.com webcast with AMSAT; New Perk for Fox-1C donations * School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact * SA AMSAT Kletskous Solar Cell Purchase * Pico and Nano Satellite Workshop in Würzburg * International Space Colloquium Guildford – Speakers for Saturday, July 25 * Duchifat1 Updates * Amateur Radio Geostationary Transponder and the Adventures of a Hacker Turned Ham * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-200.01 ANS-200 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 200.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE July 19, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-200.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots in the Mail Ballots have been mailed to AMSAT-NA members in good standing, and must be returned to the AMSAT-NA office by 15 SEP 2015 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America were sent by air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your QTH, please contact the AMSAT-NA office. Your completed ballot should be sent as promptly as possible, and those from outside North American preferably by air mail or other expedited means. This year there are eight candidates: Barry Baines, WD4ASW Jerry Buxton, N0JY Steve Coy, K8UD Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA Mark Hammond, N8MH EMike McCardel, KC8YLD Bob McGwier, N4HY Bruce Paige, KK5DO The four candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be seated as voting Board Members with two year terms. The two candidates receiving the next highest number of votes will be non-voting Alternate Board Members with terms of one year. Please vote for no more than four candidates. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT-NA. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- W5KUB.com webcast with AMSAT; New Perk for Fox-1C donations Check out the AMSAT VPs of Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, and Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA on the W5KUB.com webcast from July 14th, talking all about Fox and AMSAT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGvaQCF-Rro Also, we have a new perk available for donations of $1,000 or more. Eighteen donors will receive engraved, mounted solar panel protective covers actually used on Fox-1C. Don’t miss this limited availability perk for supporting your amateur satellite program! Donations may be made via the AMSAT website, via the FundRazr crowdsourcing app at http://fnd.us/c/6pz92/sh/561Zd or via the AMSAT office at (888) 322-6728. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact On Tuesday, July 14 at the UK Space Conference in Liverpool the names were announced of the UK schools which have won the opportunity to contact UK astronaut Tim Peake via amateur radio during his mission to the International Space Station. Tim holds the call sign KG5BVI and is expected to use the special call GB1SS from the amateur radio station in the Columbus module of the ISS. Tim will launch to the ISS in December of this year and will spend 6 months working and living in space. The Amateur Radio competition is a collaboration between the UK Space Agency, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Selected schools will host a direct link-up with the ISS during a two-day, space related STEM workshop which will be the culmination of a large range of learning activities using space as a context for teaching throughout the curriculum. ARISS UK (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will provide and set up all necessary radio equipment such as low earth orbit satellite tracking antennas and radios, to establishing a fully functional, direct radio link with the ISS from the schools’ very own premises. In a ten-minute window when the ISS will be over the UK, an amateur radio contact will be established with Tim, and students will be able to ask him questions about his life and work on board the ISS. Owing to the nature of scheduling the links, which is dependent on geography, the exact orbit of the ISS and the crew schedules, the exact dates and times for possible links will not be known until 2 weeks before the link up is scheduled. The shortlisted schools will all be prepared for such scheduling challenges and, by having a number of schools, we can ensure that all links are used. Jeremy Curtis, Head of Education at the UK Space Agency, said: We’re delighted with the amount of interest in this exciting project and look forward to working with the selected schools as they make a call into space. Both Tim’s space mission and amateur radio have the power to inspire young people and encourage them into STEM subjects. By bringing them together we can boost their reach and give young people around the UK the chance to be involved in a space mission and a hands-on project that will teach them new skills. The following schools have been shortlisted for a possible ARISS call with Tim whilst he is in orbit on the ISS: Ashfield Primary School, Otley, West Yorkshire The Derby High School, Derby The Kings School, Ottery St Mary Norwich School, Norwich Oasis Academy Brightstowe, Bristol Powys Secondary Schools Joint, Powys Royal Masonic School for Girls, Rickmansworth Sandringham School, St Albans St Richard’s Catholic College, Bexhill-on-Sea Wellesley House School, Broadstairs John Gould, G3WKL, President of the RSGB, said: The Radio Society of Great Britain will be delighted to support shortlisted schools by teaching their pupils about amateur radio and helping them through their licence exams where appropriate. Members of our Youth Committee are based across the UK and will be keen to visit the chosen schools in their area and chat to the pupils. The ARISS UK Operations team will now work with the shortlisted schools to prepare them for this exceptional opportunity during the mission of the first British ESA Astronaut. ARISS Europe http://www.ariss-eu.org/ [ANS thanks ARISS and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SA AMSAT Kletskous Solar Cell Purchase SA AMSAT made a significant investment in the KLETSKOUS project by placing an order for solar cells with an overseas supplier. The solar cells will be used to build the first prototype solar panels for testing with the power unit. The electrical power system (EPS) is the sub-system that provides various other systems and the payload with power, and controls the charging and conditioning of the batteries. The first prototype was tested with panels borrowed from the Denel Dynamic CubeSat project. "We are looking forward to building our own panels to meet the physical dimension requirements of the space frame," Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, said. Fritz Sutherland, ZS6FSJ, who built the prototype, which he showed at the recently held SA AMSAT Space Symposium, designed the EPS. Both Hannes Coetzee and Frik Wolff, ZS6FZ, who recently joined the project team, will build the solar panels. The