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ANS-056 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne K9JKM 24 Feb '18

24 Feb '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-056 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. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AO-92 Operating Schedule Posted for Week of 25 Feb to 3 Mar 2018 * PicSat Status - Commissioning Continues, FM Transponder Test Success * Falconsat-3 Software Reload * Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for 2-22-2018 * Why is there so much TLE confusion when new Cubesats are launched? * JAMSAT Symposium 2018 at Miraikan in Tokyo March 10 - 11 * AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation * CabreuvaDX Team Announces ZV1C Activation on Satellite March 17-18 * ESTCube-2 Applies for IARU Frequency Coordination * Shanghai Tech University Proposing Amateur Radio Digipeater Microsat * Canadian University Design Challenge for “Selfie-Sat” * 15th Annual CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly April 30 * First Citizen Science Workshop Measuring Effects of the Solar Eclipse * Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor * Bittern DX Educational Outreach Project in the UK * Microwave Compendium "Backscatter" available as free PDF * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-056.01 ANS-056 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 056.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE February 25, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-056.01 AO-92 Operating Schedule Posted for Week of 25 Feb to 3 Mar 2018 Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations updated the AO-92 Operating Schedule page for the coming week: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-schedules/ AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa’s High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). Please keep the uplink clear during passes with scheduled mode changes. For the week of 25 Feb to 3 Mar 2018, the following mode changes are scheduled: + Approximately 1420UTC 25Feb we will enable the L band uplink for ~24 hours + Approximately 1515UTC 27Feb we will enable high speed data in order to download from the HERCI experiment for 40 minutes + Approximately 1545UTC 2Mar we will enable high speed data in order to download from the VT camera for 40 minutes in support of a demonstration at a Virginia high school + All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously. [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- PicSat Status - Commissioning Continues, FM Transponder Test Success PicSat was successfully launched on 12 January 2018 on the PSLV-C40 mission. It is orbiting Earth at 505km altitude on a Sun synchronous orbit. PicSat, a 3U CubeSat, was developed in a record time of 3 years by a small team of astrophysicists lead by Sylvestre Lacour (CNRS) at the LESIA laboratory / Paris Observatory / PSL in France. The main goal is to observe the southern hemisphere star Beta Pictoris continuously in order to capture any transit phenomena related to its planet that has been predicted to pass in front of the star by the summer of 2018. The commissioning phase is making good progress and the PicSat team is learning how to operate the satellite. The main next step is to fully take control of the attitude and point in the desired direction. Thanks to the involvement and efforts of Sylvain Azarian (F4GKR) and the IARU, PicSat uses amateur bands to communicate: Uplink: 145.910 MHz FM (when transponder is enabled) Downlink: 435.525 MHz FM voice, see web for data format When not in science mode, PicSat has a transponder that will be made available for the amateur community: the timings will be announced. A first transponder surprise test was done on 15 February from the Paris Observatory ground station in Meudon, France: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQd0WEcoFgE&t=18s) It was received by amateurs in Europe https://twitter.com/supertrack_it/status/964267817095835648 During past weekend (17-18 February) the PicSat team had programmed downloads of House Keeping data from the payload over targeted areas across the planet. Many amateurs received and send the data to the PicSat data base. This has allowed for the first time to create a 24h monitoring of the temperature sensor readings, which are helpful diagnostics for the team showing the importance of this community effort: https://twitter.com/IamPicSat/status/965982775718436864 Radio amateurs can register on the PicSat website to become involved and upload their data to the PicSat data base, where it will be visible for anyone to see and serve the PicSat team. This will be even more important once observations of Beta Pictoris will start and a large stream of photometric data will be produced to monitor the brightness of the star and create the real time light curve. The PicSat team is most grateful for all the positive collaboration, feedback and help to date and looks forward to continue and strengthen this connection. Please see https://picsat.obspm.fr/ for all details. [ANS thanks Maaten Roos and the PicSat Team at the Paris Observatory for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Falconsat-3 Software Reload AMSAT Vice-President Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA reported that Falconsat-3 has had a software crash after ~850 days uptime. The Operations Team will need to reload the softeare. Drew mentioned, "Even though you might hear telemetry, the BBS and digipeater will be off until we are complete. Please attempt no transmissions until AMSAT's Operations Team releases Falconsat-3 back to general use. Your cooperation is appreciated. [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for 2-22-2018 Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, noted that 18th Space Control Squadron has swapped the satellite names associated with object 41845 (was CAS-2T) and another object 41847. Therefore CAS-2T is now object 41847. Nico's detailed doppler measurements confirm that CAS-2T is in fact object 41847. (Note: the payloads CAS-2T and KS-1Q still remain attached to the CZ 11 fourth stage.) Thanks Nico, good catch! The PICSAT team and Albert Van Duersen indicate that a better set of TLEs for PICSAT is now object 43132. Nico Janssen has also noted that the best TLE set for PICSAT has been unstable since November 14th of last year. Nico says that now object 43132 and even object 43133 are better matches for PICSAT than object 43131. Therefore, we will use object 43132 for PICSAT for now. The problem is the closeness of objects 43131, 43132 and 43133. Nico says he will continue to monitor these objects as they slowly separate over time. More later. [ANS thanks AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Why is there so much TLE confusion when new Cubesats are launched? AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD provided some answers to frequently asked questions regarding every time a CubeSat gets launched, there is some confusion on what TLEs should be used. This is the result of the process of launching a new amateur CubeSat with other CubeSats, often several dozen at a time. We then start the process of determining which object in a “flock” of CubeSats is associated with a particular spacecraft. Pre-launch TLEs, that is calculation based on the expected orbit, are usually supplied by the launch provider. Pre-launch TLEs are used until post-launch TLEs (for the group of objects that your satellite is in) are released from the US Department of Defense Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) based on observations made with cameras and radars. There is a a 5 to 10 day period of tracking a group of CubeSats until they separate enough to isolate the one of interest. By observing the Doppler shift on transmissions from a particular satellite against the calculated Doppler shift from all candi- date object TLEs, we can positively associate an object with a particular satellite. In the case of AMSAT satellites, we then advise JSpOC which object number is “ours”. Finally, an individual satellite and its associated TLEs are determined and we settle down to an single, accurate, reliable set of TLEs … and all the other “best guesses” go away, although they may be still floating around on the