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03 Nov '19
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-307
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and
information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio
Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur
Radio in space including reports on the activities of a worldwide
group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in
designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and
digital Amateur Radio satellites.
The news feed on http://amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio
in space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat dot org.
In this edition:
* HuskySat Successfully Lifted into Space
* ARISS Contact Opportunities - Call for Proposals
* FoxTelem Version 1.08r Released
* Fox-in-a-Box Upgrades for FoxTelem V 1.08
* AMSAT Seeks Digital Communications Team Members
* The 39th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference
Announced September 11-13, 2020, Charlotte, NC
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for October 2019
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts from All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-307.01
ANS-307 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 307.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
November 3, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-307.01
HuskySat-1 Successfully Lifted into Space
A Cygnus cargo spacecraft carrying the University of Washington's
HuskySat-1 was successfully launched atop a Northrup Grumman Antares
rocket Saturday morning, November 2, 1459 UTC.
The Cygnus spacecraft will dock with the ISS on November 4. Cygnus
is then scheduled to depart the ISS on January 13, 2020 and raise
its orbit to approximately 500 km where HuskySat-1 and SwampSat will
be deployed. After deployment, HuskySat-1's 1200 bps BPSK beacon on
435.800 MHz should be active.(This beacon is decodable with the
latest release of FoxTelem.) HuskySat-1 is expected to run its
primary mission (testing a pulsed plasma thruster and experimental
24 GHz data transmitter) for thirty days. The satellite will then
be turned over to AMSAT for Amateur Radio operation, featuring a
30 kHz wide 145 to 435 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW
communications.
For those interested in reading about HuskySat-1's development and
its science, read the UW News article at
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-HuskySat-1
[ANS thanks SpaceNews.com, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, and UW News for the
above information.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Contact Opportunities - Call for Proposals
- Current Proposal Window is October 1, 2019 to November 30, 2019
- Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program
is seeking formal and informal education institutions and
organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur
Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates
that the contact for proposals submitted in the proposal window now
open would be held between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. ARISS
is happy to announce a second proposal window will open
February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between
January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits
will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio
contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will
draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a
well-developed education plan.
The deadline to submit proposals for contacts between July 1, 2020
and December 31, 2020 is November 30, 2019. The proposal window for
contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on
February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020. Proposal information
and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory
Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at
6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will
be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits
your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is
https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com
The Opportunity
Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate
in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are
approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact
with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.
An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via
Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space
station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford
education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from
astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn
about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an
opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless
technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human
spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the
ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate
changes in dates and times of the radio contact.
Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA
and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present
educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio
organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and
operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS
and students around the world using Amateur Radio.
More Information
For proposal information and more details such as expectations,
proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of
Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any
questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com.
[ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR for the above information.]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Video recordings of the 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium have been posted:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/AMSATNA/videos/
(This page should be accessible to all)
The Foundations of AMSAT - 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Panel
is posted at: https://youtu.be/bRmn4gjvuTI
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
FoxTelem Version 1.08r Released
Chris Thompson, G0KLA has released Version 1.08r of FoxTelem. This
release provides several enhancements and needed changes for FOX-1E
and HuskySat, a partnership with the University of Washington.
Users will need to download this version to successfully decode data
from the two new spacecraft which will transmit BPSK telemetry on
70cm. (Chris suggests now is a good time to put up a 70cm antenna
if you do not have one!)
After version 1.08p was released earlier this week, IC-9700 users
immediately noticed difficulties. Version 1.08r was immediately
released. Chris notes:
" There were two issues that prevented good decodes from the IC-9700:
1 - The IF output of the IC-9700 is not a true IQ signal and you have
both a lower and upper sideband image. One has the bits flipped
upside down. Historically FoxTelem has coped with the bits with
either sense, even though only one is "correct", so 1.07 decoded
fine from the wrong image. I had introduced a bug that meant the
"bit flip" check was not run. That code is back in.
2 - There was also an issue where the algorithm that finds the signal
was not being run if SatPC32 position was being read. That was a
common configuration for IC-9700 owners, so it compounded the
problem. The code is now fixed."
Key changes include the following:
- PSK decoders are easier to select.
- Automatically change the band from 2m to 70cm and the mode from
FSK to PSK if needed (and enabled).
- Allows default mode to be set for each spacecraft.
- No longer overwrites the user settings (e.g. as max/min frequency)
when spacecraft files are updated.
- Saves the properties whenever they are changed (rather than just
at exit).
- Allows the user to change the display name for a spacecraft without
changing the KEPS name.
- Prevents FOXDB from being corrupted when power restarted.
- Better memory management so that long running FoxTelem sessions
do not end up out of memory.
- Allows MAX and MIN records to be displayed in table on the
telemetry tab.
- Shows the Capture Date for the record being displayed (e.g. RT,
MAX, MIN).
- Deletes existing files when server data is downloaded.
- Ties the STP date more accurately to the position of the SYNC word
in the bit buffer to avoid stamping frames with the same date.
- Many small bugs and crashes fixed.
A full list of changes can be found at
https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/milestone/15?closed=1
You can download the new release at
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/
Feel free to email Chris with any questions, suggestions or bug
reports to chrisethompson at gmail dot com.
[ANS thanks Chris E. Thompson, G0KLA for the above information.]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
The 2019 AMSAT Symposium Proceedings USB flash drives,
featuring 1.98 GB of information, including the 2019
Proceedings and all previously published Proceedings
dating back to 1986 are now available on the AMSAT store
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Symposium-Flash-Drive
(allow 10 business days for the next batch to be loaded with the
files)
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Fox-in-a-Box Upgrades for FoxTelem V 1.08r
In addition to Chris Thompson's announcement. Burns Fisher, WB1FJ
reports that version of FoxTelem has been tested on Fox-in-a-Box
installations (FoxTelem running on a Raspberry Pi). Starting
immediately with serial number 110, FoxTelem Version 1.08r will be
included on the SD cards that are ordered from the AMSAT store. (It
is not yet on the download file.)
If you have a Fox-in-a-Box with an older version and you wish to
upgrade it (highly recommended) follow these steps:
- Download http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/FoxTelem_1.08p_linux.tar.gz
to the Desktop using the browser on your FIAB.
