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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-241
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* AMSAT-EA GENESIS satellites may launch September
* Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)
* 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held (Repost)
* Satellite Contact Acheivements and Records
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-241 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 Aug 29
AMSAT-EA GENESIS satellites may launch September
Spain’s national amateur radio society, the URE, report two AMSAT-EA GENESIS satellites are expected to be launched on September 2, 2021.
A translation of the URE post reads:
The GENESIS-L and GENESIS-N satellites, designed and built by AMSAT-EA in collaboration with students from the European University and ICAI, will be launched, in a first attempt, on September 2, once the American company Firefly has carried out the static test of the Alpha launcher, this being the last step before its launch. The vehicle is ready for takeoff on its platform from Vanderberg Air Force Base in California and carries, for this inaugural flight, many other satellites from various organizations and universities.
The GENESIS are digital repeating satellites of ASK and CW and also carry Applied Ion Systems’ AIS-gPPT3-1C experimental ion thrusters.
The working frequencies of the satellites are as follows:
GENESIS-L
145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: CW, ASK 50 bps
436.875 MHz downlink CW, ASK 50 bps, am2sat callsign
GENESIS-N
145.888 MHz uplink, Modes: CW and ASK 50 bps
436.888 MHz downlink CW ASK 50 bps, am3sat callsign
The description of the telemetry and the mode of operation of its repeaters can be found in the following links:
Link to telemetry transmissions description (in English)
https://www.amsat-ea.org/app/download/12293076/AMSAT+EA+-+GENESIS+transmiss…
Source URE https://www.ure.es/satelites-genesis-de-amsat-ea-2/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information and the translation]
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)
The 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Registration is now open for the event at https://launch.amsat.org/Events Student registrations are available at $40, and General registration is at $75. Registration for the Saturday evening Symposium Banquet is an additional $55. Full details are available at the registration website.
The Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245, adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and only steps away from the METRO Blue Line’s American Blvd. stop. Nearby shopping and tourist attractions include Mall of America, SEA LIFE at Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe, and the Minnesota Zoo.
The Symposium includes presentations, exhibit space, and the AMSAT Annual General Meeting. The preliminary schedule is presented at https://launch.amsat.org/event-4414716
The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will be held before the Symposium, October 28-29, at the same hotel.
Those attending may make hotel reservations by calling the hotel directly at (952) 854-9000 or (877) 424-4188 (toll free) or online by visiting crowneplazaaire.com. The group name is Amateur Satellite Group.
Platinum and Titanium members of the AMSAT President's Club receive free admission to the Symposium and receive a complimentary lunch with the President on Saturday afternoon. Please email members(a)amsat.org to arrange registration.
Presenters are invited to participate at the Symposium and/or submit a paper to the Symposium Proceedings. Read the Call for Papers at https://www.amsat.org/2021-amsat-symposium-proceedings-call-for-papers/ for more information.
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on June
15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated and their
candidate statements can be found at link that follows:
Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO
In accordance with our Bylaws, AMSAT must hold an election, even though we
have four nominations for four open Director positions. As such, we will
host electronic voting on our Member Portal this year, at no cost to the
organization. Voting is now open and will close on September 15, 2021.
When members click on the poll link, they will see their ballot (poll
question). After choosing from the possible options, click the Submit button
to cast your vote. Unlike many online polls, the results of all votes cast,
up to the point of your vote, will not be displayed. AMSAT members can only
vote once. If you click the poll link again after already voting, a vote
submitted message will be displayed. As four seats on the Board of Directors
are up for election this year, all four candidates will be seated on the
Board when the voting period concludes on September 15, 2021.
To read candidate biographies see:
https://launch.amsat.org/2021-BoD-Election
AMSAT members may access their ballots at:
https://launch.amsat.org/Sys/Poll/25943
[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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Satellite Contact Acheivements
Congratulations Toshio Arai, JM1LRA, and Junta Ohsone, 7L1ETP, on receiving the 55th and 56th 73 on 73 Awards by AMSAT-UK issued for working 73 unique stations on AO-73 (FUNcubeUK). Both operators completed the requirements for the award exclusively using CW. (posted via Twitter)
A new distance record has also been claimed on AO-73 (FUNcubeUK). A65GC (@farangov) worked F4DXV at 02:37 UTC on 20-Aug-2021 - a distance of 5,313 km. https://amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/
A new distance record has been claimed on AO-27. @N5LEX in FN11nq65 worked @F4DXV in JN04it22 on 18-Aug-2021 at 20:46 UTC. https://amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/
Image
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM AMSAT Director & Executive Vice President for the above information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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ARISS NEWS
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
As of 08/26/2021 the next scheduled contact is yet to be determined. Current Status of ISS Stations:
Columbus Module radios:
IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS - Configured. Supporting cross band repeater (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). Next mode change is to packet operation (145.825 MHz up & down) in late September.
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 03. OFF Sep. 02 about 18:10 UTC. Back ON Sep. 04 about 13:45 UTC.
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 09.
Power down for upcoming US EVA on Sep. 12.
Supporting USOS scheduled voice contacts, packet and voice repeater ops.
Service Module radios:
Kenwood D710E – STATUS - Radio usually off.
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 03. Off Sep 02 about 18:10 UTC.
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 09.
Power down for upcoming US EVA on Sep. 12.
Supporting ROS scheduled voice contacts and SSTV.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an Amateur
Radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
KX9X: Time to rove again! @Nancy_N9NCY & I are heading back up to Minneapolis for a few days. Will activate the EN36/46 grid line on Sunday 8/29 on linear & FM sats. Pop ups while driving up 8/28 & back 9/2 possible. More info soon!
KB3IAI will be in FM26 on the coast from August 29th – Sept 5th. No set schedule, FM and SSB.
VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]
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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
The 2021 HamXposition is taking place September the 11th and 12th, in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The convention has a new home at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center. If you would like to volunteer at the booth contact Phil Smith w1eme at amsat.org.
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
October 29-31, 2021
Crowne Plaza AiRE
3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245.
Complete information and registration at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SYMPOSIUM.
RRRA Hamfest & ARRL Dakota Division Convention
Saturday, September 25, 2021, RRV Fairgrounds Hartl AG Building, 1805 Main Ave West, West Fargo, ND 58078
https://rrra.org/cal/2021/09/25/rrra-hamfest-arrl-dakota-division-convention
2021 Wyoming ARRL Section Convention, Saturday, October 9, 2021, Event Center at Archer, 3921 Archer Pkwy, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
https://wyhamcon.org/site
Updates may be found at: https://www.amsat.org/other-events/
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.
Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online presentations scheduled for the following clubs:
Sonoma (CA) ARC
STARS - Easy Coast
Fairlawn NJ
Portland OR
Longmont CO
SW Florida
Contact Clint at http://www.work-sat.com or by phone at 909-999-SATS (7287) to arrange a presentation.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, and Clint Bradford, K6CLS for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ At Space Symposium (https://www.spacesymposium.org/), Aerospace Corp proposed a new form factor alternative to CubeSats: DiskSats. These disks could be 1 m in diameter and 2.5 cm thick, allowing enough surface area for 200 watts of solar panels. On a CubeSat, this would require deployables. “The point of DiskSat is that it complements cubesats for missions that consist primarily of electronics that need higher power.” A stack of 20 plates is also easier to launch on a small launch vehicle than 20 CubeSats. It feels like this borrows a lot from Starlink’s form factor, and potentially, its deployment mechanism. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)
+ At SmallSat (https://smallsat.org/), Florence Tan from NASA mentioned that NASA’s SMD has been shifting from very small CubeSats to 6U+ CubeSats, ESPA-class spacecraft, and constellations. Roger Walker from ESA mentioned a similar trend of moving from 3U to 6U and then 12U CubeSats for operational science missions, facilitated by accurate COTS pointing and propulsion.(ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)
+ BryceTech just released their very thorough Smallsats by the Numbers Report, which they define as satellites under 600kg. 1,282 spacecraft launched in 2020, of which 94% were smallsats, representing 43% of the total upmass—of these, 937 were Starlink or OneWeb. A whopping 40% of all smallsats launched in the last 10 years launched in 2020. See also this interesting Tableau report on the uses, locations, and life-spans of satellites. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)
+ Space station spacewalk postponed by astronaut medical issue: A planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station Tuesday was postponed after NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei was diagnosed with a pinched nerve, which NASA described as a “minor medical issue.” Vande Hei planned to head outside the space station Tuesday with Japanese crewmade Akihiko Hoshide for a nearly seven-hour spacewalk to install a support bracket and modification kit that will enable the attachment of upgraded solar arrays set to arrive on a future cargo mission. The astronauts also planned to replace a floating point measurement unit, a device that measures the electrical charging potential of the space station solar arrays. NASA announced the postponement of the spacewalk Monday, describing Vande Hei’s condition as a “minor medical issue” and not a medical emergency. Additional detail at: https://bit.ly/3mCJSXc (ANS thanks Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now for the above information.)
+ Launch of lunar CubeSat moved from Virginia to New Zealand: The launch of a miniature trailblazer probe for NASA’s planned Gateway lunar space station has been moved from Rocket Lab’s new launch pad in Virginia to the company’s spaceport in New Zealand, officials recently announced. NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, mission will test deep space navigation and communications technology in the vicinity of the moon. CAPSTONE will also demonstrate maneuvers to enter and operate in a near rectilinear halo orbit, an elliptical orbit around the moon that will be home to the Gateway, a critical piece of NASA’s architecture to return humans to the lunar surface. The Gateway is a mini-space station NASA intends to use as a staging point for crewed lunar landings later in the 2020s. Additional info at:https://bit.ly/3BjP8mP
(ANS thanks Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now for the above information.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:
* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.
Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week's ANS Editor, Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ
kd4iz at frawg dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-234
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* Contacts Completed Successfully Through AO-109
* Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium
* 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
* AMSAT Awards Update
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-234 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 Aug 22
Contacts Completed Successfully Through AO-109
Several amateurs have reported successful operation through the AO-109
satellite, even though the satellite's power output has been determined to
be less than 10 milliwatts.
Carlos Cardon, W7QL in DN40, completed a contact with Dave Beumer, W0DHB in
DN70, on August 12 using FT4. They repeated with additional QSOs on August
15 and 18. Also on August 15, W7QL completed a contact with Alan Bowker,
WA6DNR in CM87 using FT4. Further, W0DHB and Mark Johns, K0JM in EN35,
completed an FT4 QSO through the satellite on August 18, and repeated with
a second QSO on August 19.
Carlos noted, "Based upon our testing the past couple of days, I think FT4
QSOs should be consistently achievable on this satellite."
These contacts have been an extension of digital mode experiments via
satellite involving a larger number of stations, as reported earlier and in
greater detail in the May/June 2020 issue of The AMSAT Journal.
The stations involved have been fairly typical satellite setups without
exotic additions. W7QL reports "using my IC-9700 (in Data mode, full power)
and LEO-Pack antenna, with SatPC32 and WSJT-X." W0DHB, WA6DNR, and K0JM are
using FlexRadio transcievers with transverters.
All report using 75-100 watts of transmit power to get signals through
AO-109, although care is taken to reduce power to 1 or 2 watts when using
digital modes on other linear satellites, such as RS-44. While FT4 activity
is generally at the low end of the downlink passband on other linear
satellites (5 kHz above the bottom passband limit), activity on AO-109 has
been on a downlink frequency of 435.770 (5 kHz below transponder center).
Several other stations have reported experimenting with CW on AO-109. Take
Tone, JK2XXK in PM85, completed a CW QSO with Tetsurou Satou, JA0CAW in
PM97, on May 1, and other contacts among Japanese amateurs have followed.
John Papay, K8YSE, Doug Tabor, N6UA, and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, in addition
to W7QL and W0DHB, have reported hearing or experimenting with CW on the
bird in North America. K8YSE in EN91 and Stephan Greene, KS1G in FM18,
reported a completed CW QSO on August 21.
Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station, has also been
paying close attention to AO-109 signals. He notes, "All you need is to use
AF from the built in sound cards of the 9700, directly into WSJT-X, over
USB cable. Then, have the radio use USB-D and LSB-D modes. It will probably
give you a little better signal to noise I think? Seeing 3 kHz of the
transponder downlink is plenty. Doppler correction is important, especially
around TCA. Tell SatPC32 under the CAT tab to do Intervals of "0 Hz" for
SSB/CW and use a Speed of x5."
[ANS thanks Carlos Cardon, W7QL, for the above information]
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium
The 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held
Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in
Bloomington, Minnesota.
Registration is now open for the event at https://launch.amsat.org/Events
Student registrations are available at $40, and General registration is at
$75. Registration for the Saturday evening Symposium Banquet is an
additional $55. Full details are available at the registration website.
The Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN
55245, adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and only
steps away from the METRO Blue Line’s American Blvd. stop. Nearby shopping
and tourist attractions include Mall of America, SEA LIFE at Mall of
America, Nickelodeon Universe, and the Minnesota Zoo.
The Symposium includes presentations, exhibit space, and the AMSAT Annual
General Meeting. The preliminary schedule is presented at
https://launch.amsat.org/event-4414716
The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will be held before the Symposium,
October 28-29, at the same hotel.
Those attending may make hotel reservations by calling the hotel directly
at (952) 854-9000 or (877) 424-4188 (toll free) or online by visiting
crowneplazaaire.com. The group name is Amateur Satellite Group.
Platinum and Titanium members of the AMSAT President's Club receive free
admission to the Symposium and receive a complimentary lunch with the
President on Saturday afternoon. Please email members(a)amsat.org to arrange
registration.
Presenters are invited to participate at the Symposium and/or submit a
paper to the Symposium Proceedings. Read the Call for Papers at
https://www.amsat.org/2021-amsat-symposium-proceedings-call-for-papers/ for
more information.
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on June
15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated and their
candidate statements can be found at link that follows:
Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO
In accordance with our Bylaws, AMSAT must hold an election, even though we
have four nominations for four open Director positions. As such, we will
host electronic voting on our Member Portal this year, at no cost to the
organization. Voting is now open and will close on September 15, 2021.
When members click on the poll link, they will see their ballot (poll
question). After choosing from the possible options, click the Submit button
to cast your vote. Unlike many online polls, the results of all votes cast,
up to the point of your vote, will not be displayed. AMSAT members can only
vote once. If you click the poll link again after already voting, a vote
submitted message will be displayed. As four seats on the Board of Directors
are up for election this year, all four candidates will be seated on the
Board when the voting period concludes on September 15, 2021.
To read candidate biographies see:
https://launch.amsat.org/2021-BoD-Election
AMSAT members may access their ballots at:
https://launch.amsat.org/Sys/Poll/25943
[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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AMSAT Awards Update
Here are the latest award updates for the first half of the year, plus a
bit.
AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO
John Wedge, VA6WEG
Brandon Coon, KI5MJH
Davy Jacobs, ON8ZJ
Ryan Frederick, K7NZE
Peter Spinelli, N4YOT
John Hutchison, KI5NYZ
Allen Beard, K4WSD
David Johnston, WD6AOE
------
AMSAT Communications Achievement Award
Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #633
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #634
Dave Lane, KB0RFY, #635
Allen Beard, K4WSD, #636
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #637
Thomas Talley, K0CFI, #638
------
AMSAT Sexagesimal Satellite Communications Achievement Award
Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #190
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #191
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #192
------
AMSAT Century Award
Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #57
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #58
------
AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award
Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #US236
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #US237
Dave Lane, KB0RFY, #US238
Allen Beard, K4WSD, #US239
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #US240
Thomas Talley, K0CFI, #US241
------
AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award (1,000-4,000)
Ken Bodholt, KI7UXT #US104 upgraded to 4,000
Bernd Scholer, DL6IAN #US116 upgraded to 3,000
Michael Mark, VE4MM, #117 upgraded to 2,000
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #US118
Larry Callahan, KF6JOQ, #US119
------
AMSAT Rover Award
Rover Call
===== ========
#57 ND9M/MM
#58 LA9XGA
#59 WI7P
#60 KF6JOQ
------
GridMaster Award
GridMaster Call
========== ========
#27 W9TWJ
#28 W5RKN
#29 KI7UXT
#30 K8YSE/7
#31 KB6LTY
#32 KC9ELU
To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org and click on Services then
Awards.
