March 2019 - ANS - mailman.amsat.org

ANS-083 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 23 Mar '19

23 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-083 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 Activities at Hamvention 2019 * NASA on the Air * Satellite Operating Demonstrations Planned for Tucson Hamfest * Three more 50th Anniversary Certtificates Earned * "Getting Started" Guide CLoseout * Canadian Artist To Use HAARP To Transmit SSTV * ESEO Satellite Commissioning Starts * FoxTelem Version 1.07 Released * Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp's 66th Mission Is Open For Registration * K6FW Gets 488 Grids * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-083.01 ANS-083 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 083.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 24, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-083.01 AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019 AMSAT Academy Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Clubhouse, Dayton, OH Thursday, 16 May 2019, 09:00 – 17:00 EDT Come joins us the day before Hamvention, for AMSAT Academy – a unique opportunity to learn all about amateur radio in space and working the FM, linear transponder, and digital satellites currently in orbit. AMSAT Academy will be held Thursday, May 16, 2019, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, at the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Clubhouse, located at 6619 Bellefontaine Rd, Dayton, Ohio. Registration Fee includes: Full day of instruction, designed for both beginners and advanced amateur radio satellite operators, and taught by some of the most accomplished AMSAT operators. Digital copy of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites, 2019 Edition ($15 value) One-Year, AMSAT Basic Membership ($44 value) Pizza Buffet Lunch. Invitation to the Thursday night AMSAT get together at Ticket Pub and Eatery in Fairborn. AMSAT Academy 2019 Registration Fee: $85.00. Registration closes May 10, 2019. No sign ups at the door. No refunds, No cancellations. Registration may be purchased on the AMSAT Store. AMSAT “Dinner at Tickets” Tickets Pub & Eatery, Fairborn, OH Thursday, 16 May 2019, 18:00 EDT The annual AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) “Dinner at Tickets” party will be held Thursday at 1800 EDT at Tickets Pub & Eatery at 7 W. Main St, Fairborn, OH. 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. ARISS Forum Forum Room 3 Friday, 17 May 2019, 13:15 – 14:15 EDT Out of this World Ham Radio via ARISS–Amateur Radio on the ISS Moderators: Rosalie White, K1STO, ARISS Secretary & USA Delegate, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT Vice President Human Space Flight ARISS is one of the most unique and fun facets of our hobby. We inspire generations of students and hams through our International Space Station crew and radio connections. In this eye-opening forum, learn about current and future lifelong learning opportunities for hams—via SSTV, APRS, voice repeaters, radio experiments and even robots! Hear how ARISS inspires, engages and educates tens of thousands of students each year in STEAM (science, technology, engineering arts and math) and radio science. See the next generation hardware systems we have in development. Discover how to maximize your opportunities to make ARISS connections and to hear the ISS crew directly from your ham shack. And learn about our visionary initiative to fly ham radio on the human space flight lunar Gateway. Come meet the team that have enabled millions, worldwide, to experience the fun of our amateur radio hobby. The ARISS team will present an overview and status of the program and then conduct a panel/Q&A session with ARISS panel experts in operations, education, hardware, experimentation and exploration. We also hope to have some surprise guests attending! TAPR/AMSAT Banquet Kohler Presidential Center , Kettering, OH Friday, 17 May 2019, 18:30 EDT The twelfth annual TAPR/AMSAT Banquet will be held at the Kohler Presidential Center on Friday at 18:30 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) and TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) activities during the Dayton Hamvention. Tickets ($40 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store. The banquet ticket purchase deadline is Tuesday, May 14th. 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 at the banquet center. Seating is limited to the number of meals reserved with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline. AMSAT Forum Forum Room 2 Saturday, 18 May 2019, 12:10 – 13:40 EDT Moderated by Robert Bankston KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services AMSAT Status Report – Joseph Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT President, will highlight recent activities within AMSAT and discuss some of our challenges, accomplishments, projects, and any late breaking news. AMSAT Engineering – Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President – Engineering, will talk about the Fox-1 and Golf (Greater Orbit Larger Footprint) Projects. AMSAT Education – Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President – Educational Relations will introduce the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator. AMSAT User Services – Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services, will discuss AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary Operating Event and the new AMSAT Ambassadors Program. Amateur Satellite Demonstrations Outside Main Entrance – Maxim Hall (Building 1) Friday, Saturday, Sunday 16 – 19 May 2019, 08:00 – 17:00 EDT Amateur Satellite operation demonstrations will be held outside the main Maxim Hall (Building 1 or E1) entrance. Every day, AMSAT will be demonstrating actual contacts with the operational amateur satellites. We especially want to 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 (1007-1010 & 1107-1110) and in the demo area. [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA on the Air In a surprising and touching turnout, tens of thousands of people around the world turned on their ham (or amateur) radios to participate in several "NASA on the Air" events held over the past year. "This was a beautiful thing," said Kevin Zari, head of the amateur radio club at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Zari especially loved the event photos tweeted by people from different countries. Radio clubs from 10 NASA centers and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, all supported the yearlong event. Ham radio operators tuned in from all 50 U.S. states and 56 countries across six continents to chat with NASA personnel. "There were times in our log where we had 20 contacts a minute - it was that quick. And there were other more relaxed times, where we were able to just sit and talk," said Zari. "I don't know how many times people said, 'We thought NASA was gone. We thought NASA was dead.' So we educated people around the world." The NASA on the Air event wrapped up with three special opportunities for people to use their radios to download images from the International Space Station. This was done in coordination with Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), an international consortium of amateur radio organizations and space agencies. ARISS encourages young people to explore science, technology, engineering and math through the use of ham radios, and their program works to connect students worldwide with astronauts onboard the space station. For the final three events, cosmonauts on the station transmitted several NASA on the Air images from space. Participants could compete to collect images and upload them to a website for credit. Over 34,600 uploads were received from 18,619 participants. The reaction to NASA on the Air was so positive, NASA Radio Clubs plans to activate NASA on the Air for special anniversaries in 2019 and beyond (e.g. 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11). Follow @NASARadioClubs on Twitter or join the NASA on the Air (NOTA) group on Facebook for notifications of future activities. [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Operating Demonstrations Planned for Tucson Hamfest Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK will have an AMSAT booth at the Radio Society of Tucson's annual spring hamfest on Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Tucson AZ. WD9EWK will be on satellite passes demonstrating satellite oper- ating from the hamfest. If you hear WD9EWK on the air that morn- ing, please call him and be a part of the demonstrations. The hamfest site is in grid DM42. QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World after the hamfest. QSL cards are available on request (please e-mail him directly with QSO details if you would like a QSL card). Also the @WD9EWK Twitter account will send photos and updates during the hamfest. These tweets are viewable in a web browser, even if you do not use Twitter: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK Hamfest information is available at: https://rstclub.org/media/hamfest.pdf [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- More 50th Anniversary Certificates Earned AMSAT has issued 3 more 50th Anniversary certificates to KE8FZT 602, KM4LAO 603, K2MTS 604, VE3CWU 605, N3SL 606, K4WPX 607, KB4PML 608. As of last notice only a couple 50th Certificates were left and then they are gone. [ANS thanks Bruce KK5DO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Getting Started" Guide CLoseout We are clearing out the 2018 Getting Started with Amateur Satellites books to make room for the next version debuting at Dayton. Get one, or an extra to give to a friend, for just $15 plus shipping, while supplies last. This definitive reference is written for the new satellite operator by Gould Smith, WA4SXM, but includes discussions for the experienced operator who wishes