- Double-click the file to extract it to a directory(folder) named
"FoxTelem_1.08r_linux".
- Next, stop the running FoxTelem and edit the file on your desktop
named "StartFoxTelem". (Right-click and choose Text Editor.)
- About the third line from the bottom, change "foxtelem_1.07_linux"
to "FoxTelem_1.08r_linux". (Be sure the capital letters are right.)
- Exit from the editor and double-click on "StartFoxTelem" and chose
"Execute".
- The new FoxTelem will start running and, as described in the
manual you will start getting questions about whether you want to
upgrade. Say yes to each question.
After FoxTelem has started successfully, you should be all set, and
FoxTelem should start automatically every time your reboot.
If you have any issues, please Burns know at wb1fj at amsat dot org.
[ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ for the above information.]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
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/
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
AMSAT Seeks Digital Communications Team Members
AMSAT is in the process of redesigning its website and is looking to
immediately fill key volunteer member additions to its digital
communications team. Available positions include a Webmaster,
Content Managers, and an Online Store Co-Manager. Candidates must
have experience with Word press and be a current AMSAT member.
Webmaster:
The Webmaster works as an integral member of the AMSAT Digital
Communications Team in planning, organizing, implementing, and
supporting strategic web technologies. Under minimal supervision,
the Webmaster collaborates with the Digital Communications team and
AMSAT Development to facilitate ongoing content creation, development
of standards, and overall management of AMSAT's website and member
portal. The primary objectives of the Webmaster are to ensure that
AMSAT's digital presence accurately portrays the character, quality
and heritage of AMSAT, provide an efficient user experience, and
serve to increase recruitment and financial contributions.
Web Content Managers:
Web Content Managers ensure AMSAT's website and webpages follow best
content practices and meet the diverse needs of internal and external
customers. As part of the AMSAT Digital Communications Team,
Website Content Managers must understand the organizational needs,
map them to the end-user needs and work with applicable AMSAT
departments to create content strategy and plan for individual
webpages.
Online Store Co-Manager:
The Online Store Co-Manager updates and refreshes the AMSAT Store
when new merchandise becomes available, deletes merchandise when no
longer available, and updates pricing and shipping information when
necessary. Experience in WooCommerce is required.
If you want to be a part of the solution in delivering the quality
web services AMSAT members deserve, we could sure use your help.
Please contact the AMSAT VP of User Services at
ke4al (at) yahoo (dot) com.
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
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/
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
The 39th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference
Announced September 11-13, 2020, Charlotte, NC
Mark your calendar and start making plans to attend the premier
technical conference of the year, the 39th Annual ARRL and TAPR
Digital Communications Conference to be held September 11-13, 2020
in Charlotte, NC. The conference location is the Renaissance
Charlotte Suites.
The ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an
international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work,
and present new ideas and techniques. Presenters and attendees will
have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent
hardware and software advances, theories, experimental results, and
practical applications.
Topics include, but are not limited to: Software Defined Radio (SDR),
digital voice , digital satellite communications, Global Position
System (GPS), precision timing, Automatic Packet Reporting
System(tm)(APRS), short messaging (a mode of APRS), Digital Signal
Processing (DSP), HF digital modes, Internet interoperability with
Amateur Radio networks, spread spectrum, IEEE 802.11 and other
Part 15 license-exempt systems adaptable for Amateur Radio, using
TCP/IP networking over Amateur Radio, mesh and peer to peer wireless
networking, emergency and Homeland Defense backup digital
communications, using Linux in Amateur Radio, updates on AX.25 and
other wireless networking protocols.
Complete conference details including registration information,
call for papers and preliminary agenda can be seen at
https://www.tapr.org/dcc
[ANS thanks TAPR for the above information.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for October 2019
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the
ARRL for the period October 1, 2019 through November 1, 2019.
Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
Call Sep Oct
W5RKN 675 694
N0JE 569 637
K9UO 475 500
W5TD 384 392
AC9E 352 353
HP2VX 300 351
AD0HJ 325 350
K5IX 325 350
W7JSD 309 336
G0IIQ 112 251
ND0C 200 250
WB8TGY New 210
N4DCW New 201
KC9VGG 127 200
NX2X 119 178
KC9UQR 132 172
W0NBC 137 152
VE1VOX New 126
N4QX 120 125
AA0MZ 102 112
WA9JBQ New 104
N9FN New 103
PU8MGB New 102
KI4US New 101
AB4GE New 100
N0RC New 100
S57NML New 100
W2ASC 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 most of the work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Satellite Operations
South TX (EL0x and EL1x) November 2-9, 2019
Ron, AD0DX, will be vacationing in McAllen TX area the week of
Nov 2 - 9. Ron is flying in and out of San Antonio (EL09) and
staying in EL06. He hopes to activate most of the surrounding grids
(EL06, EL07, EL08, EL09, EL15, EL16, EL17, EL18, and EL19) over the
week. Ron will tweet details during the trip at
https://twitter.com/ad0dx
EM68/69 November 3-5, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Illinois, November 3 - 5.
Key word is vacation, but he will jump over to activate the EM68/EM69
gridline on FM satellites. Watch Tanner's Twitter feed for further
announcements at https://twitter.com/twjones85
Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 - December 6, 2019
The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar
Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6 through
December 11. They have some house keeping duties to perform on
arrival and just before they leave, not to mention that it's wicked
cold up there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye
on the VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to
step outside at https://twitter.com/vy0erc
EA9 Melilla (IM85) November 18-21, 2019
Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating from Melilla as EA9/EA4NF from
November 18 to 21, 2019. This very small Spanish territory located in
Northern Africa, which is a very rare GRID and is listed as one of
the Most Wanted SAT DXCC. Updates and passes on Philippe's Twitter
at https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT
Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3 - 6.
Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes
to activate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat.
Watch Tanner's Twitter feed for further announcements at
https://twitter.com/twjones85
Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be
a holiday-style activation, with special emphasis on the grid that
got away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further
announcements at https://twitter.com/N7AGF
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
ARISS News
* Completed Contacts
Farmwell Station Middle School Space Dreamers, Ashburn, VA, direct
via K4LRG
The ISS callsign was NA1SS.
The scheduled astronaut was Drew Morgan KI5AAA.
The contact was successful on October 29, 2019 at 15:01:27 UTC.
