April 2018 - ANS - mailman.amsat.org

ANS-119 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 28 Apr '18

28 Apr '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-119 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 at the Hamvention -- 2nd Call for volunteers * Digital Communications Conference (DCC) Call for Papers * King’s High School ARISS contact on BBC TV * AMSAT-UK Call for Speakers for Colloquium 2018 * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-04-27 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-119.01 ANS-119 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 119.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE April 29, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-119.01 AMSAT at the Hamvention -- 2nd Call for volunteers The Hamvention is three weeks away! It is time to be creating your shopping list and making your travel plans. Last year, we had 30 people assist with the AMSAT booth at the Hamvention. We've had a good response so far to our first call for volunteers, but we could really use another 10-15 people. The 2018 Hamvention is May 18-20 in Xenia, Ohio. Would you consider helping AMSAT at the Hamvention this year? The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. Meet or renew acquaintances, exchange operating tips, and find out what antennas, software and equipment other AMSAT members use. We currently expect all of the AMSAT senior officers and board members to be there too. If you're an experienced operator, great! We can use you and your experience. If you've never operated a satellite before, but want to learn more, that's OK. We can use your help too. Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Phil, w1eme(a)amsat.org if you can help. Thank you! [ANS thanks AMSAT's Hamvention 2018 Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Digital Communications Conference (DCC) Call for Papers Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) and publication in the Conference Proceedings. Annual conference proceedings are published by the ARRL. Presentation at the conference is not required for publication. Submission of papers are due by July 31st, 2018 and should be submitted to Maty Weinberg, ARRL 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 or via the Internet to maty(a)arrl.org The ARRL and TAPR DCC is an international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work, and present new ideas and techniques. This year, the DCC is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 14- 16. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and software advances, theories, experimental results, and practical applications. Topics include, but are not limited to: • Software Defined Radio (SDR) • Digital voice (D-Star, P25, WinDRM, FDMDV, DRMDV, G4GUO) • Digital satellite communications • Global position system • Precise Timing • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) • Short messaging (a mode of APRS) • Digital Signal Processing (DSP) • HF digital modes • Internet interoperability with Amateur Radio networks • Spread spectrum • IEEE 802.11 and other Part 15 license-exempt systems adaptable for Amateur Radio • Using TCP/IP networking over Amateur Radio • Mesh and peer to peer wireless networking • Emergency and Homeland Defense backup digital communications in Amateur Radio • Updates on AX.25 and other wireless networking protocols • Topics that advanced the Amateur Radio art Go to https://tinyurl.com/y7wgm6vh to view the guidelines for paper submissions [ANS thanks the TAPR PSR for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- King’s High School ARISS contact on BBC TV On April 19 student Eleanor Griffin led the live question and answer session between King’s High School and Warwick Preparatory School (GB4KHS) and astronaut Ricky Arnold KE5DAU on the International Space Station (NA1SS). King’s High School strongly encourage their girls to develop their interests both inside and outside the classroom. This culture of empowerment led one of their girls, Eleanor Griffin, to apply to ARISS Europe (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) for a highly prestigious link-up to the International Space Station. When Eleanor Griffin was selected to hold a space conversation with an astronaut, she was inspired to set up the Warwick Mars Project, for students across the Warwick Independent Schools Foundation, to further interest in Space Science. Eleanor says: “The moon landings belong to the generation of our grandparents, and the International Space Station to our parents. What will happen in our generation? Will Mankind travel to another planet?” After the ISS contact when asked what this incredible experience had taught her Eleanor replied “Just do it! No one is going to stop you, if you just go and pursue your dreams, you really can do anything.” Watch the BBC TV news item broadcast on Midlands Today @bbcmtd. Fast forward to 18:45 into the recording at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09z9tw6/midlands-today-evening- news-19042018 In this video the students present their work and activities that lead up the contact, followed at 12:11 by a presentation by ARISS Operations UK team lead Ciaran Morgan M0XTD with the ISS contact commencing at 31:32 into the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpVc1ikj4pE Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html https://twitter.com/ARISS_status King’s High School Warwick https://twitter.com/KHSWarwick [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Call for Speakers for Colloquium 2018 This is a call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium 2018 which, will be held this year on 13-14 October, in conjunction with the RSGB Convention at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ, United Kingdom . AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about Amateur satellites, CubeSats, Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on the AMSAT-UK web site or in Oscar News. We appreciate that it is not always possible to give a firm indication of attendance at this stage but expressions of interest would be appreciated. Submissions should be sent via e-mail to: dave(a)g4dpz.me.uk AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on specific subjects will be included in the future call. Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other information to G4DPZ. [ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-04-27 Mill Springs Academy, Alpharetta, GA, direct via WA4MSA The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA Contact is a go for: Thu 2018-05-03 15:47:30 UTC 25 deg Students for the Exploration & Development of Space, College Station, TX, direct via W5QZ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA Contact is a go for: Thu 2018-05-03 17:22:31 UTC 47 deg [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KT4TZ kt4tz at amsat dot org

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ANS-105 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 14 Apr '18

14 Apr '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-105 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: * Martlesham Microwave Roundtable on BATC Video Stream (April 15) * Satellite tracking software for Mac * Delft University of Technology Delfi-PQ PocketQube Receives IARU Coordination * What is a Lilac Doing in Space? * AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2018 Call for Speakers * Intercosmos - 40th year of international human flights - SSTV Award * AMSAT Plans Hamvention Rollout for 2018 "Getting Started" Satellite Book * AMSAT Rover Award Certificate * MiniTiouner-Express Receiver Assembly for ISS HamTV 2.395 GHz Downlink * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-105.01 ANS-105 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 105.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. April 15, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-105.01 Here is a news item which is more timely released sooner than the weekend news cycle ... some of their topics and techniques seem applicable to future satellites ... microwave construction, SDR, GNUradio ... AMSAT-UK relayed that the UKGHZ Martlesham Microwave Roundtable Sunday [April 15] talks will be streamed live on BATCOnline: https://beta.batc.org.uk/live/mmrt The Sunday programe will streamed live. The times are apparently British Summer Time which I believe is UTC+1 this time of year. Their programe includes: 09:00 Doors Open 09:50 Welcome and Opening 10:00 UK Microwave Group AGM, Trophy Presentations 10:45 Refreshments & Judging of the Construction Contest 11:00 An introduction to SDRs and GNU Radio - Heather Lomond M0HMO 11:45 Aircraft Scatter using Airscout - John Quarmby G3XDY 12:30 Lunch Break 13:30 ATV on 5.6, 10 and 24GHz - Dave Crump G8GKQ 14:15 The Wednesday Digifest - John Worsnop G4BAO 15:00 Refreshments 15:15 UKuG Contest Forum - John Quarmby G3XDY 16:00 Close [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite tracking software for Mac Dog Park Software is pleased to announce that MacDoppler Version 2.28 has been released. What's New in this release ? * TS-790A/E driver rewritten (TU IU1KBH). * Added Country names to 2D map. * Added Natural Earth III maps. * Added 2D/3D map snap shots. * VFO steppers improved. (manual page 11) * Delete Mode or Satellite from Modes editor. * 2D Track List check box persistence fixed. * 2D Draw performance improved. MacDoppler is used around the world by Amateur Radio operators, satellite spotters, educators and commercial customers from CBS News to the International Space Station Amateur Radio Hardware Management program, Delta Telemetry