Internet. But, there are so many variables – did you launch on time, did you get released on time, has the group your CubeSat is in separated enough to identify your satellite, etc. that the process that can be both confusing and annoying at the same time. AMSAT strives to minimize confusion when distributing TLEs. Dummy object numbers are used for pre-launch TLEs since final object numbers cannot be assigned yet. Immediately post launch we may post candidate objects with generic names like “OBJECT C”. Finally, when positive association between an object number and a spacecraft is made, we will use the common name of the satellite. We always recommend using TLEs from the Keps mail- ing list or the current bulletin or bare elements from the AMSAT web site. Join the AMSAT Keps Mailing list: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/keps AMSAT Current Keps bulletin: https://www.amsat.org/tle/current/nasa.all AMSAT current bare elements: https://www.amsat.org/tle/current/nasabare.txt [ANS thanks AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMSAT Symposium 2018 at Miraikan in Tokyo March 10 - 11 JAMSAT President Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP announced that the JAMSAT Annual General Meeting and Symposium will be held in Tokyo March 10- 11. (Note: all times are noted in Japan Standard Time JST) Annual General Meeting: March 10 (Sat) 11:00~12:30 Symposium 2018 Day 1: March 10 (Sat) 13:25~18:00 Day 2: March 11 (Sun) 9:30~13:00 Dinner: March 10 (Sat) 18:00 Miraikan - The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation 2-3-6 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan / Tel: +81-3-3570-9151 (main) http://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/en/aboutus/ Contact JA3GEP - ja3gep at jamsat dot or dot jp to register Check JAMSAT's web page for the latest information: https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p=659 March 10 Saturday Time (JST) 13:25 - 13:30 Greetings Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP 13:30 - 14:10 Receiving Satellite Signals in Amateur Radio Bands Naomi Kurahara, JE6EXN 14:10 - 15:10 NEXUS Progress(1) Kiyoshi Yamaguchi Nihon University MEXUS Progress(2) Hozumi Ueda, JA0FKM 15:10 - 15:20 Coffee Break 15:20 - 16:00 Receiving Signal from OMOTENSHI Moon Probe Wataru Torii JAXA Radio Amateur Club 16:00 ~ 16:40 Introduction to Ryman Sat Project Takafumi Shimamura JI1SYC 16:40 - 17:10 Es'hail-2 (P4-A) and other news from AMSAT-DL (Skype) Peter Guelzow, DB2OS 17:10 - 18:00 Group Photo 18:00 - 20:00 Dinner at the Canteen Restaurant March 11 Sunday 09:30 - 10:20 AMSAT-NA's FOX-1 and GOLF Program (Skype) Paul Stoetzer, N8HM 10:20 - 10:30 Coffee Break 10:30 - 11:10 ISS HamTV receiving Project at Wakaytama University Katsumi Morita, JA3RVS 11:10 - 11:50 New Generation SDR Satellite ground station with 5,000JPY Noritsuna Imamura, JI1SZP 11:50 - 12:00 Coffee Break 12:00 - 12:40 Enjoy Satellite Communication with Dipole Antennna! Eiji Nakamura, JA1CPA 12:40 - Other Topics [ANS thanks JAMSAT President Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation ZF2, CAYMAN ISLAND (Satellites, Grids, HF). Adrian, AA5UK, will once again be operating as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman (between March 1-4th) and ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman (between March 5-10). Activity will be holiday style (usually) on 40-10 meters using a IC- 7300 and vertical antenna. Operations will be focused on the Digital modes (FT8, RTTY, PSK and other digital modes upon request)with possibly some SSB, and the satellites using 2x FT-817s and Arrow Antenna for satellite. Most of his activity will be in the afternoons and evenings. For the latest operational updates, watch his Twitter links <@AA5UK and @ZF2AE>. QSL direct to AA5UK with a SAE/SASE, LoTW or eQSL. [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1351 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CabreuvaDX Team Announces ZV1C Activation on Satellite March 17-18 Members of the CabreuvaDX Team will be active as ZV1C from Cedro Island between March 17-18th. Activity will be on 80/ 40/20/15/10 meters using CW, SSB and FT8. There will also be activity on 2 meters satellite. QSL via PU2VCP. For more details, see ZV1C on QRZ.com. [ANS thanks the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1349 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ESTCube-2 Applies for IARU Frequency Coordination The IARU Coordination Requests page shows that the Institute of Physics at the University of Tartu in Estonia is planning a 3U cubesat named ESTCube-2 is a 3U Cubesat. The primary transceiver proposes to use the 70 cm amateur radio band for uplink and downlink purposes: + Beacon reporting satellite status once per minute in AX.25 data packet format with 9600 baud data-rate FSK/GFSK modulated signal with experimental changing frequency up-to 38600 baud using 2GFSK (or 4GFSK for testing) modulation schemes. + Digital file and/or analog NBFM signal including low resolution image thumbnail images will be transmitted. + The digipeater mode will be used to allow amateur radio operates to use the satellite for two-way digital communication. 9600 bps GFSK AX.25 data uplink will be in 2m amateur band and transmission of digipeated packet in 70 cm radio amateur band. + A Doppler ranging experiment will be used to determine satellite distance to Earth in order to improve accuracy of satellite orbit determination. 2m amateur band as uplink and 70 cm amateur band as downlink is used for Doppler ranging method. + High-speed communications system data downlink in the 5 GHz amateur radio band, where possible data will be satellite status packets, experiment data and full resolution images from Earth observation camera. Data will be downlinked starting with BPSK modulated 9600 bps data-rate up-to 32APSK modulated 25 Mbps data-rate signal. + An on-board corner reflector is planned for possible optical ranging. More info here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-TI7NbeuNSuUjcwSUhBTEg5UGc/view No launch opportunity has been identified but planning a 2019 deployment into a SSO. [ANS thanks the the Institute of Physics at the University of Tartu and the IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Shanghai Tech University Proposing Amateur Radio Digipeater Microsat The Amateur Radio Interest Group of Shanghai Tech University has submitted a frequency coordination request to the IARU for a microsat 50k kg, 25 x 25 50 cms with deployable solar panels including an amateur radio mission. + An amateur radio digipeater payload available for all radio amateurs. Digipeater uplink on 2m amateur band and down link on 70cm amateur band using 4k8 FSK. + TT&C uplink on 2m amateur band and down link on 70cm amateur band for amateur payload using 4k8 FSK. + A non-amateur experimental mission will use a laser link and S-band data links in the Spacecraft Operation Service. Planning a launch from Jiuquan Space Center on June 30, 2018 into a 700km SSO. [ANS thanks the Amateur Radio Interest Group of Shanghai Tech University and the IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadian University Design Challenge for “Selfie-Sat” On February 19, 2018 the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge announced a competition for a 3U Cubesat “Selfie-Sat” to be designed and built by Canadian university students. A snapshot of the Selfie-Sat mission: 1) amateur radio stations contact the university-built cubesat and send a command for it to take a photo from space. The photo is then down-linked to the station, along with photos and stories from Canada. 2) The Selfie-Sat mission will be designed so that amateur radio operators will be able to contact it as it passes overhead. During the contact, the radio operator will be able to send a command for the satellite to take a “Space-Selfie” photo over the region. 