Kletskous project is funded by donations from radio amateurs. To learn more about the project and how to make your financial contribution visit www.amsatsa.org.za [ANS thanks SA AMSAT and the SARL weekly news in English 2015-7-11 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Pico and Nano Satellite Workshop in Würzburg The Pico and Nano Satellite Workshop in Würzburg will be held on September 15-16, 2015. We are happy to announce that several national and international institutions acknowledged the value of our workshop by providing co-sponsoring for this event. Thus, we would like to point out the great opportunity to further disseminate your scientific results as selected best contributions will be invited for paper publication in a conference proceedings in the IAA book series on Small Satellites. If you want to take the opportunity to present your current progress in the field of pico- and nano-satellites please do not forget to submit your presentation abstract by sending an email to pina2015(a)informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de until July 20, 2015. For more information and latest updates about the workshop please visit our website: http://www7.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/conferences/pina2015/ [ANS thanks the PiNa Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Colloquium Guildford – Speakers for Saturday, July 25 There is a great line up of speakers for the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium at the Holiday Inn, Guildford as well as visits to the satellite construction facilities at the SSTL Kepler Building. The event is open to all. Admittance is £10 for the day and car parking is free. Speakers for Saturday, July 25 • Introduction by Prof. Sir Martin Sweeting G3YJO OBE, FRS, FREng, FIET • SSTL Update by Tony Holt, Director, SSTL • The Satellite Applications Catapult PocketQube Kit by Chris Brunskill • AMSAT-DL Presention by Peter Guelzow DB2OS • What else does Space do for You! by Prof. Richard Holdaway, former Director RAL Space • The Nayif-1 opportunity by Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG • AMSAT-NA / Fox-1 Presentation by Drew Glassbrenner KO4MA • Dutch Satellite Days by Ivo Klinkert PA1IVO Further details at http://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Duchifat1 Updates Duchifat1, launched 1 year ago, was supposed to have onboard a "standard" space APRS transceiver operating on 145.825MHz. That would have made the satellite compatible with ISS, other APRS satellites and APRS-IS. Unfortunately, a short time before launch, we realized that technically we couldn't keep the intended 145.825MHz transceiver in the final satellite configuration but we still wanted to make some contribution to amateur radio in space. After a quick research we discovered that the 2nd transceiver onboard Duchifat1, the ISIS (Netherlands) TRXUV planned for Duchifat1's command and telemetry can be programmed to also accept APRS packets!, however, limited to 14 characters long. Also, the downlink digital modulation was not the common space APRS of 1200bd AFSK but 1200bd BPSK, and the uplink frequency is in the UHF band. We therefore came with the idea of supporting COMPRESSED APRS, and instead of the standard digipeater, we implement kind of "store&forward" function in which the satellite collects packets during its flight in orbit and the students of Herzliya Science Center will download those packets and display them on a world map in a web site programmed by them. We published here a few weeks ago the opening of this service and put in our web site detailed instructions on how to use the Byonics TinyTrak4 (TT4) tracker, with or without GPS to generate packets in the required format that Duchifat1 will accept. So far, TWO pioneers used this service. THANKS PETER & MIKE! While the TT4 solution is still the best we know for sending your actual live position to Duchifat1, we are happy to announce the 'APRS Encoder', a new tool in our web site that can generate for you the COMPRESSED APRS packet for Duchifat1. The input for the new APRS Encoder is the station's (or nearby) coordinates set that can be obtained from Google Maps, so this solution is naturally adequate for stationary base stations, while mobile stations should still use the Byonics TT4. The output of the APRS Encoder is a 14 character long Compressed APRS packet that can be converted to 1200bd AFSK with a hardware TNC or software like MIXW – just copy the 14 chars string and paste it into the MIXW window. The MIXW should be set to mode Packet, using the most common "VHF 1200 baud (Standard 1200/2200Hz)" setting. Prior registration is required. All the details on the satellite, the registration and the APRS Encoder are at this link: www.h-space-lab.org Please read all the documentation in the site. We wish you all good luck and enjoy! 73 from 4X4HSC team: instructors 4Z1WS and 4X1DG, and the students! [ANS thanks AMSAT-BB and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio Geostationary Transponder and the Adventures of a Hacker Turned Ham HamRadioNow episode 211 features two presentations given at the TAPR/AMSAT banquet on Friday, May 15 at the 2015 Dayton Hamvention. The first is about the Amateur Radio transponder on the geostationary satellite Es’hail 2 by Thani Ali al-Malki followed by Adventures of a Hacker Turned Ham by Michael Ossmann AD0NR. The night begins with a short presentation on what will be the first Amateur Radio transponder on a geostationary satellite, a project of the Qatar Amateur Radio Society, with help from AMSAT DL (Germany). The satellite, Es’HailSAT-2, is owned by the Qatar Satellite Company, and senior engineer Thani Ali al-Malki will give the details. Western Hemisphere hams will be disappointed that the satellite footprint won’t cover anything in North America or Australia, and just a bit of South America. The satellite is primarily a communications system for Qatar and the Middle East, but the ham transponder will also cover Europe, Africa and western Asia (but also missing the China coast and Japan). Michael Ossmann, AD0NR, founder of Great Scott Gadgets 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 talks about his unique perspective on the community as an outsider looking in, why he resisted getting an amateur radio license for years, and why he finally decided to join. Michael shares 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. TAPR President Steve Bible N7HPR‘s introduction establishes the youth theme with an interesting survey of the crowd. http://arvideonews.com/hrn/HRN_Episode_0211.html Previous editions of HamRadioNow http://www.youtube.com/user/HamRadioNow/videos Es’hail 2 geostationary satellite http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/geosynchronous/eshail-2/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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). *Friday and Saturday, 