Tracking and Control at Integrated Defence Systems, Florida State University and the CalPoly CubeSat Project. MacDoppler will provide any level of station automation you need from assisted Doppler Tuning and Antenna Pointing right on up to fully automated Satellite Gateway operation. MacDoppler features: * Full 2D and 3D OpenGL projection model of earth. * Track List sorted in real-time order of next pass. * Full predictive dead spot crossing so that a pass is never interrupted by the beam heading passing a dead spot. * Speech advisory of next satellite Rise and Maximum Elevation. * Horizon Window shows elevation of upcoming passes on a time line. * Tuning Dial Tracking allows you to tune the downlink from your radio's front panel while MacDoppler automatically adjusts the uplink. MacDoppler must be registered for some features to work and to work beyond the 15 minute time limit. This is a free upgrade for all MacDoppler Registered users and can be downloaded from: http://dogparksoftware.com/MacDoppler.html [ANS thanks Dog Park Software via Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Delft University of Technology Delfi-PQ PocketQube Receives IARU Coordination Delfi-PQ is an educational PocketQube mission designed by the MSc and BSc students at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The design of this spacecraft has been carried out as part of their curricula to acquire experience on the field. Students are involved on all the mission phases and they will also participate in operations. The second goal of this mission is technology demonstration, being this spacecraft one of the smallest ever launched belonging to the PocketQube class with a size of 50x50x192 mm. It contains all the required systems to operate in space. It is one of the first PocketQubes to be launched and it is the cornerstone for a series of PocketQubes from TU Delft with the aim to iteratively advance the platform to enable ambitious scientific objectives with networks of PocketQubes in the future. Delfi-PQ mainly focusses to demonstrate a reliable core system (comprising a power system, a communication system, an attitude control system and an on-board computer). Furthermore, it will host a few small-scale experiments which can be used for technology research. These experiments are related to future propulsion, more advanced attitude control, navigation, thermal analysis and control. The orbital life time of Delfi-PQ is currently foreseen to be very short (only up to 150 days due to the low orbit of deployment). This will ensure the spacecraft cannot contribute to the space debris problem and also it will occupy its assigned frequency band for a very short time, preventing spectrum pollution. The demonstration of the core spacecraft and its experiments is expected to take all the mission time, till deployment. The communi- cation system, in particular, will be tested and the support of amateurs will also be important. AX.25 will be used worldwide to deliver telemetry. The protocol was selected due to the widespread community around the world that make already use of such a standard. A mode using advanced communication protocol, using forward error correction, will be tested upon command (and so receivable over Europe). This new protocol is decoded by the provided decoding software. The decoding software will enable radio amateurs to help estimating the performance of the receiver in different conditions with statistics transmitted back to a central server In order to provide a return favor to the radio amateur community for the use of the frequency bands, this mission will publish all the instructions for satellite reception and telemetry decoding. A decoding application will also be provided to radio-amateurs around the world before launch to allow easy decoding with standard hardware. This application will also be used to submit the received frames to a central repository. The contribution from radio amateurs in receiving the data will greatly enhance the mission. To make it more exciting to participating radio amateurs, several challenges will be organized. Examples of challenges are thereception of the first and the last frame. In particular, the first received frame will be important for the team to assess the status of health of the spacecraft. The submitter will receive a prize for it. Since the satellite will be deployed to only 350 km and the foreseen operational lifetime is equal to the orbital life time, it will be very interesting to monitor its deorbiting process. Next to this, the number of received frames and the global distribution will also lead to the definition of several challenges. All challenges will have some small prize and achievement certificate associated with it. A UHF downlink on 436.650 MHz has been coordinated by the IARU. The transmission protocol will be GMSK at up to 19k2 bps. Planned for a launch on a Vector rocket from Kodiak Alaska in August 2018 with other PocketQubes. More information available on: http://delfispace.nl The IARU coordination announcement can be accessed at: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=605 [ANS thanks the IARU and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- What is a Lilac Doing in Space? Student Built LilacSat-1's Success with an Amateur Radio Mission LilacSat-1 accomplished, according to the reports from the students at the Harbin Institute of Technology. The student built LilacSat-1 carries an amateur radio 145/436 MHz FM to Codec2-BPSK digital voice transponder, APRS Digipeater and camera. The satellite was developed at the Harbin Institute of Technology and is part of the QB50 mission which aims to study the lower thermosphere. It was deployed from the International Space Station at 0835 GMT on Thursday, May 25, 2017. Shortly after deployment LilacSat-1 took a picture of the solar panels on the ISS. The image was downloaded by the students on 436.510 MHz +/- 10 kHz Doppler Shift using 9600 bps BPSK. The FM to Codec2-BPSK transponder was activated late afternoon GMT on Thursday, May 25: FM Uplink 145.985 MHz with 67 Hz CTCSS (PL Tone) Codec2 9600 bps BPSK Downlink 436.510 MHz The first contact using the Codec2 transponder took place on May 31 between Mike Rupprecht DK3WN and John Grant GI7UGV http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=79889 LilacSat-1 radio information is at https://tinyurl.com/ANS105-LilacSatRadioInfo Adam Whitney K0FFY has documented how to receive the LilacSat-1 Codec2 Digital Voice transponder using the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ SDR http://adamwhitney.net/working-lilacsat-1/ M6SIG live CD for LilacSat 1 and 2 http://chertseyradioclThe main payload is an ion and neutral particle mass spectrometer (INMS) developed by the University of London (UCL) to measure the mass and distribution of charged and neutral atoms. LilacSat-1 signal received by JA0CAW In preparation for the deployment HIT students installed new VHF and UHF antennas for the ground station. Harbin Institute of Technology Amateur Radio Club BY2HIT http://www.by2hit.net/ http://weibo.com/by2hit/ http://www.qsl.net/by2hit/ https://www.qrz.com/db/BY2HIT LilacSat-1 page (use Google translator) http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/?page_id=143 QB50 LilacSat-1 information https://upload.qb50.eu/detail/CN02/ IARU information http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=343 Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs) 'Keps' for new satellites launched in past 30 days https://tinyurl.com/ANS105-LiliacSatTLE Lilacsat 1 and 2 decoder now available on Experimental Raspberry Pi (3) image with GNU radio / gr-lilacsat https://tinyurl.com/ANS105-LiliacSatDecoder LilacSat-1 Codec2 downlink by Daniel Estévez EA4GPZ / M0HXM http://destevez.net/2016/10/lilacsat-1-codec-2-downlink/ Updated LilacSat-1 Live CD from M6SIG latest link at https://tinyurl.com/ANS105-LilacSatLiveCD [ANS thanks Jill Durfee and Satnews for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2018 Call for Speakers This is a call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium 2018 which, will be held this year on 13-14 October, in conjunction with the RSGB Convention at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ, United Kingdom . AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about Amateur satellites, CubeSats, Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on the AMSAT-UK web site or in Oscar News. We appreciate that it is not always possible to give a firm indication of attendance at this stage but expressions of interest would be appreciated. Submissions should be sent via e-mail to: dave(a)g4dpz.me.uk AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on specific subjects will be included in the future call. Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other information to G4DPZ. [ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Intercosmos - 40th year of international human flights - SSTV Award Please act now as the deadline is May 15th, 2018. SSTV from the International Space Station was active April 11-14 worldwide as part of Cosmonautics Day, which takes place on April 12. Images were related to the Interkosmos project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interkosmos). This activity covered most of the world during the operational period. The images were be transmitted on 145.800 MHz and the mode was PD120. A special Award has been made available to those posting reception reports. To obtain the Award one should receive and decode at least one picture during the activity period. The quality of the received image does not have to be perfect, but good enough to identify the picture. Partial images are acceptable. The award is in electronic format (JPG). It will be sent by e-mail. The criteria as follows must be met to obtain the Award: Load your decoded images on the page: www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php Fill in the application form on https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/ Please act now as the deadline is May 15th, 2018. Details and a list of ARISS SSTV Award winning stations are available at: https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/ [ANS thanks Armand, SP3QFE, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Plans Hamvention Rollout for 2018 "Getting Started" Satellite Book Gould Smith's book, "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites", is being updated to tell you all about how you can get ready to operate through the Fox-1 satellites launching later this year. Additional chapters in the book tell you about tracking software, orbital mechanics, antennas, radios, Doppler tuning, and operating techniques. Chapters are also being added to tell you about the new satellites (and there are many)soon becoming available for amateur radio. Going beyond brief descriptions in hamfest flyers, this book will provide a complete reference for new satellite users to assemble a basic station and to make your first satellite contacts. Also this book you will teach you how to incrementally upgrade your initial FM satellite station, time and budget permitting, to include automated tracking as well as operating through the CW/SSB linear passband satellites. A companion Fox Operating Guide reference sheet is ready for release at Hamvention 2018. This will be made available for the AMSAT Ambassadors (formerly FieldOps) team for distribution at hamfests and satellite operating demonstrations. Watch for the 2018 "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites" book and reference sheet at the AMSAT booth at the Hamvention. The book will also be available in the AMSAT Store shortly after Hamvention: https://www.amsat.org/shop/ [ANS thanks AMSAT's 2018 Hamvention Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Rover Award Certificate It has been awhile, the voting was in and the certificate has been created. For those that have earned the award, the certificates will be going out to the address in your AMSAT online store order soon. If you would like to see what the certificate looks like, it is on the AMSAT Rover Award web page. https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover Thanks to everyone that submitted a picture to use on the award. [ANS thanks Bruce KK5DO for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- MiniTiouner-Express Receiver Assembly for ISS HamTV 2.395 GHz Downlink A receiver suitable for the ARISS/HamTV 2.395 GHz DVB-S downlink from the ISS is now available for purchase. The MiniTiouner-Express receiver/tuner/analyzer assembly is a completely assembled and tested unit contained in a small aluminum enclosure about the size of a 2 stack deck of cards. The DATV-Express group created the design, construction and sale of the Minitiouner-Express receiver. It is used with the free soft- ware by Jean Pierre Courjaud F6DZP. The unit connects between an antenna(s) and a PC computer USB2 or USB3 port using the Windows 7, 8 or 10 operating system. It receives DVB-S/S2 144MHz to 2420MHz digital television signals for symbol rates between 100K and 10M symbols/sec when used with the F6DZP MiniTioune software. In operation, the computer monitor displays the received video and graphic landing dot constellation to show the incoming signal level, quality, FEC, MER and setup information. The MiniTiouner-Express Receiver/Analyzer unit can be ordered from the http://www.datv-express.com/ website. You need to first logon to the website (or first register if you are a new user). Use the PURCHASE A PRODUCT tab to order the product via PayPal. The price for the MiniTiouner-Express unit is US$75 + shipping Shipping for USA is US$7.00 Shipping to the European Union is US$24.00 including the VAT Shipping anywhere international is US$35.00 Although initial stock has been depleted more units are on the way. The MiniTiouner-Express User Guide (draft13) can be downloaded from http://www.datv-express.com/CustomPage/Downloads Information about the ARISS HamTV project can be found at: http://www.ariss-eu.org/columbus/ham-video The HamTV downlink from the ISS has recently only been active for selected school contacts. HamTV often transmits a "blank signal" useful for receiver and antenna testing when not in use for school contacts. [ANS thanks Daniel Cussen, EI9FHB via the HamTV(a)yahoogroups.ca list for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Pinson Valley HS, Pinson, AL, USA and Astronaut Ricky Arnold KE5DAU using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2018-04-10 18:02 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via KN4BBD ARISS Mentor was John K4SQC. + A Successful contact was made between About Gagarin from space Session of radio amateur communication with Vologda branch of PJSC "Rostelecom ", Vologda, Russia and Cosmoonaut Oleg Artemyev using Callsign RS0ISS. The contact began 2018-04-10 13:37 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via RN1QC, ARISS Mentor was Sergey RV3DR. + A Successful contact was made between Freeport Public Schools, Freeport, NY, USA and Astronaut Scott Tingle KG5NZA using Callsign OR4ISS. The contact began 2018-03-27 17:41 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Telebridge via IK1SLD. ARISS Mentor was Steve W2AKK. Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Additional information can be found at http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/ Salado Intermediate School, Salado, TX, direct via K5LBJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA Contact is a go for: Tue 2018-04-17 16:44:23 UTC 24 deg Central Islip Union Free School District, Central Islip, NY, direct via KD2IFR The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Ricky Arnold KE5DAU Contact is a go for: Wed 2018-04-18 15:57:46 UTC 28 deg The school will be hosting an ARISS contact on Wednesday April 18 at 15:57:46 UTC. The video stream of the contact will be available online. King's High School, Warwick, UK, direct via GB4KHS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Ricky Arnold KE5DAU Contact is a go for: Thu 2018-04-19 12:05:19 UTC 72 deg Russian school TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is a go for Tue 2018-04-24 11:05 UTC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is a go for 2018-04-25 08:35 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Video playlist for PocketQube 2018 Workshop at TU Delft https://tinyurl.com/ANS105-PocketQube [AMSAT-UK and AlbaOrbital via Twitter] + 7X3WPL Sahara DX Club 7X3WPL is now QRV permanently from Sahara DX Club in Laghouat. They are using a Kenwood TS-2000, G5500 rotor and Wimo X-Quad for 2m and 70cm. (via Abdel M0NPT /7X2TT on amsat-bb) [ANS thanks Sahara DX Club for above information] + The March/April 2018 edition of Apogee View, an update on AMSAT's activities from AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, has been posted to the AMSAT website. https://www.amsat.org/apogeeview/ [ANS thanks Paul N8HM for the above information.] + NASA e-Book Free Download The flight directors in charge of the teams that oversee its systems have written a 400-page book that offers an inside look at the time and energy the flight control team at the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston devote to the development, planning and integration of a mission. "The International Space Station: Operating an Outpost in the New Frontier", is now available to download for free at https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/index.html. Additional details are available at: https://preview.tinyurl.com/ANS105-BookDetails --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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-105 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Chris Bradley (AA0CB) 08 Apr '18

08 Apr '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-105.01 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: * Russian SSTV Event to Celebrate Cosmonautics Day * AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Speaker - Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for March 2018 * Balloons launched BLT-49.1 still afloat and heading for Florida * Upcoming ARISS contact with Pinson Valley HS, Pinson, AL * Major Rove Announcement * JSpOC Approves AMSAT for Re-distribution of Keplerian Elements * ARRL and CQ Magazine Announce Launch of CQ’s WAZ Award Support on ARRL's Logbook of the World * Call for Papers and Presentations - Central States VHF Society, Inc. Conference * AMSAT Announces Hamvention Forum Speaker Line Up * AMSAT Activities for Hamvention 2018 Russian SSTV Event to Celebrate Cosmonautics Day ARISS Russia is planning a special Slow Scan Television (SSTV) event from the International Space Station in celebration of Cosmonautics Day. The transmissions are to begin on April 11 at 11:30 UTC and run through April 14 ending at 18:20 UTC. Supporting this event is a computer on the ISS Russian Segment, which stores images that are then transmitted to Earth using amateur radio, specifically the onboard Kenwood TM-D710E transceiver. Transmitted images will be from the Interkosmos project period of the Soviet space program (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interkosmos). Images received can be posted and viewed at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php .The transmissions which were coordinated with the ARISS scheduling team, will be broadcast at 145.800 MHz using the PD-120 SSTV mode. Please note that the event is dependent on other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time. Please check for news and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org websites, the AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org, the ARISS facebook at Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and ARISS twitter @ARISS_status. About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Center for the Advancement of Science in space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information} -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Speaker - Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK The twelfth annual joint AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held on Friday, May 18 at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way, Kettering, OH 45429 (just south of Dayton). Doors open at 6:30 PM for a cash bar with the buffet dinner served at 7:00 PM. Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK, will present on her innovative ideas and adventures in Amateur Radio. Jeri is an American entrepreneur, self-taught engineer, and an autodidact computer chip designer and inventor. She gained notoriety in 2004 for creating a complete Commodore 64 system on a chip housed within a joystick, called C64 Direct-to-TV. That "computer in a joystick" could run 30 video games from the early 1980's, and at peak, sold over 70,000 units in a single day via the QVC shopping channel. Ellsworth co-founded CastAR (formerly Technical Illusions) in 2013 and stayed with the company until its closure on June 26, 2017. In 2016, she passed all three amateur radio exams, earned her Amateur Extra license, and received the AI6TK callsign. This has now launched new adventures into Amateur Radio. She has been featured in January 2017 QST and in YouTube videos from Quartzfest earlier this year. Jeri has been given a free hand to speak on whatever topic she wishes (as long as it's amateur radio, somewhat). [ANS thanks AMSAT's Havention 2018 Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for March 2018 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period March 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! There were several calls which decreased by one this month. These are not listed below. CALL 1Mar18 1Apr18 KK5DO 780 781 WA5KBH 659 728 N4UFO 715 724 N9IP 574 589 W5RKN 554 575 N9EAT 410 428 WD9EWK 400 425 KE4AL 252 317 K7TAB 274 306 W7QL 275 300 AA8CH 104 175 PT2AP 102 172 PS8ET 127 157 N3GS 101 130 N7AGF 101 126 G0ABI 116 122 AL6D 112 (NEW VUCC) W1AT 102 (NEW VUCC) 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 March 1, 2018. and April 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 for Ron Parsons for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Balloons launched March 17 - BLT-49.1 still afloat and heading for Florida Ballons were launched 17 March from the Houston Hamfest, we had a great balloon launch talk byAndy MacAllister, W5ACM, followed by two successful balloon launches. The first launch at 9:05am was BLT-49.2 and was a 300g 'popper' latex balloon carrying a digital Fireball smart beacon sending the temperature in CW on 14.318 MHz & 28.322 MHz. We copied the weak CW beacon until 11:45am and believe it burst at well over 110,000 feet based on the time aloft and temperatures we were receiving. Very successful flight! The second launch of BLT-49.1 occurred about 9:06am and was a 'floater' balloon (1m Qualatex Mylar) carrying a PecanPico 5 APRS tracker. It rose very slowly into the sky, escorted by several drones videoing the event, headed north then shot off to the east passing over Houston, Beaumont and New Orleans. After avoiding a few thunderstorms along the way, it is currently just below Panama City, FL at ~30,000 feet heading for Orlando & KSC! It can be tracked on aprs.fi or tracker.habhub.org (see links below). After crossing Florida, we're hoping to hear from it again on the other side of the Atlantic https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a%2FAB5SS-11 https://tracker.habhub.org/#!mt=roadmap&mz=6&qm=1_day&mc=29.97358,- 84.9113&f =AB5SS-11 [ANS thanks John, AB5SS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS contact with Pinson Valley HS, Pinson, AL An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Pinson Valley HS, Pinson, AL on Apr. 10. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 18:02 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and KN4BBD. The contact should be audible over the state of Alabama and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Pinson Valley High School is located in Central Alabama near the city of Birmingham and is one of 57 schools in the Jefferson County School system. We are a very diverse school with approximately 1100 students in grades 9-12. At PVHS students have many options for academic programs and extracurricular involvement. We have opportunities for students to take Advanced Placement or Dual Enrollment classes, a growing career technical education academy, and a very popular fine arts academy. We hope that our participation in the ARISS contact will build an increased interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) course pathways. There are many sport teams for both male and female athletes. On December 8, 2017 our football team won the Alabama 6A State Championship, a first for our school. Our motto is "At Pinson Valley High School we promote achievement, respect, and success." Go Indians! Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. By having zero gravity, what type of exercises you have to do to keep your body from losing mass? 2. What prompted your interest or love of space? 3. Psychologically, what is the most challenging aspect of being in space? 4. What type of research are you currently conducting on the ISS? 5. When you receive food supplies in space can you make special request for certain foods? 6. What can a high school student do now to prepare for a potential career in aerospace? 7. How much education and training does an astronaut typically have? 8. Theoretically could NASA power future rockets/spaceships via nuclear fusion, similar to the sun? 9. What is the scariest part of space travel; the launch, living on the ISS, or re-entry? 10. What happens if someone was to have a heart attack, get sick, or have another medical emergency in space? 11. What is a typical day aboard the ISS like? 12. Since the ISS hosts astronauts from different countries, what language is spoken aboard the ISS? 13. Besides your family, what do you miss most about life on earth? 14. What fuels the ISS? 15. What kind of medical testing does an astronaut have to go through to be physically and mentally ready for duty? 16. Can you easily communicate with your family members while you are aboard the ISS? 17. What are some hazards in space? 18. Have any organisms been born or conceived in space? 19. What happens if a fire occurs on the ISS? 20. Since you cannot really take a good shower in space, is the ISS smelly? [ANS thanks AMSAT EDU News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Major Rove Announcement Announcing a major rove for satellite operators; the Springtime Rove to The Great White North! Doug Tabor, N6UA and Ken Alexander, VE3HLS will be teaming up to travel north to the James Bay area of Quebec to activate as many FO grids as are accessible by road, in the time we have. Our plan is to leave Toronto on May 5th, entering FO the next day, and spending 7 to 8 days activating rare grids. This area is extremely remote. The James Bay Road is the main corridor through the area and was built by Quebec Hydro to support construction of a province-wide network of hydroelectric projects. It's 610 km long. There are gas stations at each end and another somewhere in the middle. Likewise, the Route du Nord is a 406 km gravel road with no services. There is no cellphone service once you leave Matagami, QC, the southern terminus of the James Bay Road. We will only have internet access when we get to a town. The road will take us through, and give us access to FO01/02/03/10/11/12/13/20/21/22/23. With so many satellites currently available, having two operators will insure that everyone will have a chance to work one of us. If two satellites are in view at the same time, we'll be on both of them! We will also allocate ourselves so as to be present on as many FM satellites as are available to us. Our plans aren't complete yet. We may activate other grids, or be forced to rein in our expectations depending on available time and the conditions we encounter. We will provide updates in the coming weeks. [ANS thanks Ken, VE3HL & SDoug, N6UA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- JSpOC Approves AMSAT for Re-distribution of Keplerian Elements AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, says, "I am pleased to announce that AMSAT's request to re-distribute JSpOC Keplerian elements from SpaceTrack has been approved for the period April 1, 2018 to April 1, 2019. Our USSTRATCOM ODR (Orbital Data Request) to distribute the AMSAT-NA TLEs was approved on March 27, 2018." Thanks to JSpOC, Perry Klein, W3PK and Paul Williamson, KB5MU for their help in this process. We are "good to go" for another year. On another note, sadly, the PICSAT team has announced today that PICSAT is no longer operational. But, Ray will continue to carry PICSAT TLEs for now.