3) The photo will be immediately transmitted to the ground, along with Canadian stories for students of all ages, as well as other scenic photos and descriptions of Canada. “We envision radio amateur operators setting up their equipment at science centres or even schools,” said Larry Reeves, Canadian Satel- lite Design Challenge Management Society President, “and having a public or school event for the pass. We believe this mission will have outstanding educational benefits for students, and for promoting Canadian science, technology, and culture.” Competition details are posted at: http://www.csdcms.ca/ [ANS thanks the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge Management Society for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 15th Annual CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly April 30 The CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo will be held April 30 to May 2, 2018. Registration is now open and can be completed at: http://www.cubesat.org/workshop-information A schedule of presentations can also be found on this link. Early Bird Registration Ends on March 30, 2018 and regular registration begins. Online Registration closes April 27, 2018. Those who wish to purchase passes after this date must buy them at the door. [ANS thanks the CubeSat Developers Workshop for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- First Citizen Science Workshop Measuring Effects of the Solar Eclipse This past August, the United States was witness to one of the most beautiful and significant astronomical events in human history – a total solar eclipse that travelled across the country from Oregon to South Carolina. In addition to its visual beauty, this eclipse also had profound effects on the ionosphere, an electrically charged portion of the upper atmosphere that affects radio communications and navigation systems. These ionospheric effects piqued the interest of scientists and amateur radio operators across the country. They conducted one of the largest citizen science experiments in space science, an international ham radio operating event specifically for studying the eclipse. Many of these scientists and hams will be gathering for the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI, http://hamsci.org) workshop. The event will be held at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ this Friday and Saturday (February 23-24, 2018) to share their observations and findings. The program begins each day at 9AM at the Campus Center. Presentations by scientists and ham radio operators from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory will highlight the program. All interested are welcome to attend the workshop. For more information and registration, please visit http://hamsci.org/hamsci2018. This HamSCI 2018 workshop is organized by Dr. Nathaniel Frissell and is hosted by the New Jersey Institute of Technology Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research. Originally posted at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-Southgate-NJIT (Southgatearc.org) [ANS thanks Southgate for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor If you're open to volunteering to help AMSAT this is your chance! We have openings for a few volunteers willing to help as an AMSAT News Service editor. Our editors work on a rotating schedule with each taking turns as the current week's news editor. Using input received from members, the amateur radio community, officers, plus our other editors your job is to assemble the AMSAT News Service bulletin for your week. (Template is provided to help you format the message.) If you can help contact our Senior News Service Editor, Lee McLamb, KT4TZ via his e-mail: kt4tz(a)amsat.org (Ed. note: the need for at least one, hopefully many volunteer editors, is immediate. K9JKM will be retiring at the end of March with extensive travel plans, often out of reach of the internet.) [ANS thanks the AMSAT News Service for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bittern DX Educational Outreach Project in the UK AMSAT-UK shared a link from an article posted on England's North Norfolk news reporting on the success of Bittern DX’s educational outreach project with the Girl Guides. http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-GirlGuides Eight members of a north Norfolk-based amateur radio group have been teaching girl guides how to contact colleagues around the world as part of Thinking on The Air Day. The team from Bittern DX’s educational outreach project made the journey to the village hall in Saham Toney, near Swaffham, to speak to about 60 rainbows, brownies, guides and their adult leaders. Thinking on the Air Day is an opportunity for the members of girlguiding from the youngest rainbow to the oldest trefoil guild member to talk to other members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts via amateur radio. On this day each year members remember the founders of the movement and take part in various activities to think about their sisters throughout the world. The girl guides were given the chance to find a transmitter 50 yards away, shown how the Morse code works, and they all keyed their name correctly, earning a certificate. They were then allowed to talk on air to each other using handsets before being introduced to VHF working with each participant correctly conducting a meaningful conservation with a club member outside on a handheld. One brownie had a short conversation with an amateur in Germany. Next they were shown the principles and techniques behind satellite working with three conversations conducted. Peter Stainton, publicity officer for the Bittern DX, said: “Club members found it very rewarding to see the young people take part in our hobby. “One brownie said it had blown her mind away to see what we could do. But as a counterbalance, when being told how we could talk around the world and beyond, one commented ‘I just use Skype’.” The group’s outreach project is aimed at bringing an amateur radio experience to the general public and was given a boost last year with a grant of almost £10,000 from the National Lottery’s Awards for All fund for new club equipment. The group also received money from the Radio Society of Great Britain Legacy Fund (RSGB) to help buy a trailer and new generator. For more information visit www.bittern-dxers.org.uk/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and North Norfolk News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Microwave Compendium "Backscatter" available as free PDF Backscatter is a compendium of the best technical articles that have been in Scatterpoint, the UK Microwave Group newsletter (and its predecessor) over the period 1999 to 2006 The original publication in 2008 was an A5 size book of 445 pages and is an excellent reference with many articles on all aspects of microwaves. Download from http://www.microwavers.org/?backscatter.htm Membership of UKuG is free to those under 21. Details of UKuG membership can be found at: http://www.microwavers.org/ [ANS thanks Southgate ARC News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Bruce Paige, KK5DO, Director of AMSAT Awards congratulates Soren, AK4WQ, for earning AMSAT Rover Award #012. See: https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/ + NASA TV plans coverage of the ISS Expedition 54 return to Earth: Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2 p.m. EST: Expedition 54 crew farewell and hatch closure. NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos bid farewell to the International Space Station crew and close the hatch of their Soyuz spacecraft in preparation for undocking. Tuesday, Feb. 27, 5:30 p.m. EST: Expedition 54 Soyuz undocking. Tuesday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. EST: Expedition 54 Soyuz deorbit burn and landing in Kazakhstan. Landing is scheduled at 9:31 p.m EST. + At 5:02 p.m. EST, March 1, a two-hour launch window will open, during which GOES-S will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. Launch coverage will begin at 4:30 p.m EST all on NASA TV. + Photos needed for 2018 edition of AMSAT Getting Started With Amateur Satellites. Steve Belter, N9IP, recently tweeted that the editors of the 2018 edition of "AMSAT Getting Started With Amateur Satellites" are looking for action photos of people in the act of operating the satellites. Submissions with credits should be emailed to Steve n9ip at amsat dot org. + Satellite presentation in Surrey BC - The Surrey (BC) Amateur Radio Club announces that there will be will be an amateur radio satellite presentation during their March 14, 2018 meeting. All are welcome to attend. The meeting will be held at the Emergency Management Center BC South West PREOC, 14292 Green Timbers Way, Surrey BC, at 7:00 PM. For more information visit their Web site at: http://ve7sar.net/index.html The City of Surrey has posted the news on their events page: https://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/26128.aspx [ANS thanks Surrey ARC for the above information] + A blog discussing frequently asked questions about visual and radio satellite tracking resources can be read at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-SatTrackerFAQ + In order to understand many of the subtleties regarding launch vehicle design it is useful to understand many of the terms used in the engineering analysis and evaluation of these systems. Follow ths link to read about a few of the most important definitions. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Launch_Vehicle_Lingo_999.html + Scott Tilley made headlines after finding a NASA satellite that had been lost for over a decade. The IMAGE satellite, which was meant to study the magnetosphere, was launched in 2000, and lost contact with Earth back in 2005. Tilley, who uses radio equipment to track objects whose orbits are undis- closed, rediscovered it on January 20. Ever since the first satellites were launched, amateur astronomers have played a vital role in keeping tabs on them. In fact, when the Soviet satellite Sputnik I took the United States by surprise in October of 1957, legions of practiced volunteers were ready to track it, armed only with enthusiasm, low-power telescopes, and a good sense of timing. These volunteers were part of Operation Moonwatch, a massive citizen science project. Find more at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-MoonwatchHistory (www.atlasobscura.com) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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 at amsat dot org

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ANS-049 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 17 Feb '18

17 Feb '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-049 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: * Upcoming AO-92 Operations Schedule * SatPC32 12.8d is released * ARRL 2018 Teacher Institute to Include Amateur Satellites, Telemetry * Kettering University Student Brings Ham Radio Hobby, Expertise to Campus * AMSAT Argentina Balloon Flight Completes 2nd Trip Around the World * AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Station Update: FPGA, RFNoC, SDSoC * AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation * Phase 4 Ground Weekly Report! * Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-049.01 ANS-049 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 049.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. February 18, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-049.01 Upcoming AO-92 Operations Schedule AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa's High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). For the week of 18 - 24 Feb 2018, the following mode changes are scheduled: Approximately 0200UTC 18Feb we will enable the L band uplink for ~24 hours Approximately 0255UTC 20Feb we will enable high speed data in order to download from the HERCI experiment for 40 minutes Approximately 1540UTC 21Feb we will enable high speed data in order to download from the VT camera for 40 minutes Approximately 0215UTC 22Feb we will enable high speed data in order to download from the HERCI experiment for 40 minutes All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously. [ANS thanks Drew KO4MA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SatPC32 12.8d is released The English version of SatPC32 12.8d is now available for download on the author's web page. http://www.dk1tb.de/downloadeng.htm Here's What's New in the 12.8d version: 1. The CAT commands of the IC-9100 have been extended again. The program now also controls the DV mode (DV for 'Digital Voice') of the radio. The operating mode must be entered as DV in the file Doppler.SQF. With the FT-817 the program now additionally supports the CWR mode. 2. All SatPC32 programs now process significantly larger Keplerian element source files. Especially because of the numerous new Cubesats, the number of data sets contained in the source files has increased significantly. For example the file Cubesat.txt currently contains data for nearly 400 satellites. The previous version of the SatPC32 programs could only read up to 320 data sets (only SatPC32 itself up to 500). All SatPC32 programs have been expanded to handle sets of up to 1500 satellites. 3. In all programs (SatPC32, SatPC32ISS, Wisat32, WinAOS and WinListen), the list of satellites contained in the source file ('Available' list in menu Satellites) is now displayed in alphabetical order to facilitate locating individual satellites. 4. The program SatPC32ISS now also allows the creation of up to 12 satellite groups. The new Cubesats have also increased the number of 'in-band' satellites. Originally, in-band operation in amateur radio was only available at the ISS. 5. In order to accelerate a change between the individual satellite groups, the 'Groups' window can now be called up by clicking on vacant areas of the main window, except in the Satellite menu. Such free positions are located on the right and left of the frequency window. Editing the groups (create or delete a group, add or remove satellites) can only be done in the Satellites menu. 6. In the Satellites menu the data sets of the satellites contained in the active source file can now be displayed. When called, the data set of the currently selected satellite is displayed. The feature helps you to immediately know the identifier of the satellite. This allows you to add an entry to the file 'AmsatNames.txt' (menu '?' 'Auxiliary files'), so that the satellite can be displayed in the entire program with its AMSAT name or with a user defined name. 7. The program has improved control of the sub-audible tone required by some satellites. For many years SO-50 was the only such satellite. Switching sub tone was no issue. Now we have several (AO-85, AO-91, AO-92) The program can now automatically switch the sub tone on/off when switching between PL tone satellites and others, changing between u/v and v/u satellites, changing the group, closing the program etc. 8. In addition, numerous minor changes and error corrections have been made some people have complained about the difficulty of manually adding a new satellite and its corresponding tuning information. The Programs menu can now launch the W9KE DopplerSqfEditor to aid this process. Please read the instructions before installing or updating the program. You probably want to run the DataBackup program before updating an existing version. Existing registration codes work with the new version. Thanks to Erich Eichmann DK1TB for donating this software to AMSAT. Sale of registration codes and CDs is a major fund raiser for AMSAT. And thanks to Erich for providing user support on amsat-bb and updating the program for 20 years. No other satellite tracking program provides such comprehensive radio Doppler tuning. [ANS thanks Wayne W9AE for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL 2018 Teacher Institute to Include Amateur Satellites, Telemetry As part of its educational outreach through the Education & Technology Program (ETP), ARRL will offer three sessions of the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology this July. The week-long workshops will be held at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut, and in Dayton, Ohio — hosted by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA). The Teachers Institute (TI) is an expenses-paid, professional development seminar that provides teachers at all grade levels with tools and strategies to introduce basic electronics, radio science, space technology, and satellite communication, as well as weather science, introduction to micro-controllers, and basic robotics in their classrooms. The Teachers Institute curriculum is designed for motivated teachers and other school staff who want to learn more about wireless technology and bring that knowledge to their students. The goal of the TI program is to equip educators with necessary foundational knowledge and — through hands-on learning — generate the inspiration for teachers to continue exploring wireless technology and adapt what they learn to their