to review the features of amateur satellite communications. The new operator will be introduced to the basic concepts and terminology unique to this mode. Additionally, there are many practical tips and tricks to ensure making contacts, and to sound like an experienced satellite operator in the process. Newly revised in May 2018 with new information on new satellites. It also include information on several satellites of interest to hams expected to be launched in the coming year. Revisions in May 2016 include spiral bound for easier browsing, more new satellites, many more pages and in color.More added in the May, 2017 revision. and More added in the May, 2018 revision. Buy now https://tinyurl.com/ANS083-GettingStarted [ANS thanks AMSAT office for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadian Artist To Use HAARP To Transmit SSTV Concordia transmission artist Amanda Dawn Christie will use the world’s most capable high-power, high-frequency transmitter HAARP in Alaska to send art around the world and into outer space using Slow Scan TV Concordia News reports: In the shadow of Mount Sanford, surrounded by Alaskan wilderness, you’ll find the most powerful radio transmitter on earth. On this remote site, scientists use a unique tool called the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI) to create radio-induced aurora, also known as airglow. But it’s never been used by a Canadian artist to transmit art — until now. The IRI’s human-made northern lights inspired interdisciplinary artist Amanda Dawn Christie to create Ghosts in the Air Glow: an upcoming transmission art project that will use the IRI to play with the liminal boundaries of outer space. “I was so fascinated by these airglow experiments — and the relationship between the ionosphere and radio communications — I felt compelled to create an artwork specific to the site and its history,” says Christie, assistant professor in Concordia’s Department of Studio Arts. She will be embedding her own encoded SSTV images, audio compositions and propagation tests into IRI experiments from March 25 to 28. Read the full story at https://www.concordia.ca/news/stories/2019/03/21/concordia- transmission-artist-launches-a-high-frequency-project-in-alaska.html Artist made a radio out of a kitchen sink http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/december/artist-made-a-radio- out-of-a-kitchen-sink.htm Amanda Dawn Christie http://www. amandadawnchristie.ca/ https://twitter.com/magnet_mountain For further info on HAARP HF experiments follow Chris Fallen KL3WX https://twitter.com/ctfallen [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ESEO Satellite Commissioning Starts On Monday, December 3, 2018, the 50 kg ESA Education Office satellite ESEO was launched by Space-X on the Spaceflight SSO-A SmallSat Express mission. Following the launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, ESEO separated from the launch vehicle and automatically activated the periodic transmission of its telemetry beacon. However, by the time out of a predefined period, having not received commands from the ground station, the spacecraft automatically entered into safe mode. Some initial communications issues were experienced by ESEO in receiving commands from the ground stations in Forli’ (Italy) and Vigo (Spain), but they were resolved when the ESEO team of the Observatory of Tartu offered the possibility to use a ground station in Estonia. This is capable of transmitting with higher power, for a temporary contingent use. The Estonian ground station has been configured to be operated remotely by the ESEO MCC team, which involves students of the University of Bologna. ESEO then started executing the commands transmitted from ground. ESEO has now completed the LEOPS (Launch and Early OPerationS) phase of its mission, reaching the platform nominal mode and has begun the process of commissioning the whole satellite: firstly the platform functions, with the payloads functions following. As part of this commissioning process, but subject to the successful completion of other preparatory tasks of the platform subsystems commissioning, it is anticipated that initial testing of the AMSAT communications payload will be carried out within the next few weeks. AMSAT-UK will endeavour to provide some advance notice of these tests being undertaken, but the first step will be activation of the 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.895 MHz. The telemetry format matches previous FUNcube missions and data from this beacon will be forwarded to the FUNcube Data Warehouse using any of the FUNcube dashboards. However, to see the decoded values and graphical displays, please download the dedicated ESEO mission dashboard which is available at https://download.funcube.org.uk/ESEO_Dashboard_v1177.msi The payload has, additionally, a high speed, 4800 bps BPSK data format downlink and also a Mode L/V FM transponder both of which will be tested. Further information about ESEO can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/ANS083-ESEO [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FoxTelem Version 1.07 Released Chris Thompson has officially released version 1.07 of FoxTelem. A test version has been out for a while, but it had several issues, including a lower decode rate than 1.06. That prevented release for a while. Those issues (and something like 65 other defects) are now all fixed and this decoder performs better than 1.06. Feel free to test them side by side and report back if that is not the case for you. We are always interested in any comparative results. In addition to defects in FoxTelem 1.06 and earlier versions of 1.07, this also introduces Doppler calculation with automatic adjustment of the decoder frequency. This is especially useful for decoding beacons and has been helpful in testing for Fox-1A / AO-85 and Fox-1Cliff / AO-95 which are both in SAFE mode. Decoding from Doppler takes a bit of configuration to get right. Have a read of the new sections in the manual or ask for help if you want to give it a try. There are pros and cons vs "Find Signal" for sure. Version 1.07 changes the core SDR within FoxTelem to use a Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO) rather than an FFT Filter for the conversion to base-band. This produces better decodes and will allow the support of wider bandwidth SDRs in the future. The old decoder is available still if needed from the settings screen. Read the manual for details. Version 1.07 also introduces two new BPSK decoders in advance of the Fox-1E launch. (Chris has no inside information about when that will be, but he has the decoder ready :) Chris also wrote some notes on the comparison between the two decoders, which you can read if you are interested in BPSK decoding performance, or just wonder what I do with my time in the evenings: http://www.g0kla.com/workbench/2019-03-09.php The releases are here: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/foxtelem_1.07y_windows.zip http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/foxtelem_1.07y_linux.tar.gz http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/foxtelem_1.07y_mac.tar.gz KEY CHANGES in 1.07 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Ability to add a new spacecraft from the menu. You can also remove them. * Doppler calculation and tracking as an option instead of "Find Signal" * A better SDR based on a Numerically Controlled Oscillator, ready for wider SDRs * Two new PSK decoders - Costas Loop and Dotproduct * RTL dongle implemented for testing, though more work to do * Stops downloading keps when position calc is off * Allows toggling of high speed / DUV display when in auto mode * Fixed plotting issues for Earth plots * Fixes several crashes and bugs * Fixes copy paste issues with tables * Respects left/right audio preference when processing wav files * Implements formats for later spacecraft - Fox-1E and HuskySat * Linux and Mac launch script updated to locate the JVM (especially on Mac). Please report if when this works/does not work * MEMS gyro calibration updated * Fixed a bug where AO-85 data from the server could not be stepped through And many other bug fixes. Full list of changes here: https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/milestone/12?closed=1 Let Chris know any feedback, chrisethompson (at) gmail (dot) com. [ANS thanks Chris G0KLA / AC2CZ for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp's 66th Mission Is Open For Registration This be will EarthKAM's 66th week-long mission and the second of 2019! Mission 66 runs April 9 through April 12. Mission sign up is available and code words and orbits will be published by 5 p.m. EST Wednesday, April 3. 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.orgion] [ANS thanks Sally Ride EarthKAM for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- K6FW Gets 488 Grids Frank Westphal K6FW, announced, via twitter that he has now completed the 488 grid award. "Thanks to Don kb2ysi for FN51 which is the last grid I need for the 488 grid award. My first grid confirmed was KA5SMA, EM66 on 02-14-1992. 