[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, for the
above information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
ARISS NEWS
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between
amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with
astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The
downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
The next scheduled contact is with Carl Fuhlrott-Gymnasium, Wuppertal,
Germany, direct via DN1CFG. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be
OR4ISS. The scheduled astronaut is Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI. The contact is
go for: Monday, 2021-08-23 07:54:53 UTC, 81 degrees maximum elevation over
Germany.
The ARISS station is currently supporting packet operation (145.825 MHz up
& down). Next mode change is to cross band repeater after the school
contact on Aug 23 (after 08:05 UTC). The station will power down for
upcoming U.S. EVA [spacewalk] on August 24. Shutdown scheduled for about
19:00 UTC Aug 23. Power up scheduled for 07:45 UTC Aug 25.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors
for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an Amateur
Radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
WL7T will be putting a number of Alaska grids on the air, August 21-27:
BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75,
BP84, BP85
VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through
amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests,
conventions, maker faires, and other events.
Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online presentations scheduled for
the following clubs:
Sonoma (CA) ARC
STARS - Easy Coast
Fairlawn NJ
Portland OR
Longmont CO
SW Florida
Contact Clint at http://www.work-sat.com or by phone at 909-999-SATS (7287)
to arrange a presentation.
The 2021 HamXposition is taking place September the 11th and 12th, in
Marlborough, Massachusetts. The convention has a new home at the Best
Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center. If you would like to volunteer at
the booth contact Phil Smith w1eme at amsat.org.
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual
General Meeting
October 29-31, 2021
Crowne Plaza AiRE
3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245.
Complete information and registration at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SYMPOSIUM.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ The previously announced schedule of FCC amateur radio application fees
likely will not go into effect before 2022. FCC staff confirmed during a
recent virtual meeting with Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs) that the
agency is still working on the necessary changes to the Universal Licensing
System (ULS) software and other processes and procedures that must be in
place before it starts collecting fees from amateur applicants. Once it's
effective, a $35 application fee will apply to new, modification (upgrade
and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call sign
applications. (ANS thanks ARRL for the above information.)
+ AMSAT-DL reports the antenna used by DP0GVN in Antarctica for the QO-100
geostationary satellite amateur radio transponder is completely destroyed.
According to the Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI), a severe winter storm hit
Atka Bay (Antarctica) at the end of last week. Unfortunately, the satellite
antenna for the geostationary QO-100 amateur radio satellite was also
completely destroyed during the storm, despite the weatherproof radome, so
no school contacts with DP0GVN can take place until further notice.
AMSAT-DL and AWI hope to erect a new antenna early next year, in particular
to continue the very successful contacts with schools. (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK
and AMSAT-DL for the above information.)
+ NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP, and astronaut Akihiko Hoshide,
KE5DNI, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will venture outside the
International Space Station on Tuesday, Aug. 24, for a spacewalk to install
a support bracket in preparation for future installation of the orbiting
laboratory’s third new solar array. NASA will discuss the upcoming
spacewalk during a news conference at 1800z (2 p.m. EDT) Monday, Aug. 23.
Live coverage of the news conference and spacewalk will air on NASA
Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. [Amateurs should be
aware that all amateur radio transmissions are powered off during
spacewalks.] (ANS thanks NASA for the above information.)
+ The Ingenuity helicopter on Mars has now completed its 12th flight, where
it acted as a scout, looking ahead for dangerous terrain for it’s partner
in crime, the Perseverance rover. The 4-pound autonomous rotocraft climbed
over almost 10 meters (33 ft) high, and traveled a total of 450 meters
(1,476 ft) in 169 seconds. It flew over the over an area dubbed the ‘South
Seitah’ region of Mars, where Perseverance will explore. (ANS thanks
Universe Today for the above information.)
+ Scientists have spotted a previously unrecognized feature of our Milky
Way galaxy: A contingent of young stars and star-forming gas clouds is
sticking out of one of the Milky Way's spiral arms like a splinter poking
out from a plank of wood. Stretching some 3,000 light-years, this is the
first major structure identified with an orientation so dramatically
different than the arm's. (ANS thanks Space Daily for the above
information.)
+ NASA is calling on all sixth through 12th-grade educators and students to
submit experiments for possible suborbital flights as a way of gaining
firsthand experience with the design and testing process used by NASA
researchers. The NASA TechRise Student Challenge invites students to
design, build, and launch experiments on suborbital rockets and
high-altitude balloons. Each winning team will receive $1,500 to build
their experiment and an assigned spot to test it on a NASA-sponsored
suborbital flight. For details, see
https://www.futureengineers.org/nasatechrise (ANS thanks NASA for the
above information.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:
* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary
years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.
Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week's ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org
1
0
15 Aug '21
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-227
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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(a)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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)
* IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites
* AMSAT at the Northeast HamXposition - Call for Volunteers
* MIR-SAT 1 Reaches STEM Objective
* FT4 via the AO-73 CubeSat Demonstration Video
* Weekly Changes for Keplerian Elements/TLE's
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-227 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 Aug 15
Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)
This is a call for papers for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Proposals for symposium presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by October 18 for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at n8fgv(a)amsat.org
[ANS thanks Dan Schultz N8FGV, Symposium Program Chair, for the above information]
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites
Cape IV-GTO
A 100x100x20mm Picosat sponsored by the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. The first mission is to teach by doing to design, build, test, launch and operate satellite on orbit. The second mission is to reach out to high schools in the area to design and operate devices in orbit. This will train high school students in radio communications and encourage STEM activities. Proposing LoRa comms using 10.3 Fd1 18bps. Downlinks on 145.825 MHz, 145.990 MHz (spare) and 437.325 MHz have been coordinated. No launch info yet available but planning a 36000 x 200 km orbit. More info at https://ee.louisiana.edu/research/cape.
QubeSat
A 2U CubeSat sponsored by the University of California – Berkeley. The QubeSat mission is to research the effects of space environment on a quantum gyroscope based on NV–centers in diamond. These sensors could support better attitude determination systems for cubesats, including Amateur cubesats. The OpenLST uses the TI CC1101 packet structure, supported by the accompanying OpenLST software. This packet format can be decoded by anyone since it is well documented, so it could be useful to the amateur satellite community. Proposing a 2-FSK UHF downlink at 5k5 bps. A downlink on 437.740 MHz has been coordinated. Planning an Astra launch into a 500 km orbit in Dec 2021. More info from https://stac.berkeley.edu/project/qubesat.
[ANS thanks IARU and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT at the Northeast HamXposition-- Call for volunteers
It is the efforts of volunteers that make Hamvention's a success for AMSAT.
The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders make the whole experience a lot of fun.
The 2021 HamXposition is taking place September the 11-12, 2021 in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The convention has a new home at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center. If you would like to volunteer at the booth contact Phil Smith w1eme(a)amsat.org.
[ANS thanks Phil Smith, W1EME for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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MIR-SAT 1 Reaches STEM Objective
One of the main objective of the MIR-SAT 1 project is to promote STEM and HAM radio which is fully in line with the AMSAT Ambassador initiative.
Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is quite proud to announce that three schools in 3B8 have successfully capture the TLM of MIR-SAT 1 so far and that many others Educational institution are already equipped to succeed same soon.
The following certificate were issued today by the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society today,
- 3B8BBD
- AM_nml
- E29AHU
- JH4XSY
- OM7AAK
- FSGSSS (The first 3B8 school to obtain the Award, Forestside State Secondary School (Girls)
- 3B8FV
- LZ1NY
- PMLMB (The second 3B8 School to obtain the Award, Polytecnics Mauritius Ltd. Montagne Blanche)
Prof. Hassan Rafa State Secondary School of Terre Rouge were the second school to receive and decode the signals from MIR-SAT 1 but unfortunately without a permanent internet connection they did not upload the telemetry to SatNOGS thus not eligible for the Award, hopefully they will get it soon.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to them for providing TLM of MIR-SAT 1 to MARS through SatNOGS.
Note that MIR-SAT 1 is still in safe mode and under testing. MARS will advise when it will be available to Amateur use ASAP.
[ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FT4 via the AO-73 CubeSat Demonstration Video
Sweden’s AMSAT-SM has released a short video showing communications via the amateur radio satellite AO-73 (FunCube-1) using the popular digital mode FT4. This is a short video of FT-4 communication via satellite AO-73 with SDR-Console V3.1 and Icom IC-705. It is a part of a guide that will be published later on AMSAT-SM web https://www.amsat.se/
In the first part you will see the first screen with SDR-Console with Airspy Mini as receiver, audio is piped to WSJT-X. You will also see SDR-Console handle the TX Doppler correction for the IC-705 via “External radio”.
In the second part you will see the second screen with WSJT-X connected to IC-705. The output was only one (1) to two (2) watts! You can see that WSJT-X is reading the Doppler corrected frequency. You will also see SDR-Console satellite tracking and PstRotator controlling the SPID RAS rotor. For more information see https://amsat-uk.org/.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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Weekly Changes for Keplerian Elements/TLE's
The following satellite has been added to this week's AMSAT TLE
Distribution:
FEES - NORAD Cat ID 48082 (Thanks to Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P for the
identification.)
Complete information on TLE Keplerian Elements and resources can always be found at
https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS NEWS
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
+ Trans-Nevada: August 16-20, 2021
David AD7DB is planning a rove starting August 16 on FM satellites.
- Mon 8/16 DM09 in Reno area.
- Tue 8/17 DN00, DN10 & 11 later, near Lovelock and Winnemucca.
- Wed 8/18 DN10, DN20 & 21 later, near Elko.
- Thu 8/19 DN21, DN20 & 30 later, near Wells and Wendover.
- Fri 8/20 DN20 and 30, near Wendover.
The actual satellite passes and times are still being worked out but plans are for AO-91, AO-92, SO-50, AO-27 and PO-101.
Go to twitter.com/ad7db for the latest updates during the rove.
+ BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75, BP84, BP85: August 21-27,2021
Look for Taylor, WL7T as he is on the move in Alaska.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
October 29-31, 2021
Crowne Plaza AiRE
3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245.
Complete information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SYMPOSIUM.
2021 HamXposition
September the 11-12, 2021
Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center
Marlborough, Massachusetts
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ AMSAT-DL will hold its Satellite Symposium and General Assembly 2021 on August 28 in Bochum. As it currently stands, this will be a face-to-face event. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-AMSAT-DL.
+ A student of ARISS educator Joanne Michael won an AIAA Kahn $10,000 scholarship. Joanne taught him hands-on science in kindergarten through fifth grade at Meadows Elementary in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. The young man is now enrolled at Stanford University. He wrote, “I love finding out the mechanics of any device and gaining knowledge by hands-on experience. I cannot stand not knowing what lies beyond our reach in the universe. My goal is to take part in the Mars colonization plans as an engineer astronaut and help advance the astronautical-engineering world.”
+ Cubesat has announced next year's CubeSat Developers Workshop on April 26–28, 2022. Mark your calendar and get more information at www.cubesatdw.org/.
+ From 12 to 20 July 2021, ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Program teamed up with ESA experts in the field of Space Systems Engineering to run the second edition of the Space Systems Engineering Training Course . The goal was to offer university students an overview of the different aspects of Space Systems Engineering while also affording them the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through group exercises. Held fully online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in (virtual) attendance were 30 university students from 11 different ESA Member States and Canada. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-ESA.
+ The newly released SDR++ V1.0.0 software is featured on the YouTube SignalsEverywhere channel. SDR++ is an open source, cross platform, C++ based GUI general receiver program for various SDR's including the RTL-SDR. The video shows it's basic usage in action and highlights many of the features that SDR++ has. The producer notes that she is very impressed with SDR++, praising it as one of the best SDR applications released in a while. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SDR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:
* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.
Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week's ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-220
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* Debugging AO-109: An Update
* AO-92 Returned to Service for Daylight Operations Only
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 1, 2021
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-220 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 Aug 08
Debugging AO-109: An Update
Introduction
At the end of our article in the May/June AMSAT Journal, we said “By the
time you read this, AO109 may be opened for general amateur use.” The
opening announcement, in fact, came on July 19, just shortly after the
Journal was available. Very shortly after that, we started getting reports
that some SatNOGS stations had seen telemetry signal from AO-109 as early
as May 2021. Chris, G0KLA managed to partially decode one frame from
SatNOGS. It was hard work and there were too many errors for our Forward
Error Correction algorithm to fix, but by ignoring errors, we could see
some data; however we had to guess which data was wrong.
We asked for more people to try to get telemetry, and we were pleased to
receive 29 frames over several days from W7KKE, W7FWF, and K8DP. Thanks so
much to all of them! Thanks to them we can now say a few more things about
the AO-109 situation.
What we have seen and learned from telemetry
First the telemetry we have received confirms what we inferred from our
earlier experiments:
• The antenna telemetry shows that they are open (more on that later)
• AO-109 is in transponder mode
• AO-109 does receive commands successfully, especially from a strong
command station
In addition, telemetry shows some other anomalies that let us make better
hypotheses for other behavior that we have seen.
• First the telemetry IS working, which tends to exonerate the telemetry
modulator and software.
• The transmitter is sending telemetry with power output between 6 and 8
mW. You can compare this to our pre-launch testing which showed power
output of somewhat over 100mW, as designed.
• The power amplifier current is higher than expected based on pre-launch
testing.
• The min/max telemetry shows that the maximum power output since launch
was about 440mW implying that the transmitter was likely working
immediately after launch. (During the attempted early commissioning period,
we tried both transponding, and increasing the telemetry gain, which could
explain the relatively high power output.)
• It is even more clear seeing the telemetry downlink on a waterfall that
the signal
strength varies cyclically. The period seems to be around 25 seconds.
After a discussion with Dan W9EQ, one of our transmitter engineers, we
believe a reasonable hypothesis for the low power is that one of the dual
power amplifier chips has failed shorted. This not only increases the
current to the PA, but reduces the power available to the other PA chip.
Dan also hypothesizes that running high power into a poorly deployed
antenna might cause the blowout, although it is still hard to understand
why we initially had no reception at all. Note that even if the 70cm
antenna was not fully deployed, it does not cross over itself to make it
electrically shorter even when stowed.
Since getting this telemetry, we commanded higher output from the telemetry
modulator into the mixer and power amplifier, but saw essentially no change
in the output power telemetry. According to W9EQ, this is to be expected
with a shorted PA. (It may imply that 8mW is the highest to expect from the
transponder as well).
As we hypothesized in the last paper, the cyclic strength of the telemetry
beacon could be explained by the antenna being only partly released and
blocked by the satellite part of the time as the satellite rotates.
Similarly, if the receive antenna were only partly released, it would make
commanding difficult for the same reason.
One further hypothesis: Carl, N3MIM proposed that the Nitinol wire used for
our antennas was too cold to fully restore to its original shape after it
was released. This could explain why both receive and transmit have
problems, but does not explain why this satellite in particular should have
problems that the other Foxes did not.