* Upcoming Contacts
Private UKEB School, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via K6DUE
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP.
Contact is go for Tuesday, November 5, 2029 at 12:34 UTC.
Istituto Comprensivo "G.B. Perasso", Milano, Italy and Istituto
Comprensivo Montignoso - Scuola secondaria I grado
"G.B.Giorgini", Montignoso, Italy
Telebridge via VK5ZAI.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP.
Contact is go for: Wednesday, November 6 2019 at 09:27:34 UTC.
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Shorts from All Over
* AmazonSmile Purchases Add Up!
AmazonSmile recently reported that the Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation received a quarterly donation of $280.92 thanks to
customers shopping at smile.amazon.com. To date, AmazonSmile has
donated a total of $4,194.21 to AMSAT.
[ANS thanks Dr. Thomas A Clark, K3IO for the above information.]
* GNU Radio Conference Recordings Available
The GNU Radio Conference was held September 16-20, 2019 at the
Marriott at the Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. A total
of 41 talks across a variety of topics are now available on YouTube.
The GNU Radio Conference staff thanks all the speakers for their
participation. View the playlist of presentations at
https://t.co/zjRYq7yjr1
[ANS thanks GNU Radio for the above information.]
* Building a Raspberry Pi-Based SatNOGS Ground Station
Corey Shields uses a Stegoboard 122 kit with the new Raspberry Pi4
to rebuild his ground station. What resulted is a pretty cool
wall-mounted ground station. Read the full article at
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-Ground-Station
[ANS thanks Corey Shields for the above information.]
* News from the First Week of WRC
Week 1 of the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference in
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, November 1, 2019 saw agreement reached on
several issues on which discussions prior to the conference had
revealed consensus. Those were the easy ones; the rest will be more
difficult. Read the full report at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-WRC
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.]
* The Dzhanibekov Effect (Or, Tennis Racket Theorem) and AO-73
Dave Johnson, G4DPZ, posted an analysis of the AO-73 rotation and
flip. Dave says, "We have speculated why the satellite spins up and
down and occasionally flips the direction of spin. Recently
Jason Flynn, G7OCD found a YouTube video that might explain the flip
which introduces The Dzhanibekov Effect or Tennis Racket Theorem in
regards to stability of rotating bodies (such as spacecraft)." Read
the article and watch the video at:
https://groups.io/g/FUNcube/topic/40405577
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VPfZ_XzisU
[ANS thanks Dave Johnson, G4DPZ for the above information.]
* Amateur Radio and Linux - A Beginners Guide
Linux and Amateur Radio is a PDF presentation about Amateur Radio
and Linux presented by : Dave Mamanakis, KD7GR. This presentation
cover basic concepts of the open source operative system. View the
presentation at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-Linux
[ANS thanks the DX Zone for the above information.]
* Amateur Radio CubeSat Demonstration at Goddard, November 3, 2019
The Goddard Amateur Radio Club members invite the public to see a
demonstration of an Amateur Radio CubeSat simulator. The simulator
consists of a solar/battery powered CubeSat that beacons telemetry
data and a Raspberry Pi-based ground station that will receive and
display the data in real time. The club will also set up radio
equipment and attempt to communicate with other hams across the
country using amateur satellites as they pass overhead. Club members
will be on hand to explain the use of Amateur Radio satellites and
equipment. The event is open to the public from 12:00 to 4:00 PM.
The Center is located at 9432 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771.
[ANS thanks Patch.com for the above information.]
* ESA Announces New ISS Opportunity for University Students
ESA Education is inviting university student teams to submit
proposals related to designing, building and operating an experiment
that will be launched to the International Space Station and hosted
inside the ICE Cubes facility for up to 4 months. The deadline for
letters of intent is December 1, 2019. Full details can be seen at
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-ESA-Opportunity
[ANS thanks ESA for the above information.]
* CQ-DATV November Issue Available
The November issue of CQ-DATV has arrived and is ready for
downloading. This month's issue includes plans for a 70 cm, DVB-T,
television repeater with a duplexer. Download the free, complete
issue at
https://cq-datv.mobi/77.php
[ANS thanks CQ-DATV for the above information.]
* Satellite: The "Go To" Solution for Resilient Emergency Response
Communications
Independent from terrestrial and wireless infrastructure, satellite
communications provide a secure and reliable solution that can be
deployed quickly for disaster response or national emergencies. A
thorough analysis of why satellites can be useful in widespread
emergency situations by a commercial provider. Read the full story
at http://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=1950983317
[ANS thanks SatMagazine 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. Application forms are available from the
AMSAT office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at
one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the
student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this
status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student
membership information.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org
Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum
available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring
membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author
and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-300
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation 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:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
In this edition:
* AMSAT Goal: "Amateur Radio in Every CubeSat"
* AMSAT VP User Services Describes Planning for Improvements
* AMSAT-DL Symposium and JHV 2019 November 9 - November 10
* Reminder - ARISS Proposal Window is Open Until November 30, 2019
* ARISS Activities & Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* Software Update for UZ7HO's Software Packet-Radio TNC
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* The AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions Web Page Updates
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-300.01
ANS-300 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 300.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE October 27, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-300.01
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Video recordings of the 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium have been posted:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/AMSATNA/videos/
(This page should be accessible to all)
The Foundations of AMSAT - 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Panel
is posted at: https://youtu.be/bRmn4gjvuTI
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AMSAT Goal: "Amateur Radio in Every CubeSat"
The ARRL Letter for October 17, 2019
AMSAT wants to see Amateur Radio in every CubeSat, and it's part-
nering with non-Amateur Radio partners to make that happen. In the
"Apogee View" editorial for the September/October issue of The AMSAT
Journal, Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, wrote, "[W]e
continue to support a stream of LEO satellites. RadFxSat-2/Fox-1E
is ready for launch no earlier than December 1, 2019, on the ELaNa XX
mission. The linear transponder and telemetry system carried aboard
Fox-1E was designed for use in different CubeSats by merely adding
an interface adapter for connection to the host bus."
Stoetzer said CubeSat programs interested in launching an Amateur
Radio payload may partner with AMSAT to carry a Fox-1E module on
their spacecraft. "By providing Amateur Radio capability, the Cube-
Sat program gets a worldwide ground station network to receive
their telemetry and experiment data while the Amateur Radio commun-
ity gets a transponder to use in orbit," he pointed out.