27+ years from start to finish. I am the tortoise not the hare! Thanks to all the other rovers over the years to make this happen." [ANS thanks Frank K6FW for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) – February 3, to March 29, 2019 Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008), February 3 until March 29, 2019. Time and weather permitting, they expect to be on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vy0erc. Key West, FL (EL94) – March 18-21, 2019 Adam, K0FFY, will be in Florida Keys on March 18 through 21, activating EL94 vacation-style. Adam’s taking his linear gear to see who he can hear East and South of that location If you still need EL94 please send direct message or email. Otherwise, he’ll be announcing on Twitter https://twitter.com/K0FFY_Radio Eastern Mass (FN51) – March 20, 2019 Don, KB2YSI, will be in FN51 on Wednesday, March 20th, starting with 1945z CAS-4A until 0233z SO-50. Will operate fixed 2m frequency on linears and still learning, so be patient. Keep an eye on Don’s Twitter feed for additional announcements https://twitter.com/kb2ysi. XE Mexico Special Event – March 21-24, 2019 Mexican amateurs will operate the following special event stations from the 21st to 24th to mark the Equinoccio Maya 2019: 4A3MAYA – Museo de Antropologia Regional, Tabasco 4B3MAYA – Merida, Yucatan 4C3MAYA – Champoton, Campeche 6E3MAYA – Quintana Roo 6F3MAYA – Chiapas. QRV on HF, 6m, and via satellite. QSL via bureau. Curaçao (FK52) – March 26-31, 2019 Nathan, K4NHW, will be operating as PJ2/KN4HW from Curaçao, March 26th to 31st. Primarily FM, but Nathan may try some SSB, as well. If you need a sked, let him know. He’s good on QRZ. Ontario (EN93,EN94,FN03, FN04) – March 28, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, with his tire still warm from his last roving trip, is heading to Ontario, March 28th for a one day, four grid, special. Ron will tweet passes the day of the rove, which will most likely be morning passes. Follow Ron on his journey at https://twitter.com/ad0dx Liechtenstein (JN47) – April 17-19, 2019 Phillippe, EA4NF, is off on another DXpedition. This time, he is heading to HB0/Lichtenstein. Phillippe will operate under the call sign HB0/EA4NF from Leichtenstein and HB9/EA4NF from Switzerland (JN47s, on both FM and SSB satellites. QSL via LoTW. Updated info & Pass announcements (Time+Frequencies) available on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT Northern Border Security Check (Minnesota to Washington) – April 29 to May 4 or 5th, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is all set for his semiannual rover trip to activate rare and somewhat rare grids, from April 29th to May 4th or 5th (or longer depending on how things go). Alex will fly into Minneapolis and drive back to my home grid CN88, activating as many ENx8,ENx7,DNx8,and DNx7 grids as possible along the route. The hope is to hit many corners and lines. Alex will be on both linear and FM birds. As always, activations and route details will be posted to his Twitter @N7AGF at https://twitter.com/N7AGF . Alex will also be on APRS at https://aprs.fi/N7AGF-10 . In areas of limited cell service, he’ll be using inReach. Email or hit Alex on twitter with grid requests, route suggestions, or hot tourist attractions in Minot. Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org See https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/ [ANS thanks Robert KE4AL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + ARISS contact between North Point School for Boys, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and astronaut David St-Jacques KG5FYI using ISS callsign OR4ISS, was successful. Contact began Wed 2019-03-20 20:16:09 UTC and lasted about 9 and a half minutes, Contact was telebridge via IK1SLD. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Khabarovsk University, Khabarovsk, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is TBD Contact is a go for 2019-03-26 UTC Ulluriaq School, Kangiqsualujjuaq, QC, Canada, via LU8YY The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Thu 2019-03-28 16:14:54 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Shorts From All Over + NY Times article about cubesats/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/science/cubesats-marco-mars.html [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for the above information] + ES’HAIL-2: HAMS GET THEIR FIRST GEOSYNCHRONOUS REPEATER https://tinyurl.com/ANS083-ESHAIL-Repaeter [ANS thanks Mark KØJM for the above information] + CubeSat] CubeSat Job Opening Please see below for a postdoctoral fellowship opening for a CubeSat project. Please forward to anyone you think may be interested. The job will be posted on the HR site (jobs.rhodes.edu) shortly. I will be at the workshop next month and can meet with any interested persons. [ANS thanks Ann M. Viano, Ph.D., Rhodes College for the above information] + New HackSpace magazine available for download Issue 17 of the free magazine HackSpace features Long-range radio communications made easy with LoRa This issue includes: • Long-range radio communications made easy with LoRa • Adafruit (Limor Fried AC2SN) Feather M0 RFM96 LoRa Radio 433 MHz • Jo Hinchliffe MW6CYK describes how to lay out a simple PCB in KiCad • Go further together by Dr Lucy Rogers M6CME Download the free PDF of HackSpace issue 17 April 2019 from https://hackspace.raspberrypi.org/issues [ANS thanks Southgate ARN 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-076 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne K9JKM 16 Mar '19

16 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-076 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: * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers * Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS * 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award * Lilacsat-1 LO-90 Re-entry Commemorative Competition * ARRL TI-2 Teachers Institute Includes Amateur Satellite Telemetry * ARRL Supports No Change to Table of Allocations for 45.5 - 47 and 47 - 47.2 GHz Bands * Upcoming Satellite Operations * AMSAT-DL QO-100 Up- and Downconverter Kit Modifications Announcement * Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution This Week * Satellite/AMSAT Presentation at Phoenix AZ - March 21, 2019 * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 2019 * GPS Network May Experience Errors in "Week Number" Rollover * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-076.01 ANS-076 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 076.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 17, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-076.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT relies on your donations to Keep Amateur Radio in Space Please consider a one-time or recurring donation today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers 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 2018 Dayton Hamvention a success for AMSAT. The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. The 2019 Hamvention is May 17-19 at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio. Would you consider helping AMSAT at the Hamvention this year? Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Phil, w1eme(a)amsat.org if you can help. [ANS Thanks W1EME for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio, ensure reliable packet operations and to keep the immensely popular SSTV operations running. We have reached a great milestone with $17,255 raised or about 12% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! ARISS has a lot of exciting upgrades to the ISS Radio system coming up. And we are in the expensive fabrication and testing phase right now. So every dollar counts!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS March 6, 2019 — The ARISS-US team (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will auction two very unusual items in its first-ever auction! Picture yourself as the winning bidder and proud owner of a unique JVC Kenwood TS-890S signed by astronauts! Or, you could be top bidder on a special astronaut-signed 6-volume boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook! Bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. You could own this one-of-a-kind beautiful Kenwood TS-890S; your ham station would boast the only Kenwood in the world showcasing astronaut signatures. Your top bid on the limited edition boxed-set 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications would mean your bookshelf includes astronaut signatures among your book collection. JVC Kenwood, a proud supporter of ARISS, generously gave a brand new TS-890S for ARISS to auction. They first offered the radio for sale in the US in the last half of 2018. Kenwood has been a super support- er of ARISS for years, and it was the company’s idea for this radio, with astronaut signatures, to be an exclusive that just one ham opera- tor could own! The company hopes you’ll be a bidder who wants to sup- port ARISS. The limited edition 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications sold out fast once ARRL posted their ad. It was the first time that ARRL divided the Handbook into volumes, which nestle in a hard slipcase. ARRL, an ARISS sponsor along with AMSAT and NASA, saved back one boxed set to give ARISS for the fund-raiser auction. When you bid in this auction you could be the crucial person who helps ARISS launch its new custom-built higher-power radio system in 2019 with its voice repeater and improved packet APRS and SSTV capability that thousands of hams enjoy. The new system will replace the aging, problematic units currently on the ISS. You may be the winning bidder who helps ARISS continue introducing ham radio to thousands of students, teachers, parents, and whole communities—and inspiring students about science, technology, engineering, math, and radio! Don't forget; set yourself a reminder: bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. Be the winning bidder for one or both of these two exclusive offerings and you’ll own a rare article that makes your ham station a classic! More auction details will soon be posted at www.ariss.org including that winning bidders will be responsible for shipping costs and for handling any required customs paperwork. ARISS thanked JVC Kenwood and ARRL for their generous support. And if you don’t do auctions, please contribute a donation to help ARISS launch its new radio system into space—look for the Donate but- ton near the top right corner of the www.ariss.org page. Thank you! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coopera- tive 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, educa- tors, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn at amsat.org [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 2019 marks AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. To help celebrate, we are sponsoring the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program. Full details are available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards says the 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award is now online: https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ Unlike the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award, the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award will be issued on one of the original goldenrod paper stock certi- ficates and signed by AMSAT’s founding President, Perry Klein, K3JTE (now W3PK). With only 20 original certificates available, this award will certainly become a collector’s item. The first 20 applicants to successfully submit 20 confirmed, qual- ifying contacts on any satellite will receive this award. A qualifying contact is defined as the establishment of two-way communication on any amateur radio satellite, with another station in a U.S. state, Canadian call area, or DXCC entity, no two of which may be the same. A U.S. state shall mean any state of the United States and the District of Columbia. All contacts must be made between March 03, 2019 00:00 UTC and December 31, 2019 23:59 UTC. Refer to the 50th Anniversary Awards program page (above) for the complete set of requirements and sub- mission instructions. As of March 15 Bruce says he issued 50th Anniversary Satellite Communication Achievement Awards to these satellite operators: Award # Callsign ------- -------- 590 W5RKN 591 K7TAB 592 KG5GJT 593 KB6LTY 594 KC9VGG 595 K6FW 596 N1RCN 597 K5IX 598 WD9EWK 599 KI7UNJ 601 VA3NNA (Award #600 was not a 50th certificate and went to W5RTX.) There are 9 more 50th Anniversary Anniversary Satellite Communication Achievement Awards still available. [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Lilacsat-1 LO-90 Re-entry Commemorative Competition Wei Mingchuan, BG2BHC, at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China says LO-90 (Lilacsat-1) is about to re-enter so the LO-90 team has announced the Lilacsat-1 Commemorative Competition (LOCC). Use Google translate to learn more of Lilacsat-1 at: http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/wp/ The contest period begins on March 16, 2019 at 00:00 UTC and con- tinues until Lilacsat-1 re-enters. The competition consists of two operating categories: + Amateur Radio Telemetry Group - Receive and upload as many telemetry packets as possible within the competition period. + Amateur Radio Communication Group - Make as many bidirectional QSO as possible in as many grid locator as possible within the competition period. For the telemetry competition each successfully uploaded telemetry packet to the Harbin Institute of Technology server counts as one point. BG2BHC advises there is a change to the Lilacsat-1 telemetry upload proxy address. Those using http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn should change it to http://data.lilacsat.online in proxy window of the dashboard. For the amateur radio communication competition a bidirectional contact consists on exchange of callsign and grid locator. Each QSO will count as one point. Each different grid counts as one multiplier. Duplicate QSOs with the same callsign do not count. Scoring and Awards ------------------ In the Amateur Radio Telemetry Group: final score = basic point which is the total number of telemetry packets uploaded. All telemetry data uploaded qualifies for a LilacSat-1 QSL card. In the Amateur Radio Communication Group: final score = basic point * multiplier + China: top 3 certificates issued. + World: Top 10 certificates issued. + The ham who receives the last downlink signal in the world and successfully uploads it to the server will receive a special gift. + Honor stickers - portable stations set up and operated in the field for this contest will receive a "Fiel " sticker affixed to the certificate. (Include a photo of the portable station.) The LO-90 team will publish the telemetry package list received from March 16, 2019 00:00 UTC to LilacSat-1 re-entry. Telemetry participants should send an e-mail with your callsign and address to: locc(a)lilacsat.online. (no later than April 30, 2019 00:00 UTC) Communication category participants should submit logs in Cabrillo or Excel XLS format containing your e-mail address, sent/received exchange information, UTC time of QSO. Send logs and information to locc(a)lilacsat.online no later than April 30, 2019 00:00 UTC. Include your photo of portable operation if applicable. LO-90 (LilacSat-1) operates on an FM uplink with a Codec2 digital voice downlink. A Linux Live ISO image with the decoder can be downloaded from: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-074-LO90-LiveCD (This will also work on Windows systems by booting off of the Linux Live CD. Then you reboot back into Windows when the pass is completed.) LO-90 Lilacsat-1 (http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/wp/?page_id=594) Uplink: 145.985 MHz FM Downlink: 436.510 MHz Codec2 digital voice Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, has documented his LO-90 operating setup in his article, "Digital Voice on Amateur Satellites: Experiences With Lilacsat-OSCAR 90", published in the January/February 2019 issue of the AMSAT Journal. A PDF copy of this article can also be accessed on AMSAT's Station and Operating Hints page: to https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ AMSAT-UK has posted an article about Lilacsat-1 at: https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/lilacsat-1/ Orbital evolution estimates for Lilacsat-1 posted on DK3WN's page indicate re-entry around March 31: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=93929 [ANS thanks the LO-90 team and the Harbin Institue of Technolgy for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ ARRL TI-2 Teachers Institute Includes Amateur Satellite Telemetry The ARRL announced 2019 Teachers Institutes on Wireless Technology sessions. As part of its educational outreach through the Education & Technology Program (ETP), ARRL will offer week-long sessions of the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology in July at ARRL Head- quarters in Newington, Connecticut. Applicants to the advanced TI-2 “Remote Sensing and Data Gathering” workshop are required to have completed TI-1 and be licensed Amateur Radio operators. Interested educators can find all the details and apply online at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-ARRL-TI2 The TI-2 “Remote Sensing and Data Gathering” workshop will concen- trate on analog-to-digital conversion and data sampling. Partici- pants will receive telemetry from Amateur Radio satellites and apply it to math and science topics. TI-2 participants are also introduced to a marine research buoy equipped with environmental sensors and taught how to create a similar design with 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. For more information, contact ARRL Lifelong Learning Manager Kris Bickell, K1BIC, at ARRL Headquarters. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Supports No Change to Table of Allocations for 45.5 - 47 and 47 - 47.2 GHz Bands The FCC has opened a brief window for public comment on recommendations approved by the World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee (WAC). Comments are due March 18 on International Bureau Docket 16-185. The FCC said the short comment period was necessary to allow time to finalize the US position for submission to the upcoming meeting of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). The Public Notice can be found in PDF format at, https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-172A1.pdf . Addressing WRC-19 Agenda Item 1.13, which serves to identify spectrum above 24.25 GHz that may be designated for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), ARRL has recommended no change in the 45.5 - 47 and 47 - 47.2 GHz bands, with hopes that commenters will agree. The 47 - 47.2 GHz band is allocated to the Amateur and Amateur Satellite services. ARRL and other no-change proponents point out that no sharing and compatibility studies were performed between IMT-2020 systems and the relevant incumbent services in the 45.5 - 47 GHz and 47 - 47.2 GHz bands, although sharing and compatibility studies for a number of incumbent services were required under Resolution 238 of World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15). "In the absence of ITU Radiocommunication Sector studies, the only sustainable conclusion is that it has not been demonstrated that the incumbent services in either band - the Mobile-Satellite Service, the Radionavigation Service, and the Radionavigation-Satellite Service in the 45.5 - 47 GHz band, and the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services in the 47 - 47.2 GHz band - can be protected, as required by Resolution 238," asserts the proponents of View B, which sides with no change to the current allocations. "In this regard, the View A proposal to identify mobile spectrum in the 45.5 - 47 GHz band for the terrestrial component of IMT, and to allocate spectrum in the 47 - 47.2 GHz band to the mobile service and identify the same for the terrestrial component of IMT, is fatally flawed. The absence of studies in the responsible ITU-R task group leaves the proposals unsubstantiated and incapable of adoption." View B proponents, including ARRL, are urging the FCC to accept the proposals of the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) for no change to the Table of Allocations in the 45.5 - 47 GHz and 47 - 47.2 GHz bands. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations + Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) – February 3, to March 29, 2019 Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008). Time and weather permitting, they expect to be on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/vy0erc. + Radio Club de Heredia (EK70/EJ79) – March 17, 2019 Vic (TI2VLM), Octavio (TI3ATS), and Minor (TI2YO) will activate the EK70,EJ79 gridline at the Radio Club de Heredia, TI0RHU 30th Anniver- sary Field Day. Planned satellite passes are: AO-92 @ 13:27z, SO-50 at 16:37z, and AO-91 @ 17:47z. Watch for further announcements on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ti2vlm and https://twitter.com/OctavioAraya. + Key West, FL (EL94) – March 18-21, 2019 Adam, K0FFY, will be in Florida Keys on March 18 through 21, activating EL94 vacation-style. Adam’s taking his linear gear to see who he can hear East and South of that location If you still need EL94 please send direct message or email. Otherwise, he’ll be announcing on Twitter https://twitter.com/K0FFY_Radio + Ontario (EN93,EN94,FN03, FN04) – March 18-21, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, with his tire still warm from his last roving trip, is heading to Ontario, March 28th for a one day, four grid, special. Ron will tweet passes the day of the rove, which will most likely be morning passes. Follow Ron on his journey at https://twitter.com/ad0dx Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert, KE4AL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-DL QO-100 Up- and Downconverter Kit Modifications Announcement AMSAT-DL has recommended a modification to their QO-100 Upconvert- er and Downconverter kits which were shipped prior to March 1 to improve performance of the uplink SSB transmit signal and address reduced gain of the downlink wide-band DATV reception. Refer to AMSAT-DL's post at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-AMSAT-DL-Converter Kits being shipped currently will already have the modification. The changes primarily affect the wide-band DATV signal so the users of the narrow-band CW/SSB only operations are less affected. Users able to perform the modification themselves will find the instructions posted at: https://amsat-dl.org/en/fix-fuer-qo-100-downconverter For users unable to make the modification themselves AMSAT-DL says instructions for exchange of the old kits will be published soon. [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution This Week Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, noted changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE distribution this week. Exseed, Irvine 2 and VisionCube cubesats are not transmitting. They are part of the SpaceX SSO-A 12-03-2019 mission. Since they are not transmitting, the remaining objects listed by Space-Track are either one of these three non-transmitting amateur satellites or they are non-amateur satellites. Therefore, the remaining unidentified satel- lites on the SpaceX AAO-A mission can be removed from the AMSAT-NA TLE distribution. The following satellites have been removed from this week's AMSAT TLE distribution: OBJECT D - CAT ID 43761 OBJECT P - CAT ID 43771 OBJECT T - CAT ID 43775 OBJECT U - CAT ID 43776 OBJECT W - CAT ID 43778 OBJECT X - CAT ID 43779 OBJECT AH - CAT ID 43789 OBJECT AV - CAT ID 43801 OBJECT BA - CAT ID 43806 OBJECT BD - CAT ID 43809 OBJECT BE - CAT ID 43810 OBJECT BS - CAT ID 43822 [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite/AMSAT Presentation at Phoenix AZ - March 21, 2019 Patrick, WD9EWK, will give a how-to presentation on working amateur satellites and AMSAT at the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club's monthly meeting on Thursday, March 21, 2019. The meeting site is room 147 at the North Valley campus of Northern Arizona University, 15451 N. 28th Drive in Phoenix AZ (northwest corner of I-17 and Greenway Road). More information is available at: http://www.w7tbc.org/content.php?128-general Patrick plans to demonstrate satellite operating depending on how the meeting goes. Possible passes that evening include SO-50 around 7:55pm (0255 UTC), a low AO-92 pass at 8:42pm (0342 UTC), and another SO-50 pass at 9:35pm (0435 UTC). If WD9EWK is on any of those passes, please feel free to give him a call and be a part of the demonstrations. The meeting site is in grid DM33. QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, and QSL cards are available on request (please e-mail WD9EWK directly with QSO details if you would like a QSL card). [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 2019 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period February 1, 2019 through March 1, 2019. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! There were lots of new Not-in-my-home-grid awards this month. CALL 01Feb 01Mar ------- ----- ----- WC7V 1199 1200 AA5PK 1049 1055 WD9EWK 525 537 NS3L 375 400 AF5CC 351 381 AE5B 342 368 KE8FZT 275 301 W7JSD 257 279 K9UO 202 225 WB7VUF 107 206 N2NL New 179 N1PEB 125 138 WD9EWK(DM22) 108 131 W5PFG(DM80) New 125 WD9EWK(DM31) New 110 W5PFG(DM95) 100 109 TI2VLM New 106 W5PFG(DM93) New 105 KS1G New 102 PU4JOE New 101 W1OH New 101 If you find errors or omissions please contact Ron off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and he'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for The two months. 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- GPS Network May Experience Errors in "Week Number" Rollover The GPS network will encounter a small millennium bug of its own in April when the network's "week number" rolls back to zero. This known issue especially could affect those who use GPS to obtain accurate Coordinated Universal Time. In the GPS network, the number of the current week is encoded into the message the GPS receives using a 10-bit field. This allows for weeks ranging from zero to 1023. The current period began on August 1, 1999. On April 6, 2019, the week number rolls over to zero and starts counting back up to 1023. This should not affect later-model GPS receivers that conform to IS-GPS-200 and provide UTC, but testing carried out by the US Department for Homeland Security raised the possibility that some units may misinterpret the rollover, shifting the date back to January 6, 1980, or possibly to another incorrect date. An affected GPS not only may report the incorrect date, but time accuracy that is critical to precise location data could be compromised. A nanosecond error in GPS time can equate to 1 foot of position or ranging error, according to DHS-published guidelines that explain the issue and suggest how to address it. View the offi- cial release at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-DHS-GPSRollover [ANS thanks the Department of Homeland Security, National Cyber- security & Communications Integration Center for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members will receive a free digital copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Satellite Shorts From All Over + Congratulations to these stations for establishing a new distance record via satellite: > FalconSAT-3 (V/U Digipeater) – 3,157 km. KE8AKW in EN80xv with KB6LTY in DM14jl. 15-Mar-2019 at 00:41 UTC. > AO-92 (L/V) – 3,626 km. WD9EWK in DM43bl with N1JEZ in FN44ar. 15-Apr-2018 at 16:36 UTC. Visit the distance records page at: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ + The engineering beacon on Es'Hail QO-100 is active. Legacy software that decoded the AO-40 beacon will also work on QO-100: http://www.moetronix.com/ae4jy/ao40rcv.htm If QO-100 is out of range for your station use the WebSDR at: https://eshail.batc.org/.uk/nb/ and tune the receiver to the Upper Beacon. + AMSAT's Fox Operating Guide hamfest and demo handout sheet has been updated to reflect the current operational status of AO-85 and AO-95. The high and low resolution PDF files are available on their links at: https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ + It is possible to search AMSAT's archives (amsat-bb and ANS) by using the "site:" command in Google. For example, to find all mentions of the word "Diplexer" in amsat-bb, type this line into a browser opened to the Google front page: Diplexer site:http://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb To restrict the search to a particular year, type Diplexer site:http://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2014 The AMSAT News Service (ANS) archives are searchable in a similar manner (for example hamvention in 2016): hamvention site:http://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2016 (Thanks to Dan Schultz N8FGV) + On-line tweets indicate that the Philippine Diwata-2 satellite carrying an amateur radio FM transponder and APRS digipeater may be activated around March 29. The IARU has coordinated an FM downlink for voice, APRS and telemetry on 145.900 MHz and an FM voice uplink on 437.500 MHz. Additional Diwata-2 information is posted at: http://phl-microsat.upd.edu.ph/diwata2 https://www.facebook.com/PHLMicrosat + If you have lost you authorisation code for the AMSAT-UK FUNcube dashboards, there is a page on which you can request this code to be sent to your registered email address. See: http://data.badgersoft.com/recover-authcode (via G4DPZ) + Check out IZ5RZR's Two SatNOGS Satellite Rotators video posted at: https://youtu.be/tcdItBsMnC0 + The Internet Archive site makes all issues of 73 Magazine available: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-074-InternetArchive-73 Tools at https://mikeyancey.com/73mag/index.php offer indexed searches of the archive. + The March PDF of the weather satellite publication 'GEO News- letter' produced by the Group for Earth Observation is now available for free download. The Group for Earth Observation's aim is to enable amateur reception of weather and earth imaging satellites that are in orbit or planned for launch in the near future. Membership in GEO is free. Among the articles in this newsletter is How to "Receive X-Band Weather Satellites" by Jean-Luc Milette. Download the March 2019 GEO Newsletter from http://www.geo-web.org.uk/geoquarterly.php + Papers for