7-8 August 2015 – Austin Summerfest in Austin TX* *Saturday, 15 August 2015 – Arctic Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in Fairbanks AK *Sunday, 16 August 2015 – demonstration at Chena Hot Springs AK *Saturday and Sunday, 22-23 August 2015 – Boxboro Hamfest and ARRL New England Convention in Boxborough MA *Saturday and Sunday, 5-6 September - ARRL Roanoke Division Convention Shelby, NC Hamfest, AMSAT Forum scheduled for Saturday *Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 16-18 2015, AMSAT Symposium in Dayton OH (Dayton Crown Plaza) [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Contacts Pima County 4H/Vail Vaqueros 4H Club, Tucson, AZ, direct via W7LB The ISS callsign was scheduled to be RSØISS/OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut was Mikhail Korniyenko RN3BF Contact was not successful: Wed 2015-07-15 18:01:42 UTC 67 deg ARISS is attempting to determine what happened. Moon Day/ Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas, TX, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign was scheduled to be RSØISS/OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut was Mikhail Korniyenko RN3BF Contact was successful: Sat 2015-07-18 16:58 UTC 84 deg The Moon Day contact was successful with 11 questions asked and 10 fully answered. The answer to the 11th question was lost in the noise at LOS. Participants asked the following questions: 1. How do you get internet? 2. How is your perspective of Earth different from ours who have not been to space? 3. What has been your most exciting and memorable experience during your time on the International space station? 4. As you don't have gravity in the Space Station, and nothing drops or drips down, what happens to a scoop of ice cream in space when it melts? Once it has melted, can you suck it up with a straw? Have you ever tried that? 5. What happens to fire in space? 6. What do you eat when in space? 7. What happens if an astronaut gets sick in space? Do they have a doctor on board? If not, do they have to go back to Earth early for treatment? 8. Has your time on the space station helped in the research of finding a way to send someone to Mars for a longer period of time? 9. If a meteorite, space junk, or another spacecraft collides with the ISS, or there was a fire on board, what kind of emergency procedures would be performed to ensure station integrity and crew safety? 10. What has been your biggest unexpected obstacle, and how did you solve it and still reach your goal? 11. How do you put on your spacesuit to go out in space? Upcoming ARISS Contacts Albert Park College, Albert Park, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS/OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Mikhail Korniyenko RN3BF Contact is a go for: Mon 2015-07-20 08:40:28 UTC 30 deg Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over * Illinois High Altitude Balloon to Carry Repeater and SSTV The Balloon Assisted Stratospheric Experiments team at DePauw University plans to launch a high altitude balloon, BASE-85, on August 8, 2015 at 07:45 CDT (UTC - 5). The launch will be from the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul, Illinois which is approximately 100 miles south of Chicago. The amateur radio payload on this balloon will include: + Telemetry: APRS: 144.390Mhz, APRS.FI: WB9SA-11; QRZ: WB9SA + Cross-Band FM Repeater: Uplink 144.34 MHz; Downlink 446.025 MHz. + SSTV unit will operate on 147.48 MHz using Scottie2 - 72 seconds on 30 seconds off. + 900 MHz tracking system. + DF beacon at 443 MHz Website: http://www.depauw.edu/academics/departments-programs/physics-astronomy/depa… ment-research/base/ [ANS thanks the BALLOON_SKED(a)yahoogroups.com e-mail list for the above information] ARISS SSTV Images Commmemorate 40th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Mission 40 years ago this week, the historic joint Apollo-Soyuz mission was conducted. Apollo-Soyuz (or Soyuz-Apollo in Russia) represented the first joint USA-Soviet mission and set the stage for follow-on Russia-USA space collaboration on the Space Shuttle, Mir Space Station and the International Space Station. The Soyuz and Apollo vehicles were docked from July 17-19, 1975, during which time joint experiments and activities were accomplished with the 3 USA astronauts and 2 Soviet Cosmonauts on-board. Apollo-Soyuz was the final mission of the Apollo program and the last USA human spaceflight mission until the first space shuttle mission in 1981. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this historic international event, the ARISS team has developed a series of 12 Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images that will be sent down for reception by schools, educational organizations and ham radio operators, worldwide. The SSTV images are planned to start sometime Saturday morning, July 18 and run through Sunday July 19. These dates are tentative and are subject to change. The SSTV images can be received on 145.80 MHz and displayed using several different SSTV computer programs that are available on the internet. We encourage you to submit your best received SSTV images to: http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/submit.php The ARISS SSTV image gallery will post the best SSTV images received from this event at: http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php Also, as a special treat, on Saturday July 18 the ISS Cosmonauts will take time out to conduct an ARISS contact with students attending the Moon Day/Frontiers of Flight Museum event in Dallas Texas. This Russian Cosmonaut-USA Student contact is planned to start around 16:55 UTC through the W6SRJ ground station located in Santa Rosa, California. ARISS will use the 145.80 MHz voice frequency downlink (same as the SSTV downlink) for the Moon Day contact. For more information on ARISS, please go to our web site: www.ariss.org The ARISS international team would like to thank our ARISS-Russia colleague, Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, for his leadership on this historic commemoration. [ANS thanks ARISS, and Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO, ARISS International Chair 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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ANS-195 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN - ARISS SSTV Images to Commmemorate 40th Anniversary of the Apollo- Soyuz Mission
by E.Mike McCardel 14 Jul '15