Stoetzer said the first such partnership will be with the Husky
Satellite Lab at the University of Washington. Its 3U CubeSat --
HuskySat-1 -- is set to launch on the ELaNa XXV mission from Wallops
Island, Virginia, no sooner than November 2. A Northrop Grumman
Cygnus spacecraft will carry HuskySat-1 to the International Space
Station, and after completing its mission there, Cygnus will con-
tinue to an orbit of approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) to
deploy HuskySat-1. "After a 30-day mission to complete tests of
its experimental payloads -- a pulsed plasma thruster, and a K-band
(24 GHz) communications system -- the satellite will be turned over
to AMSAT, and the linear transponder will be made available to the
Amateur Radio community," Stoetzer said.
Ed. Note - HuskySat-1 will carry a 30 kHz wide 145 to 435 MHz linear
transponder for amateur radio SSB/CW communications along
with 1k2 BPSK telemetry. The IARU has coordinated a downlink
on 436.810-435.840 MHz and uplink on 145.910-145.940 MHz.
NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/ntv) will provide coverage of
the launch. Pre-launch details are posted at:
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Cygnus-Launch-Nov2
[ANS thanks AMSAT and the ARRL for the above information]
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The 2019 AMSAT Symposium Proceedings USB flash drives,
featuring 1.98 GB of information, including the 2019
Proceedings and all previously published Proceedings
dating back to 1986 are now available on the AMSAT store
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Symposium-Flash-Drive
(allow 10 business days for the next batch to be loaded with the files)
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AMSAT VP User Services Describes Planning for Improvements
At the conclusion of the 2019 AMSAT Symposium and Annual General
meeting, Robert Bankston, KE4AL, VP User Services provided a state-
ment outlining his plans. Robert's statement follows:
I am so honored to be elected by the AMSAT Board of Directors to be
the AMSAT Treasurer and reelected to be the AMSAT Vice-President of
User Services, as well as reappointed as the Director of AMSAT Ambas-
sadors by the AMSAT President. Thank you for your confidence in me.
I am humbled. This is a lot of hats to wear, along with my full-time
job, but I look forward to the challenge. I believe in AMSAT's mis-
sion and have a wonderful team of volunteers to assist me.
I am excited to announce that there are major improvements coming
for our AMSAT members in the near future. The AMSAT Board of Direc-
tors approved my recommendations for an internet-based, member manage-
ment system, the transition to a digitally delivered, full-color
AMSAT Journal, and a complete overhaul of our AMSAT website. I have
been putting together these proposals for several months and thank
the Board of Directors for the permission to move these projects
forward. These improvements will modernize how AMSAT serves you.
I hope that you will be as impressed with them as I am.
The member management system puts you in control of your membership
account, allowing you to update your contact information, pay your
dues, and register for events in real time. In addition, the program
will automatically push out reminders, newsletters, and a digital
copy of the AMSAT Journal.
Transitioning to a digitally-delivered, AMSAT Journal will allow us
to provide a full-color magazine, without raising the cost of member-
ship. In addition, we will have to opportunity to provide member-only
content on our website, to include back issues of our AMSAT Journal.
Lastly, we will be working on a complete overhaul of our AMSAT web-
site. Over the years, our website has received several facelifts,
and, in the process, it has become somewhat disjointed. Our goal is
to make the navigation more intuitive and offer the content you
deserve. The front of the website will focus on external visitors,
explaining who we are, what we do, and what we have to offer. We will
also have portals for our members and friends in the AMSAT community,
how to guides on getting started in amateur radio satellites, and all
the important information about current satellites you will need to
work them.
AMSAT's User Services is committed to serving AMSAT members and the
AMSAT community and to deliver the quality services you deserve as we
move forward into the next 50 years of Keeping Amateur Radio is Space!
If you would like to join us on this incredible journey, we could sure
use you help.
73,
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Vice-President, User Services
Director, AMSAT Ambassadors
Treasurer
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)
[Ed. note - The AMSAT News Service is a proud member of the AMSAT
User Services Team]
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT's Man of Many Hats 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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AMSAT-DL Symposium and JHV 2019 November 9 - November 10
AMSAT-DL extends an invitation to the Satellite Symposium and General
Assembly of AMSAT Deutschland e.V. in Bochum, Germany. Lectures on
current amateur radio satellites and space projects will be presented.
The lecture program and symposium schedule have been posted. Landing
coordinates have been posted as 07° 11' 39" E 51° 25' 40" N.
See https://amsat-dl.org/en/event/amsat-dl-symposium-und-jhv-2019/
for the latest information and travel directions.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information]
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Reminder - ARISS Proposal Window is Open Until November 30, 2019
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program
is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organiza-
tions, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio
contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that
the contact would be held between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates.
To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for
organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and inte-
grate the contact into a well-developed education plan.
The deadline to submit a proposal is November 30, 2019. Proposal
information and documents can be found at https://www.ariss.org/
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Activities & Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
+ Liceo Scientifico Teresa Gullace, Rome, Italy,direct via IZØDIB
and I.S.I.S. “ Zaccagna - Galilei” sede “G. Galilei”, Carrara.
Italy, direct via IQ5VR Thu 2019-10-24 11:13 UTC
Contact was successful.
+ I.I.S. “Ciampini-Boccardo”, Novi Ligure, Italy, direct via I1LJV
and I.T.I.S. "Magistri Cumacini", Como, Italy, direct via IZ2MCC
Fri 2019-10-25 10:24 UTC Contact was successful.
+ Golden Oak Montessori, Castro Valley, CA, telebridge via K6DUE.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Mon 2019-10-28 15:50 UTC
+ Young Scientists Program at USC and Vermont Elementary School,
Los Angeles, CA, direct via KN6CHS.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Mon 2019-10-28 18:57 UTC
+ Farmwell Station Middle School Space Dreamers, Ashburn, VA,
direct via K4LRG.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-10-29 15:01 UTC
The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/
Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site.
The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be
found at: https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html
AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise
$150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. These up-
grades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astro-
nauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone
with $33,830 raised or about 23% towards our goal. This would not have
been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more informa-
tion and to DONATE TODAY visit:
https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9
[ANS thanks ARISS 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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Software Update for UZ7HO's Software Packet-Radio TNC
Andrei, UZ7HO, the developer of the UZ7HO Soundmodem software, has
released an updated version: soundmodem105.