IARU-R1 Vienna meeting can be accessed at: https://vienna.iaru-r1.org/conference-documents/c4/ > C4-002 bandplanning 15m satellites https://vienna.iaru-r1.org/conference-documents/c5/ > C5-011 @G3VZV Satellite Coordinator’s Report > C5-011 Annex to SCR > C5-012 2400 MHz satellite bandplanning > C5-029 Amateur Satellites + On March 14 NASA announced the projects selected in the 10th round of candidates for CubeSat space missions: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-NASA-10th-Round None of these satellites were found on the IARU Coordination pages at this time. + A free PDF of the current Raspberry Pi focused magazine, MagPi, issue 79, for March, 2019 is available now at: https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/issues/79/ The next issue of MagPi will feature articles on Amateur Radio Projects in issue 80, available for free download starting on March 28. + The March 2019 Edition of SatMagazine is provided free by Satnews Publishers and is available to read online or download at: http://www.satmagazine.com/ + The March 2019 issue of CQ DATV magazine is available for download at: https://cq-datv.mobi/69.php + The 2019 Cubesat Developers Workshop will be held April 23-25, 2019 at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center, San Luis Obispo, CA The schedule and additional information is posted at: http://www.cubesat.org/workshop-information [ANS thanks everyone 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 and remember to behave and to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM k9jkm at amsat dot org

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ANS-069 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Paul Stoetzer 09 Mar '19

09 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-069 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information 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://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 dot org. In this edition: * Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS * AMSAT-F Space Meeting is First Live DATV Conference via QO-100 * GNU Licensed KLog Logbook Software v.0.9.7 Released * How to Support AMSAT * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-069.01 ANS-069 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 034.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 10, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-069.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT relies on your donations to Keep Amateur Radio in Space Please consider a one-time or recurring donation today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS March 6, 2019 — The ARISS-US team (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will auction two very unusual items in its first-ever auction! Picture yourself as the winning bidder and proud owner of a unique JVC Kenwood TS-890S signed by astronauts! Or, you could be top bidder on a special astronaut-signed 6-volume boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook! Bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. You could own this one-of-a-kind beautiful Kenwood TS-890S; your ham station would boast the only Kenwood in the world showcasing astronaut signatures. Your top bid on the limited edition boxed-set 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications would mean your bookshelf includes astronaut signatures among your book collection. JVC Kenwood, a proud supporter of ARISS, generously gave a brand new TS-890S for ARISS to auction. They first offered the radio for sale in the US in the last half of 2018. Kenwood has been a super support- er of ARISS for years, and it was the company’s idea for this radio, with astronaut signatures, to be an exclusive that just one ham opera- tor could own! The company hopes you’ll be a bidder who wants to sup- port ARISS. The limited edition 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications sold out fast once ARRL posted their ad. It was the first time that ARRL divided the Handbook into volumes, which nestle in a hard slipcase. ARRL, an ARISS sponsor along with AMSAT and NASA, saved back one boxed set to give ARISS for the fund-raiser auction. When you bid in this auction you could be the crucial person who helps ARISS launch its new custom-built higher-power radio system in 2019 with its voice repeater and improved packet APRS and SSTV capability that thousands of hams enjoy. The new system will replace the aging, problematic units currently on the ISS. You may be the winning bidder who helps ARISS continue introducing ham radio to thousands of students, teachers, parents, and whole communities—and inspiring students about science, technology, engineering, math, and radio! Don't forget; set yourself a reminder: bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. Be the winning bidder for one or both of these two exclusive offerings and you’ll own a rare article that makes your ham station a classic! More auction details will soon be posted at www.ariss.org including that winning bidders will be responsible for shipping costs and for handling any required customs paperwork. ARISS thanked JVC Kenwood and ARRL for their generous support. And if you don’t do auctions, please contribute a donation to help ARISS launch its new radio system into space—look for the Donate but- ton near the top right corner of the www.ariss.org page. Thank you! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coopera- tive 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, educa- tors, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn at amsat.org [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-F Space Meeting is First Live DATV Conference via QO-100 AMSAT-Francophone offered live DATV video of their 2nd Space Meeting on March 9-10, 2019. AMSAT-F (http://site.amsat-f.org/) and Electrolab (https://www.electrolab.fr/) have deployed a DATV ground station to operate via the QO-100 transponder. The DATV team led by Yannick Avelino and with the support of Evariste, F5OEO developed the station that will transmit live the conference. The team was in contact with AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK for permission to operate the satellite during these days. They thank AMSAT-DL for allowing these transmissions. [ANS thanks AMSAT-Francophone for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 2019 marks AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. To help celebrate, we are sponsoring the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program. Full details are available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ GNU Licensed KLog Logbook Software v.0.9.7 Released Jaime, EA4TV, released KLog v.0.9.7, a multiplatform free hamradio logging program which is able to run in Linux, Windows and macOS. The latest release allows the user to add, remove or edit satel- lites to the KLog DB allowing import or export of satellites data. KLog supports ADIF as a default file format. Additional features of KLog include QSO management, QSL management, a DX-Cluster client, DXCC management, ClubLog integration, WSJT-X, and DX-Marathon support. Several languages are supported including Catalan, Croatian, Danish, English, Finish, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. Additional information and access to downloads can be found at: https://www.klog.xyz/ [ANS thanks Jaime, EA4TV for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ How to Support AMSAT AMSAT relies on the support of our members and the amateur radio community to Keep Amateur Radio in Space. How can you help? *Join AMSAT Both you and AMSAT will benefit when you join. You get the AMSAT Journal bimonthly and support from AMSAT Ambassadors. Member dues and donations provide AMSAT’s primary support. Join today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ *Become a Life Member Becoming a Life Member has never been easier. Now you can become a Life Member with 12 monthly payments of $74 through our online store. See https://www.amsat.org/product/lifetime-membership/ for details. *Donate to AMSAT Make a one time or recurring donation to AMSAT today. Even as little as one dollar a month can make a difference! Donate today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ *Purchase AMSAT gear on our Zazzle storefront. AMSAT receives 25% of the price of each sale on AMSAT logo merchandise from our Zazzle storefront located at https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear *Volunteer for AMSAT AMSAT relies on volunteers for nearly all of our activities. If you have an idea for how to help, please let us know, Details on volunteering can be found at https://www.amsat.org/volunteer-for-amsat/ [ANS thanks AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $17,255 raised or about 12% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations +Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) February 3, to March 29, 2019 Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008), February 3 until March 29, 2019. Time and weather permitting, they expect to be on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vy0erc. +Poland, Lithuania, Kaliningrad, St Petersburg, Aland Island, and Finland February 24 to March 13, 2019 I am on the first of four flights now on the way for another one of my signature trips. This voyage will take me to Poland (Feb 24-28), Lithuania (Feb 28-Mar 4), Kaliningrad (Mar 4-7), Saint Petersburg (Mar 7-11), Åland Islands (Mar 11-13), and Helsinki (Mar 13-14). I think the most desired entities are going to be UA2 and OH0 (unfortunately OH0 is gonna be quick, get in in the evening and leave in a morning, so two nights and one full day). I’m hoping to make US contacts from every entity and will try to hit as many grids as feasible (I’ll have a car in Vilnius and Kaliningrad), but good transatlantic locations will take precedence over grids. Don’t expect me on every pass, I’m traveling with family and we’ll be doing touristy stuff, but I’ll make my best effort to be on the great AO-7 and FO-29 passes across the ocean, updates will be on Twitter @AL6D_Alaska. I’m operating ninja portable like the good ole days, QRP with two FT-817NDs and an arrow, hopefully that doesn’t attract too much negative attention from customs in Russia. 