14 Jul '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-195 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * ARISS SSTV Images to Commmemorate 40th Anniversary of the Apollo- Soyuz Mission SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-195.01 ANS-195 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 195.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. July 14, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-195.01 ARISS SSTV Images to Commmemorate 40th Anniversary of the Apollo- Soyuz Mission 40 years ago this week, the historic joint Apollo-Soyuz mission was conducted. Apollo-Soyuz (or Soyuz-Apollo in Russia) represented the first joint USA-Soviet mission and set the stage for follow-on Russia- USA space collaboration on the Space Shuttle, Mir Space Station and the International Space Station. The Soyuz and Apollo vehicles were docked from July 17-19, 1975, during which time joint experiments and activities were accomplished with the 3 USA astronauts and 2 Soviet Cosmonauts on-board. Apollo-Soyuz was the final mission of the Apollo program and the last USA human spaceflight mission until the first space shuttle mission in 1981. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this historic international event, the ARISS team has developed a series of 12 Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images that will be sent down for reception by schools, educational organizations and ham radio operators, worldwide. The SSTV images are planned to start sometime Saturday morning, July 18 and run through Sunday July 19. These dates are tentative and are subject to change. The SSTV images can be received on 145.80 MHz and displayed using several different SSTV computer programs that are available on the internet. We encourage you to submit your best received SSTV images to: http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/submit.php The ARISS SSTV image gallery will post the best SSTV images received from this event at: http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php Also, as a special treat, on Saturday July 18 the ISS Cosmonauts will take time out to conduct an ARISS contact with students attending the Moon Day/Frontiers of Flight Museum event in Dallas Texas. This Russian Cosmonaut-USA Student contact is planned to start around 16:55 UTC through the W6SRJ ground station located in Santa Rosa, California. ARISS will use the 145.80 MHz voice frequency downlink (same as the SSTV downlink) for the Moon Day contact. For more information on ARISS, please go to our web site: www.ariss.org The ARISS international team would like to thank our ARISS-Russia colleague, Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, for his leadership on this historic commemoration. [ANS thanks Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO, ARISS International Chair for the above information] /EX AMSAT User Services and the Editors of the AMSAT New Service pass on our condolences to ANS Weekly Co-Editor Joe Spier K6WAO and his family on the death of Joe's mother this week. 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-193 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 12 Jul '15

12 Jul '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-193 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: * DeorbitSail Launch Information * AMSAT Field Day Submission Deadline 13 July 2015 * AMSAT Featured on Live W5KUB.com Tuesday, July 14 Webcast * International Space Colloquium at Guildford * ARISS Challenge Coin * Delfi-C3 RASCAL Update Necessary for New Server IP Address * CAMSAT Launch Postponement SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-193.01 ANS-193 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 193.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. July 12, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-193.01 DeorbitSail Launch Information The CubeSat DeorbitSail built by researchers and radio amateurs at the Surrey Space Centre in Guildford carries a 1200 bps BPSK beacon on 145.975 MHz. The satellite was successfully launched at 1628 UT on Friday, July 10. DeorbitSail is a 3U CubeSat sized satellite with a deployable sail that will demonstrate rapid deorbiting. Chris Bridges 2E0OBC writes: Dear AMSAT’ers, CubeSat’ers, Friends, Please find attached exclusive details of a UK CubeSat called DeorbitSail flying out tomorrow evening on PSLV. Please feel free to distribute to other hams that can help out. This contains all the info you should need including: • Initial TLE • DeorbitSail Flyer > Launch details, etc. • Predicted first packet transmission on 145.975 MHz, 1k2 BPSK -> we predict to be over Russia in the evening. First packets sent in will get a Signed Certificate of thanks from the team! If you have any telemetry or TLE/frequency information, please send it to me and/or to deorbitsail.messages(a)gmail.com so we can quickly learn our satellite state. Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! 73 Chris 2E0OBC DEORBITSAIL 1 55554U 58056A 15191.72643157 .00000000 00000-0 +13828-4 0 335 2 55554 97.9842 81.0881 0007584 273.9578 86.0949 14.75593446209360 Follow @SpaceAtSurrey on Twitter Deorbitsail website http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc/research/space_vehicle_control/deorbitsail/ ISRO PSLV-C28 / DMC3 Mission http://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/pslv-c28-dmc3-mission [ANS thanks Chris 2E0OBC, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Field Day Submission Deadline 13 July 2015 For those of you that only worked one or two stations on the satellite or if you worked 10, 20, 50 or more stations, please still submit your scores for Field Day. Although the form online at http://www.amsat.org (click on the Events tab and then the Field Day link) is in PDF format, you can copy and paste the submission portion into Word (amazing how they migrate back and forth). Or you can download the DOCX file from http://www.amsatnet.com/fd2015.docx Please remember that ARRL submissions are due much later than our submission date. Your submission must be received by 11:59 PM Central Time on July 13, 2015 (Monday). That will leave less than a week to tabulate and write the article for the Journal. Please include any pictures that will show off your field day site. We have had flamingos, long horn steers, clocks running on lemons, campers, ladder towers and all kinds of neat stuff in the past. You will receive confirmation that your submission was received, usually sometime that day. If you do not receive confirmation, please send to the other email address, or send to both at the same time. kk5do(a)arrl.net kk5do(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Featured on Live W5KUB.com Tuesday, July 14 Webcast Join hosts Ted Randall, WB8PUM, and Tom Medlin, W5KUB, on the live ham show Tuesday, July 14, at 8:00 PM CT on W5KUB.com. In addition to watching on w5kub.com, this show is simulcast on powerful shortwave station WTWW on 5085 KHz. Call-in phone lines are open during the show. Guests this week include AMSAT Vice President Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY and Vice President Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA. Jerry and Drew will talk about the latest AMSAT information: + Fox-1A launch coming this fall + Operational satellites + AMSAT's future opportunities The webcast window and an accompanying