The UZ7HO soundmodem is a dual-port Packet-Radio TNC that uses a
soundcard as a modem and supports the AX.25 protocol on computers
running the Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 operating systems.
The newest version of Soundmodem supports these packet protocols:
+ AFSK 300, 600, 1200, 2400 bps (conventional packet)
+ BPSK 300, 600, 1200, 2400 bps
+ QPSK 2400, 3600, 4800 bps
+ 8PSK 4800 bps
The updated software and documentation can be accessed at:
http://uz7.ho.ua/packetradio.htm - and look for -
+ soundmodem105.zip 13-Oct-19 03:57
+ CHANGELOG.txt 13-Oct-19 04:36
High-speed packet software supporting the telemetry from amateur
and scientific satellites, called hs_soundmodem21.zip can also
be downloaded from this site.
High-Speed Soundmodem:
+ G3RUH 4800, 9600, 19200 bps
+ Manchester 1200, 2400, 3600, 7200 bps
+ HAPN 4800 bps
+ GOMX-1/3, Mobitex-NX (BeeSAT-2/4), AAUSAT-4, LilacSat-2 decoders
[ANS thanks Andrei, UZ7HO, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Satellite Operations
[Ed. note - Twitter URLs can be accessed with your web browser
even if you do not have a personal Twitter account.]
Operating Shorts:
+ Oct 24-28, KQ2RP/1: FN54 (and possibly the FN44/54 line); FM only
+ St. Lucia, October 19-28, 2019
Jay, AA4FL, will be in St. Lucia for the J68MD CQWW SSB Contest
Team. He will be doing OSCAR satellite operation as J6/AA4FL, by
schedule as he is visiting vacation style in varying locations.
His schedule will depend on shifts as a team member of the CQWW
J68MD team. E-mail per QRZ to coordinate both FM simple SATs and
SSB linear transponder bird QSO schedules. Radios will be a FT-817ND
and FT-818ND for full duplex operation using an Arrow II antenna.
+ Minnesota’s North Shore (EN36/EN46, EN47/EN48, EN57/EN58)
October 30 to November 1, 2019.
Mitch, ADØHJ, will be taking a tour of Minnesota’s North Shore
before the BIG SNOW comes down. It all kicks off with the Oct 30
06:35z CAS-4B pass from EN57/58 grid line and ends on the Nov 1
11:27z SO-50 pass from EN36/46 line. In between, Mitch will hit
the EN47/48 grid line. 24 FM and Linear passes in all. Definitely
something for everyone. Keep and eye on Mitch’s Twitter feed for
further updates: https://twitter.com/AD0HJ
+ South TX (EL0x and EL1x) November 2-9, 2019
Ron, AD0DX, will be vacationing in McAllen TX area the week of Nov 2
to 9. He will be roving to south Texas on the above dates. His cur-
rent plan is as follows:Sat Nov 2nd: EL08/EL09 probably one pass
per grid starting in the late afternoon local Sun Nov 3: EL17/EL18
holiday style, one or two passes per grid Mon Nov 4 through Fri
Nov 8: EL06 / EL15 / EL16. He is staying in EL06 and will activate
15 and 16 a few times throughout the week. Will probably activate
EL06 4 or 5 times. Sat Nov 9: EL07 / EL08 Probably one pass from
each grid. He will be active on FM and linear satellites and will
tweet passes from https://twitter.com/ad0dx
+ EM68/69 November 3-5, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Illinois, November 3–5. Key
word is vacation, but he will jump over to activate the EM68/EM69
gridline on FM satellites. Watch Tanner’s Twitter feed for further
announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85
+ Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 – December 6, 2019
Look for VY0ERC to once again be active from the Eureka Weather
station (NA-008, Zone 2) between Nov. 11 to Dec. 6. This sta-
tion is operated by the Eureka Amateur Radio Club [probably the
most northerly located amateur radio club in the world] from Eureka,
Nunavut. The suggested bands are 40 and 20 meters (possibly 80m),
as well as FM satellites (from ER60, EQ79) using SSB, the Digital
modes and very slow CW. Activity will be limited to their spare
time. QSL via M0OXO, OQRS or direct. For updates,
see: https://twitter.com/vy0erc
+ EA9 Melilla (IM85) November 18-21, 2019
Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating from Melilla as EA9/EA4NF from
November 18 to 21, 2019. This very small Spanish territory located
in Northern Africa, which is a very rare GRID and is listed as one
of the Most Wanted SAT DXCC. Updates and passes on Philippe’s
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT
+ Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3-6. Key
word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to
activate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch
Tanner’s Twitter feed for further announcements:
https://twitter.com/twjones85
+ Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be
a holiday-style activation, with special emphasis on the grid that
got away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further
announcements: https://twitter.com/N7AGF
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
Just because the year is winding down and Winter in knocking on the
door doesn't mean the satellite operations are slowing down. Check
out AMSAT's Upcoming Satellite Operations pages for all the latest
happenings:
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/
Announcements are posted as soon as they are received, so make sure
you bookmark the page and check it often. If you have an activation
in the works, please send me an email to make sure the word gets out.
[ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information]
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The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
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The AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions Web Page Updates
Information about AMSAT activities at important events around the
country is posted on the AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions web page:
https://www.amsat.org/other-events/
Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT repre-
sentatives give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur
satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence such as a table or
booth with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with pre-
sentations, forums, and/or demonstrations.
A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from
the page (above) - get the "AMSAT Intro Brochure", a color brochure
that is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold
handout. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office if you need pre-printed
copies.
To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration,
please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Ambassadors for the above information
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The Fox-In-A-Box Raspberry Pi SD card for setting up a
Raspberry Pi-based telemetry station for the Fox-1 satellites
now supports the Raspberry Pi 4.
Get yours today on the AMSAT Store!
https://amsat.org/product/fox-in-a-box-raspberry-pi-sd-card/
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ NASA is inviting 50 social media users to witness the next SpaceX
cargo launch to the Space_Station. All details, requirements, and
restrictions are posted at: https://go.nasa.gov/2MGt27y
Applications close Oct. 31.