(Remember AO-07?) [ANS thanks AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL and CQ Magazine Announce Launch of CQ’s WAZ Award Support on ARRL's Logbook of the World Newington, CT and Hicksville, NY – April 2, 2018 Officials from CQ magazine and ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio®, are excited to announce the launch of support for CQ magazine’s Worked All Zones (WAZ) award program on ARRL’s Logbook of the World (LoTW) system, effective Monday, April 2, at 10:00 a.m. EDT (14:00 UTC). The goal of the project was to create the proper technical support system to enable amateur radio operators to submit LoTW confirmations for WAZ credit and that has been accomplished, say CQ and ARRL officials. “We are very pleased that participants in CQ's WAZ award program will now be able to use their LoTW confirmations for award credit,” said CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU. “CQ WPX Award participants have found it very helpful and we are sure it will be equally helpful for those pursuing WAZ and its many variations.” ARRL First Vice President Greg Widin, K0GW, concurred. “Users of LoTW have been telling us for some time that they would like to use QSLs from LoTW to apply for the WAZ award. They will now be able to select confirmations to be used for WAZ credit.” Beta testing for bringing CQ magazine's WAZ award program into ARRL’s LoTW system had been underway since mid-December. Any problems in the implementation discovered by testers were corrected by the technical support team. Also, the documentation has been improved by feedback from the testers. At the same time, each LoTW user was given an additional WAZ account. Standard LoTW credit fees and separate CQ award fees will apply. Logbook of the World is ARRL's electronic confirmation system for amateur radio contacts. It provides a confirmation when both stations in a contact submit their logs to the system and a match between the logs is confirmed. LoTW has supported the CQ WPX Award program since 2012. CQ Communications, Inc. is publisher of CQ Amateur Radio magazine and is the world's largest independent publisher of amateur radio magazines, books and videos. Worked All Zones is the second-oldest active award program in amateur radio, behind only the International Amateur Radio Union's Worked All Continents award. ARRL The national association for Amateur Radio®, represents the interests of Amateur (or “ham”) Radio operators across the country. Founded in 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim as The American Radio Relay League, ARRL has a proud history of achievement as the standard- bearer in amateur affairs. Now in its second century, the organization remains focused on “advancing the art, science, and enjoyment of Amateur Radio.” [ANS thanks CQ Communications, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Call for Papers and Presentations - Central States VHF Society, Inc. Conference The Central States VHF Society, Inc. is soliciting both authors for the "Proceedings of the Central States VHF Society" and presenters for the technical sessions at its 2018 Conference to be held in Wichita, KS July 26-29, 2018. Further information for both authors and presenters may be found on the 2018 Conference website <www.2018.CSVHFS.org under "Guidance Documents." Topics for both papers and presentations include all topics related to weak-signal VHF and above amateur radio activities, including: * Antennas: including Modeling, Design, Arrays, and Control * Test Equipment: including Homebrew, Commercial, and Measurement Techniques & Tips * Construction of equipment: such as Transmitters, Receivers, and Transverters * Operating: including Contesting, Roving, and DXpeditions * RF power amps: including Single and Multi-band Vacuum Tube, Solid-state, and TWTAs * Propagation: including Ducting, Sporadic E, Tropospheric, Meteor Scatter, etc. * Pre-amplifiers (low noise) * Digital Modes : such as WSJT, JT65, FT8, JT6M, ISCAT, etc. * Regulatory topics * Moon Bounce (EME) * Software-defined Radio (SDR) * Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Topics such as FM, repeaters, packet radio, etc., are generally considered outside of the scope of papers being sought. However, there are always exceptions. Please contact either Kent Britain, WA5VJB (wa5vjb (at) wa5vjb.com) or Donn Baker, WA2VOI (wa2voi (at) mninter.net) if you have any questions about the suitability of a particular topic. For presenters, we would appreciate a brief abstract of your presentation topic on or before Tuesday, May 15th to help us with the program schedule. The final presentation materials (i.e., PowerPoint, etc. files) are due at the Conference on Friday morning (July 27th). However, for supporting material (NOT the presentation itself) to be published in the Proceedings, it must be received by Tuesday, May 15th. For papers to be published in the Proceedings, final copies must be received by Tuesday, May 15th. Note that you do not have to attend the Conference nor present your paper to have it published in the Proceedings. [ANS thanks Donn, WA2VOI for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Announces Hamvention Forum Speaker Line Up The AMSAT Forum at Hamvention 2018 will be held on Saturday, May 19 in Forum room 4 at 2:45-3:45 PM. The speaker and topic line up includes: + Moderator: Keith Baker, KB1SF / VA3KSF + "AMSAT Status Report" by Joseph Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT-NA President, who will highlight recent activities within AMSAT and discuss some of our challenges, accomplishments, projects, and any late breaking news. + "AMSAT Engineering Program" by Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Engineering, will talk about the Fox-1 and Golf (Greater Orbit Larger Footprint) Projects. + "ARISS Report 2018" by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Human Spaceflight will discus ARISS' "Next Generation ARISS Radio System" on the International Space Station. [ANS thanks Forum Moderator Keith baker, Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Activities for Hamvention 2018 AMSAT Booth ----------- Stop by the AMSAT booth (1007-1010 & 1107-1110) Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 9am-5pm, Sunday 9am-1pm to meet board members, officers, and active satellite operators. You'll be able to ask questions and see demonstrations of AMSAT's current and upcoming technologies. Well dressed satellite operators will look forward to picking up the latest AMSAT "swag" and fashions for 2018. Gould Smith's book, "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites", has been updated for 2018 and will be on sale during the Hamvention. AMSAT Forum ----------- The AMSAT Forum at Hamvention 2018 will be held on Saturday, May 19 in Forum room 4 at 2:45-3:45 PM. Amateur Satellite Demonstrations -------------------------------- Amateur Satellite operation demonstrations will be held every day outside the main Maxim Hall (Building 1 or E1) entrance. AMSAT will be be demonstrating actual contacts with the operational amateur satellites. We especially invite youth to make a contact via an amateur satellite. All are invited to observe, participate and ask questions. Satellite pass times will be posted at the AMSAT booth and in the demo area. Annual AMSAT "Dinner at Tickets" Party -------------------------------------- The annual AMSAT "Dinner at Tickets" party will be held Thursday at 1800 EDT at Tickets Pub & Eatery at 7 W. Main St, Fairborn, OH. Feast on a great selection of Greek and American food and great company! No program or speaker, just good conversation. Food can be ordered from the menu, drinks (beer, wine, sodas and iced tea) are available at the bar. Leave room for dessert, there's an in-house ice cream shop! Come as you are. Bring some friends and have a great time the night before Hamvention. AMSAT/TAPR Banquet ------------------ The twelfth annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held at the Kohler Presidential Center on Friday at 1830 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the AMSAT and TAPR activities during the Dayton Hamven- tion. We are pleased to announce that Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK will be our speaker. Jeri will present her innovative ideas and adventures in Amateur Radio. Banquet seating is limited to the number of meals reserved with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline. Tickets ($37 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store: https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-at-hamvention/ The banquet ticket purchase deadline is Tuesday, May 15. Banquet tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the AMSAT booth. There will be no tickets to pick up at the AMSAT booth. Tickets purchased on-line will be maintained on a list with check-in at the door of the banquet center. [ANS thanks AMSAT's Havention 2018 Team for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-042.01 ANS-105.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 105.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. April 8. 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-105.01 Satellite Shorts From All Over + Karhu Koti has created a mutual window calculator for satellites between two locations. See: https://www.karhukoti.com/webtracker + An interesting twitter post about the 'live' on-line tracking sites interesting:https://twitter.com/Marco_Langbroek/status/980549243701268 482 + Not your typical space junk article. It leads with the release of 100+ sats by the same Indian rocket that launched AO- 92.https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-need-satellitesa-speeding-mass-of- space-junk-puts-them-at-risk-1505226427 + Here's something to think about. L band is a lot of fun. We do get 24 hours once a week (not complaining). With several ISS passes every day. It is a good reflector. Plus we can use CW, SSB, many digi modes. Just google it. + Next Rocket Lab launch window is starting 20th April 00:30 UTC for 4 hours. This window repeats for the following 14 days. See: http://rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-to-launch-first- commercial-mission-this-month/ It will be probably be watchable live from their web site. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC + AMSAT's plans for Hamvention 2018 for the dates May 17-20 have been posted: https://www.amsat.org/other-events/amsat-activities-at-hamvention- 2018/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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, AA0CB aa0cb 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-105 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE WEEKLY BULLETINS