Vanderbilt University Experiment Data
As we said in the previous article, one of our goals is to provide data for
the Vanderbilt University COTS radiation experiment. This experiment not
only funded the AO-109 flight but also will, in the long term, provide
great information for satellite builders who can only afford common
off-the-shelf parts in their birds. We are happy to say that we have been
able to provide some data for Vanderbilt. Of course, more data over a
longer period will be that much better, but at least Vanderbilt is getting
something.
Where is the data?
The data from AO-109 is on AMSAT server at the same location as all Fox
data. You can see the entire dataset by using FoxTelem and downloading
Fox-1E (the latest versions of FoxTelem do not require you to download all
the other satellites.) You will see that despite having only 29 frames,
there are a lot more health records than that in the WOD tab. This is
because of AO-109’s new capability: Whole Orbit Data, which captures a full
set of health data every 60 seconds, stores it in memory, and transmits
several of these WOD data payloads in each frame. Similarly, Vanderbilt
data is stored as WOD, so more science information than you might expect is
also available.
In addition, you can see the AMSAT web page for AO-109 health at
https://www.amsat.org/tlm/health.php?id=5&port=
Telemetry Reception
Unfortunately, it seems that it requires a fairly “hefty” station to
receive AO-109 telemetry. A normal end-mounted M2 LEO Pack, for example, is
not enough. Everyone we have seen who has been successful has had a longer
yagi, a preamp, and short coax. One person felt that the ability to reverse
circular polarity also helped. Several SatNOGS stations have received a
signal, but so far we have not been able to cleanly decode any of them.
Both for Vanderbilt University and for our own engineering testing, we
would really appreciate even a few frames of telemetry that any stations
can receive. One way to do this is to use FoxTelem directly via a Fun Cube
Dongle Pro Plus (FCDPP) and an antenna as mentioned above. Another way that
we know works is to record the IF or AF from an ICOM 9700 that is being
doppler corrected during an AO-109 pass. The best chance for useful frames
may be to record IQ using SDR# or HDSDR with something like an FCDPP or
Airspy SDR Dongle, and then playing it back into FoxTLM.
We continue to thank all of our supporters and data collectors around the
world! Please keep trying!
[ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Flight Software, and Mark Hammond,
N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station Operator, for the above
information]
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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AO-92 Returned to Service for Daylight Operations Only
On August 1, 2021 at about 16:30 UTC, AO-92 was commanded into carrier
operated repeater mode. In this mode, AO-92 operates as a simple FM
repeater. The IHU and experiments are disabled and there is no telemetry
transmitted.
As the battery condition is poor, please only use the satellite when it is
illuminated by the sun. The satellite may shut off even while illuminated
if the bus voltage drops below a point at which the transmitter cannot
operator.
[ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station for the
above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 1, 2021
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL
for the period July 1, 2021 through August 1, 2021. Congratulations to all
those who made the list this month!
Congratulations to Michael McCoy KC9ELU on acheiving the AMSAT GridMaster.
CALL July August
KO4MA 1783 1786
N8RO 1096 1100
NS3L 697 702
K9UO 631 653
N9FN 550 561
AF5CC 525 547
MI6GTY 461 462
WA4HFN 413 454
S57NML 291 409
DL6IAN 154 335
EA2AA 280 314
KQ4DO New 306
AB1OC 285 291
KE8RJU 101 256
NA1ME 225 250
N3CAL 204 214
N5EKO 152 207
KC5TT 100 135
WD9EWK (DM45) 127 135
W3FGP 100 130
K6SFO New 129
KB3IAI New 103
DL6GBM New 100
KE4IP New 100
If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at
<mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was
developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for 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 a lot of the work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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ARISS News
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between
amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with
astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The
downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
Notre Dame Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via
8N3ND
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG
Contact was unsuccessful: Tue 2021-08-03 11:10:15 UTC 77 deg (***)
ARISS is working to understand the issue. (***)
Watch for livestream at https://youtu.be/4uL-kHi1Bsw
1st Ono Group Hyogo Council Scout Association of Japan, Ono, Japan, direct
via 8J3ONO (***)
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD
Contact is go for: Wed 2021-08-11 08:05:06 UTC 82 deg (***)
Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors
for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an Amateur
Radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.
EA8/EA4NF: Phillippe will be on the Fuerteventura island and Gran Canary
island SAT DXpedition. He will use Linear & FM satellites August 1-14,
2021. IL27, IL28, IL38
KE2QI: Will be roving FN44 Sunday. Both FM and linear. He will try to
maximize the RS-44 apogee passes for Europe.
EN56, 57, 67: N8MR will be in EN57, EN67 and EN56 from Aug 7 thru Aug 14.
Using an Icom 9700, Arrow antenna and SatPC32 to control uplink and
downlink for Doppler.
EN12, EN13: W0AAE will be roving in the EN12-13 grids this upcoming week
from August 1-6. He will be doing both linear and FM satellites
VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.
Trans-Nevada Rove.
David AD7DB is planning a rove starting August 16 on FM satellites.
Mon 8/16 DM09 in Reno area.
Tue 8/17 DN00, DN10 & 11 later, near Lovelock and Winnemucca.
Wed 8/18 DN10, DN20 & 21 later, near Elko.
Thu 8/19 DN21, DN20 & 30 later, near Wells and Wendover.
Fri 8/20 DN20 and 30, near Wendover.
The actual satellite passes and times are still being worked out but plans
are for AO-91, AO-92, SO-50, AO-27 and PO-101.
You can go to twitter.com/ad7db for the latest updates during the rove.
Wl7T - August 21-27:
BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75,
BP84, BP85
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through
amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests,
conventions, maker faires, and other events.
AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online Zoom presentations
scheduled in coming weeks with amateur groups in
New Jersey
Central New Hampshire
North Carolina
Conejo Valley CA
Sonoma County CA
Massachusetts
Antelope Valley CA
Contact Clint to arrange other events:
Clint Bradford K6LCS, AMSAT Ambassador; ARRL instructor
http://www.work-sat.com
Email: clintbradford AT mac DOT com
(909) 999-SATS (7287) - voicemail/message
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above
information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ The newly revised, printable Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide is now
available for AMSAT members at https://launch.amsat.org/Member_Resources
+ NU1U has posted a tutorial on YouTube for running WSJT-X and SatPC32
simultaneously with an Icom IC-9700 in order to make satellite QSOs using
FT4. The video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhfUSRUP910
+ The first SSB QSO has been reported via AO-109. Doug Papay, K8DP, and
John Papay, K8YSE, completed two QSOs via CW and two QSOs via SSB between
EN62 and EN91 between July 31st and August 3rd.
+ On July 30th at 19:40 UTC, F4DXV and A65GC completed a record 5,300 km
QSO via JO-97. This is the longest claimed QSO completed on any of the
FUNcube transponders.
+ A new distance record has been set on the QO-100 narrowband transponder.
PR8KW in GI27pn49rs worked YC5YC in OJ00rl66we at 23:06 UTC on 10-Jul-2021,
covering a distance of 17,378 km. More records can be found at
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/
+ AMSAT Rover Award #60 was issued to Larry, KF6JOQ. For more information
on the AMSAT Rover Award, visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/
(Thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards)
+ The ARRL has released TQSL config file version 11.15. This update allows
QSOs on AO-109 and UVSQ-SAT (as UVSQ) to be uploaded. TQSL should prompt
you to update your config file when launching the application.
+ Three videos from the AMSAT-SA Space Symposium, held July 10th, have been
uploaded to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA7TGecJAILXTwm9HSQ4cw/videos.
Other talks will be uploaded later (Thanks to AMSAT-SA and AMSAT-UK)
+ A video of John Brier, KG4AKV, operating portable via RS-44, filmed and
edited by W4MPS, has been posted to YouTube at https://youtu.be/8xg5VLrcttU
+ The first call for papers has been issued for the 39th AMSAT Space
Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne
Plaza AiRE hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. Proposals for symposium
presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite
community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as
possible, with final copy submitted by October 18 for inclusion in the
symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz,
N8FGV at n8fgv at amsat.org.
+ Registration is open for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual
General Meeting, to be held Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at
the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota. Crowne Plaza AiRE is
located at 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245. For more information,
visit
https://www.amsat.org/39th-annual-amsat-space-symposium-and-annual-general-…
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:
* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary
years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.
Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week's ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-213
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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(a)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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* AMSAT Announces Strategic Satellite Objectives and Organization Goals
* F4DXV and VE1CWJ Set Numerous Satellite Distance Records
* Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium
* AM1SAT International Award
* Russian Lab Module Tilts Space Station With Errant Thruster Firings
* The Young Ham of the Year for 2021 is a Satellite Operator
* FO-29 & FO-99 Operation Schedules For August 2021
* More Slow-Scan TV Transmissions from RS0ISS Scheduled
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-213 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 Aug 01
AMSAT Announces Strategic Satellite Objectives and Organization Goals
The AMSAT Board of Directors has adopted a set of strategic satellite
objectives and organization goals. The document, adopted in early June and
published in the the May/June 2021 edition of The AMSAT Journal. The plan
establishes a long-term, multi-faceted vision that includes big dreams, a
continued presence in space, and a development path for the scientists,
engineers, and operators of tomorrow.
AMSAT President, Robert Bankston, KE4AL, commented, "Anything this
ambitious will undoubtedly challenge our limited human and fiscal
resources. We must parallel our new plan with new ways to manage and fund
projects. AMSAT has a pool of very talented volunteers, but there will be
times when we require skills beyond our current capabilities. Recruitment,
partnerships, collaborative efforts, and even outsourcing are options that
will help us fill in the gaps."
Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO)
1. Upward to HEO. Develop and deploy a series of spacecraft capable of
providing wide-area and continuous coverage from highly elliptical and
geostationary transfer orbits. Greater Orbit, Larger Footprint
2. GOLF. Develop and deploy a series of increasingly capable spacecraft
through a program to learn skills and systems for which we do not yet have
the necessary low-risk experience, including active attitude control,
deployable/steerable solar panels, radiation tolerance for commercial off
the shelf (COTS) components in higher orbits and propulsion.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
3. AREx-A. Partner with ARISS and ARISS-USA to advance Amateur Radio's
presence aboard NASA's International Space Station, Deep Space Gateway and
Artemis missions and provide opportunities to engage with astronauts in
lunar and deep space operations.
Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
4. LEO. Support a stream of LEO satellites developed in cooperation with
the educational community and other Amateur Radio satellite groups.
4.1 FM Operations. Develop, deploy and support a series of 1U spacecraft to
support continued FM amateur satellite operations in low Earth orbit.
4.2 Partnerships. Develop a plug-and-play communications solution for
educational and other Amateur Radio CubeSat programs, providing a VHF/UHF
telemetry beacon, command receiver, and linear transponder or FM repeater
communications module.
AMSAT STEM Initiatives
5. AMSAT Education. Support science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives and training
programs for satellite and ground system designers and operators.
5.1 CubeSat Simulator. Continue development of AMSAT’s CubeSat Simulator
Program.
5.2 High Altitude Ballooning. Develop program to support and sponsor the
use of amateur radio in high-altitude balloon (HAB) launches.
5.3 Youth Initiative. Develop an educational out reach program that
encourages youth to pursue STEM interests in space science and
communication technology.
More details of the strategic satellite objectives and organization goals
may be found at https://www.amsat.org/apogeeview/
[ANS thanks The AMSAT Journal for the above information]
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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F4DXV and VE1CWJ Set Numerous Satellite Distance Records
Jérôme LeCuyer, F4DXV, and John Langille, VE1CWJ, have spent the last
couple of months using their favorable geographic locations to set a number
of satellite distance records.
On May 5, 2021 at 13:04 UTC, F4DXV and VE1CWJ set the initial record on
JO-97 of 4,889 km. F4DXV was operating in JN04it22nt and VE1CWJ was
operating in FN85ii89sk.
On May 15, 2021 at 08:30 UTC, F4DXV and VE1CWJ broke the 5,000 km mark for
the first time on a satellite from the September 2015 Long March 6 launch
when they covered a distance of 5,005 km between FN85ii22lf and JN15jo26rq
on XW-2F. F4DXV was operating from the summit of a mountain and the QSO was
completed with an elevation of -1.5 degrees.
On June 26, 2021 at 11:03 UTC, the pair set a record of 4,907 km on FO-99
while F4DXV was operating in JN04jr35pe and VE1CWJ was operating in
FN85fo5ik.
One month later, on July 26, 2021, F4DXV returned to the summit of the
mountain in JN15jo26rq and the pair set a number of additional records
within one half-hour, again breaking the 5,000 km threshold for the first
time on several additional satellites from the September 2015 Long March 6
launch. They set the record at 5,008 km on LilacSat-2 at 08:08 UTC, XW-2D
at 08:15 UTC, XW-2B at 08:21 UTC, and XW-2C at 08:33 UTC.
A list of known satellite distance records is located at
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/. Please email n8hm at
amsat.org if you wish to claim a new record, longer distance QSO not yet
documented, or records for any other satellite/transponder not yet listed.
Please note that if a satellite carries multiple transponders or supports
multiple frequency bands, records on each transponder/band may be claimed,
such as Mode A and B on AO-7 or Mode U/S, L/S, U/K, etc, on AO-40. This
includes the ISS and records may be claimed for the packet digipeater and
crossband repeater, but does not include different operating modes on the
same transponder (such as CW or SSB on AO-7 Mode B).
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President, for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium
This is a call for papers for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on
the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE hotel in
Bloomington, Minnesota.
Proposals for symposium presentations are invited on any topic of interest
to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your
presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by October 18
for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be
sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at n8fgv(a)amsat.org
[ANS thanks Dan Schultz N8FGV, Symposium Program Chair, for the above
information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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AM1SAT International Award
From September 13-19 AM1SAT will be active on the amateur radio satellites
from a number of locations in Spain, diplomas will be available for
contacting the stations
A translation of the URE post reads:
AMSAT-EA will celebrate in September, coinciding with the IberRadio Fair
organized by URE in Ávila and which is the largest meeting point for radio
amateurs in Spain and Portugal, the third edition of its International
Competition and AM1SAT Award.
To do this, AMSAT-EA operators will be in the air on all available
satellites with the callsign AM1SAT between the 13th and 19th of that
month, activating a minimum of 14 different locations.
As part of this activity and to encourage participation, the SILVER and
GOLD classifications will be available, as well as a trophy for the one
who achieves the greatest number of grids and for the one who manages to
work the greatest number of different satellites.
In the last edition of the contest held in 2019, 727 QSOs were made,
awarding 10 gold and 28 silver diplomas. The trophies for the best grid and
satellite 'hunter' were awarded to F4DXV and EA3CAZ.
The rules in English for this year's contest can be found at
https://www.amsat-ea.org/app/download/12828633/AMSAT+EA+-+AM1SAT+2021+-+Eng…
Orignal source, Union La Unión De Radioaficionados Españoles:
https://tinyurl.com/IARU-Spain
[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Russian Lab Module Tilts Space Station With Errant Thruster Firings
A heavyweight Russian laboratory module that experienced a variety of
problems after launch last week docked at the International Space Station
Thursday, but in a moment of unexpected drama, inadvertent thruster firings
briefly knocked the sprawling complex out of its normal orientation.
Space station program manager Joel Montalbano said the station was
maintaining its orientation, or “attitude,” using massive NASA-supplied
gyroscopes when the thruster firings suddenly began at 12:34 p.m. EDT,
about three hours after the 44,000-pound Nauka multi-purpose laboratory
glided in for docking.
The gyros were unable to counteract the unwanted push from Nauka’s jets and
the space station, stretching the length of a football field with a mass of
more than 930,000 pounds, began tilting away from its normal orientation.