+ To apply for a NASA Internship head over to http://intern.nasa.gov
to see what's new! You can learn about about NASA Internships, Path-
ways, Fellowships, and International Internship opportunities! The
application deadline for spring 2020 is November 5, 2019.
+ The presentation by Alan B. Johnston, PhD, KU2Y, AMSAT VP Educational
Relations, and Pat Kilroy, N8PK, at the 37th Space Symposium "A Year
with the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: 12 Months in the Classroom and Lab"
is available for download as a PDF file at https://t.co/8ytonDXW5v
View Alan's announcement on Twitter https://t.co/0fiFiU56LM
A PDF copy of Alan and Pat's PowerPoint slides for their present-
ation, "Updates to the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: Fox Emulation Mode
and Raspberry Pi Ground Station" can be downloaded from:
https://t.co/N4bjCVVBym?amp=1
+ AMSAT Colloquium Talk on QO-100 is posted at:
https://amsat-uk.org/2019/10/21/video-eshail-2-qo-100-talk/
https://youtu.be/hxxlCx3W5Bg
Videos of the presentations given at the AMSAT-UK International
Space Colloquium, which was held as part of the RSGB Convention
in Milton Keynes, October 12-13, 2019, are being made available
on YouTube. A recent release is the talk on the geostationary
satellite Es’hail-2 / QO-100 activities of AMSAT-DL given by
Achim Vollhardt, DH2VA, this is followed by the awarding of the
RSGB Louis Varney Cup to Peter Gülzow DB2OS.
+ The Microwave Update (MUD) 2019 Conference in the Dallas, TX area
has wrapped up. Both the MUD proceedings and GNU Radio Workshop
proceedings are available from Lulu.
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-MUD-GNU-Proceedings
+ AO-7 has been operating during a period of full illumination that
will last until approximately Decenber 2nd. During this time, the
satellite's onboard timer should switch it between Mode A (145 MHz
uplink / 29 MHz downlink) and Mode B (432 MHz uplink / 145 MHz down-
link) every 24 hours. To check or report the satellite's current
mode, please see the AMSAT Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page at:
https://www.amsat.org/status/ A description of AO-7 operation is
posted at: https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ao-7/
+ NASA article highlights the role of amateur radio in letting young
people speak directly with astronauts and cosmonauts on the Inter-
national Space Station is posted at:
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-NASA-Youth
+ NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson Perform the
First Space-Earth Duet. NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman, circling Earth
aboard the International Space Station, and musician Ian Anderson,
founder of the rock band Jethro Tull, joined together for the first
space-Earth duet. See: https://youtu.be/XeC4nqBB5BM
+ Enjoy NASA's specical video just in time for Halloween! Raining
glass! Wicked wind! Radiation blasts from an undead star are all
at play in our GALAXY OF HORRORS! A preview of the video is avail-
able in tweet from NASA:
https://twitter.com/NASAExoplanets/status/1187768977079992320
And it will be available for download Tuesday, Oct. 29, at:
http://exoplanets.nasa.gov
+ West Point cadets using the USMA amateur radio club callsign W2KGY
had a contact with Col. Drew Morgan, U.S. Military Academy Class
of 1998, aboard the ISS. An article with links to a video of the
contact is posted at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-ISS-WestPoint
+ A new groups.io announcement from the ARRL describes new on-line
forums: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-ARRL-Forums You can join the
Groups at: https://groups.arrl.org/g/ARRL-Groups/subgroups
+ The NFL inspires a satellite docking tool which teaches satellites
to interact and dock in space, an Aerospace team found a possible
solution on Sunday Night Football™:
https://aerospace.org/article/nfl-inspires-satellite-docking-tool
+ The ESA web pages presented with a new look this week:
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-ESA-New-Look and, now you can tune in
to ESA’s latest digital channel: ESA Web TV! This is ESA’s one-stop-
shop for all live events from launches to lectures:
http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/Presenting_ESA_Web_TV
+ Will We Survive Mars? A video series from Vox gives us something to
think about: https://youtu.be/x8fpeVICeGg
+ This video describes how to set up ham radio software on the
Raspberry Pi: https://youtu.be/cGlfv-aPkU8
+ Follow a project to use a RaspberryPi to sync your windshield
wipers to music; this is apparently a work in progress:
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Wipers-With-A-Beat
+ AMSAT-SA Space Symposium 2020 in South Africa is planned for
July 18, 2020. The theme will be: Amateur Radio in Space – explor-
ing VHF, UHF and Microwaves. The latest information will be post-
ed at: http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ Kletskous related PowerPoint pre-
sentations can be accessed at the same web page include:
- Kletskous
- Kletskous Transponder
- Kletskous Magnetic Stabilisation
+ Scientists and engineers from nearly a dozen Polish universities
have teamed up with Poland-based satellite company SatRevolution
and Sir Richard Branson’s small satellite launch company Virgin
Orbit to establish a new consortium to design and carry out the
world’s first dedicated commercial small satellite mission to Mars.
See: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-SatRevolution
+ The nearest galaxy, Andromeda, is headed toward our Milky Way galaxy
at 110 km per second (68 miles/sec). It'll look bigger & bigger in
our skies before colliding with us in a few billion years, and when
that happens, the two galaxies will be ripped across space by tidal
forces. Have a nice day ...
https://twitter.com/physicsJ/status/1182628766289297408?s=20
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and remember to behave and to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-293
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation 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 commun-
icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service
Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
In this edition:
* 2019 AMSAT Symposium Underway! Livestream Available
* AMSAT Board of Directors Announces 2019 Officers
* AMSAT-UK Colloquium Videos Available
* Cubesat Simulators Launched
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-293.01
ANS-293 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 293.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2019-Oct-19
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-293.01
2019 AMSAT Symposium Underway! Livestream Available
The 37th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting has begun,
and will continue through Sunday, October 20, 2019, at The Hilton Ar-
lingtonin in Arlington, Virginia. Sessions are being live streamed at
https://www.facebook.com/AMSATNA/
The AMSAT Board of Directors met just before the Symposium, Oct. 16-17,
at the same hotel.