chat room for the show are on Tom's web page: http://w5kub.com/ If you wish to get on the chat room you'll need to pre-register with Tom's site. When you get to W5KUB.com the chat room should open automatically. Or, you can click on the icon at the bottom right of Tom's page. Select "new user". Many use their call sign for their username. The webcast is recorded and is available a day or so later if you miss the live show. [ANS thanks Tom Medlin, W5KUB for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Colloquium at Guildford The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held on July 24- 26 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK. Among the speakers will be: • Peter Guelzow DB2OS with an update on AMSAT-DL projects, including the Phase 4 satellite • Chris Brunskill, formerly of Surrey Space Centre (SSC), now working at the Space Catapult at the Harwell Campus. He will be presenting an extremely novel project aimed at schools and education • It is hoped the BATC will be able to demonstrate live Digital TV reception from the International Space Station, using the Ham TV system • Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA, from AMSAT North America will be attending, and presenting the latest news of the FOX satellite(s) due for launch later this year, and also on their Phase 4 project The Colloquium is open to all further information is at http://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Challenge Coin The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program is announcing a brand new ARISS Challenge Coin that will be a thank you memento to donors who give to ARISS. The beautiful coin will be a keepsake to treasure. The ARISS program relies on resource support from NASA, ARRL, AMSAT, and individual donors to ensure continuing the day-to-day operations and communications, and to pay for space-flight certification of equipment. Current finances to sustain operations in future years are insufficient. The ARISS program is initiating a fundraising campaign with the goal of securing greater financial stability for the program. According to ARISS International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, “To assure the future of the program we are looking to individuals and corporate sponsors to provide the resources we will need to sustain operations and to acquire needed equipment upgrades.” Plans are underway to develop a new higher power Amateur Radio station for the ISS Columbus module. The current radio is a lower power unit that sometimes results in weak signals. A new radio system will improve the communications for education groups whose students are scheduled for ARISS contacts and related educational activities. The new system will also allow greater interoperability between the Columbus Module and the Russian Service Module. Integration of the equipment into the ISS infrastructure and required testing and certification require hours of engineering resources that ARISS must pay for and cannot afford. Each ARISS contact offers the opportunity to inspire young people through ARISS’ unique window into space exploration activities, opening the horizon of possibilities of a career in a STEM field. Each contact also introduces students and their communities to Amateur Radio—all positives for Amateur Radio and our country and world. ARISS needs your help to secure these opportunities for the future. Individuals may make donations to ARISS online at www.amsat.org by selecting the “Donate ARISS” button. (AMSAT-NA will provide people resources to handle your gifts to ARISS.) Individuals contributing $100 US or more will receive the brand new ARISS Challenge Coin. Corporate donors may contact Frank Bauer at KA3HDO(a)verizon.net or ARISS(a)arrl.org. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Delfi-C3 RASCAL Update Necessary for New Server IP Address Wouter Weggelaar, PA3WEG, reported this week that due to security and maintenance reasons the Delfi-C3 team had to migrate the Delfi-C3 telemetry server to a new environment. This change also required that the IP address for uploading data needed to change. This means your server settings in RASCAL need to be updated to: New IP: 131.180.122.144 Port: 1099 On July 9 Wouter reported, "The migration has been completed almost without a problem. We still have some minor issues to sort out. Telemetry submission is operating normally but the database performance seems slow. This makes processing more difficult on our end. New user accounts cannot be created but new users can successfully submit received data via the 'guest' account." The team reports that Delfi-C3 is doing great. They have long exceeded the design lifetime of the satellite and she continues to work well. They appreciate your help in acquiring data of Delfi-C3 and hope that you continue to track their "old" bird in the future as well! [ANS thanks Wouter Weggelaar, PA3WEG and the Delfi-C3 team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CAMSAT Launch Postponement A launch postponement has been announced for Beijing’s new CZ-6 rocket which is planned to carry a constellation of amateur radio satellites. Soon to be launched six CAMSAT satellites CAS-3A to F have now been named as XW-2 (Hope-2) amateur satellite system, and correspond to the XW-2A to F. All the satellites have completed environmental testing, currently being burn-in tests, everything is underway. The satellites will be moved to the launch center in mid-August and launch date has been postponed to early September. [ANS thanks Alan, BA1DU, 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-186 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 04 Jul '15

04 Jul '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-186 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 2015 Symposium Call for Papers * Reminder - Send in AMSAT Field Day Results * $50SAT 19 months in Space and still working * International Space Colloquium at Guildford * WD9EWK California road trip July 9-13 * ARISS Poster Presented at ISS R&D Conference * Help Wanted - Editor-in-Chief for the AMSAT Journal * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-186 ANS-186 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 186 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. July 5, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-186 AMSAT 2015 Symposium Call for Papers This is the first call for papers for the 2015 AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 16- 18, 2015. 