Attitude control was quickly handed off to more effective rocket motors in
the Russian Zvezda module, where Nauka was attached. A few minutes later,
thrusters in a Progress cargo ship docked on the other side of Zvezda
kicked in with additional muscle.
The space station ended up tilted up about 45 degrees from its earlier
orientation, moving at one point at roughly half a degree per second. But
in a little more than an hour, the station was back in its normal
orientation, apparently none the worse for wear.
“We haven’t noticed any damage to the ISS,” Montalbano said in an afternoon
teleconference. “One of the things we do after a dynamic event like this is
go ahead and sit down with our structural loads team and review all the
data, go pull all the telemetry and do an assessment. And so that’ll be the
next step.”
A “spacecraft emergency” was declared at the outset, but that was standard
procedure in such cases, giving the lab complex priority over other
spacecraft using NASA’s satellite communications network. Montalbano said
the station’s seven crew members were never in any danger.
“There was no immediate danger at any time to the crew,” he said.
“Obviously, when you have a loss of attitude control, that’s something you
want to address right away. But the crew was never in any, like, immediate
emergency or anything like that.”
It’s not yet known what might have caused the Nauka module’s thrusters to
suddenly begin firing as cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov were in
the process of “integrating” the new spacecraft with the station’s computer
systems.
Up to 11 spacewalks will be needed to outfit the laboratory and to make
multiple power and data connections with the space station. The first two
excursions are planned for September. Amateurs should note that the ISS
amateur radio operations, ARISS, are shut down whenever there are docking
operations or EVAs (spacewalks) taking place.
[ANS thanks SpaceFlightNow for the above information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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The Young Ham of the Year for 2021 is a Satellite Operator
Faith Hannah Lea, KD3Z, of Palm Coast, Florida, has been selected as the
2021 Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the
Year.
Faith Hannah is the daughter of James, WX4TV, and Michelle, N8ZQZ, Lea. Her
brother and two sisters are also hams.
She credited her parents with being the biggest influences in her entry
into amateur radio. She said her journey began at the age of 10 in December
2014.
“I started studying for my Technician license with my brother (Zechariah
WX4TVJ),” she recalled. “And we both went in and got it. And two weeks
later, I had earned my General ... Then, two months later, I earned my
Extra.
“So that allowed me to really get into the stuff that I liked, which was
working HF.”
Just 18 months after being licensed, Faith Hannah was invited to join the
2016 Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX team operating PJ6 from the Dutch island
of Saba.
“And that’s when I realized especially that DXing is amazing because I
absolutely love those huge pileups and getting to talk to all of those
different people,” she explained.
Among her PJ6 achievements was a satellite contact that broke the SO-50
distance world record. She wrote an article about the event which was
published in the March/April 2017 issue of The AMSAT Journal.
In August 2018, Faith Hannah took part in the week-long “Youngsters on the
Air” program in Johannesburg, South Africa where she participated in
kit-building and antenna building projects, satellite operations and a
high-altitude balloon launch.
She wrote an article about her experiences in South Africa that was
published in CQ magazine.
On the way to South Africa, Faith Hannah and her father, James, WX4TV, had
a 22-hour layover in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. They were invited by
the Emirates Amateur Radio Society to visit and operate A62A and A60YOZ.
In December 2018, Faith Hannah and her younger sister, Hope, ND2L, and her
father organized a 36-hour mini-DXpedition to the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf
of Mexico, off the southwest coast of Florida, where they activated N4T.
The girls logged 1,970 HF contacts and 100 satellite contacts.
Faith Hannah’s account of the N4T operation was published by CQ magazine,
and she and Hope shared the April 2019 cover.
These and other ham radio experiences energized her desire to actively
participate in contesting with her family and she has been a regular
participant in ARRL Field Day, ARRL International DX contests, CQ WW SSB,
and several state QSO parties.
She has participated in several special event operations as well, including
National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) activations, the first SpaceX Falcon
Heavy launch, the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse in Florida, a 13 Colonies station
(K2G) in Georgia, and Jamboree on the Air and Boy Scout Radio merit badge
weekends.
She has been active in several clubs in Virginia and Florida over her brief
time as an amateur radio operator, finding mentors and friends in each of
them. She has served as a net control operator for Volusia, Florida ARES
(Amateur Radio Emergency Service) during Hurricanes Matthew, Irma and
Dorian.
Faith Hannah completed high school through home schooling. But before doing
so, she enrolled in Daytona State College where she earned an Associate of
Arts degree at the age of 15. Presently, she is enrolled in Stetson
University in Deland, Florida, where she is recognized as a member of the
junior class. She maintains a 4.0 GPA as she works toward earning two
different degrees – a Bachelor of Science in molecular and cellular biology
and a Bachelor of Business Administration. Faith Hannah said she is
exploring two career tracks – medicine or the law, or possibly both.
In 2020, she earned a $25,000 scholarship from the Foundation for Amateur
Radio. And in 2021, a $16,000 scholarship in the “Voice of Democracy” essay
contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars – finishing first in
Florida and second in the national competition.
As for amateur radio now and in the future, Faith Hannah says there’s
always time for that.
“I know this sounds weird but it doesn’t really take all of my time to do
my school, to have fun and to do ham radio,” she explained. “It all just
fits in perfectly because a lot of times if I’m getting on the radio and
it’s not a contest, I’ll just do it in the evening when gray line is there
because that’s usually when I’m free and it’s a great time to make contacts.
“If it’s a weekend, we might take a radio and go out to a park or something
and get on the air. And once it starts dying down, we’ll just hang around
the park for a couple of hours.”
The YHOTY award is traditionally presented during the Huntsville Hamfest in
August at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville Alabama. However, because of
the spike in the Delta variant of Covid-19, Amateur Radio Newsline will not
stage a public presentation at the hamfest this year. Faith Hannah will
receive a certificate of recognition and other gifts during an online
presentation.
The Young Ham of the Year Award was inaugurated by William Pasternak,
WA6ITF, in 1986. Upon his passing in 2015, Bill’s name was added to the
award as a memorial to his commitment to recognizing the accomplishments of
young people to the Amateur Radio Service.
Amateur Radio Newsline, CQ magazine, and Yaesu USA are primary sponsors of
the award, along with Heil Sound Ltd. and Radiowavz Antenna Company.
[ANS thanks Amateur Radio Newsline for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FO-29 & FO-99 Operation Schedules For August 2021
Fuji-OSCAR 29 is switched on for selected weekend orbits over Japan and
remains available for use until the low voltage protection circuit turns
the satellite off once again during eclipse.
FO-29 transponder ON times for Aug. 2021 (UTC)
1st 11:48-
7th 01:14- 11:33- 13:16-
8th 00:19- 10:35- 12:22-
14th 00:04- 10:20- 12:07- 23:09-
15th 11:12- 12:56-
17th 00:48- 02:35- 11:06- 12:52-
21st 00:38- 02:25- 10:56- 23:45-
22nd 09:59- 11:45-
27th 23:30-
28th 09:45- 11:30- 22:35-
29th 00:18- 10:35-
Source: https://www.jarl.org/Japanese/3_Fuji/fuji3-202107.htm
The August schedule for FO-99 is available at
https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p=1580
[ANS thanks JAMSAT and Hideo Kambayashi, JH3XCU, for the above information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
More Slow-Scan TV Transmissions from RS0ISS Scheduled
Russian cosmonauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) will
transmit slow-scan television (SSTV) images from the station Friday and
Saturday, August 6 - 7. They will use SSTV mode PD-120 on 145.800 MHz FM.
The transmissions are part of the Moscow Aviation Institute SSTV experiment
(MAI-75) and will be sent via RS0ISS, the ham station in the Russian Zvezda
(Service) module using a Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver.
The announced schedule is August 6, 1050 - 1910 UTC; August 7, 0950 - 1555
UTC. Dates and times are subject to change. For stations in the ISS
footprint, the RS0ISS signal should be easy to copy on a handheld
transceiver and a quarter-wave whip. Use 5 kHz channel spacing, if
available, to correct for Doppler shift, beginning 5 - 10 kHz above the
receive frequency and tuning downward as the ISS approaches and move away
once again.
Free ISS software is available to download. Pass predictions are available
from AMSAT. Representative images from prior ISS SSTV events are available
in the ARISS SSTV Gallery.
[ANS thanks ARISS and ARRL for the above information]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS NEWS
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between
amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with
astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The
downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
Notre Dame Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via
8N3ND
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG
Contact is go for: Tue 2021-08-03 11:10:15 UTC 77 deg
Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors
for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
EA4NF: Linear & FM satellites August 1-14, 2021. IL27, IL28, IL38
ND0C & @kylee_ke0wpa and I will be “up north” for the next few days and
will operate from EN36, 46, and 47. This is a “holiday-style” rove with no
specific scheduled passes at this point. Most likely pop-up with short
notice. FM and linears.
FN65/66: Indeed, VY2HF will be in FN65 from Thursday (7/22 – 7/29) evening
this week until the following Thursday morning. As I’ll be in Fredericton
proper, if there is interest I can position myself on the FN65/FN66 grid
line with little trouble. Daytimes will be best, RS44 preferred, FM doable
also. And on Thursday the 29th I will be driving into FN76/77 for several
more days…
EN56, 57, 67: N8MR will be in EN57, EN67 and EN56 from Aug 7 thru Aug 14.
Using an Icom 9700, Arrow antenna and SatPC32 to control uplink and
downlink for Doppler.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through
amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests,
conventions, maker faires, and other events.
AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online Zoom presentations
scheduled in coming weeks with amateur groups in
New Jersey
Central New Hampshire
North Carolina
Conejo Valley CA
Sonoma County CA
Massachusetts
Antelope Valley CA
Contact Clint to arrange other events:
Clint Bradford K6LCS, AMSAT Ambassador; ARRL instructor
http://www.work-sat.com
Email: clintbradford AT mac DOT com
(909) 999-SATS (7287) - voicemail/message
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Congratulations to two new satellite operators who have earned the AMSAT
Rover Award. Tor-Atle Sandal, LA9XGA, received award #58 and Randy Kohlwey,
WI7P, received award #59. More information on the AMSAT Rover Award can be
found at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/ (Thanks to AMSAT Director
of Contests and Awards Bruce Paige, KK5DO)
+ A solar wind stream hit Earth during the early hours of July 28th. First
contact rattled Earth's magnetic field and sparked rare blue auroras over
Canada. Blue is a sign of bright moonlight hitting the top of the auroras.
The process is called "resonant scattering." Details and photo at
https://bit.ly/3zUnCLX (ANS thanks Spaceweather and Southgate ARC for the
above information)
+ Boeing and NASA are getting ready to make another attempt at launching
its Starliner astronaut taxi to the International Space Station. The
uncrewed CST-100 Starliner space capsule is now scheduled to launch to the
space station on Tuesday, Aug. 3, at 1720z, lifting off from Space Launch
Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on a United
Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. If that launch date holds, the capsule will
arrive at the International Space Station on Wednesday, Aug. 4. Amateurs
should note that the ISS amateur radio operations, ARISS, are shut down
whenever there are docking operations or EVAs (spacewalks) taking place.
(ANS thanks Space.com for the above information)
+ Another step towards space exploration from UK soil has been unlocked,
with the passing of the spaceflight regulations, Transport Secretary Grant
Shapps announced 29 July 2021. The legislation provides the framework to
regulate the UK space industry and enable launches to take place from
British soil for the very first time. (ANS thanks SpaceDaily for the above
information)
+ NASA has selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch its Europa Clipper
mission to a potentially habitable moon of Jupiter, a choice that appeared
inevitable once NASA was no longer required to use the Space Launch System.
NASA announced July 23 that it awarded a launch services contract to SpaceX
for the October 2024 launch of Europa Clipper on a Falcon Heavy rocket. The
contract is valued at $178 million. (ANS thanks SpaceNews for the above
information)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
President's Club donations may be made at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-PresClub
or through the AMSAT Store.
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 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact info [at]
amsat.org for additional student membership information.
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,
This week's ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-206
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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(a)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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* AMSAT's 39th Annual Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting To Be Held
October 29-31
* 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
* 23cm band and Sat-Nav Coexistence: Preliminary Studies considered in ITU-R
WP4C
* No changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for July 22, 2021
* New operational reports on FO-29 and AO-109
* Operational notes on FO-29 and AO-109
* NEA Scout and solar sails on CUBESAT experiments.
* 10th annual NASA Space Apps Challenge
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-206 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 July 25
AMSAT's 39th Annual Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting To Be Held
October 29-31
The 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held
Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in
Bloomington, Minnesota. Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square,
Bloomington, MN 55425.
The Crowne Plaza AiRE is adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International
Airport and only steps away from the METRO Blue Lines American Blvd. stop.
Nearby shopping and tourist attractions include Mall of America, SEA LIFE at
Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe, and the Minnesota Zoo.
The Symposium includes presentations, exhibit space, and the AMSAT Annual
General Meeting. The preliminary schedule is presented below.
The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will be held before the Symposium,
October 28-29, at the same hotel.
You can make hotel reservations by calling the hotel directly at (952)
854-9000 or (877) 424-4188 (toll free) or online by visiting
crowneplazaaire.com. The group name is Amateur Satellite Group.
Registration is available on AMSAT's Member Portal at
https://launch.amsat.org/Events
Preliminary Schedule of Events (subject to change)
Thursday, October 28, 2021
0800 1200 AMSAT Board Meeting
1200 1300 AMSAT Board Lunch Break
1300 1700 AMSAT Board Meeting
1600 1900 Registration
Friday, October 29, 2021
0800 1900 Registration
0800 2100 Space Exhibit
0800 1200 AMSAT Board Meeting
1200 1300 AMSAT Board Lunch Break
1300 1700 AMSAT Space Symposium presentations
1700 1900 Dinner Break
1900 2130 AMSAT Reception, cash bar available
Saturday, October 30, 2021
0800 1600 Registration
0800 2100 Space Exhibit
0800 1200 AMSAT Space Symposium presentations
1200 1300 Lunch Break
1300 1500 AMSAT Space Symposium presentations
1500 1700 AMSAT Annual General Meeting
1800 1900 Attitude Adjustment (reception)
1800 2200 Cash Bar
1900 2200 Banquet
Sunday, October 31, 2021
0700 0900 AMSAT Ambassadors Breakfast
NOTE: All times are Central Daylight Time (CDT), UTC 5 hours
[ANS thanks the 2021 AMSAT Symposium Committee for the above information]
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on June
15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated and their
candidate statements can be found at link that follows:
Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO
In accordance with our Bylaws, AMSAT must hold an election, even though we
have four nominations for four open Director positions. As such, we will
host electronic voting on our Member Portal this year, at no cost to the
organization. Voting is now open and will close on September 15, 2021.
When members click on the poll link, they will see their ballot (poll
question). After choosing from the possible options, click the Submit button
to cast your vote. Unlike many online polls, the results of all votes cast,
up to the point of your vote, will not be displayed. AMSAT members can only
vote once. If you click the poll link again after already voting, a vote
submitted message will be displayed. As four seats on the Board of Directors
are up for election this year, all four candidates will be seated on the
Board when the voting period concludes on September 15, 2021.
To read candidate biographies see:
https://launch.amsat.org/2021-BoD-Election
AMSAT members may access their ballots at:
https://launch.amsat.org/Sys/Poll/25943
[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
23cm band and Sat-Nav Coexistence: Preliminary Studies considered in ITU-R
WP4C
During the period 513 July 2021, the preparatory work for WRC-23 agenda
item 9.1b continued in ITU-R Working Party 4C (WP4C). (See Region 1 Feb 23rd
news item for further background). The IARU member representatives from
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, UK and USA, participated
in the meeting and delivered additional information on amateur activities in
this key microwave band.