The Symposium, which celebrates 50 years of AMSAT, features OSCAR Park
–- a display of satellites from throughout the history of amateur rad-
io in space. Paper presentations and the AMSAT Annual General Meeting
will also be featured. The schedule of presentation is available at
https://www.amsat.org/symposium-schedule/
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President for
the above information]
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AMSAT Board of Directors Announces 2019 Officers
These are the results of the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors meeting
vote for Officers:
* Joe Spier, K6WAO, of Reno, Nev., as President
* Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, of Washington, DC, as Executive Vice President
* Jerry Buxton, N0JY, of Granbury, Texas, as Vice-President Engineer-
ing
* Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, of New Port Richey, Fla., as
Vice-President Operations
* Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, of Silver Spring, Md., as
Vice-President Human Spaceflight
* Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, Ala. as Vice-President User Ser-
vices
* Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, of Burnsville, Minn. as Vice-President Devel-
opment
* Alan Johnston, KU2Y, of Philadelphia, PA as Vice-President Educa-
tional Relations
* Brennan Price, N4QX, of Vienna, Va., as Secretary
* Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, Ala., as Treasurer
* Martha Saragovitz of Silver Spring, Md., as Manager
The Board of Directors appointed officers for the new year at its
meeting in Arlington, Va. on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Officers are selected
by the Board from among the AMSAT membership, based on expertise and
experience.
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, Executive Vice President for the
above information]
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Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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AMSAT-UK Colloquium Videos Available
Videos of the presentations given at the AMSAT-UK International Space
Colloquium, which was held as part of the RSGB Convention in Milton
Keynes, October 12-13, 2019, are being made available on YouTube.
The first of the videos is the fascinating presentation on the WUSAT-3
CubeSat project given by Professor Julia Hunter-Anderson of the Uni-
versity of Warwick which highlights the potential use of CubeSats for
wildlife tracking.
Other presentations are expected to be uploaded in the coming weeks.
The AMSAT-UK videos are located on their YouTube channel at
https://www.youtube.com/user/AMSATUK/videos
AMSAT-UK wishes to thank the British Amateur Television Club and Wouter
Weggelaar, PA3WEG, for their work in recording, editing and uploading
these videos.
[ANS thanks Trevor Essex, M5AKA, and AMSAT-UK for the above informa-
tion]
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Cubesat Simulators Launched
Dr. Alan Johnston, KU2Y, Vice President - Educational Affairs has
announced the general availability of the AMSAT Cubesat Simulators.
Speaking at the 37th Annual Space Symposium, Alan reports that since
the prototype Cubesat Simulators were introduced at Hamvention in May,
2019, the simulators have undergone testing and final release. Among
the schools testing the simulators was Bishop O'Connell High School in
Arlington, Virginia. Science and Engineering teacher Melissa Pore
presented to the symposium audience her experience with using a
simulator in one of her engineering clubs and how her student
benefitted from their use.
A Cubesat Simulator is a self-contained satellite model that reports
solar cell performance via standard AFSK 1200 BPS AX.25 telemetry.
The telemetry can be decoded with a simple SDR ground station. A
Cubesat Simulator package consists of the 1U simulator, a halogen work
light to simulate sunshine, and a motorized rotating turntable that
mimics the satellite tumbling through space. The four loaner
packages are packed and shipped in a hard case. The simulator is
shipped prepaid while the user pays return shipping.
Persons interested in borrowing a CubeSat Simulator for a local
presentation is encouraged to contact Alan at KU2Y at amsat dot org.
[ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President - Educational
Affairs.]
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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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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
The following Amateur Radio satellite has decayed from orbit and has
been removed from this week's TLE distribution:
TNS 0-2 - NORAD CAT ID 42914 - Decayed 10/15/2019 (per Space-Track).
Last week a number of "N"s were present in a few TLEs which caused some
programs to reject those TLEs. Note: Some (but not all) of the raw TLEs
from SpaceTrack have plus signs (+) which are not necessary. All plus
signs (+) in the TLEs are routinely changed to a blank space.
Last week all plus signs were incorrectly changed to the letter "N".
This was due to a change in the formatting program and a typing error
that substituted a "N" instead of a single blank space everytime a plus
sign was present. That problem has been corrected and should not be an
issue in the future.
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, for the above information]
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The Fox-In-A-Box Raspberry Pi SD card for setting up a
Raspberry Pi-based telemetry station for the Fox-1 satellites
now supports the Raspberry Pi 4.
Get yours today on the AMSAT Store!
https://amsat.org/product/fox-in-a-box-raspberry-pi-sd-card/
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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
An International Space Station school contact was completed with par-
ticipants at Science & Technologie e.V. event: Science Days, Teningen,
Germany on Thursday, Oct. 17. The event lasted approximately 9 minutes
and 30 seconds, direct between OR4ISS and DN1EME. The contact was
audible over Germany and adjacent areas on the 145.80 MHz downlink.
ARISS has received word that the EVA that took place on Friday, Oct.
18 has caused changes to the schedule. Thus, some contacts now have
new times.
Istituto Comprensivo Statale “Diego Valeri”, Campolongo Maggiore,
Italy, direct via IQ3RW and Istituto Comprensivo Ladispoli1, Ladispoli,
Italy, direct via IKØWGF, the ISS callsign is presently scheduled to
be IRØISS and the scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. The
contact is go for: Saturday, Oct. 19 at 10:27:13 UTC (26 degrees)
Watch for live stream from IQ3RW side of the contact at:
https://tinyurl.com/y5pcyr9m
Watch for live stream from IKØWGF side of the contact directly on the
AMSAT Italia youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJ8IFmfTO-pUkVFNrUXIcg
Liceo Scientifico Teresa Gullace, Rome, Italy,direct via IZØDIB and
I.S.I.S. “ Zaccagna - Galilei” sede “G. Galilei”, Carrara. Italy, di-
rect via IQ5VR, the ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS
and the scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. Contact is go
for: Thursday, Oct. 24 at 11:13:40 UTC (79 degrees)
I.I.S. “Ciampini-Boccardo”, Novi Ligure, Italy, direct via I1LJV and
I.T.I.S. "Magistri Cumacini", Como, Italy, direct via IZ2MCC, the ISS
callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS. The scheduled astronaut
is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. Contact is go for: Friday, Oct. 25 at
10:24:39 UTC (83 degrees)
The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, of the ARISS operation team 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
St. Lucia, October 19-28, 2019
Jay, AA4FL, will be in St. Lucia for the J68MD CQWW SSB Contest Team.