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 The 2015 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held October 16, 17, 18, 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 33 East 5th Street, in Downtown, Dayton, Ohio. [ANS thanks the 2015 Symposium Committee for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Reminder - Send in AMSAT Field Day Results Please send your AMSAT Field Day results to Bruce Paige, KK5DO. Refer to the AMSAT Field Day web page at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=216 for a copy of the rules document. This also includes the format of the Satellite Summary Sheet. The Satellite Summary Sheet should be used for submission of the AMSAT Field Day competition and be received by KK5DO (email or postal mail) by 11:59 P.M. CDT, Monday, July 13, 2015. The preferred method for submitting your log is via e-mail to kk5do(a)amsat.org or kk5do(a)arrl.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 my 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 AMSAT Director of Awards and Contests PO Box 310 Alief, TX 77411-0310 Please add photographs or other interesting information that can be used in an article for the Journal. Certificates will be awarded to the first-place emergency power/portable station at the AMSAT General Meeting and Space Symposium in the fall of 2015. Certificates will also be awarded to the second and third place portable/emergency operation in addition to the first-place home station running on emergency power. A station submitting high, award- winning scores will be requested to send in dupe sheets for analog contacts and message listings for digital downloads. [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Awards and Contests for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- $50SAT 19 months in Space and still working Michael Kirkhart KD8QBA provides an update on the $50SAT amateur radio spacecraft which measures just 5x5x7.5 cm Sunday, June 21, 2015 marked the 19 month anniversary of the launch of $50SAT/MO-76/Eagle-2. The good news is it still operating. The bad news is the power situation has been degrading, with an apparent step change on or near May 12, 2015, followed by another on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. The last full telemetry capture made here in EN82 land was on Wednesday, May 27, 2015, and the last time it was heard was on Friday, June 6, 2015. I continued to attempt to listen for it for another week or so, and heard nothing. Has anybody heard it since then? At this point, I have been monitoring it using Anton's (ZR6AIC) WebSDR as it makes daytime passes over South Africa. These occur between 7:30 and 9:00 UTC, which translates to 3:30 and 5:00 AM here in EN82 land. This is tough, as I am not a morning person. Sometimes, however, you have to do these things; helping build a satellite might be a once-in-a-lifetime event. During these passes, where it has already spent a significant amount of time in sunlight, the battery voltage is below 3400 mV. Is the battery going bad? While it is certainly possible the battery has suffered from some loss of charge capacity, one has to remember it is does not generate energy; it merely stores it. Since it is the solar power system that generates the power used by the satellite and stored in the battery, could the drop in battery voltage be due to a degradation in solar power generation? Back around May 12, I noticed the MPPT (solar) current readings were typically less than 10 mA. This much lower than it should be. To better understand what might be going on, a new chart was added to the telemetry spreadsheet which shows both the battery voltage and the MPPT (solar) current (with the zero readings removed), each with its own linear regression line. This chart can be seen from the following URL: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l3919wtfiywk2gf/ AABKSR5V4cOvEPqPYbs8QYZNa/Telemetry-analysis/Current- Telemetry/Battery-Voltage-MPPT-Current-Chart.pdf Notice how the MPPT current trend line has been sloping downward, similar to that of the battery voltage. Moreover, starting 2 weeks before June 4, 2015 (each X axis division on the chart represents 2 weeks time), each reading has been at or below the trend line. A more striking comparison can be seen by doing the following: 1. Zoom in of the Battery-Voltage-MPPT-Current-Chart to show the 4 week interval starting May 7, 2015, and ending June 4, 2015 (see https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l3919wtfiywk2gf/ AACdQtySHZW3kVl7UMgSrxfHa/Telemetry-analysis/Battery-Voltage-MPPT- Current-Comparison-2015-05/Battery-Voltage-MPPT-Current-2015-05.pdf) 2. Zoom in of the Battery-Voltage-MPPT-Current-Chart to show the 4 week interval starting May 8, 2014, and ending June 5, 2014 (see https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l3919wtfiywk2gf/ AACracUWkivilfsKGBUFkmDXa/Telemetry-analysis/Battery-Voltage-MPPT- Current-Comparison-2015-05/Battery-Voltage-MPPT-Current-2014-05.pdf) [Editor's Note: The URLs above don't port well via tinyurl.com and have been truncated to fit the ANS format requirements. They should be copy and pasted as a continuous line to work with most browsers.] In comparing these charts, it is clear both the battery voltage and the MPPT current were significantly lower this year that during the same period last year. On June 5, 2014, the trend line value for battery voltage was about 3610 mV, and for MPPT current was about 30 mA. One year later (June 4, 2015), the trend line value for battery voltage was about 3380 mV, and for MMPT current was about 14 mA. Therefore, while it is likely the battery has suffered some loss of capacity, it appears the low battery voltage is due to low solar power output. There are many possible reasons for this, including: * Solar cell damage due to sputtering: since there was no protective covering on the solar cells, impacts from high energy particles can damage the cells, causing a drop in output. * Solar cell damage due to thermal cycling: We know from telemetry data the interior of the satellite cycle between +30 degrees C and - 30 degrees C each orbit. It is likely the exterior temperatures experienced higher extremes, and this periodic thermal cycling may have caused the solar cells to fracture, thus leading to a drop in output. * Short circuit failure of one or more of the diodes which isolate each MPP tracker output, which can cause an inactive MPP tracker (one whose corresponding solar panel is not facing the sun) to load an active one (one whose corresponding solar panel is facing the sun). Because of the limited amount of telemetry gathered, it may not be possible to determine the exact cause. If the solar output power continues to drop, the battery voltage may never get above the 3300 mV threshold needed to enable the transmitter, at which point we will lose the ability to monitor its status. Even if this does happen, however, we never really thought it would last this long. We would have been happy if it just worked, and really happy if it lasted a month or two. 19 months - this is way beyond what any of us expected! As of June 25, 2015, the orbit has decayed by about 73 km since launch. Since April 21, 2015, it has been decaying at a rate of about 1 km per week. Apogee is now at 561 km, and perigee is at 529 km. The following are the