Preliminary studies came from France based on the ongoing CEPT work to
provide initial estimates of separation distances required between RNSS
GALILEO receivers and a sample of amateur emissions. The European Commission
GALILEO team provided a set of observations pertaining to a RNSS
interference event in northern Italy.
More information is on the IARU page at: https://bit.ly/3kKEmRq
[ANS thanks The IARU and Barry Lewis, G4SJH for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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AO-109 (RadFxSat-2/AMSAT Fox-1E) Open For Amateur Use
The AMSAT Engineering and Operations Teams are pleased to announce that
AO-109 (RadFxSat-2/AMSAT Fox-1E) is now open for amateur use. Users are
advised to use efficient modes such as CW or FT4 for making contacts, since
issues with the satellite make SSB voice contacts challenging at best.
Please see the May/June 2021 issue (Vol. 44, No. 3) of The AMSAT Journal for
an article by Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, and Mark Hammond, N8MH, detailing the
various attempts to characterize AO-109 and its apparent problems.
On behalf of the Engineering and Operations Teams--
73,
Jerry, N0JY and Drew, KO4MA
AO-109 Frequencies
Inverting Linear Transponder
Uplink 145.860 MHz - 145.890 MHz
Downlink 435.760 MHz - 435.790 MHz
1k2 BPSK Telemetry 435.750 MHz (non-operational)
[ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, and AMSAT
Vice President - Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
New operational reports on FO-29 and AO-109
In a recent email, Hideo Kambayashi, JH3XCU has kindly translated the August
2021 operational schedule for FO-29: "FO-29 operation schedule for Aug. 2021
(UTC) 1st 11:48- 7th 01:14- 11:33- 13:16- 8th 00:19- 10:35- 12:22- 14th
00:04- 10:20- 12:07- 23:09- 15th 11:12- 12:56- 17th 00:48- 02:35- 11:06-
12:52- 21st 00:38- 02:25- 10:56- 23:45- 22nd 09:59- 11:45- 27th 23:30- 28th
09:45- 11:30- 22:35- 29th 00:18- 10:35-
Source:https://www.jarl.org/Japanese/3_Fuji/fuji3-202107.htm
Considerable discussion of AO-109 activity has occured on the AMSAT-NA email
reflector. Chris Burns writes: "I guess our friend AO-109 must have been
just waiting for us to open it up for amateur use before sending some
telemetry :-)
Seriously, thanks to SatNogs, we found some telemetry that was recorded on
May 10 just after we cranked up the modulator gain. In addition, a SatNogs
observation today, July 21, also shows signs of weak telemetry.
We'd appreciate it if anyone who has a station that can receive telemetry,
especially stations with good gain and tracking ability, could listen for
AO-109 telemetry on 435.750. If FoxTelem is all you have that's great, but
if you also have some way to capture the signal in a file (say IQ recording
in HDSDR) that would be even better. Chances are the signal is weak enough
that it might need some teasing by our experts before we can get any info
out of it.
I'll also schedule some SatNogs observations, and anyone who has a SatNogs
station with similar characteristics (gain antenna etc), please schedule
some of your own over the next few days!"
Chris Thompson, AC2CZ/G0KLA adds: "But, let me remind everyone that the
prize and glory for receiving and decoding the first telemetry is still
available. I could partially decode the data that Mark supplied by turning
off the Forward Error Correction and decoding the bytes between the sync
words - errors and all. It is quite a challenge to receive decodable frames
but it is surely possible. See if you can be the first to post decoded
frames. If you are not set up to decode frames but have a good recording,
then send it to me and I will attempt to decode it. The prize will be yours
all the same.
As an example, the ITR waterfall is just not quite decodable:
https://network.satnogs.org/observations/4453728/. But it is close. If you
can do better than that then the prize could be yours.
Mark Jessop, VK5QI, also provides the following: "I've scheduled more
observations on the ITR ground station, which is not usually schedulable by
most SatNOGS users (the station is in testing).
The ITR station is using a large ZCG-Scalar Cross-Yagi, phased for RHCP.
Gain is approx 14 dBd. A picture of the station is here:
https://network-satnogs.freetls.fastly.net/media/ground_stations/20170911_14
0358.jpg. Worth noting that only one of those cross-yagis is hooked up at
the moment."
[ANS thanks Hideo Kambayashi, JH3XCU of JAMSAT, Burns Fisher WB1FJ AMSAT
Flight Software, Chris Thompson, AC2CZ, and Mark Jessop VK5QI for the above
information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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There are no changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for July 22, 2021
The current Keplerian file is available at:
https://www.amsat.org/tle/current/nasa.all
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above
information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
NEA Scout and solar sails on CUBESAT experiments.
Now tested at scale, first by Japans IKAROS in 2010 (196 m2 sail) and later
by The Planetary Societys LightSail 2 (32 m2 sail), solar sails allow for
low, continuous thrust without the use of fuel. NASAs Near-Earth Asteroid
Scout mission, or NEA Scout, is a 6U CubeSat with an 86 m2 aluminized
polymer solar sail planned to launch on Artemis I (e.g. probably very late
this year or early next). The entire craft and sail weigh less than 14 kg.
The mission will spend two years sailing on solar photon pressure (and
adjusting course with cold gas thrusters) to reach 1991 VG, a very small
NEA, and will then characterize the asteroids physical properties during a
slow flyby (10-20 m/s; paper). If successful, the mission may be extended to
another asteroid. Further out, NASA plans to launch Solar Cruiser in 2025 to
the Earth-Sun L1 point where it will use the largest solar sail ever flown
(1,650 m2, with built-in reflection control devices at the sails corners
for attitude adjustments), to explore a novel orbit: Solar Cruiser will fly
beyond L1 and use a solar sail to make its own artificial orbit closer to
the Sun, but still on a straight line between the Sun and Earth as Earth
revolves around the Sun. Only a solar sail can provide the forces necessary
to maintain such an otherwise unstable orbit, since doing so requires
constant fuel. This is a testbed for future, even more ambitious missions.
[ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
10th annual NASA Space Apps Challenge
Registration is open for the 10th annual NASA Space Apps Challenge. NASA is
inviting coders, entrepreneurs, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers,
builders, artists, and technologists to come together in a global, virtual
hackathon the weekend of October 2-3, 2021. During a period of 48 hours,
participants from around the world will come together to create virtual
teams and solve challenges using NASAs open-sourced data.
See https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/ for information and registration
details.
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS NEWS
No ARISS activities are being reported for the coming week. The ARISS status
page below explains.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors
for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Quick Hits:
DM23, DM33, DM43 Dave AD7DB will be operating holiday style on FM
satellites from July 22-25 2021. DM23 will be on July 22 or 25. The other
grids may be activated on any of those days depending on weather and other
factors. Confirmations in LOTW. Follow @ad7db on Twitter for updates.
FN65/66: Indeed, VY2HF will be in FN65 from Thursday (7/22 7/29) evening
this week until the following Thursday morning. As Ill be in Fredericton
proper, if there is interest I can position myself on the FN65/FN66 grid
line with little trouble. Daytimes will be best, RS44 preferred, FM doable
also. And on Thursday the 29th I will be driving into FN76/77 for several
more days.
Major Roves:
WA7AA:
July 25-27 DN64 holiday style
July 30-31 DN63 holiday style
The remaining parts of this trip will be camping in remote areas with little
to no internet or Twitter. I will get info out as I can, but I wont be
able to setup skeds ahead of time. Lots of POTA activations on Sats and HF
as well.
I will be operating as F4DXV/P from several different grids over the next 2
weeks of my vacation (holiday's style mode & weather permitting of course)
From Jérôme F4DXV: My current plans for NA, look like this:
JN14 on July 25th: RS-44 13utc (during the trip therefore not guaranteed
with traffic)
JN15 on July 26th: AO-7 08:40utc
JN05 on July 28th: AO-7 08:35utc
IN96 on August 01: FO-29 12:00utc
IN96 on August 06: AO-7 18:12utc
JN06 on August 09: RS-44 11:42utc (on my return trip so not guaranteed with
traffic)
IN94 on August 16: RS-44 10:40utc
Please look for me ~145.938 for AO-7 , ~435.660 for RS-44 & 435.640 for
FO-29 Hope to CU there
Tyler Nicolas, WL7T has been busy Tweeting his roves. The latest: "Plan to
be in BP42 Friday evening, BP53 Saturday evening, and the big one BP63 (a
difficult grid to get to) on Sunday.
Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, Jérôme
LeCuyer,F4DXV and Tyler Nicolas, WL7T for the above information]
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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through
amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests,
conventions, maker faires, and other events.
No upcoming events currently scheduled.
Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun How to Work the Easy
Satellites Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or
club? Always includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS
and
pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome.
Contact AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, at http://www.work-sat.com
or by phone at 909-999-SATS (7287)
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above
information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ NASA is also developing its ACS3 mission to test light-weight deployable
booms for solar sails using composite materials that are 75% lighter and
experience 100x less in-space thermal distortion than those used previously.
The ACS3 sail is 9 meters on a side and deploys from a 12U CubeSat.
(ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)
+ Recently announced, joining NEA Scout on Artemis I are two CubeSats from
JAXA. EQUULEUS is a 6U CubeSat that will demonstrate low-energy trajectory
control technologies at the Earth-Moon L2 point, and OMOTENASHI, which will
attempt a sort-of soft landing on the Moon with a small rocket motor and an
airbag, all in a 12 kg, 6U spacecraft!
(ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)
+ A Tweet reminder from Mitch Ahrenstorff @AD0HJ: AMSAT-Twitter Meetup Net
on DMR BrandMeister Talkgroup #98006 | YSF Reflector #11689 | Echolink
*AMSAT* #101377 July 22nd 0200Z (Wednesday Night 9:00 PM CDT). Please stop
by with your check-in and comments! Net Control tonight will be Mitch @AD0HJ
#amsat #dmr #ysf #echolink
(ANS thanks Mitch Ahrenstorff @AD0H for the above information)
+ A number of interesting announcements and updates to QO-100 operation have
been posted by AMSAT-Deutchland. This include a lecture by Dr. K-A Eichorn,
DK3ZL about the DP0POL/MM Polarstern voyage, A QO-100 linux SDR, and that
contests will be allowed on the upper mixed mode range of QO-100. Details
are at: https://amsat-dl.org/en/
(ANS thanks AMSAT-Deutchland for the above information)
+MIR-SAT/OSCAR-112 News from Jean Marc Momple(3B8DU): "Dear All, Just to
share a great achievement from a local school:
MIR-SAT 1 TLM was received and decoded by Forest Side State Secondary School
(Girls) team (LG89sq) today thus the 1st school in 3B8 and uploaded to
Satnogs. This is great and hopefully inspire these YL to STEM. Great day for
me as Radio Amateurs donated the Ground Station and I coached them. Many
other schools in 3B8 were provided with Ground station kits to enable them
to receive the signals from MIR-SAT 1 and hopefully we will see soon many
schools doing so soon." Congratulations Jean Marc!
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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.
President's Club donations may be made at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-PresClub
or through the AMSAT Store.
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 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact info [at]
amsat.org for additional student membership information.
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,
This week's ANS Editor, Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ, Associate Editor, AMSAT News
Service
KD4IZ at arrl dot net
1
0
ANS-201 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AO-109 (RadFxSat-2/AMSAT Fox-1E) Open For Amateur Use
by Paul Stoetzer 20 Jul '21
by Paul Stoetzer 20 Jul '21
20 Jul '21
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN
ANS-201
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* AO-109 (RadFxSat-2/AMSAT Fox-1E) Open For Amateur Use
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-201.01
ANS-201 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 201.01
From AMSAT HQ WASHINGTON, DC
DATE July 20, 2021
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-201.01
AO-109 (RadFxSat-2/AMSAT Fox-1E) Open For Amateur Use
The AMSAT Engineering and Operations Teams are pleased to announce that
AO-109 (RadFxSat-2/AMSAT Fox-1E) is now open for amateur use. Users are
advised to use efficient modes such as CW or FT4 for making contacts, since
issues with the satellite make SSB voice contacts challenging at best.
Please see the May/June 2021 issue (Vol. 44, No. 3) of The AMSAT Journal
for an article by Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, and Mark Hammond, N8MH, detailing
the various attempts to characterize AO-109 and its apparent problems.
On behalf of the Engineering and Operations Teams--
73,
Jerry, N0JY and Drew, KO4MA
AO-109 Frequencies
Inverting Linear Transponder
Uplink 145.860 MHz - 145.890 MHz
Downlink 435.760 MHz - 435.790 MHz
1k2 BPSK Telemetry 435.750 MHz (non-operational)
[ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, and
AMSAT Vice President - Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, 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 additional benefits.
President's Club donations may be made at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-PresClub.
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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,
This week's ANS Contributing Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-199
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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(a)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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* AMSAT's 39th Annual Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting To Be Held
October 29-31
* First call for papers for 2021 AMSAT Space Symposium
* 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
* May/June 2021 Issue of The AMSAT Journal Now Available
* ISS SSTV 145.800 MHz FM June 21-26
* Youth on the Air Campers Enjoy Successful ISS Contact, Busy with Other
Activities
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for July 15, 2021
* NASA TV to Air Crew Dragon Port Relocation on Space Station
* NASA TV to Air Launch of Space Station Module, Departure of Another
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 July 18
AMSAT's 39th Annual Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting To Be Held
October 29-31
The 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held
Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in
Bloomington, Minnesota. Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square,
Bloomington, MN 55245.
The Crowne Plaza AiRE is adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International
Airport and only steps away from the METRO Blue Line’s American Blvd. stop.
Nearby shopping and tourist attractions include Mall of America, SEA LIFE
at Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe, and the Minnesota Zoo.
The Symposium includes presentations, exhibit space, and the AMSAT Annual
General Meeting. The preliminary schedule is presented below.
The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will be held before the Symposium,
October 28-29, at the same hotel.
You can make hotel reservations by calling the hotel directly at (952)
854-9000 or (877) 424-4188 (toll free) or online by visiting
crowneplazaaire.com. The group name is Amateur Satellite Group.
Registration is available on AMSAT's Member Portal at
https://launch.amsat.org/Events
Preliminary Schedule of Events (subject to change)
Thursday, October 28, 2021
0800 – 1200 AMSAT Board Meeting
1200 – 1300 AMSAT Board Lunch Break
1300 – 1700 AMSAT Board Meeting
1600 – 1900 Registration
Friday, October 29, 2021
0800 – 1900 Registration
0800 – 2100 Space Exhibit
0800 – 1200 AMSAT Board Meeting
1200 – 1300 AMSAT Board Lunch Break
1300 – 1700 AMSAT Space Symposium presentations
1700 – 1900 Dinner Break
1900 – 2130 AMSAT Reception, cash bar available
Saturday, October 30, 2021
0800 – 1600 Registration
0800 – 2100 Space Exhibit
0800 – 1200 AMSAT Space Symposium presentations
1200 – 1300 Lunch Break
1300 – 1500 AMSAT Space Symposium presentations
1500 – 1700 AMSAT Annual General Meeting
1800 – 1900 Attitude Adjustment (reception)
1800 – 2200 Cash Bar
1900 – 2200 Banquet
Sunday, October 31, 2021
0700 – 0900 AMSAT Ambassadors’ Breakfast
NOTE: All times are Central Daylight Time (CDT), UTC – 5 hours
[ANS thanks the 2021 AMSAT Symposium Committee for the above information]
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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First call for papers for 2021 AMSAT Space Symposium
This is the first call for papers for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium to be
held on the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE hotel
in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Proposals for symposium presentations are invited on any topic of interest
to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your
presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by October 18
for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be
sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at n8fgv(a)amsat.org
[ANS thanks Dan Schultz, N8FGV, Symposium Program Committee, for the above
information]
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2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on
June 15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated and their
candidate statements can be found at link that follows:
Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO
In accordance with our Bylaws, AMSAT must hold an election, even though we
have four nominations for four open Director positions. As such, we will
host electronic voting on our Member Portal this year, at no cost to the
organization. Voting is now open and will close on September 15, 2021.