by Chris Bradley 08 Apr '18

08 Apr '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-105.01 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: * Russian SSTV Event to Celebrate Cosmonautics Day * AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Speaker - Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for March 2018 * Balloons launched BLT-49.1 still afloat and heading for Florida * Upcoming ARISS contact with Pinson Valley HS, Pinson, AL * Major Rove Announcement * JSpOC Approves AMSAT for Re-distribution of Keplerian Elements * ARRL and CQ Magazine Announce Launch of CQ’s WAZ Award Support on ARRL's Logbook of the World * Call for Papers and Presentations - Central States VHF Society, Inc. Conference * AMSAT Announces Hamvention Forum Speaker Line Up * AMSAT Activities for Hamvention 2018 Russian SSTV Event to Celebrate Cosmonautics Day ARISS Russia is planning a special Slow Scan Television (SSTV) event from the International Space Station in celebration of Cosmonautics Day. The transmissions are to begin on April 11 at 11:30 UTC and run through April 14 ending at 18:20 UTC. Supporting this event is a computer on the ISS Russian Segment, which stores images that are then transmitted to Earth using amateur radio, specifically the onboard Kenwood TM-D710E transceiver. Transmitted images will be from the Interkosmos project period of the Soviet space program (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interkosmos). Images received can be posted and viewed at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php .The transmissions which were coordinated with the ARISS scheduling team, will be broadcast at 145.800 MHz using the PD-120 SSTV mode. Please note that the event is dependent on other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time. Please check for news and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org websites, the AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org, the ARISS facebook at Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and ARISS twitter @ARISS_status. About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Center for the Advancement of Science in space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information} -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Speaker - Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK The twelfth annual joint AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held on Friday, May 18 at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way, Kettering, OH 45429 (just south of Dayton). Doors open at 6:30 PM for a cash bar with the buffet dinner served at 7:00 PM. Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK, will present on her innovative ideas and adventures in Amateur Radio. Jeri is an American entrepreneur, self-taught engineer, and an autodidact computer chip designer and inventor. She gained notoriety in 2004 for creating a complete Commodore 64 system on a chip housed within a joystick, called C64 Direct-to-TV. That "computer in a joystick" could run 30 video games from the early 1980's, and at peak, sold over 70,000 units in a single day via the QVC shopping channel. Ellsworth co-founded CastAR (formerly Technical Illusions) in 2013 and stayed with the company until its closure on June 26, 2017. In 2016, she passed all three amateur radio exams, earned her Amateur Extra license, and received the AI6TK callsign. This has now launched new adventures into Amateur Radio. She has been featured in January 2017 QST and in YouTube videos from Quartzfest earlier this year. Jeri has been given a free hand to speak on whatever topic she wishes (as long as it's amateur radio, somewhat). [ANS thanks AMSAT's Havention 2018 Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for March 2018 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period March 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! There were several calls which decreased by one this month. These are not listed below. CALL 1Mar18 1Apr18 KK5DO 780 781 WA5KBH 659 728 N4UFO 715 724 N9IP 574 589 W5RKN 554 575 N9EAT 410 428 WD9EWK 400 425 KE4AL 252 317 K7TAB 274 306 W7QL 275 300 AA8CH 104 175 PT2AP 102 172 PS8ET 127 157 N3GS 101 130 N7AGF 101 126 G0ABI 116 122 AL6D 112 (NEW VUCC) W1AT 102 (NEW VUCC) 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 March 1, 2018. and April 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 for Ron Parsons for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Balloons launched March 17 - BLT-49.1 still afloat and heading for Florida Ballons were launched 17 March from the Houston Hamfest, we had a great balloon launch talk byAndy MacAllister, W5ACM, followed by two successful balloon launches. The first launch at 9:05am was BLT-49.2 and was a 300g 'popper' latex balloon carrying a digital Fireball smart beacon sending the temperature in CW on 14.318 MHz & 28.322 MHz. We copied the weak CW beacon until 11:45am and believe it burst at well over 110,000 feet based on the time aloft and temperatures we were receiving. Very successful flight! The second launch of BLT-49.1 occurred about 9:06am and was a 'floater' balloon (1m Qualatex Mylar) carrying a PecanPico 5 APRS tracker. It rose very slowly into the sky, escorted by several drones videoing the event, headed north then shot off to the east passing over Houston, Beaumont and New Orleans. After avoiding a few thunderstorms along the way, it is currently just below Panama City, FL at ~30,000 feet heading for Orlando & KSC! It can be tracked on aprs.fi or tracker.habhub.org (see links below). After crossing Florida, we're hoping to hear from it again on the other side of the Atlantic https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a%2FAB5SS-11 https://tracker.habhub.org/#!mt=roadmap&mz=6&qm=1_day&mc=29.97358,- 84.9113&f =AB5SS-11 [ANS thanks John, AB5SS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS contact with Pinson Valley HS, Pinson, AL An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Pinson Valley HS, Pinson, AL on Apr. 10. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 18:02 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and KN4BBD. The contact should be audible over the state of Alabama and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Pinson Valley High School is located in Central Alabama near the city of Birmingham and is one of 57 schools in the Jefferson County School system. We are a very diverse school with approximately 1100 students in grades 9-12. At PVHS students have many options for academic programs and extracurricular involvement. We have opportunities for students to take Advanced Placement or Dual Enrollment classes, a growing career technical education academy, and a very popular fine arts academy. We hope that our participation in the ARISS contact will build an increased interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) course pathways. There are many sport teams for both male and female athletes. On December 8, 2017 our football team won the Alabama 6A State Championship, a first for our school. Our motto is "At Pinson Valley High School we promote achievement, respect, and success." Go Indians! Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. By having zero gravity, what type of exercises you have to do to keep your body from losing mass? 2. What prompted your interest or love of space? 3. Psychologically, what is the most challenging aspect of being in space? 4. What type of research are you currently conducting on the ISS? 5. When you receive food supplies in space can you make special request for certain foods? 6. What can a high school student do now to prepare for a potential career in aerospace? 7. How much education and training does an astronaut typically have? 8. Theoretically could NASA power future rockets/spaceships via nuclear fusion, similar to the sun? 9. What is the scariest part of space travel; the launch, living on the ISS, or re-entry? 10. What happens if someone was to have a heart attack, get sick, or have another medical emergency in space? 11. What is a typical day aboard the ISS like? 12. Since the ISS hosts astronauts from different countries, what language is spoken aboard the ISS? 13. Besides your family, what do you miss most about life on earth? 14. What fuels the ISS? 15. What kind of medical testing does an astronaut have to go through to be physically and mentally ready for duty? 16. Can you easily communicate with your family members while you are aboard the ISS? 17. What are some hazards in space? 18. Have any organisms been born or conceived in space? 