classroom curricula. Interested educators can apply online. The $100 enrollment fee is refunded for applicants who are not selected. A qualified applicant must be an active teacher at an elementary, middle, high school, or community college/university, or in a leadership or enrichment instruction role in an after-school program. Session Location Dates Instructor TI – 2 Newington, CT July 9 – July 12 Matt Severin N8MS TI – 1 Dayton, OH July 16 – July 20 Larry Kendall K6NDL TI – 1 Newington, CT July 23 – July 27 Tommy Gober N5DUX Topics covered in the TI-1 “Introduction to Wireless Technology” workshop include basic electronics, radio science, microcontroller programming, and basic robotics. Among other activities, participants will learn how to solder and practice by building a small project. They’ll also learn basic circuit concepts and learn how to use basic test equipment. In addition, TI-1 attendees will learn about Amateur Radio, take part in a hidden transmitter hunt, see demonstrations of Amateur Radio satellite communication, and build and program their own simple robots. The TI-2 “Remote Sensing and Data Gathering” workshop will concentrate on analog-to-digital conversion and data sampling. Participants will receive telemetry from Amateur Radio satellites and apply it to math and science topics. TI-2 participants will also construct a marine research buoy equipped with environmental sensors, build a microcontroller to sample the data, configure it for Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) transmission, and receive and upload data to a spreadsheet for analysis. Holding an Amateur Radio license is not required for the “Introduction to Wireless Technology” workshop (TI-1), but one is required by those planning to attend the advanced “Remote Sensing and Data Gathering” workshop (TI-2), and applicants to the advanced workshop must have completed TI-1. The grant to attend a TI covers transportation, hotel, and a modest per diem allowance to cover meals, instructional resources, and a resource library of relevant ARRL publications. Graduate credit is available through Fresno Pacific University, which may be applied to satisfy professional growth requirements to maintain teaching credentials. The class is self-contained, and participants are expected to be able to complete all requirements during the class time. Graduate credit forms may be requested at the end of the Teachers Institute. For more information, contact Ally Riedel ariedel at arrl.org at ARRL Headquarters. [ANS thanks ARRL Headquarters for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kettering University Student Brings Ham Radio Hobby, Expertise to Campus Ruth Willet ‘21 has always been fascinated with Morse code, especially when researching World War II. That fascination grew into a hobby, and she soon found herself engrained in the amateur radio - more commonly known as ham radio - community. Willet, who is double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Physics, first got licensed in June 2015 as a ham radio operator because of her interest in Morse code. She soon upgraded her license in order to explore more aspects of the hobby. Other hams know Willet as KM4LAO (Kilo Mike Four Lima Alpha Oscar), the call letters of her government-issued ham radio license. “It’s such a special hobby because there’s so many people that want to get to know you and want to help you learn and grow. It really has enabled me to mature into who I am today. I have gained incredible friends from across the globe,” said Willet, a Georgia native. “This hobby supplements very well what I’m doing at Kettering because it has application in a lot of different subjects. I love seeing the practical application of electronics, solar weather and the way radio signals propagate around the globe. I am thrilled by the fact that I can talk to someone who’s driving down the interstate 10 miles away, bounce signals off of satellites to have conversations hundreds of miles away, or talk around the world to someone in Africa. It’s fascinating. You really learn a lot.” Willet had to pass an exam given by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in order to receive her call sign and be allowed to operate on the air. The three levels of Amateur radio licenses from entry-level to most advanced are Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. Willet upgraded to the Amateur Extra level license before she graduated from high school. Willet can use a hand-held radio to talk with someone across town, or she can use a more robust radio that enables her to talk around the world by reflecting her transmitted signal off the ionosphere. There are fast-paced competitive events she participates in where she is supposed to talk to as many people as possible within 24 hours. She can operate in multiple ways, including Morse code, voice communication or digital (which is similar to texting through ham radio). “The fun thing is that’s only the start. Amateur radio satellites are orbiting the earth. You can bounce off the satellites and talk to people halfway around the world,” Willet said. “We can also use our skills to assist in emergency situations. For example, when Hurricane Irma recently hit in Puerto Rico, amateur radio operators were some of the only people who could communicate from the island to the outside world.” In 2016, Willet also participated in National Parks on the Air, a worldwide event organized by the American Radio Relay League. Since 2016 was the centennial of the National Park Service (NPS), hams wanted to help celebrate history by getting people to national parks, seashores, monuments, and more. Ham radio operators went out and set up portable radio stations, got on the air, and helped other hams around the world conduct “virtual visits” to parks across the country. When Willet came to Kettering University, she knew she wanted to continue her ham radio activities. Kettering was appealing to her for the small classes and the close-knit campus feel, on top of the co-op experience. “After coming for the LITE (Lives Improved Through Engineering) summer program and seeing how personal everybody was at Kettering I just really felt like it was a great fit. And I can’t turn down the co-op experience,” Willet said. “I was first interested in Mechanical Engineering because my grandfather had a book about basic machines and how they work. I was fascinated with levers to complicated gears. Then senior year of high school I took Physics and I loved it. Being able to see the effects of basic physics on daily life was very interesting to me. I’m learning as much as I can at school and exploring opportunities both inside and outside the classroom so that I can make the most of my time here.” She has found that the skills she learns in classes go hand in hand with her amateur radio hobby. Willet plans to start up an Amateur Radio Club on campus in the spring 2018 term to get more students interested. “It’s a stress relief for me. I really enjoy sharing this hobby with other students,” she said. “I would encourage people to consider exploring amateur radio because it’s a hobby that allows you to explore anything from technical electronics to international friendships. Amateur radio is open to anyone. It will help develop your professional and personal skills, participate in and learn from fascinating activities, and connect with an incredible community.” [ANS thanks Sarah Schuch and Kettering University for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Argentina Balloon Flight Completes 2nd Trip Around the World AMSAT Argentina reports that their earth circling El PicoGlobo WSPR beacon balloon has now completed its 2nd lap around the world. After its 2nd crossing of the Pacific Ocean the balloon flew over Patagonia, then headed north at 12,000 meters altitude to Buenos Aires during the night of February 11. On February 12 it flew over Uruguay then turned east out over the Atlantic Ocean to begin its 3rd circle of the Earth. PicoGlobo transmits a WSPR beacon on 14.0956 MHz. Flight progress can be followed at: http://lu7aa.org.ar/wspr.asp https://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FLU1ESY-3&timerange=604800&tail=604800 [ANS thanks AMSAT Argentina for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Station Update: FPGA, RFNoC, SDSoC