When members click on the poll link, they will see their ballot (poll
question). After choosing from the possible options, click the Submit
button to cast your vote. Unlike many online polls, the results of all
votes cast, up to the point of your vote, will not be displayed. AMSAT
members can only vote once. If you click the poll link again after already
voting, a vote submitted message will be displayed. As four seats on the
Board of Directors are up for election this year, all four candidates will
be seated on the Board when the voting period concludes on September 15,
2021.
To read candidate biographies see:
https://launch.amsat.org/2021-BoD-Election
AMSAT members may access their ballots at:
https://launch.amsat.org/Sys/Poll/25943
[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]
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May/June 2021 Issue of The AMSAT Journal Now Available
The May/June 2021 issue of The AMSAT Journal is now available to members on
AMSAT’s Member Portal.
The AMSAT Journal is a bi-monthly digital magazine for amateur radio in
space enthusiasts, published by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
(AMSAT). Each issue is your source for hardware and software projects,
technical tips, STEM initiatives, operational activities, and news from
around the world.
AMSAT members may download their copy at: https://launch.amsat.org/
Inside the Current Issue
* Apogee View – Robert Bankston, KE4AL
* AMSAT Strategic Plan: A Roadmap for Success – Robert Bankston, KE4AL
* Educational Relations Update – Alan Johnston, KU2Y
* AMSAT Board of Directors Election – Jeff Davis, KE9V
* Debugging AO-109 (RadFxSat-2, Fox-1E) – Burns Fisher, WB1FJ and Mark
Hammond, N8MH
* Working Portable with the Icom IC-9700 – Paul Philip, AC9O
* A Really Cheap Portable Satellite Mount – Keith Baker, KB1SF / VA3KSF
* Building a Tiny Satellite Ground Station – Mike Spohn, N1SPW
[ANS thanks The AMSAT Journal for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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ISS SSTV 145.800 MHz FM June 21-26
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) logoARISS report
there will be an “Amateur Radio on Shuttle, Mir and ISS” Slow Scan TV
(SSTV) event from June 21-26. Transmissions from the International Space
Station will be on 145.800 MHz FM using PD120.
The ARISS team will be transmitting SSTV images continuously from June 21
until June 26. The images will be related to some of the amateur radio
activities that have occurred on the Space Shuttle, Mir space station and
the International Space Station.
The schedule start and stop times are:
Monday, June 21 – Setup is scheduled to begin at 09:40 UTC (transmissions
should start a little later).
Saturday, June 26 – Transmissions are scheduled to end by 18:30 UTC.
Downlink frequency will be 145.800 MHz and the mode should be PD120.
Those that recently missed the opportunity during the limited period of MAI
transmissions should have numerous chances over the 6 day period to capture
many (if not all 12) of the images.
Check the ARISS SSTV blog for the latest information
http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/
ARISS SSTV Award https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/
The signal should be receivable on a handheld with a 1/4 wave whip. If your
rig has selectable FM filters try the wider filter for 25 kHz channel
spacing.
You can get predictions for the ISS pass times at
https://www.amsat.org/track/
Useful SSTV info and links https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Youth on the Air Campers Enjoy Successful ISS Contact, Busy with Other
Activities
The first Youth on the Air (YOTA) camp for young radio amateurs in the
Americas is under way in West Chester, Ohio. Among other activities, the
campers have been operating special event station W8Y from both the
National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting and from the camp hotel.
The camp wraps up with an hour-long closing ceremony on Friday, July 16.
"Things are going really well," said Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. The
earlier launch of a balloon carrying a ham radio payload was successful, he
said, and -- after pinpointing where the payload landed some 3 hours away
-- the campers were able to retrieve the package, thanks to some
understanding landowners. Rapp said the balloon reached approximately
100,000 feet.
Rapp said that campers have gotten along well from the first day, and
problems in general have been few and minor.
Several of the approximately two dozen campers got to ask questions of ISS
crew member Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI, during a Tuesday Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Responding to a query posed by
Graham, KO4FJK, Hoshide said the most interesting things he's seen from
space included flying through an aurora and looking down at shooting stars
from the ISS. He also said the ISS crew was able to view a partial lunar
eclipse from space.
Another camper, Adam, KD9KIS, wanted to know how often the ISS crew members
use the onboard ham station.
Hoshide said individual crew members may get on the radio every couple of
weeks or so, or as the opportunity arises.
"This ARISS contact is intended to inspire these young hams to learn more
about communication using amateur satellites and making ARISS radio
contacts," ARISS said in announcing the contact date. ARISS team member
John Sygo, ZS6JON, in South Africa, served as the telebridge relay station
for the late-morning event, which was streamed live via YouTube.
Rapp said he's hoping this pilot camp venture will provide the information
needed to replicate the camp over multiple locations for years to come. "We
also hope this brings a more robust community of young hams into amateur
radio," he added.
The long-anticipated summer camp for up to 30 hams, aged 15 through 25, was
set for last June, but it had to be rescheduled until summer 2021 because
of COVID-19 pandemic concerns. The camp for young hams in the Americas took
its cue from the summer Youngsters on the Air camps held for the past few
years in various IARU Region 1 countries.
The Region 2 camp is aimed at helping participants to take their ham radio
experience to the next level by exposing them to a variety of activities
and providing the opportunity to meet other young hams. Activities include
kit building, antenna building, transmitter hunting and direction finding,
operating with digital modes, and launching a high-altitude balloon.
Amateur satellite operation is one of the workshops provided. Others
include effective radio communication, local ham radio history, and using
amateur radio during emergencies. The YouTube channel features daily
highlight videos.
W8Y has been on the air as campers complete projects, between sessions, and
during free time, although some late-evening slots have been on the
schedule.
The camp's opening observance on Sunday featured keynote speaker Tim Duffy,
K3LR, who told the campers, "Amateur radio is the best hobby in the world."
Campers also saw a video presentation by International Amateur Radio Union
Region 1 Youth Working Group chair Philipp Springer, DK6SP.
ARRL and The Yasme Foundation donated project kits for the campers.
XTronics provided temperature-controlled soldering stations. The brochure
on the Youth on the Air website includes more details about the camp. --
Thanks to ARISS for some information
[ANS thanks ARISS and ARRL for the above information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for July 15, 2021
The name of the following satellite has been changed in this week's AMSAT
TLE Distribution as follows:
The satellite owner actually uses a dash in the satellite name rather than
a blank. The name of CubeBel 1 has been changed to CubeBel-1 (NORAD Cat ID
43666) to correct the satellite name.
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above
information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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NASA TV to Air Crew Dragon Port Relocation on Space Station
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts on the International Space Station will
relocate their Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft Wednesday, July 21, setting
the stage for a historic first when two different U.S. commercial
spacecraft built for crew will be docked to the microgravity laboratory at
the same time.
Live coverage will begin at 6:30 a.m. EDT (10:30z) on NASA Television, the
NASA app, and the agency’s website.
NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough, KE5HOD, and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI, and ESA
(European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG, will board the
Crew Dragon spacecraft about 4:30 a.m. and undock from the forward port of
the station’s Harmony module at 6:45 a.m. The spacecraft will dock again at
the station’s space-facing port at 7:32 a.m.
The relocation will free up Harmony’s forward port for the docking of
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, scheduled for launch Friday, July
30, as part of NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission. The
flight will test the end-to-end capabilities of Starliner from launch to
docking, atmospheric re-entry, and a desert landing in the western United
States. The uncrewed mission will provide valuable data about Boeing’s crew
transportation system, and help NASA certify Starliner and the United
Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for regular flights with astronauts to and
from the space station.
This will be the second port relocation of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. NASA’s
SpaceX Crew-2 mission lifted off April 23 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
in Florida and docked to the space station April 24. Crew-2, targeted to
return in early-to-mid November, is the second of six certified crew
missions NASA and SpaceX have planned as a part of the agency’s Commercial
Crew Program.
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
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NASA TV to Air Launch of Space Station Module, Departure of Another
NASA will provide live coverage of a new Russian science module’s launch
and automated docking to the International Space Station, and the undocking
of another module that has been part of the orbital outpost for the past 20
years. Live coverage of all events will be available on NASA Television,
the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
The uncrewed Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), named Nauka, the Russian
word for “science,” is scheduled to launch at 10:58 a.m. EDT (14:58z)
Wednesday, July 21 on a three-stage Proton rocket from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Live launch coverage will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Two days later, on Friday, July 23, the uncrewed ISS Progress 77 spacecraft
will undock from the Russian segment of the station while attached to the
Pirs docking compartment. With Pirs attached, Progress 77 is scheduled to
undock at 9:17 a.m. (13:17z) Live coverage of undocking will begin at 8:45
a.m. A few hours later, Progress’ engines will fire in a deorbit maneuver
to send the cargo craft and Pirs into a destructive reentry in the Earth’s
atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Deorbit and reentry will not be covered
on NASA TV.
After Nauka completes eight days in free-flight to allow Russian flight
controllers to evaluate its systems, the 43-foot long, 23-ton module will
automatically link up to the port on the Earth-facing side of the Russian
segment station, vacated by the departure of Pirs. Docking is scheduled for
9:25 a.m. Thursday (13:25z), July 29, with live coverage beginning at 8:30
a.m.
Nauka will serve as a new science facility, docking port, and spacewalk
airlock for future operations. Pirs has been part of the space station
since September 2001, functioning as a docking port for Russian visiting
spacecraft and an airlock for Russian spacewalks.
For more than 20 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked on
the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing
the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Through NASA’s Artemis
program, the agency will send the first woman and the first person of color
to the Moon’s surface, and eventually expand human exploration to Mars.
Inspiring the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation –
ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
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ARISS NEWS
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between
amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with
astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The
downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
YOTA 2021, West Chester, OH, telebridge via ZS6JON
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI
Contact is go for: Wed 2021-07-14 15:03:16 UTC 58 degrees max elevation
TBD, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Pyotr Dubrov
Contact is a go for Wed 2021-07-14 20:10 UTC
SpaceKids Global, Winter Park, FL, multi-point telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be TBD
The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD
Contact is go for: Wed 2021-07-21 17:47:21 UTC 51 degrees max elevation
Seinan Gakuin Junior Senior High School, Fukuoka, Japan, direct via 8N6SW
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI
Contact is go for: Thu 2021-07-22 09:14:25 UTC 31 degrees max elevation
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors
for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Quick Hits:
DM23, DM33, DM43 – Dave AD7DB will be operating holiday style on FM
satellites from July 22-25 2021. DM23 will be on July 22 or 25. The other
grids may be activated on any of those days depending on weather and other
factors. Confirmations in LOTW. Follow @ad7db on Twitter for updates.
Major Roves:
WA7AA:
July 13-16 DN28 holiday style
July 17 DN38 holiday style
July 18 DN47/48 daytime passes
July 21-23 DN54 holiday style
July 25-27 DN64 holiday style
July 30-31 DN63 holiday style
July 7, 10, 11, 18 will all be planned trips just for Sat passes FM and
SSB. I will try to publish passes ahead of time on Twitter and QRZ. The
remainder of the trip will be camping in remote areas with little to no
internet or Twitter. I will get info out as I can, but I won’t be able to
setup skeds ahead of time. Lots of POTA activations on Sats and HF as well.
Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through
amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests,
conventions, maker faires, and other events.
No upcoming events currently scheduled.
Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy
Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or
club? Always includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS … and
pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome.
Contact AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, at http://www.work-sat.com
or by phone at 909-999-SATS (7287)
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ NASA awarded a $935 million contract to Northrop Grumman to build and
integrate the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module for the lunar
Gateway, based off their Cygnus cargo craft, targeting a launch on a Falcon
Heavy in late 2024. This module will house astronauts and provide command,
control and power, plus three docking ports and mounting hardware for
Canadarm3 [and very likely, an amateur radio station!]. (ANS thanks The
Orbital Index for the above information).
+ Duct tape is really important in space. Among other things it was used by
the crew of Apollo 13 to build their improvised carbon monoxide scrubber
(called “gray tape” in the transcript). Amazingly, up until 2021 astronauts
on the ISS just stuck it to the wall and had to remember where it was;
SpaceX Crew-1 finally brought a duct tape dispenser which can be operated
with one hand, allowing an astronaut to stabilize themselves with the
other. Even more amazingly, the dispenser was designed by high school
students as part of NASA HUNCH, a program that farms out tactical
engineering problems to high schoolers. (ANS thanks The Prepared blog and
The Orbital Index for the above information)
+ China launched five small satellites designed to detect and monitor
global radio transmissions Friday, July 9, 2021 on top of a Long March 6
rocket, joining five similar spacecraft deployed in orbit in 2019. The five
satellites belong to a fleet owned by Ningxia Jingui Information Technology
Co. Ltd., a company that provides radio spectrum monitoring services to
commercial and Chinese government customers. (ANS thanks SpaceFlightNow for
the above information)
+ A record number of satellites were launched into orbit in 2020, according
to the Satellite Industry Association’s (SIA) State of the Satellite
Industry Report. By the end of 2020, there were 3,371 satellites orbiting
Earth, an increase of 37% from 2019. The commercial satellite industry
dominates the $371 billion global space economy, making up $271 billion, or
nearly 73% of its revenue. (ANS thanks SatelliteToday for the above
information)
+ NASA is announcing its 2021 Entrepreneurs Challenge to invite fresh ideas
and new participants that will lead to new instruments and technologies
with the potential to advance the agency’s science mission goals. To
encourage entrepreneurs to participate in the challenge, the Science
Mission Directorate will award finalists as much as $90,000 through a
two-stage process. Details at https://www.nasa-science-challenge.com (ANS
thanks Southgate ARC for the above information)
+ The Atmosphere–Space Interactions Monitor, or ASIM, installed outside the
European space laboratory Columbus module on the ISS, has detected a ‘blue
jet’—upward shooting lighting—that climbed to the interface between the
stratosphere and the ionosphere. These have previously been associated with
10- to 30-microsecond pulses of intense radiation across the 3 to 300 MHz
radio spectrum. More study is necessary to determine effects related to
radio propagation. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index and ESA for the above
information)
+ Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson rocketed into space Sunday, an
edge-of-the-seat sub-orbital test flight intended to demonstrate his
company’s air-launched spaceplane is ready for passengers who can afford
the ultimate thrill ride. Whether the view and a couple of minutes of
microgravity are worth the $250,000 (which purportedly 600+ people are
signed up to pay) is entirely a matter of opinion. But if you sign up, and
plan to take along your hand-held ham transceiver, please let us know!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
President's Club donations may be made at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-PresClub
or through the AMSAT Store.
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 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact info [at]
amsat.org for additional student membership information.