19. What happens if a fire occurs on the ISS? 20. Since you cannot really take a good shower in space, is the ISS smelly? [ANS thanks AMSAT EDU News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Major Rove Announcement Announcing a major rove for satellite operators; the Springtime Rove to The Great White North! Doug Tabor, N6UA and Ken Alexander, VE3HLS will be teaming up to travel north to the James Bay area of Quebec to activate as many FO grids as are accessible by road, in the time we have. Our plan is to leave Toronto on May 5th, entering FO the next day, and spending 7 to 8 days activating rare grids. This area is extremely remote. The James Bay Road is the main corridor through the area and was built by Quebec Hydro to support construction of a province-wide network of hydroelectric projects. It's 610 km long. There are gas stations at each end and another somewhere in the middle. Likewise, the Route du Nord is a 406 km gravel road with no services. There is no cellphone service once you leave Matagami, QC, the southern terminus of the James Bay Road. We will only have internet access when we get to a town. The road will take us through, and give us access to FO01/02/03/10/11/12/13/20/21/22/23. With so many satellites currently available, having two operators will insure that everyone will have a chance to work one of us. If two satellites are in view at the same time, we'll be on both of them! We will also allocate ourselves so as to be present on as many FM satellites as are available to us. Our plans aren't complete yet. We may activate other grids, or be forced to rein in our expectations depending on available time and the conditions we encounter. We will provide updates in the coming weeks. [ANS thanks Ken, VE3HL & SDoug, N6UA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- JSpOC Approves AMSAT for Re-distribution of Keplerian Elements AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, says, "I am pleased to announce that AMSAT's request to re-distribute JSpOC Keplerian elements from SpaceTrack has been approved for the period April 1, 2018 to April 1, 2019. Our USSTRATCOM ODR (Orbital Data Request) to distribute the AMSAT-NA TLEs was approved on March 27, 2018." Thanks to JSpOC, Perry Klein, W3PK and Paul Williamson, KB5MU for their help in this process. We are "good to go" for another year. On another note, sadly, the PICSAT team has announced today that PICSAT is no longer operational. But, Ray will continue to carry PICSAT TLEs for now.(Remember AO-07?) [ANS thanks AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL and CQ Magazine Announce Launch of CQ’s WAZ Award Support on ARRL's Logbook of the World Newington, CT and Hicksville, NY – April 2, 2018 Officials from CQ magazine and ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio®, are excited to announce the launch of support for CQ magazine’s Worked All Zones (WAZ) award program on ARRL’s Logbook of the World (LoTW) system, effective Monday, April 2, at 10:00 a.m. EDT (14:00 UTC). The goal of the project was to create the proper technical support system to enable amateur radio operators to submit LoTW confirmations for WAZ credit and that has been accomplished, say CQ and ARRL officials. “We are very pleased that participants in CQ's WAZ award program will now be able to use their LoTW confirmations for award credit,” said CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU. “CQ WPX Award participants have found it very helpful and we are sure it will be equally helpful for those pursuing WAZ and its many variations.” ARRL First Vice President Greg Widin, K0GW, concurred. “Users of LoTW have been telling us for some time that they would like to use QSLs from LoTW to apply for the WAZ award. They will now be able to select confirmations to be used for WAZ credit.” Beta testing for bringing CQ magazine's WAZ award program into ARRL’s LoTW system had been underway since mid-December. Any problems in the implementation discovered by testers were corrected by the technical support team. Also, the documentation has been improved by feedback from the testers. At the same time, each LoTW user was given an additional WAZ account. Standard LoTW credit fees and separate CQ award fees will apply. Logbook of the World is ARRL's electronic confirmation system for amateur radio contacts. It provides a confirmation when both stations in a contact submit their logs to the system and a match between the logs is confirmed. LoTW has supported the CQ WPX Award program since 2012. CQ Communications, Inc. is publisher of CQ Amateur Radio magazine and is the world's largest independent publisher of amateur radio magazines, books and videos. Worked All Zones is the second-oldest active award program in amateur radio, behind only the International Amateur Radio Union's Worked All Continents award. ARRL The national association for Amateur Radio®, represents the interests of Amateur (or “ham”) Radio operators across the country. Founded in 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim as The American Radio Relay League, ARRL has a proud history of achievement as the standard- bearer in amateur affairs. Now in its second century, the organization remains focused on “advancing the art, science, and enjoyment of Amateur Radio.” [ANS thanks CQ Communications, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Call for Papers and Presentations - Central States VHF Society, Inc. Conference The Central States VHF Society, Inc. is soliciting both authors for the "Proceedings of the Central States VHF Society" and presenters for the technical sessions at its 2018 Conference to be held in Wichita, KS July 26-29, 2018. Further information for both authors and presenters may be found on the 2018 Conference website <www.2018.CSVHFS.org under "Guidance Documents." Topics for both papers and presentations include all topics related to weak-signal VHF and above amateur radio activities, including: * Antennas: including Modeling, Design, Arrays, and Control * Test Equipment: including Homebrew, Commercial, and Measurement Techniques & Tips * Construction of equipment: such as Transmitters, Receivers, and Transverters * Operating: including Contesting, Roving, and DXpeditions * RF power amps: including Single and Multi-band Vacuum Tube, Solid-state, and TWTAs * Propagation: including Ducting, Sporadic E, Tropospheric, Meteor Scatter, etc. * Pre-amplifiers (low noise) * Digital Modes : such as WSJT, JT65, FT8, JT6M, ISCAT, etc. * Regulatory topics * Moon Bounce (EME) * Software-defined Radio (SDR) * Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Topics such as FM, repeaters, packet radio, etc., are generally considered outside of the scope of papers being sought. However, there are always exceptions. Please contact either Kent Britain, WA5VJB (wa5vjb (at) wa5vjb.com) or Donn Baker, WA2VOI (wa2voi (at) mninter.net) if you have any questions about the suitability of a particular topic. For presenters, we would appreciate a brief abstract of your presentation topic on or before Tuesday, May 15th to help us with the program schedule. The final presentation materials (i.e., PowerPoint, etc. files) are due at the Conference on Friday morning (July 27th). However, for supporting material (NOT the presentation itself) to be published in the Proceedings, it must be received by Tuesday, May 15th. For papers to be published in the Proceedings, final copies must be received by Tuesday, May 15th. Note that you do not have to attend the Conference nor present your paper to have it published in the Proceedings. [ANS thanks Donn, WA2VOI for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Announces Hamvention Forum Speaker Line Up The AMSAT Forum at Hamvention 2018 will be held on Saturday, May 19 in Forum room 4 at 2:45-3:45 PM. The speaker and topic line up includes: + Moderator: Keith Baker, KB1SF / VA3KSF + "AMSAT Status Report" by Joseph Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT-NA President, who will highlight recent activities within AMSAT and discuss some of our challenges, accomplishments, projects, and any late breaking news. + "AMSAT Engineering Program" by Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Engineering, will talk about the Fox-1 and Golf (Greater Orbit Larger Footprint) Projects. + "ARISS Report 2018" by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Human Spaceflight will discus ARISS' "Next Generation ARISS Radio System" on the International Space Station. [ANS thanks Forum Moderator Keith baker, Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Activities for Hamvention 2018 AMSAT Booth ----------- Stop by the AMSAT booth (1007-1010 & 1107-1110) Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 9am-5pm, Sunday 9am-1pm to meet board members, officers, and active satellite operators. You'll be able to ask questions and see demonstrations of AMSAT's current and upcoming technologies. Well dressed satellite operators will look forward to picking up the latest AMSAT "swag" and fashions for 2018. Gould Smith's book, "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites", has been updated for 2018 and will be on sale during the Hamvention. AMSAT Forum ----------- The AMSAT Forum at Hamvention 2018 will be held on Saturday, May 19 in Forum room 4 at 2:45-3:45 PM. Amateur Satellite Demonstrations -------------------------------- Amateur Satellite operation demonstrations will be held every day outside the main Maxim Hall (Building 1 or E1) entrance. AMSAT will be be demonstrating actual contacts with the operational amateur satellites. We especially invite youth to make a contact via an amateur satellite. All are invited to observe, participate and ask questions. Satellite pass times will be posted at the AMSAT booth and in the demo area. Annual AMSAT "Dinner at Tickets" Party -------------------------------------- The annual AMSAT "Dinner at