73, Gabe “Harambe” Zeifman AL6D/VE6NJH/Harambe1 +France (JN07) March 10, 2019 Jérôme, F4DXV, will be in JN07 on Sunday with his family. Due to the rarity of this grid on amateur satellites, Jérôme hopes to be on the 16:55 utc AO-7 pass for South American and North American grid chasers. Being part of a family trip, keep an eye on Jérôme’s Twitter feed for updates: https://twitter.com/F4DXV [ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members will receive a free digital copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Satellite Shorts from All Over + AMSAT has secured permission to redistribute orbital data provided by the US Department of Defense Joint Force Space Component Commander for another year. Thanks to the work of Ray Hoad, WA5QGD and Perry Klein, W3PK, the world's best source of orbital elements for amateur radio satellites will continue via the KEPS mailing list and www.amsat.org/tle/ + Eduardo, PY2RN, in Brazil reports working RAST club station HS0AJ in Bangkok, Thailand via QO-100. The distance between PY2RN in GG66lw and HS0AJ in OK03fp is 16,445.3 km. (Via PY2RN on the AMSAT Facebook page) + A new distance record was claimed on IO-86's FM transponder: 5,157 km. PU4JOE in GH91ac <> @hp2vx in FJ09ga. 02-Mar-2019 at 17:25 UTC https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ (Via N8HM) + Radio World has published an article about amateur radio and ARISS by Brian Clark, KF6FES. Read it at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-069-RW + K5EM has added a zoomable grid map on his satmatch.com site: https://www.satmatch.com/maiden It works like the other google maps - the more you zoom in the more detail you get. (Via K5EM) + JAMSAT has posted a video demonstrating the FO-99(NEXUS) Digitalker. View it at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-069-FO99 (via JAMSAT) + In ANS-061, it was reported that the University of Virginia's CubeSat constellation due for launch next month will carry UHF packet repeaters. However, due to licensing issues, the satellites will operate in non-amateur spectrum at 401 MHz. KQ9P, from the UVA team reports that they are hopeful that their next CubeSat project will carry an amateur payload. (via KQ9P) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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 additional 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 student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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ANS-065 Special Bulletin - ARISS Auction
by Mark D. Johns 06 Mar '19

06 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE Special Bulletin - ARISS Auction ANS-065 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: * Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.01 ANS-065 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin 037.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 6, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-065.01 Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS March 6, 2019 — The ARISS-US team (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will auction two very unusual items in its first-ever auction! Picture yourself as the winning bidder and proud owner of a unique JVC Kenwood TS-890S signed by astronauts! Or, you could be top bidder on a special astronaut-signed 6-volume boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook! Bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. You could own this one-of-a-kind beautiful Kenwood TS-890S; your ham station would boast the only Kenwood in the world showcasing astronaut signatures. Your top bid on the limited edition boxed-set 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications would mean your bookshelf includes astronaut signatures among your book collection. JVC Kenwood, a proud supporter of ARISS, generously gave a brand new TS-890S for ARISS to auction. They first offered the radio for sale in the US in the last half of 2018. Kenwood has been a super support- er of ARISS for years, and it was the company’s idea for this radio, with astronaut signatures, to be an exclusive that just one ham opera- tor could own! The company hopes you’ll be a bidder who wants to sup- port ARISS. The limited edition 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications sold out fast once ARRL posted their ad. It was the first time that ARRL divided the Handbook into volumes, which nestle in a hard slipcase. ARRL, an ARISS sponsor along with AMSAT and NASA, saved back one boxed set to give ARISS for the fund-raiser auction. When you bid in this auction you could be the crucial person who helps ARISS launch its new custom-built higher-power radio system in 2019 with its voice repeater and improved packet APRS and SSTV capability that thousands of hams enjoy. The new system will replace the aging, problematic units currently on the ISS. You may be the winning bidder who helps ARISS continue introducing ham radio to thousands of students, teachers, parents, and whole communities—and inspiring students about science, technology, engineering, math, and radio! Don't forget; set yourself a reminder: bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. Be the winning bidder for one or both of these two exclusive offerings and you’ll own a rare article that makes your ham station a classic! More auction details will soon be posted at www.ariss.org including that winning bidders will be responsible for shipping costs and for handling any required customs paperwork. ARISS thanked JVC Kenwood and ARRL for their generous support. And if you don’t do auctions, please contribute a donation to help ARISS launch its new radio system into space—look for the Donate but- ton near the top right corner of the www.ariss.org page. Thank you! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coopera- tive 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, educa- tors, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org

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ANS-061 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
by Mark D. Johns 02 Mar '19

02 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-061 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: * Call for Volunteers - AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention * JAMSAT Announces 2019 Symposium, March 16-17 * SatNOGS Client and gr-satnogs Updates * ARISS News -- Reports Requested * "Off to the Motherland" Rove * Activating Northern Maine Grids - March 2-3 * Summer Internship Positions Open in the SpaceSTEM Program * Virginia Cubesat Constellation Moves Forward * New ‘NASA Science Live’ Program Premiers This Week * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-061.01 ANS-061 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 061.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 2, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-061.01 Call for Volunteers - AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention The 2019 Hamvention will be held on May 17-19 2019 at Greene County Fairground and Expo Center in Xenia Ohio. If you're available we can also use your help for setup operations on May 16. Planning is under way for AMSAT's participation. We are looking for volunteers in the following areas: + Volunteer Assistant + Sales Assistant + Outdoor Demo Assistant + Facilities and Setup Assistant. Interested Hams should contact Team Leader Phil Smith via email at w1eme at amsat.org for information. [ANS Thanks W1EME for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMSAT Announces 2019 Symposium to be Held March 16-17 The 2019 JAMSAT Symposium will be held on March 16-17 at the Hotel Binario Saga Arashiyama in Kyoto, Japan. JAMSAT invites anyone inter- ested in the satellite communication to participate in the symposium and social gathering. The Symposium will offer a lot of content about the NEXUS satellite jointly developed with Nihon University. The entire program has been posted at: https://tinyurl.com/y6n7pcf9 Activities planned for Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17: Saturday: 12:30 - 13:15 General Assembly for JAMSAT members only 13:30 - 18:30 Symposium Activities 18:00 - Banquet and Reception Sunday: 08:45 - 13:15 Symposium Activities 14:15 - 16:45 GNU Radio Exercise (advance registration required) Participation in the Symposium is free. The cost of the banquet and reception is 5000 yen with a registration deadline of March 2. The contact for more information is jh3bum(a)gmail.com [ANS thanks JAMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SatNOGS Client and gr-satnogs Updates SatNOGs has announced new releases for satnogs-client 3 and gr-satnogs 4 for Raspbery Pi 3 and Debian operating systems. Notable changes on satnogs-client: * Support demodulator for Reaktor Hello World 2 satellite * Sent observation frequency in metadata * Add option for manual power level range in waterfall (there is an issue with this one, there will be an update in satnogs-client- ansible 2 later that will fix this.) Notable changes on gr-satnogs: * Golay (24, 12) decoder * Demodulating flowgraph for the Reacktor Hello World Satellite * Fix of the baud rate issue in BPSK gr-script For installation or upgrade information, see the wiki at: https://tinyurl.com/yytxwge5 [ANS thanks https://satnogs.org/news/ for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) News Reports requested: An ARISS contact with Huntington High School, Huntington, TX, direct via KI5AJL on Monday 2019-02-25 at 19:39 UTC was unsuccessful. ARISS is attempting to determine what happened and welcomes SWL reports. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Ceip Nuestra Señora Del Carmen, Torre De La Reina, Spain on 05 Mar. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:50 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and EG7NSC. The contact should be audible over Spain and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The con- tact is expected to be conducted in English. ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.80 MHz. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Please send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. ARISS Contact Application window for the United States open in the spring of 2019. See the ARISS webpage at http://www.ariss.org/ for details. ARISS would be particularly interested in applications from the following US states and entities that have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mari- anas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. [ANS thanks AJ9N and AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Off to the Motherland" Rove Gabe Zeifman, AL6D/VE6NJH wrote to AMSAT-BB on February 23: "I am on the first of four flights now on the way for another one of my signature trips. This voyage will take me to Poland (Feb 24-28), Lithuania(Feb 28-Mar 4), Kaliningrad (Mar 4-7), Saint Petersburg (Mar 7-11), Åland Islands (Mar 11-13), and Helsinki (Mar 13-14). I think the most desired entities are going to be UA2 and OH0 (unfortunately OH0 is gonna be quick, get in in the evening and leave in a morning, so two nights and one full day). I’m hoping to make US contacts from every entity and will try to hit as many grids as feasible (I’ll have a car in Vilnius and Kaliningrad), but good transatlantic locations will take precedence over grids. Don’t expect me on every pass, I’m traveling with family and we’ll be doing touristy stuff, but I’ll make my best effort to be on the great AO-7 and FO-29 passes across the ocean, updates will be on Twitter @AL6D_Alaska. I’m operating ninja portable like the good ole days, QRP with two FT-817NDs and an arrow, hopefully that doesn’t attract too much negative attention from customs in Russia." [ANS thanks AL6D for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Activating Northern Maine Grids - March 2-3 Clayton, W5PFG writes, "Between ~03:00 UTC March 2 thru ~17:00 UTC March 3, I will operate satellites /TM (Tobaggan Mobile) thru grids FN54, FN55, FN56, FN57, FN66, and FN67. I plan to activate the FN54/55, FN56/66, and FN57/67 grid lines I've used on previous Maine expedi- tions. This will be a fast-paced trip and I don't anticipate working every bird or every pass. I will stop to sleep, drink, and eat. Weather will be a huge factor. Like many of my activations, it's recommended you monitor my @w5pfg Twitter feed for the latest information." [ANS thanks W5PFG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer Internship Positions Open in the SpaceSTEM Program ESTCube is calling all space enthusiasts! The SpaceTEM application period for internships in Estonian and Latvian space technology entities for the summer of 2019 has begun! Challenge yourself and enjoy this summer by being a part of an amazing space adventure - SpaceTEM '19! SpaceTEM is a new EstLat project which aims to initiate the development of NewSpace industry in Estonia and Latvia through a series of mutual activities. If you are interested in space technologies, innovation, and entrepreneurship, this intern- ship is a great opportunity for you! There are over 50 topics to choose from - from building 3D printers to developing soft- ware for ESTCube-2. More information can be found at this link: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-062-SpaceSTEM To apply, fill in the internship form and send your CV and moti- vational letter (for additional bonus points you can also add a link to any project you have been a part of so far) to: spacetem_internship(a)venta.lv The application deadline is March 31, 2019. Chosen interns will be announced from the middle of April until the beginning of May, 2019. [ANS thanks ESTCube for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Virginia CubeSat Constellation Moves Forward A project built by a team of University of Virginia engineering students took step toward outer space this week when they and student colleagues from Old Dominion University and Virginia Tech delivered three CubeSats to NanoRacks, an aerospace company in Houston. NanoRocks will integrate the CubeSats into a deployer aboard a rocket set for launch next month to the International Space Station. The satellites are part of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation mission, a collaborative project of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and its four member universities (which also includes Hampton University). The three nano-satellites, each carrying a UHF packet repeater for amateur use, were developed by engineering students to obtain measurements of the properties of the Earth’s atmosphere to quantify atmospheric den- sity. Full article available at: https://tinyurl.com/y3u7skkl [ANS thanks news.virginia.edu for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SpaceCube near the end, request to receive the last telemetry Jean Guérard, from the Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (France), ONERA, asks all those who have the opportunity to record the latest SpaceCube telemetry frames. Launched in May 2017, SpaceCube is expected to disintegrate sometime around March 1, 2019. The frequency is 436,880 MHz, AFSK modulation 1k2, AX25 mode. Note: The frames are not decodable, it is therefore requested to re- cord the audio signal of the satellite and to send it to Jean Guérard ( jean.guerard(a)saf-astronomie.fr ) For large files, you can use the service: https://www.grosfichiers.com/fr/ [ANS thanks Christophe Mercier for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- New ‘NASA Science Live’ Program Premiers This Week NASA invites you to take a behind-the-scenes look at how the agency explores Earth and outer space with a new monthly television series that premiers this week. The inaugural episode of “NASA Science Live” will air at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 27, on NASA Television, the agency’s website, Facebook Watch, YouTube, and Ustream. Viewers will be able to submit questions on social media using the hashtag #askNASA or by leaving a comment in the chat section on Facebook. >From remote locations on Earth to the depths of outer space, join the conversation live each month to interact with NASA experts and watch as they reveal the mysteries of our solar system and beyond. “I am personally very excited about how this new show will highlight the interconnected nature of science from across the agency,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “The series will find new ways to talk about science from various disciplines, missions and centers to show how each works together in order to achieve our exploration goals.” This first episode - entitled “To the Moon, and Beyond” - will explore the how science conducted on the lunar surface in the past informs current missions studying the Moon and future plans to send science, robots and humans to our nearest celestial neighbor. For more information about the show, visit: https://go.nasa.gov/NASAScienceLive [ANS thanks NASA HQ News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + RTL-SDR.com tells of a new SDR radio PodCast that calls itself "Signals Everywhere". Episode 1 was just released. More information at: https://tinyurl.com/y5khc5hl (via RTL-SDR.com) + A recent ARISS contact between the International Space Station and Faith Christian Academy middle school in Orlando, Florida received good press coverage from WUSF public radio in Tampa. See the story at https://tinyurl.com/y4b2p4ro (via http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu) + SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for a test flight to the International Space Station on Saturday, March 2. Liftoff of the human-rated capsule — flying without astronauts this time — is scheduled for 2:49 a.m. EST (07:49Z). Assuming an on-time launch and docking this weekend, the spacecraft will depart the space station March 8 and return to a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Atlan- tic Ocean. More details at https://tinyurl.com/y4o2n5u9 (via spaceflightnow.com) + Scott, K4KDR, reports that The JY1SAT (JO-97) satellite started transmitting digital media files on 145.840 USB. Decoding is accom- plished with the “Funcube” type dashboard which can be downloaded at: https://tinyurl.com/y5uutqct (via K4KDR) + The TAPR PSR Digital Journal, Winter 2019 Edition is now available online at: https://www.tapr.org/psr/psr140.pdf (via tapr.org on facebook) + The Central States VHF Society offers a Reverse VUCC for rovers. Only a few have actually applied for the award on satellite. See: https://www.csvhfs.org/index.php/awards-and-programs/reverse-vucc (via Martin A Schuette on AMSAT-BB) + AMSAT-DL has agreed to a proposal by the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) for the use of the bottom 100 kHz of the wideband trans- ponder on QO-100 (10491 – 10491.1 MHz) for ATV co-ordination pur- poses. Details at: https://tinyurl.com/y6tzwsuz (via AMSAT-UK) + Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, writes: "One of the really cool things about receiving an AMSAT award in the mail is the certificate inside. However, what is even cooler is the envelope. Yes, the envelope. My wife has purchased stamps for years and years. I use those stamps on the envelopes I mail. None of those little white labels from the post office. Is it time for you to apply for an AMSAT award or to add to your stamp collection?" (via KK5DO) [See https://www.amsat.org/awards-2/ ] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org

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