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,
This week's ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-192
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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(a)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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* AMSAT CubeSatSim First Official Release – v1.0
* AMSAT FoxTelem Version 1.11 Released
* AMSAT Pacsat Ground Station Version 0.43 Released
* FalconSat-3 Status
* Field Day Score Deadline - Friday, July 16th
* MIR-SAT1 Gold Award Winners
* Long Live PCSAT (NO-44) (and PCSAT-11)
* Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for July 8, 2021
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 192.01
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 Ju1 11
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin with Polished Gold
Finish,
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
By donating today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
AMSAT CubeSatSim First Official Release – v1.0
I am very pleased to announce the first software release of the CubeSatSim
software v1.0! Along with the first hardware release v1.0 last month, this
is an important milestone for this AMSAT educational project.
All the CubeSatSim software and hardware is fully open source. The v1.0
release info is available on GitHub here:
https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/releases/tag/v1.0 and the v1.0
hardware info including gerber files is available here:
https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/tree/v1.0/hardware/v1.0
Thanks to Bruce Paige, KK5DO, we have CubeSatSim blank PCB sets and
CubeSatSim Raspberry Pi SD cards available on the AMSAT Store. For the
moment, they are only available to ship to US addresses. In a post-COVID
future, we hope to offer worldwide shipping.
The CubeSatSim Raspberry Pi SD Card is a 16 GB micro SD card with
Raspberry Pi OS Lite and all the CubeSatSim software installed and
configured on it. It is available at the AMSAT Store for $20
https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-cubesatsim-raspberry-pi-sd-card/ You
can also download the image and flash it to your own SD card using these
instructions
https://github.com/alanbjohnston/CubeSatSim/wiki/2.-Software-Install Here
is the readme file for the CubeSatSim software
https://cubesatsim.org/download/cubesatsim-readme.pdf
With the 3 board sets of blank PCBs, you can order the parts and solder
your own CubeSatSim. They are available at the AMSAT Store for $35
https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-cubesatsim-pcb/
I want to take this opportunity to thank the team that has been working on
the CubeSatSim Project including Pat Kilory, N8PK, Jim McLaughlin, KI6ZUM,
and David White, WD6DRI. In addition, Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ has been
instrumental in helping me get the FSK/BPSK transmit code working and has
added support for the CubeSatSim to FoxTelem. Yesterday's release of
FoxTelem v1.11 has full CubeSatSim support.
And of course, thank you to the AMSAT Board of Directors and the AMSAT
membership who have supported this project for many years.
P.S. AMSAT has CubeSatSim Loaners available to ship to your event or
presentation or STEM outreach activity - just contact me if you have an
upcoming event.
[ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President - Educational
Relations, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT FoxTelem Version 1.11 Released
I am releasing version 1.11 of FoxTelem. This primarily supports new
features needed for GOLF-TEE development and the CubeSatSim. If you are
using FoxTelem in the lab or classroom then this release should be
installed. It also fixes several bugs that will help with live decoding of
AO-95. It is not a mandatory upgrade but it is recommended.
Specifically it addresses the following:
* Fixes a bug where Costas decoding can stop if audio is being monitored
* Supports all the latest features needed for the CubeSatSim
* Better warnings for tracking and Find Signal errors
* Supports all the latest GOLF-TEE layouts
* Fixes a bug where strong signals may not be tracked correctly
* Supports math expressions in telemetry conversions
* Better handles USB device errors
You can download FoxTelem here:
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/FoxTelem_1.11g_windows.zip
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/FoxTelem_1.11g_linux.tar.gz
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/FoxTelem_1.11g_mac.tar.gz
Feel free to reach out to me with questions or comments.
[ANS thanks Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ, AMSAT FoxTelem Developer, for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Pacsat Ground Station Version 0.43 Released
I'm releasing an update to the Pacsat Ground Station. This version
- Parses the MO-112 FailSafe beacons and saves them for analysis.
- Fixes a bug where FalconSat-3 telemetry data could not be downloaded from
the server
- Defaults FalconSat-3 to not check Pacsat File Header checksums. This was
annoying for partially downloaded files.
You can download it here:
https://www.g0kla.com/pacsat/index.php
[ANS thanks Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ, AMSAT Pacsat Ground Station
Developer, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FalconSat-3 Update
I had sufficient WiFi to check out FalconSat-3 thisvaround 1200 UTC 8 July
2021. Thankfully, only the TX had gone off and a reload right now isn't
necessary.vIf I can make the time, I'll look over the telemetry logs and
see if we had a low voltage trip or something, but not sure.
Users---until further notice, please limit the size of your uploaded files
to around 10k or less. Just before the bird went silent, numerous large
files were being uploaded and downloaded. I cannot say for sure if this is
related to the recent issue, but let's call it a hunch.
In the meantime, FalconSat-3 is again open for BBS and digipeater use -
please limit file upload size to 10K or less.
[ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station, for the
above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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Field Day Score Deadline - Friday, July 16th
The deadline for submission of AMSAT Field Day scores is 11:59 P.M. Central
Time on Friday, July 16, 2021. I am going to be out of town the week of
July 12th. I will still try to acknowledge when I get your score in my
inbox.
It would be nice to get some pictures and a short note about how your Field
Day was. I always like to share the stories in the AMSAT Journal article.
The submission form is located at https://www.amsat.org/field-day/
[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards, for
the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MIR-SAT1 Gold Award Winners
On behalf of the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) I am pleased to
inform you that the MIR-SAT1 Gold Award winners are:
WO3T
SatNOGS# 2134 / WesternMA Yagi
VU2LBW
PA5OXW
JA6PL
KB6LTY
1062-CCERES Ground Station
3B8FA
SP7THR-UHF / 2012
EU1XX
JH4DHX/3
PY2SDR
BX1AD
MAUFOX
F6HDW
W7KKE
KC9ELU
LU1KCQ
VK2PET
YC5ABK
Congratulations to them all.
Now there are 30 Silver Awards at stake, to remind the rules: one must have
uploaded at least one full valid MO-112 frame to Satnogs and apply for the
award by submitting their participation to MARS (link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCAAKTMtTmARDwrjIE_Coai1WR9b2zUFj…
).
Good luck to all for the Silver Award.
Thanking all for sending to Satnogs the TLM’s which is really appreciated
and really useful to us.
[ANS thanks Jean-Marc Momple, 3B8DU, MIR-SAT1 (MO-112) Team, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Long Live PCSAT (NO-44) (and PCSAT-11)
Some (current) APRS Amateur Satellite history:
CONSTRUCTION: For what it is worth, After 20 years, both PCSAT side A and
B transponders (digipeaters) remain semi-operational as the longest running
student project satellites in space. Further they were built desk-top style
using simple off-the-shelf Kantronics KPC-9612 TNC's and Hamtroncs kit
TX/RX boards. All parts are COTS and chips are in sockets. Batteries are AA
NiCd's. There are no CPU's on board. All command/control/telemetry is just
what is inherent in the TNC's. Only thing we did was replace all
electrolytic caps with tantalums. Having no clean room, we just used kem
wipes and alcohol to wipe off all the fingerprints and dust before bagging
for delivery.
NOTE: No one should be so cavalier if their mission is REAL and costing
great amounts of expectations and money. Back then it was just a free ride
with no expectations other than student involvement.
SAFE MODE (NOT): The only thing wrong was stupid thinking on the power
budget. As our first satellite, we put on dual A/B systems AND additional
9600 baud DUAL UHF backup link receivers so that we had QUAD backup command
RX capabilities in case of failures. The problem was we decided that all
systems must come up on power-up in order to have access to all the
redundant backup reset and command capabilities if needed and (DUH!), if
all was OK, we would turn off the unnecessary backup-UHF receivers and
un-crossconnect the transmitters.
TOO-COMPLEX LOGON: That is what kills it (on every orbit). If the reason
it reset is because of low battery, then the last thing you want is for
EVERYTHING to be ON when you are coming into the sun and trying to charge
back up. There is not yet enough power to get the command in to command off
the unnecessary systems! Further, the commands required a full two-way
AX.25 connection requiring 5 packets to exchange the password challenge and
password response. All of which fully loaded the cross-connected XMTRs
while trying to recover power.
NO CPU or OPERATING SYSTEM: PCSAT had no programmable CPU. Just
two-dual-port TNCs and 2 VHF XMTrs and 2 VHF RCVRS, and 2 UHF 9600 baud
RCVRS. There was nothing in which to put SMART-safe-mode power-up thinking.
Hence the fatal flaw to just power up everything and command later...
duh...
WITH LUCK: But luckily, the orbit occasionally has short eclipses and
longer sun side (about 1 hour) which gives it enough time to sometimes
have enough power to do a few user digipeats. Though after only a few, that
usually kills the battery for the rest of the orbit. We long since gave up
trying to go through the entire secret logon process to try to turn off the
extra UHF receivers, only to have it last another' 10 minutes or so until
the next eclipse and so that is why it just does its thing and sometimes
people are successful, or not.
MISSION: Side A of PCSAT (AKA W3ADO-1) remains operational on 145.825
digipeating when power permits. Same for side B which has a digipeater with
a 144.39 MHz downlink for use over North America which at the time was
thought would be useful for communicating *TO* normal 144.39 travelers who
may be traveling outside of range of the terrestrial network for a while.
TODAY (June 8, 2021), one of our sysops tested the side "B" and confirmed
it remains operational. That is why you might occasionally see PCSAT-11 in
the APRS logs. Although within the rules at the time of launch, in the last
decade, the IARU has officially made notice that operation of satellite
downlinks in the old 144.30-144.40 range are no longer authorized. Besides,
we never came up with a good use of the side B anyway. (Broadcast an APRS
message to all North American mobiles, or special traffic to a specific
mobile).
Of course, we learned those lessons and had 6 successful followon APRS
satellites with only the last two (PSAT and PSAT2) had programmable CPUs
(BASIC Stamps). See http://aprs.org/sats.html
[ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for July 8, 2021
The following satellite has been added to this week's AMSAT TLE
Distribution:
TUBIN - NORAD Cat ID 48900 (Thanks to Nico Janssen, PA0DLO for the
identification.)
The following satellite has been deleted from this week's AMSAT TLE
Distribution:
STAR-Me Mother - NORAD Cat ID 43640 (Decayed June 26, 2021)
Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA (OSCAR Number Administrator) announced July 3, 2021
in AMSAT News Service Bulletin ANS-185 that MIR-SAT1 has been designated
MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 or MO-112.
Thus, MIRSAT1 (NORAD Cat ID 48868) is now shown as MO-112 in this week's
TLE distribution.
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above
information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA's ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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ARISS News
TBD, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled astronaut is Pyotr Dubrov
Contact is a go for 2021-07-14 20:10 UTC
Watch for possible operation mode change sometime after ARRL Field Day.
Exact date and time TBD but it will probably be after the week of
2021-07-12 to 2021-07-18.
Current Status of ISS Stations
IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS - ACTIVE. supporting cross band repeater
operation (145.990 up [67 Hz tone] /437.800 down MHz). Next mode change to
packet operations targeting after Field Day.
Supporting USOS scheduled voice contacts, packet and voice repeater ops.
Service Module radios:
Kenwood D710E – STATUS - Radio usually off.
Supporting ROS scheduled voice contacts and SSTV.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors,
for the above information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Quick Hits:
VP2V/K3TRM: I will be operating from Tortola, BVI as VP2V/K3TRM on July
4-17, 2021. Activity will be on 40-6M SSB & digital, and satellite.
EN57/67: @SeanKutzko KX9X and @Nancy_N9NCY will celebrate Sean’s birthday
in the Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula July 15-19. Look for them on FM and
SSB satellites, with the possibility of some Parks On The Air activity as
well. They will also hit EN57/67 on 7/14&19 on the Yooper Rove.
K0JM, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (July 12-14) I’ll be on the north shore of
Lake Superior. I hope to get in at least one pass in each of the grids:
EN36, EN46, EN47, EN48, EN57 and EN58. But this will be holiday style, so
no guarantees. Mostly linears, but some FM perhaps.
Major Roves:
WY7AA:
July 11 DN25 daytime passes
July 12 DN27 with a guest Gridmaster hopefully
July 13-16 DN28 holiday style
July 17 DN38 holiday style
July 18 DN47/48 daytime passes
July 21-23 DN54 holiday style
July 25-27 DN64 holiday style
July 30-31 DN63 holiday style
July 11 & 18 will all be planned trips just for Sat passes FM and SSB. I
will try to publish passes ahead of time on Twitter and QRZ. The remainder
of the trip will be camping in remote areas with little to no internet or
Twitter. I will get info out as I can, but I won’t be able to setup skeds
ahead of time. Lots of POTA activations on Sats and HF as well.
Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT is pleased to announce that the 39th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and
Annual General Meeting will be held in late October at the Crowne Plaza
Suites: MSP Airport - Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Crowne
Plaza Suites is conveniently located adjacent to the American Blvd station
on the Metro Blue Line, providing easy access to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul
International Airport, downtown Minneapolis, and the Mall of America. The
AMSAT Board of Directors will meet prior to the Symposium. Further details,
including final dates, hotel reservation details, tours, and other events
will be shared in the coming months.
Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space?
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through
amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests,
conventions, maker faires, and other events.
AMSAT Ambassador and ARRL registered instructor Clint Bradford, K6LCS, is
certainly keeping busy! He reports a long list of completed online
presentations. Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work
the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your
convention or club? Always includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and
ARISS … and pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome. Send
Clint an email or call!
Clint Bradford K6LCS
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)
Tom Schuessler, N5HYP, has put out a call for assistance for an upcoming
event:
Hi all,
In person events are back! The Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, TX is
this year returning to their in-person “Moon Day” space themed STEM event
on July 24th. I have signed up for AMSAT and Amateur Radio in Space as an
exhibito, as we have in past years. I will have the AMAT Cubesat Simulator
and the Fox Engineering model to show off to the kids attending and will
use iPad apps and SatPC32 to show orbits/footprints and such. There even
are a couple AO-91 passes during the event.
I have already a few volunteers for the event but if you live in the DFW
area and enjoy communicating with young people, I would love to hear from
you.
Event details:
Location: Frontiers of Flight Museum, Love Field, Dallas, TX
Time: Setup 7:30-9:45AM, Event 10:00AM through 3PM, teardown to follow.
Drop me an email, and I will give you more details.
73
Tom Schuessler, N5HYP at amsat.org
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Symposium Committee, Tom Schuessler, N5HYP, and Paul
Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events Page Manager, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Congratulations to Mike McCoy, KC9ELU, on completing the AMSAT GridMaster
Award for working and confirming QSOs with all 488 grid squares in the
continental United States. Mike is the 32nd recipient of AMSAT's GridMaster
Award. More details about the GridMaster Award can be found at
https://www.amsat.org/gridmaster/ [Thanks to Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT
Director of Contests and Awards]
+ Several new products are available on the AMSAT Zazzle store, including a
set of coasters, a watch, a t-shirt featuring the AMSAT round logo, and
more. Check out the new items! 25% of the purchase price goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+ All issues of The AMSAT Journal dating back to 2014 are now available to
AMSAT members on AMSAT’s new membership portal. The 1969-2013 archive will
be added at a later date. All editions of AMSAT’s Symposium Proceedings are
also available for members. If you’re a current AMSAT member, get logged on
today. If you are not yet a member, consider joining today at
https://launch.amsat.org/
+ The 2020 edition of AMSAT’s Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is
available on the AMSAT store. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is
updated every year with the latest amateur satellite information, and is
the premier primer of satellite operation. The book is presented in
DRM-free PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your
first contacts on a ham radio satellite. The digital download is available
for $15 at https://tinyurl.com/2020GettingStarted. The print edition is $30
plus shipping and is available at https://tinyurl.com/GS2020Print
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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.