TLEs from 2015-06-25: EAGLE 2 1 39436U 13066W 15176.16386703 .00013608 00000-0 90105-3 0 9991 2 39436 97.7444 252.3622 0022818 80.2035 280.1767 15.07230510 86697 Again, if anyone wants to make an attempt at predicting when it will de-orbit, here is some useful information: Average cross-sectional area = 0.014252 m^2 Mass = 210 g Area/mass ratio = 0.06787 m^2/kg >From the 2015-06-25 TLEs: Semi-major axis: 6922.8 km Eccentricity: 0.0022818 Apogee: 560.6 Perigee: 529.0 As always, please post any telemetry, or for that matter, any reception reports to the Yahoo discussion group. We would especially like to encourage our friends in the southern hemisphere to listen for $50SAT/MO-76/Eagle-2. We really appreciate everyone who has provided reception reports and telemetry as well as access to their WebSDRs. To date, we have 3,098 individual error-free telemetry captures, and the vast majority of these did not come from Stuart, Howie, or I. 73 Michael Kirkhart KD8QBA $50SAT/MO-76/Eagle-2 team $50SAT is one of the smallest amateur radio satellites ever launched at 5x5x7.5 cm and weighs only 210 grams. Transmitter power is just 100 mW on 437.505 MHz (+/-9 kHz Doppler shift) FM CW/RTTY. It uses the low cost Hope RFM22B single chip radio and PICaxe 40X2 processor. $50SAT has been a collaborative education project between Professor Bob Twiggs, KE6QMD, Morehead State University and three other radio amateurs, Howie DeFelice, AB2S, Michael Kirkhart, KD8QBA, and Stuart Robinson, GW7HPW. Further information in the $50SAT Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l3919wtfiywk2gf/-HxyXNsIr8 There is a discussion group for $50SAT http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/50dollarsat/ 50DollarSat http://www.50dollarsat.info/ {ANS thanks Michael KD8QBA and Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Colloquium at Guildford The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held on July 24- 26 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK. Among the speakers will be: • Peter Guelzow DB2OS with an update on AMSAT-DL projects, including the Phase 4 satellite • Chris Brunskill, formerly of Surrey Space Centre (SSC), now working at the Space Catapult at the Harwell Campus. He will be presenting an extremely novel project aimed at schools and education • It is hoped the BATC will be able to demonstrate live Digital TV reception from the International Space Station, using the Ham TV system • Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA, from AMSAT North America will be attending, and presenting the latest news of the FOX satellite(s) due for launch later this year, and also on their Phase 4 project The Colloquium is open to all further information is at http://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WD9EWK California road trip July 9-13 Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK will be driving to southern California next Thursday (9 July), in advance of a presentation he will give for the Escondido Amateur Radio Society that evening. After that presentation, and after spending the next day (Friday, 10 July) in and around San Diego, he will head north. Other than a planned stop at the DM04/DM05 grid boundary north of Los Angeles (the same spot he stopped at last September, near Mojave CA and Edwards AFB), He may be going to head further north. He hopes to have some time to go either north through the San Joaquin Valley, or over to the Pacific coast, or some sort of loop to see a lot more of central California. Whereas there is not a set itinerary for the portion of his trip after the DM04/DM05 stop, he has asked other satellite operators via Twitter for feedback on some grids that would make for worthwhile visits during his trip. Patrick is asking for feedback, "If I look to go up or down the Pacific coast, grids I could visit include CM94 through CM96, and possibly even as far north as Santa Cruz and the almost-all-wet grid CM86. If I stay inland, DM0x grids would be where I'd probably drive through. I'm not planning to go all the way up to the Bay Area, although Santa Cruz is not that far from San Jose. Any thoughts from the crowd here, on grids that I should try to visit between 11 and 13 July?" On his return trek to Phoenix on 13 July, he could be able to make a stop on the DM23/DM24 boundary, either north of Quartzsite on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, or just across the river along US- 95 in California. This stop will depend on whether or not a satellite pass is available as he passes through that area. Patrick notes that he won't be passing that way on his trip out to San Diego. During his travels he will be running APRS using WD9EWK-9, which should be visible on sites like http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 . Check his twitter feed, @WD9EWK, for updates. Any QSOs made will be uploaded to Logbook of the World. [ANS thanks Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Poster Presented at ISS R&D Conference Frank Bauer,KA3HDO, on behalf of ARISS-US team will host a poster presentation “Educational Outreach and International Collaboration Through ARISS---Amateur Radio on the International Space Station” during the 4th Annaul International Space Station Research and Development Conference July 7-9, 2015. The poster is a colaborative work by members of the ARISS-US Executive team and outlines the objectives, capabilities, and impact that amateur radio plays in international collaboration and STEM education engagement aboard the International Space Station. Poster are available for viewing throught the conference and are the center attraction during one of the receptions where Bauer will be available to answer questions. This is the second year that ARISS has been represented at the conference. The ISS R&D conference is being held in the Marriott Copley Hotel in the center of Boston, MA. Each morning of the 4th International Space Station Research & Development Conference will be webcast live starting at 8:00 am eastern on July 7. Opening remarks by Michael Suffredini, Manager, ISS Program Office, NASA JSC, will be followed by a conversation with Elon Musk, CEO and Lead Designer, SpaceX. To watch at no charge visit http://www.issconference.org/livestream.php [ANS thanks ARISS, the American Astronautical Society for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Help Wanted - Editor-in-Chief for the AMSAT Journal AMSAT is looking for an Editor-in-Chief for the AMSAT Journal. This position is now open due to the expansion of opportunities in the User Services Department. Our current editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, is also the Vice President of User Services. The Officers and the Board have discovered that it is impossible for a single volunteer to accomplish management of the AMSAT Journal with the other pending User Services leadership requirements. Hence we are planning on a handover in editorship