Tickets" party will be held Thursday at 1800 EDT at Tickets Pub & Eatery at 7 W. Main St, Fairborn, OH. Feast on a great selection of Greek and American food and great company! No program or speaker, just good conversation. Food can be ordered from the menu, drinks (beer, wine, sodas and iced tea) are available at the bar. Leave room for dessert, there's an in-house ice cream shop! Come as you are. Bring some friends and have a great time the night before Hamvention. AMSAT/TAPR Banquet ------------------ The twelfth annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held at the Kohler Presidential Center on Friday at 1830 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the AMSAT and TAPR activities during the Dayton Hamven- tion. We are pleased to announce that Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK will be our speaker. Jeri will present her innovative ideas and adventures in Amateur Radio. Banquet seating is limited to the number of meals reserved with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline. Tickets ($37 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store: https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-at-hamvention/ The banquet ticket purchase deadline is Tuesday, May 15. Banquet tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the AMSAT booth. There will be no tickets to pick up at the AMSAT booth. Tickets purchased on-line will be maintained on a list with check-in at the door of the banquet center. [ANS thanks AMSAT's Havention 2018 Team for the above information] ------------------------------------------------------------------- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-042.01 ANS-105.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 105.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. April 8. 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-105.01 Satellite Shorts From All Over + Karhu Koti has created a mutual window calculator for satellites between two locations. See: https://www.karhukoti.com/webtracker + An interesting twitter post about the 'live' on-line tracking sites interesting:https://twitter.com/Marco_Langbroek/status/980549243701268 482 + Not your typical space junk article. It leads with the release of 100+ sats by the same Indian rocket that launched AO- 92.https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-need-satellitesa-speeding-mass-of- space-junk-puts-them-at-risk-1505226427 + Here's something to think about. L band is a lot of fun. We do get 24 hours once a week (not complaining). With several ISS passes every day. It is a good reflector. Plus we can use CW, SSB, many digi modes. Just google it. + Next Rocket Lab launch window is starting 20th April 00:30 UTC for 4 hours. This window repeats for the following 14 days. See: http://rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-to-launch-first- commercial-mission-this-month/ It will be probably be watchable live from their web site. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC + AMSAT's plans for Hamvention 2018 for the dates May 17-20 have been posted: https://www.amsat.org/other-events/amsat-activities-at-hamvention- 2018/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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, AA0CB aa0cb 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-091 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 31 Mar '18

31 Mar '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-091 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 Operations Schedule * Russian SSTV Transmission Events Planned * AMSAT at the 2018 Hamvention -- Call for volunteers * AMSAT-UK Call for Speakers for Colloquium 2018 * Upcoming ARISS Contact and Event Schedule * Athenoxat-1 QSL Card Challenge SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-091.01 ANS-091 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 091.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE April 1, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-091.01 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). Please keep the uplink clear during passes with scheduled mode changes. For the week of 31Mar-6Apr 2018, the following mode changes are scheduled: Approximately 0155UTC 1Apr we will enable the L band uplink for ~24 hours Approximately 1650UTC 5Apr we will enable the VT camera and high-speed data for ~40 minutes. Please be ready to copy high-speed data with FoxTelem, and keep the uplink clear at 1650UTC. All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously. [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Russian SSTV Transmission Events Planned ARISS Russia is planning Slow Scan Television (SSTV) transmissions from the International Space Station. The transmissions are scheduled to occur over Moscow on April 2, 2018 from 15:05 through 18:30 UTC and on April 3, 2018 from 14:15 through 18:40 UTC. The MAI-75 experiment uses a computer on the ISS Russian Segment, which stores images that are then transmitted to Earth using the amateur radio, specifically the onboard Kenwood TM D710E transceiver. Images received can be posted and viewed at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php .The transmissions will be broadcast at 145.800 MHz using the PD-120 SSTV mode. Please note that the event is dependent on other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time. Please check for news and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org websites, the AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org, the ARISS facebook at Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and ARISS twitter @ARISS_status. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status [ANS thanks Dave, AA4KN, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the 2018 Hamvention -- Call for volunteers The 2018 Hamvention will be held on May 18-20, 2018 at Greene County Fairground and Expo Center in Xenia Ohio. Planning is under way for AMSAT's participation! Phil, W1EME, AMSAT's Hamvention Team Leader is looking for team leaders to assist him. If you can help please consider leading in one of the unfilled positions atw1eme at amsat.org < http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans> + Volunteer Assistant + Publicity Assistant - JoAnne K9JKM + Forum Assistant - Keith KB1SF + Sales Assistant + Outdoor Demo Assistant - Paul N8HM + Facilities and Setup Assistant We need as many volunteers as possible to help staff the AMSAT booth during the Hamvention Last year, we had about 40 people assist with the AMSAT booth at the Hamvention. It was the efforts of those volunteers that made the 2017 Hamvention a success for AMSAT. 1. May 17 - Booth setup on Thursday. 2. May 18, 19, 20 - Staff the booth during Hamvention hours to answer questions, enroll members, indoor demos, merchandise and book sales. (We will train you!) 3. May 20 - Booth teardown on Sunday The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Interested hams should contact Team Leader Phil Smith via email at: w1eme at amsat.org <http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans> for information. [ANS thanks AMSAT Hamvention Publicity Assistant JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Call for Speakers for Colloquium 2018 This is a call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium 2018 which, will be held this year on 13-14 October, in conjunction with the RSGB Convention at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ, United Kingdom . AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about Amateur satellites, CubeSats, Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on the AMSAT-UK web site or in Oscar News. We appreciate that it is not always possible to give a firm indication of attendance at this stage but expressions of interest would be appreciated. Submissions should be sent via e-mail to: dave(a)g4dpz.me.uk AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on specific subjects will be included in the future call. Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other information to G4DPZ. [ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact and Event Schedule Valday, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Artemyev Contact is a go for 2018-04-04 TBD UTC Vologda, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Artemyev Contact is a go for 2018-04-10 13:37 UTC Watch for SSTV 2018-04-02 15:05 UTC to 18:30 UTC 2018-04-03 14:15 UTC to 18:40 UTC 2018-04-12 to 2018-04-14 Additional information can be found at http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/ [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Athenoxat-1 QSL Card Challenge The Athenoxat-1 project team has implemented an interesting experiment (puzzle) where frames containing fragments of images of QSL cards are periodically transmitted by the satellite. Amateurs can participate in the experiment by receiving the fragments and sending KISS files via email to the Athenoxsat-1 project team. The frames will then be processed and the results will posted in their web site with acknowledgements to the participating stations. AMSAT-BR would like to encourage amateurs to participate. Due to the satellite orbit inclination (15 degrees), only locations with latitudes below the tropics will be able to receive signals from the satellite on 437.485 MHz. Signals can be demodulated using UZ7HO’s high speed soundmodem software (using the GOMX-1 4800 bps demodulator). The project website is: http://www.micro-space.org/ham.html [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and Yesie, 9V1SQ, 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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