President’s Club donations may be made at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,
This week’s ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org
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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-185
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information
service of AMSAT, 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(a)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:
https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/
In this edition:
* "Clean Sweep" on Satellites Possible in 2021 13 Colonies Event
* MIR-SAT1 Designated as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112)
* Youth on the Air Camp 2021 to be On the Satellites
* The AMSAT-SA Space Symposium on 10 July
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 1, 2021
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 30, 2021
* NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-185 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 185
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 July 4
"Clean Sweep" on Satellites Possible in 2021 13 Colonies Event
The 2021 edition of the annual 13 Colonies special event is July 1,
2021-1300 UTC to July 8, 2021-0400 UTC. This year, a "clean sweep"
(working stations in all 13 states that were the original 13 U.S. Colonies)
is possible via satellite! Yes, one or more stations in each state have
volunteered to be active on the satellites this year.
More info on 13 Colonies is at http://www.13colonies.us/ including
information on the exchange, logging, individual state QSLs, and
certificates. DXsummit is recommended for spotting, and many of the
satellite ops are active on Twitter and self-spot there as well.
The special event stations will identify with special calls as follows:
K2A - New York
K2B - Virginia
K2C - Rhode Island
K2D - Connecticut
K2E - Delaware
K2F - Maryland
K2G - Georgia
K2H - Massachutsets
K2I - New Jersey
K2J - North Carolina
K2K - New Hampshire
K2L - South Carolina
K2M - Pennsylvania
WM3PEN - Philadelphia bonus station
GB13COL - Great Britain bonus station
TM13COL - France bonus station
[ANS thanks Steve Greene, KS1G (one of the K2B/Virginia activators) for the
above information]
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MIR-SAT1 Designated as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112)
On June 22, 2021, MIR-SAT1 was deployed from the International Space
Station by JAXA. MIR-SAT1 is a project of the Mauritius Research and
Innovation Council and carries a digipeater and camera experiment. Further
information is available at https://spacemauritius.com.
At the request of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council, AMSAT
hereby designates MIR-SAT1 as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112). We congratulate
the owners and operators, thank them for their contribution to the amateur
satellite community, and wish them a long mission and continued success on
this and future projects.
ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number
Administrator, for the above information.
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Join the 2021 President's Club!
Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won't want to miss it!
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Youth on the Air Camp 2021 to be On the Satellites
The first Youth on the Air (YOTA) camp for young radio amateurs in North,
Central, and South America begins on July 11 in West Chester, Ohio. Among
other activities, campers will be operating special event station W8Y from
both the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester
Township and from the camp hotel. The camp will run until July 16.
"We are at 23 campers," said Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. "We are very
excited to finally bring this program to the Americas. Our young people are
bringing an incredible lineup of hands-on sessions for their peers. We hope
this pilot gives us the information we need to replicate this camp over
multiple locations for years to come. We also hope this brings a more
robust community of young hams into amateur radio."
The long-awaited summer camp for up to 30 hams aged 15 through 25 had been
set to take place in June 2020, but it had to be rescheduled until summer
2021 because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns. The camp for young hams in the
Americas took its cue from the summer Youngsters on the Air camps held for
the past few years in various IARU Region 1 countries.
W8Y will be on the air as campers complete projects, between sessions, and
during free time. Dedicated operating times on HF will be Monday, July 12,
0100 - 0330 UTC; Tuesday, July 13, 0000 - 0330 UTC and 1800 - 2130 UTC.
Dedicated satellite station operating times will be Thursday, July 15, 1400
- 1700 UTC, and Friday, July 16, 1500 - 1700 UTC.
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact is
currently set for either Wednesday, July 14, at 1503 UTC, or KM4BUN
operates as K8O during YOTA Month 2020.
Thursday, July 15, at 1416 UTC. It will be streamed live on the Youth on
the Air YouTube channel. The camp opening observance on Sunday, July 11,
2100 - 2230 UTC, will feature keynote speaker Tim Duffy, K3LR. The
hour-long closing ceremony on Friday, July 16, will get under way at 1700
UTC. The YouTube channel will also feature a daily video highlighting the
activities of the previous day.
ARRL and The Yasme Foundation donated project kits for the campers. X
Tronics provided temperature-controlled soldering stations. The brochure on
the Youth on the Air website includes more details about the camp. For
additional information, contact Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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The AMSAT-SA Space Symposium on 10 July
The programme for the 2021 AMSAT SA Space Symposium has been published on
the SARL and AMSAT SA websites.
Attendance for AMSAT SA and SARL members is free. There is a small charge
for non-members.
The symposium will be held on the BlueJeans platform starting at 08:00 UTC
on Saturday 10 July 2021.
The keynote address will be delivered by Val Munsami, the CEO of the South
African National Space Agency. Dr Gary Immelman ZS6YI will talk about a
novel way to get going on QO-100, amateur radios first geostationary
satellite.
Dr Pierre Cilliers will talk about space weather activities at SANSA in
Hermanus, Dr Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, lead of the HAMSci in the USA will
present a paper entitled "The Ionosphere from your Backyard", Hannes
Coetzee, ZS6BZP and Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC will review the development of
AfriCUBE and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ of AMSAT NA will talk about Raspberry Pi
in my shack, a push-button user interface".
More details about the presentation will be released in the coming week.
Keep an eye on http://www.amsatsa.org.za/
[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]
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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control. Come along for the ride. The
journey will be worth it!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF
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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 1, 2021
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL
for the period June 1, 2021 through July 1, 2021. Congratulations to all
those who made the list this month!
Congratulations to Christy KB6LTY on achieving the AMSAT GridMaster!
CALL June July
K8YSE/7 842 872
KK5DO 781 793
NS3L 695 697
WD9EWK (DM43) 650 655
N9IP 635 640
PS8ET 550 600
VE6WK 404 512
VE1VOX 400 507
KF6JOQ 453 503
WB7VUF 404 455
W8LR 425 453
AK8CW DM37 425 451
KS1G 427 451
K5TA 400 450
KC7JPC New 399
VE4MM New 350
VE1CWJ New 335
KN2K 253 300
N7ZO 275 300
AB1OC 267 285
EA2AA 251 280
N8URE (FM19) 263 279
KK4CF 100 200
K3HPA 150 176
RA3DNC 142 156
N8MR 115 154
KC1MMC New 150
N1KM New 150
VE3KY 128 150
WA7HQD 149 150
WD9EWK (DM54) 125 145
KC2JED New 132
DL1DUO New 130
HC2FG New 130
WD9EWK (DM45) 106 127
DF2PI New 116
N2VAJ New 103
KE7RTB New 100
If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at
<mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was
developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for 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 a lot of the work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 30, 2021
MIR-SAT1 (Mauritian Infra-Red Satellite 1) was launched from the Japanese
ISS Kibo module at 10:55 UTC on 6-22-2021.
MIR-SAT1 has been identified as NORAD Cat ID 48868 as per Pierros Papadeas,
SV1QVE and Nico Janssen, PA0DLO.
The current TLE for MIR-SAT1 per Space-Track are as follows:
MIR-SAT1
1 48868U 98067SP 21179.69602259 .00013025 00000-0 23878-3 0 9995
2 48868 51.6439 285.7711 0003006 182.6608 177.4342 15.49640979 1031
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above
information]
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NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station
NASA’s SpaceX Dragon cargo freighter, loaded with approximately 5,000
pounds of scientific experiments and other cargo from the International
Space Station, will depart Tuesday, July 6, bound for a splashdown in the
Atlantic Ocean Thursday, July 8, completing the company’s 22nd commercial
resupply services mission for NASA.
Live coverage of the departure will begin at 14:45z Tuesday, July 6, on
NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. NASA will not
provide coverage of the splashdown.
Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will command Dragon
to undock from the space-facing port on the station’s Harmony module at
15:00z, with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough monitoring aboard the station.
The cargo craft will physically separate from the station five minutes
later before firing its thrusters to move a safe distance away prior to a
deorbit burn that will begin its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Dragon
is expected to make its parachute-assisted splashdown around 04:00z
Thursday, July 8.
Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the
science aboard the capsule to NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility at
the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and back into the hands of
the researchers. This shorter transportation time frame allows researchers
to collect data with minimal sample exposure to gravity.
Dragon launched June 3 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A
at Kennedy, arriving at the station a little less than 16 hours later. The
spacecraft delivered more than 7,300 pounds of research investigations,
crew supplies, and vehicle hardware to the orbiting outpost. Dragon’s
external cargo “trunk” carried six new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs),
two of which Expedition 65 crew members Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet, an
ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut, installed during three spacewalks
June 16, 20, and 25.
Some of the scientific investigations Dragon will return to Earth include:
* Lyophilization-2 examines how gravity affects freeze-dried materials and
could result in improved freeze-drying processes for pharmaceutical and
other industries. Freeze-drying also has potential use for long-term
storage of medications and other resources on future exploration missions.
* Molecular Muscle Experiment-2 tests a series of drugs to see whether
they can improve health in space, possibly leading to new therapeutic
targets for examination on Earth.
* Oral Biofilms in Space studies how gravity affects the structure,
composition, and activity of oral bacteria in the presence of common oral
care agents. Findings could support development of novel treatments to
fight oral diseases such as cavities, gingivitis, and periodontitis.
Learn more about SpaceX missions for NASA at: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
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ARISS NEWS
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between
amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with
astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The
downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2021-07-01 04:30 UTC
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
TBD, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled cosmotronaut is Pyotr Dubrov
Contact is a go for 2021-07-14 20:10 UTC
Watch for possible operation mode change sometime after ARRL Field Day.
Exact date and time TBD but it will probably be after the week of
2021-07-12 to 2021-07-18.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at
https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors
for the above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Upcoming Roves:
Quick Hits:
WY7AA: FI will be in FN02 starting 6/6 for a few weeks. Operating Sats.
holiday style. If you need FN01, FN02, FN03, FN12 please let me know and we
can try to set something up. FN01,03, and 12 will likely each be one day
roves. FM and SSB
ND0C and KE0WPA: In June @kylee_ke0wpa and I, along with our resident
photojournalist (Mom/Amy), will be taking a family excursion to the
southwest and working some sats as time permits. Here are the less commonly
worked grids from which we plan to operate. We will hit other grids too.
DM67 6/15 – 6/17, DM56 6/18, DM45 6/19, DN63 7/2, DN64 7/2 & 7/3
N5LEX: CN98 last week of June.
VP2V/K3TRM: I will be operating from Tortola, British Virgin Islands as
VP2V/K3TRM on July 4-17, 2021. Activity will be on 40-6M SSB & digital, and
satellite.
DM62: K5TA, tentatively planning for DM62 ~9-July, when there are are
several good passes mid-day, making it a doable day-trip.
EN57/67: @SeanKutzko KX9X and @Nancy_N9NCY will celebrate Sean’s birthday
in the Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula July 15-19. Look for them on FM and
SSB satellites, with the possibility of some Parks On The Air activity as
well.
Major Roves:
WA7AA:
July 6-7 DN43 with a daytime rove to DN42/43/52/53 corner on 7/7
July 10 DN24 daytime passes
July 11 DN25 daytime passes
July 12 DN27 with a guest Gridmaster hopefully
July 13-16 DN28 holiday style
July 17 DN38 holiday style
July 18 DN47/48 daytime passes
July 21-23 DN54 holiday style
July 25-27 DN64 holiday style
July 30-31 DN63 holiday style
July 7, 10, 11, 18 will all be planned trips just for Sat passes FM and
SSB. I will try to publish passes ahead of time on Twitter and QRZ. The
remainder of the trip will be camping in remote areas with little to no
internet or Twitter. I will get info out as I can, but I won’t be able to
setup skeds ahead of time. Lots of POTA activations on Sats and HF as well.
Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above
information]
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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space?
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through
amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests,
conventions, maker faires, and other events.
AMSAT Ambassador and ARRL registered instructor Clint Bradford, K6LCS, is
certainly keeping busy! He reports a long list of completed online
presentations. Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work
the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your
convention or club? Always includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and
ARISS … and pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome. Send
Clint an email or call!
Clint Bradford K6LCS
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above
information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ AMSAT is pleased to announce that the 39th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium
and Annual General Meeting will be held in late October at the Crowne Plaza
Suites: MSP Airport - Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Crowne
Plaza Suites is conveniently located adjacent to the American Blvd station
on the Metro Blue Line, providing easy access to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul
International Airport, downtown Minneapolis, and the Mall of America. The
AMSAT Board of Directors will meet prior to the Symposium. Further details,
including final dates, hotel reservation details, tours, and other events
will be shared in the coming months. (ANS thanks the 2021 Symposium
Committee for the above information)
+ D-Orbit, a European launch services company, has announced that they have
launched the first "amateur" satellite from the nation of Kuwait. The
launch was carried out on June 30 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Cape
Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The satellite, named “QMR-KWT”
means “Moon of Kuwait”, translated from Arabic, appears to have been built
commercially. It will transmit 9600 bps GMSK, as well as Morse ID of
LZ0KWT, and a recording of the Kuwait National Anthem on 436.5 MHz. There
is no record of international frequency coordination with the IARU. More
information at https://www.orbitalspace.org/qmr-kwt (ANS thanks D-Orbit
for the above information)
+ On the same June 30 SpaceX launch, which carried a total of 88 small
satellites into orbit, was Painani-II, a 3U cubesat built by the University
of the Mexican Army and Air Force. It will transmit telemetry, images, and
AX25 packet on IARU-coordinated frequencies of 437.475 and 2410.300 MHz.
(ANS thanks Spaceflight.com and IARU for the above information)
+ The ANS search engines have turned up myriad references to amateur
satellites across the news media this week. Small town papers around the
country picked up news releases from ham groups who were anxious to get the
media contact bonus points added to their Field Day logs. It appears that
many of these releases mention satellites for the "cool factor," even when
no satellite operation actually took place. Misinformation was abundant in
the published articles. But as they say, any publicity is good publicity!
(ANS thanks Mark Johns, K0JM, for the above information)
+ The Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is still anxious for telemetry
reports from the MIR-SAT 1 satellite launched on June 22. MIR-SAT 1
transmits on 436.925 MHz and decoders are available for download at
https://github.com/daniestevez/gr-satellites/blob/master/python/telemetry/m…
(Thanks to Daniel Estevez, EA4GPZ) or https://www.g0kla.com/pacsat/index.php
(Thanks to Chris Thompson, AC2CZ). All received data should be uploaded to
Satnogs.org, and award certificates may be received in exchange by applying
to https://bit.ly/3qKyb0Q (ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU, for the
above information)
+ The first three "taikonauts" (as Chinese astronauts are often known)
aboard China's Tiangong space station are enjoying a menu of more than 120
dishes. Meals include shredded pork in garlic sauce, kung pao chicken,
black pepper beef, pickled cabbage and many more. The foods are usually
solid, boneless, in small pieces and selected to meet the astronauts'
personal tastes. CCTV also reports that astronauts use condiments such as
pork sauce and Sichuan pepper sauce to help adjust to the temporary loss of
sense of taste experienced in microgravity. The space agency also boasted
that the station is equipped with a microwave oven, so that the crew can
enjoy their food hot. (ANS thanks space.com for the above information)
+ Wally Funk, age 82, a pilot with more than 19,600 flight hours and best
known as one of the "Mercury 13" group of women who passed NASA astronaut
medical exams in the 1960s, will be on the first crewed New Shepard flight
July 20, along with billionaire Jeff Bezos. NASA made no effort to fly the
Mercury 13 women, and did not formally select any female astronauts until
Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in June 1983. Funk will
now be the oldest person yet to fly into space. (ANS thanks Spacenews.com
for the above information)
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/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 Store.
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 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact info [at]
amsat.org for additional student membership information.
73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org
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