Michelle, W5NYV says the latest Phase 4 Ground Station Report is available for viewing at: https://youtu.be/moKFVagY_Ro This week you'll see a video demo of the Voltera V-one system available for circuit printing, solder paste and reflow to enable prototype development. Work has been progressing on the FPGA or field programmable gate array which is at the heart of many modern software defined radios. Having powerful reconfigurable digital logic realizes a lot of the promise of SDRs. Balancing the workload between the general purpose processor and the FPGA is a big challenge. The RFNoC, or Radio Frequency Network on a Chip from Ettus Research for the 300 series USRPs before. RFNoC lets you place blocks that run on the FPGA in GNU Radio as if they were being run by the host computer. This lets you use the FPGA to full advantage within GNU Radio Companion. A comparison is made with the SDSoC, the Software Defined System on a Chip ,a tool from Xilinx. The team is looking for your help! If you can help ease the process of learning this environment, please let Michelle know: W5nyv(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks Michelle, W5NYV and the AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Station team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation ZF2, CAYMAN ISLAND (Satellites, Grids, HF). Adrian, AA5UK, will once again be operating as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman (between March 1-4th) and ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman (between March 5-10). Activity will be holiday style (usually) on 40-10 meters using a IC- 7300 and vertical antenna. Operations will be focused on the Digital modes (FT8, RTTY, PSK and other digital modes upon request)with possibly some SSB, and the satellites using 2x FT-817s and Arrow Antenna for satellite. Most of his activity will be in the afternoons and evenings. For the latest operational updates, watch his Twitter links <@AA5UK and @ ZF2AE>. QSL direct to AA5UK with a SAE/SASE, LoTW or eQSL. [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1351 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Phase 4 Ground Weekly Report! Voltera Circuit printer for prototyping is up and running the Hello World circuit. Video of this report at https://youtu.be/rdjKZCc9g74 There will be plenty more reports and feedback about the badge design over coming week as the JoCo Cruise embarks. Several of our team members are on the cruise and we can't wait to hear all about it. Everything that we've learned on this effort will be applied to the Hamvention badge, and to the Phase 4 Ground radios. We have some Software Defined System on a Chip progress. We have received our Xilinx specific JTAG Cable. Here it is! Charles Brain has been battling Petalinux and linux builds for his environment. Plenty of learning going on there. Some of us have received additional hardware from LimeSDR and there is more on the way. We have received very positive news from from Critical, the makers of Snickerdoodle, that official board definition files are in progress and will be available very soon. This means that those of us that are ordinary tool users, and not necessarily advanced tool makers, will be able to experiment and make progress with the Snickerdoodle, Xilinx Vivado, and the Xilinx SDK, more easily. SDSoC allows you to take functions written in C and C++, evaluate whether they would be better run on either the general purpose processor or the FPGA, and then assign them to the proper hardware. The 5GHz RF team is learning a lot about the impact of connectors on performance, and are evaluating some higher quality solutions. Several sets of team members are working on transverter designs. This is a very active and interesting area of investigation. There's a large number of tradeoffs and design patterns involved. We have a 10GHz specific effort, a high-performance multi band effort, the 5GHz RF team previously featured, and more. If you are interested in RF designs, then we are here to help. Ed Friesma at UNLV is taking on more of the correlator design. Our next report will be all about the progress on the DVB-S2 correlator, the GNU Radio block, what we can leverage from the GPU implementation, and next steps. On the 28th of February, we will have two guest speakers at our regular ASCENT conference call. Nate and Neal from Ettus Research will be addressing questions about the Careful COTS design of a USRP 300 series board for use in space. Having a powerful SDR at the heart of an amateur radio payload would put us in excellent position to deploy any modulation scheme we want. The Careful COTS version of a USRP is why Phase 4 Space was founded, and we've had a very good week in terms of outreach and evangelism. There's good news in an update to the Phase 4B mission on the Wide Field Of View satellite, with a launch scheduled for 2020. You can read about it in the article linked in the notes, from this past June. Our job on Phase 4 Ground is to make sure that you have a radio that can use this or any other payload that uses the Five and Dime air interface. And of course we want to fill up terrestrial microwave with the same fun and easy to use broadband digital microwave signals. If you're interested in learning more, then get in touch. http://www.losangeles.af.mil/…/final-rfp-released-for-laun…/ Plenty going on and lots of fun to be had. We will have a booth at Dayton as soon as possible, and we will be asking for time to talk at the Hamvention SDR forum about the Careful COTS effort, open source successes, and the impact of SDR advances on licensed and unlicensed services. After Hamvention is DEFCON. And we might have something up our sleeves this year. I'm working very hard on setting up a workshop and hackfest at GNU Radio Conference 2018, which will be held September 17-21 in Henderson, Nevada. This hackfest will focus on developing GNU Radio receiver blocks for DVB-S2 and S2X. If you are on the team or a supporter or find yourself interested in all of this, then please consider coming to the conference and participating in this effort. Tickets will be available very soon. It's a volunteer run event made possible by people just like you. And, there's an open space initiative from Lockheed Martin that we need to take a serious look at, and some new products on the market that might make our GSE and DVB-S2X manufactured solutions a bit easier. Howie DeFelice is on that trail and will report back. See you next week! [ANS thanks Michelle W5NYV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor If you're open to volunteering to help AMSAT this is your chance! We have openings for a few volunteers willing to help as an AMSAT News Service editor. Our editors work on a rotating schedule with each taking turns as the current week's news editor. Using input received from members, the amateur radio community, officers, plus our other editors your job is to assemble the AMSAT News Service bulletin for your week. (Template is provided to help you format the message.) If you can help contact our Senior News Service Editor, Lee McLamb, KT4TZ via his e-mail: kt4tz at amsat.org (Ed. note: the need for at least one, hopefully many volunteer editors, is immediate. K9JKM will be retiring at the end of March with extensive travel plans, often out of reach of the internet.) [ANS thanks the AMSAT News Service for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Naka Junior High School, Kakamigahara City, Japan and Astronaut Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2018-01-22 10:23 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via 8J25D. ARISS Mentor was Satoshi 7M3TJZ. + A Successful contact was made between The English School, Nicosia, Cyprus and Astronaut Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2018-01-24 10:35 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Telebridge via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentor was Armand SP3QFE. + A Successful contact was made between Central Magnet Math & Science ES/Batesville School District, Batesville, AR and Astronaut Joe Acaba KE5DAR using Callsign OR4ISS. The contact began 2018-01-31 16:42 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Telebridged via IK1SLD. ARISS Mentors was Keith W5IU. + A Successful contact was made between Moore Square AIG/GT Magnet School, Raleigh, NC and Astronaut Scott Tingle KG5NZA using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2018-02-05 18:32 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via KG4AKV ARISS Mentors were Steve W1HQL and Ryan W4NTR. + A Successful contact was made between Vilniaus Jono Basanaviciaus Gymnasium together with Vilniaus Jono Basanaviciaus Progymnasium, Vilnius, Lithuania and Astronaut Joe Acaba KE5DAR using Callsign OR4ISS. The contact began 2018-02-14 12:37 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via LY1BWB ARISS Mentor was Eskil SM5SRR. + A Successful contact was made between Los Angeles Academy Middle School, Los Angeles, CA and Astronaut Joe Acaba KE5DAR using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2018-02-15 17:45 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via W6RVD ARISS Mentor was Charlie AJ9N. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule "Galaxy - Children and Youth Center for Space Education", Kaluga, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Misurkin Contact is a go for 2018-02-18 10:45 UTC Agrupamento de Escolas do Fundão, Fundão, Portugal, direct via CS5DBB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA Contact is a go for: Wed 2018-02-21 09:38:11 UTC 33 deg Museum of Science & Technology - Danforth Middle School, Syracuse, NY, direct via K2MST The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP Contact is a go for: Fri 2018-02-23 14:08:52 UTC 28 deg School in Kursk, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is TBD Contact is a go for Sat 2018-02-24 08:45 UTC Watch for possible time update [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + European FOSDEM Talks Playlist The Free and Open source Software Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) is a two-day event organized by volunteers to promote the widespread use of Free and Open Source software. A playlist of the talks is posted at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS49-FOSDEM [ANS thanks FOSDEM for the above information] + Congratulations to Mikey White, K7ULS for completing his Worked All States - Satellite on February 13. Mikey says state #50 was Rhode Island. Bob Mattaliano, N6RFM provided the connection at the Rhode Island end. Mikey posted a video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaMBERls6Ww&feature=youtu.be [ANS thanks Mike K7ULS via AMSAT North America Facebook] + Photos needed for 2018 edition of AMSAT Getting Started With Amateur Satellites. Steve Belter, N9IP, recently tweeted that the editors of the 2018 edition of "AMSAT Getting Started With Amateur Satellites" are looking for action photos of people in the act of operating the satellites. Submissions with credits should be emailed to Steve n9ip at amsat dot org. [ANS thanks Steve N9IP for the above information] + The AMSAT Office will be closed on Monday, February 19th in observance of Presidents' Day. [ANS thanks Martha for the above information.] + On February 16 Jeff, WB8RJY worked Jose, EB1AO in Spain via AO91. The satellite was at 0.8 degrees for Jose and at 0.6 degrees for Jeff for this QSO. Jeff commented, "Thats stretching the old string pretty tight! Once again, amazing bird!" (via Twitter) [ANS thanks Jeff WB8RJY 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, AA8EM aa8em at amsat dot org

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ANS-042 AMSAT Weekly News Bulletins
by Chris Bradley 12 Feb '18

12 Feb '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-042.01 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: * Satellite/AMSAT Presentation for Pasadena Radio Club * Wind satellite survives vacuum * All-in-one Service for Space Station * Sally Ride EarthKAM Space Camp's 60th Mission is open for registration * Estimated March 2018 Launch Date for Es'hail 2 Satellite * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-042.01 ANS-042.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 042.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. November 5, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-042.01 Satellite/AMSAT presentation for the Pasadena Radio Club on Tuesday, 23 January 2018. (part 1 of 3, links for parts 2 and 3 on the top/right of the page) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-fFpxg1kM&feature=youtu.be An updated version of the slideshow projected on the screen is available for download. Go to http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ and find it in the folder "WA0POD". [ANS would like to thank Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wind satellite survives vacuum ESA's Aeolus satellite has been particularly tricky to build. One of the main stumbling blocks has been getting its lasers to work in a vacuum, but recent tests on the satellite show that the vacuum or temperature of space won't get in the way of Aeolus measuring Earth's winds. [ANS would like to thank the European Space Agency for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- All-in-one Service for the Space Station Quick access to space, high-speed data feed and a unique vantage point are the selling points of a new commercial venture on the International Space Station. Its name is Bartolomeo, and its versatile design allows for many mission types at competitive prices from next year. [ANS would like to thank the European Space Agency for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sally Ride EarthKAM Space Camp's 60th Mission is open for registration. This be will EarthKAM's 60th week-long mission and the first of 2018! Mission 60 runs February 20 through February 26. Mission sign up is available and orbits will be published by Thursday, February 15. Educators can sign up and get their class involved up to the day of the orbit. Requested images should be available within 24 hours of the orbit. If you are looking for a project to do with the images, look at our activities page for some great ideas that incorporate the images. For more information on how to make an image request take a look at our User Guide. www.earthKAM.org [ANS would like to thank E.Mike Cardel, AMSAT ANS Rotating Editor for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Estimated March 2018 Launch Date for Es'hail 2 Satellite The SatBeams website says they have a estimated launch date of 28-Mar-2018 for the Es'hail 2 satellite carrying the world's first geostationary amateur radio service in S-band/X-band ranges via its AMSAT-DL hosted payload. Launch site: Cape Canaveral Launch vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2 Commercial payloads on Es'hail 2 include 24 Ku-band and 11-Ka-band transponders to provide direct broadcasting services throughout the Middle East and North Africa as well as government communication services. Posted at: https://www.satbeams.com/satellites?id=2683 [ANS thanks SatBeams.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Vilniaus Jono Basanaviciaus Gymnasium together with Vilniaus Jono Basanaviciaus Progymnasium, Vilnius, Lithuania, direct via LY1BWB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA (***) Contact is a go for: Mon 2018- 02-12 12:45:49 UTC 46 deg (***) Los Angeles Academy Middle School, Los Angeles, CA, direct via W6RVD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA (***) Contact is a go for: Fri 2018- 02-16 16:53:20 UTC 34 deg (***) University of the Philippines Integrated School, Quezon City, Philippines, direct via DX1ISS (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP (***) Contact is a go for: Sat 2018-02-17 10:23:00 UTC 70 deg (***) ********************************************************************* ********* 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. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ã˜ MHz. ********************************************************************* ********** All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ********************************************************************* ********** Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ********************************************************************* ******* Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net ********************************************************************* ******* ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKÃ˜WGF with 132 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 128 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 100 ********************************************************************* ******* The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2018-02-06 05:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1206. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1155. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: Arkansas, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPÃ˜ISS, IRÃ˜ISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSÃ˜ISS ********************************************************************* ******* The successful school list has been updated as of 2018-02-06 05:00 UTC. (***) http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_corr ection .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 ********************************************************************* ******* Exp. 53 on orbit Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP Alexander Misurkin Joe Acaba KE5DAR Exp. 54 on orbit Scott Tingle KG5NZA Norishige Kanai Alexander Skvortsov ********************************************************************* ******* [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Object 43199 has apparently been identified as Shaonian Xing (Youth Sat) + A video from the RSGB 2017 Convention + LibreSpaceFoundation Talk Object 43199 has apparently been identified as Shaonian Xing (Youth Sat). So the unknown satellite that identifies itself as MXSAT-1 is actually the student satellite Shaonian Xing. It also means this satellite does not transmit on its coordinated frequencies. Let's wait and see if its FM repeater will be activated and on which frequencies it will operate. http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=547 [ANS would like to thank Nico, PA0DLO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- A video from the RSGB 2017 Convention, "Amateur deep space reception", by Paul Marsh, M0EYT can found at: http://rsgb.org/main/publications-archives/video/rsgb-convention- lectures/rsgb-2017-convention-lectures/ Paul Marsh, M0EYT gives an introduction into deep space mega-DX, the equipment needed and the techniques used to identify extremely weak signals coming from man-made space probes in various parts of our solar system. X-Band (8.4GHz) is the primary band of discussion but Paul also talks briefly about S and Ka reception equipment and antennas. You can receive signals from spacecraft in excess of 1 billion Km with a modest size dish in your garden. If you have an interest in EME or microwave weak signal reception, Amateur DSR can help you push the limits of what is possible with home-built equipment. [ANS would like to thank JoAnne, K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- LibreSpaceFoundation Talk Watch the LibreSpaceFoundation FOSDEM talk on UPSat_gr the 1st open source hardware and software satellite https://youtu.be/D8QtZ9IRLto [ANS would like to thank JoAnne, K9JKM 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, Chris Bradley, AA5EM aa5em at amsat dot org _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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ANS-035 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 03 Feb '18

03 Feb '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-035 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: * AO-92 to Initiate Operational Scheduling * Soyuz Rocket Launches 11 Satellites Including D-Star One Phoenix * Upcoming ARISS contact with Moore Square AIG/GT Magnet School, Raleigh, NC * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for January 2018 * AMSATDroidFree Source Code Released on GitHub SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-035.01 ANS-035 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 035.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE FEBRUARY 4, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-035.01 AO-92 to Initiate Operational Scheduling Since its commissioning the AO-92 U/v FM repeater has been open continuously. Beginning the first full week of February operations will be scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa’s High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). For the week of 4-10 Feb 2018, the following mode changes are scheduled: Approximately 1510 UTC 4 Feb the L band uplink will be activated for approximately 24 hours. Approximately 0250 UTC 6 Feb the high speed data will be activated for 40 minutes to enable data download from the HERCI experiment. Approximately 1520 UTC 8 Feb the high speed data will be activated for 40 minutes to enable data download from the HERCI experiment. The U/v repeater will be open continuously at all other times outside those listed above. [ANS thank Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Soyuz Rocket Launches 11 Satellites Including D-Star One Phoenix A Soyuz rocket crowned by a Fregat upper stage carrying 11 Russian, German and U.S. satellites into orbit lifted off Thursday from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, the first flight from the country’s newest spaceport since a failure in November. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off at 0207:18 GMT Thursday (9:07:18 p.m. EST Wednesday) from Vostochny, a cosmodrome carved from the forests of Russia’s Amur region near the country’s border with China. A CubeSat with an amateur radio relay payload named D-Star One Phoenix, developed by German Orbital Systems in Berlin in cooperation with the Czech company iSky Technology, was also launched Thursday. It replaces the D-Star One nanosatellite lost on the last launch from Vostochny on Nov. 28. Downlink frequencies are 435.700 MHz for telemetry and 435.525 MHz for D-Star. The uplink for D-STAR will be 437.325 MHz. [ANS thanks SpaceFlightNow and IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS contact with Moore Square AIG/GT Magnet School, Raleigh, NC An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Moore Square AIG/GT Magnet School, Raleigh, NC on 05 Feb. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 18:32 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and KG4AKV. The contact should be audible over the U.S. state of North Carolina and portions of the eastern U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Students have also participated in a mock astronaut training session at Marbles Kids Museum after viewing the Hubble 3D IMAX movie. Students conducted research and composed questions based on the research they conducted. The school voted on the best 20 questions. John Brier, KG4AKV, and Jim Scarborough, KE4ROH, have worked closely by providing our students with background information and serving as guest speakers and facilitators for the event. Joshua Tate, KF4EAG, and Mark Hammond, N8MH, have also been integral to helping our school with the contact. 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 [ANS thanks David, AA4KN, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for January 2018 Here are the changed endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period January 1, 2018 through January 31, 2018. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL 1Jan18 1Feb18 N8RO 1020 1030 N8HM 1005 1025 WN9Q 416 710 K5ND 439 502 WD9EWK 384 400 N9EAT 336 410 NS3L 251 275 KE4AL 177 252 VE7CEW 200 251 PT9BM 126 151 PS8ET 101 127 WB7VUF 107 (NEW VUCC) AA8CH 104 (NEW VUCC) AL6D/W4 101 (NEW VUCC) N3GS 101 (NEW VUCC) NK1N 101 (NEW VUCC) KE8FZT 100 (NEW VUCC) W5PFG (DM95) 100 (NEW VUCC) W5PFG (EM12) 100 (NEW VUCC) This is my first month creating this list. If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for January 1, 2018. and February 1, 2018. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! [ANS thanks Ron, W5RKN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSATDroidFree Source Code Released on GitHub Dave Johnson, G4DPZ, author of the AMSATDroidFree app, has made the source code to AMSATDroidFree available on a public repository on GitHub for those of you who like to tinker: https://github.com/g4dpz/AmsatDroidFree Dave thanks all the people who have given him suggestions and have downloaded it over the years and are still using the application. [ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ 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, KT4TZ kt4tz at amsat dot org

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