when a suitable candidate is found. Experience with the Adobe InDesign CS6 publication system would be helpful (AMSAT provides the software). However, this publishing system resembles a word processor on steroids; while there is a learning curve it will not be impossible. The editor-in-chief will continue to lead the team of Journal assistant editors arranging for content to publish. To volunteer send an e-mail to JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM at: k9jkm(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Recent Contacts + A telebridge contact with students at Universidad Tecnológica de Chile INACAP sede Temuco, Temuco, Chile was successful Fri 2015-06- 26. Contact was established at about 18.50 UTC via ARISS ground station W6SRJ in Santa Rosa, CA, USA. Though the signal from the ISS was strong and clear, a delayed start for the interview meant that there was time for four questions for the Russian cosmonaut. Responding to one of the questions during the interview that was conducted in English, the Russian crew member explained that the temperature outside the ISS varies between +120° and -120° Celsius. School Information: We are a technical university located in Temuco city, 700 kms south of Santiago de Chile and we are planning this event together with telecommunications engineering area. Our university has direct contact with local schools which will be taking part on the event that day. We are planning to invite around 400-500 students because we will organize an open science fair called "telecommunications and space" and we will be teaching them radio communications, antennas and space science along with professional astronomers and engineers. The children will be from five or six different schools located in Temuco and surrounding rural areas. We will coordinate with the schools to select the students and ask their own questions. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule + A direct contact with students at Tulsa Community College, Northeast Campus,Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA was successful Wed 2015-07-01 15:59:17 UTC 20 deg. Students ranging in age from 60 to 13 asked cosmonaut Gennady Pedalka, RN3DT thirteen questions. The interview included a question from a deaf engineering student that was managed through an interpreter. Preparing for the contact, students assembled the ground station that was used to make the contact and participated in an antenna design contest. Students tested their antennas by hand tracking the ISS. They practiced doing receiving tests with the assembled ground station prior to the day of the contact to sharpen their skills. A video recording of the contact is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVWkPPLCEM&feature=youtu.be School information: TCC is Oklahoma’s largest community college with more students and more degree earners than any other community college in the state. We offer students a choice of 235 associate degree and certificate of completion programs of study. TCC students come from every walk of life, and our graduates work in all sectors of business and industry to help build a stronger, more diverse economy. Four campuses (Metro, NE, SE, and W) serve the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. If you're passionate about electronics, criminal justice, horticulture, engineering, computer networking, human services, fire emergency services, interpreter education or aviation science, "Northeast" is the campus for you. Located near Tulsa's industrial and aerospace hub, the campus is perfect if you're seeking a career in high-tech business or service-focused careers. Along with a strong educational curriculum, the campus is home to the Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, offering access to higher education for all segments of the population. The TCC Electronics club started in the early 1980’s on the NE Campus which is where the Electronics and Engineering Technology classes are offered. Amateur Radio activities were added in 2000 (the year an instructor came on board as the only HAM operator), and we became an “ARRL” affiliated club in 2005. Now the TCC-ARC station consists of two towers for HF and VHF, along with two EME and Radio Astronomy arrays. Upcoming Contacts A direct contact with students at Kopernik Observatory, Vestal, NY, USA is planned for the week of July 6. More details will be provided when the schedule is confirmed at www.ariss.org. >From 2015-06-11 to 2015-07-24, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any school 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 + Space Related Special Event DX Short EUROPEAN RUSSIA, UA. Special event station UE40SA is QRV until July 20 to commemorate the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project 40 years ago. QSL via GM0WRR. [ANS thanks ARLD026 DX news for the above information] + Forever Remembered exhibit Astronaut artifacts line the walls of a new, permanent memorial called "Forever Remembered," at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. NASA and astronaut families collaborated on the memorial designed to honor the crews lost on missions STS-51L and STS- 107, pay tribute to space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and emphasize the importance of learning from the past. The memorial contains the largest collection of personal items of both flight crews and includes recovered hardware from both shuttles, never before displayed for the public. [ANS thanks This Week @ NASA for the above information] + NESC Academy Online The NESC Academy was established by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), headquartered at NASA Langley Research Center, to enable effective knowledge capture and transfer and ensure technical information remains viable and accessible. The NESC Academy provides a forum through which senior technical experts can teach critical competencies required to effectively accomplish the NASA mission. The online courses were conducted by discipline experts and provide the unique opportunity to share critical knowledge with broad audiences in a self paced manner. For more information visit http://nescacademy.nasa.gov [ANS thanks NASA-Space for the above information] + Fox-1 Update As of Tuesday morning the GRACE mission CubeSats including Fox-1 were successfully transported to VAFB and mated to the Aft Bulkhead Carrier (ABC) plate. Wednesday instrumentation was completed, GRACE CubeSats are ready and waiting to be attached to the Centaur which should occur later this month. [ANS thanks Jerry N0JY for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX AMSAT User Services and the Editors of the AMSAT New Service pass on our condolences to ANS Weekly Co-Editor Joe Spier K6WAO and his family on the death of Joe's mother this week. 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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