Jay will be doing OSCAR satellite operation as J6/AA4FL, by schedule
as he is visiting vacation style in varying locations. His schedule
will depend on shifts as a team member of the CQWW J68MD team. E-mail
per QRZ to coordinate both FM simple SATs and SSB linear transponder
bird QSO schedules. Radios will be a FT-817ND and FT-818ND for full
duplex operation using an Arrow II antenna.
Oregon, DN04, October 21, 2019
KI7UNJ will be QRV on Oct. 21, from 1653z to 1910z, FM only.
Colombia, through October, 2019
The special event stations J500LDV, 5J500D, 5J500L, and 5J500V will
commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death on the
air until the end of October. QRV on 80 to 10m on CW, SSB, digital
modes, and via satellite. An award program will be available as well.
QSL via HK3VHZ, LoTW, eQSL.
Texas, EL06, EL16 and adjacent grids, November 2-9, 2019
Ron Bondy, AD0DX, reports on Twitter that he will be flying to San
Antonio and hopes to activate as many as 10 south Texas grids. Watch
Twitter @ad0dx for details.
Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a
holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got
away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announce-
ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice-President of User Ser-
vices for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ The AMSAT Office will be closed on Monday, October 21 as the AMSAT
Symposium wraps up.
(ANS thanks Martha Saragovitz, AMSAT Manager, for the above informa-
tion -- you deserve a day off, Martha!)
+ Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir carried out history’s
first all-female spacewalk Friday, floating outside the Internation-
al Space Station and successfully installing a 230-pound replacement
battery charger in the lab’s solar power system. The historic excur-
sion was carried out in a blaze of public interest that rose all the
way to the White House.
(ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information)
+ NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has named Douglas Loverro as the
agency’s new associate administrator for the Human Exploration and
Operations Mission Directorate. Loverro succeeds former astronaut
Kenneth Bowersox, who has been acting associate administrator since
July. Previously, Loverro spent three decades in the Department of
Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office developing, managing,
and establishing national policy for the full range of national
security space activities.
(ANS thanks spaceref.com for the above information)
+ SpaceX is seeking approval to add up to 30,000 more satellites to
its Starlink broadband network, on top of 12,000 spacecraft already
authorized by U.S. government regulators, according to filings sub-
mitted to the International Telecommunication Union.
(ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information)
+ Possibly related to the previous news item, LeoLabs announced that
they plan to build four additional radar installations for tracking
space debris. Their current installations can track objects down to
about a 10 cm diameter, but with their new installations they’ll
theoretically be able to track objects as small as 2 cm. In general,
current radar systems tend to be limited on the lower end to objects
in the 5-10 cm range. Systems like LeoLabs’ and the U.S. Air Force’s
upcoming Marshall Islands-based Space Fence will improve coverage,
but still won’t see the 128 million objects from 1 mm to 1 cm, which
have the potential to disable or completely destroy a satellite.
(ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)
+ Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who became the first person in his-
tory to spacewalk in 1965, has died aged 85. He went on to become
the commander of Soyuz-Apollo, the first ever joint US-Soviet mis-
sion in 1975. Leonov died at Moscow's Burdenko hospital on Friday,
Oct. 11 after a long illness.
(ANS thanks BBC.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 addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,
K0JM at amsat dot org
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ANS-289 AMSAT Special Bulletin - AMSAT Board of Directors Announce 2019 Officers
by JoAnne K9JKM 16 Oct '19
by JoAnne K9JKM 16 Oct '19
16 Oct '19
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN
ANS-289.01
In this edition:
* AMSAT Board of Directors Announce 2019 Officers
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-289.01
ANS-289 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 289.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE October 16, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-289.01
AMSAT Board of Directors Announce 2019 Officers
These are the results of the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors meeting
vote for Officers:
* Joe Spier, K6WAO, of Reno, NV, as President
* Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, of Washington, DC, as Executive Vice President
* Jerry Buxton, N0JY, of Granbury, TX, as Vice-President Engineering
* Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, of New Port Richey, FL, as
Vice-President Operations
* Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, of Silver Spring, MD, as
Vice-President Human Spaceflight
* Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, AL as Vice-President User Services
* Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, of Burnsville, MN as Vice-President Development
* Brennan Price, N4QX, of Vienna, VA, as Secretary
* Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, AL, as Treasurer
* Martha Saragovitz of Silver Spring, MD, as Manager
The Board of Directors is meeting in Arlington, Virginia on Wednesday -
Thursday, October 16 - 17.
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, Executive Vice President for the
above information]
/EX
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-286
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service
Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
In this edition:
* 2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
* 2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Schedule
* September/October 2019 Apogee View
* W3ZM - 50 States in Our 50th Year
* ITU Magazine Reports on IARU Agenda Items for WRC-19
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.01
ANS-286 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 272.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE October 13, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-286.01
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2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
Please join us for the 2019 AMSAT 50th Anniversary Symposium, to be
held in the Washington, DC Metro Area on October 18, 19, and 20,
2019. While the deadline for banquet and tour tickets has passed,
walk-in registrations for the Symposium and Annual General Meeting are
welcome.
The Symposium venue will be the Hilton Arlington, located in the
heart of the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, VA. The Hilton
Arlington is located at 950 North Stafford Street, Arlington,
Virginia, 22203, USA TEL: +1-703-528-6000 and the reservation code is
AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation).
Connected to the Ballston Metro Station, the hotel offers easy and
effortless access to Washington DC's top tourist destinations like
the National Mall, Smithsonian Museums and historic monuments. The
hotel is six miles from Reagan National Airport and the National Mall.
There are plenty of restaurants nearby.
The Symposium will feature OSCAR Park - a display of satellites from
throughout the history of amateur radio in space - paper
presentations, and a banquet with speakers celebrating AMSAT's long
history, and other events. The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will
be held on October 16th and 17th at the same hotel. Two guided tours
are available. On Sunday, October 20th a bus tour to the Smithsonian
Air & Space Museum is available for $30 (max 35 people) and on
Monday, October 21st, AMSAT President Joe Spier will lead a day tour
to the National Mall via the Metro.
So please plan on attending the 50th Anniversary Symposium - you
will be glad you did and keep checking the AMSAT website for further
updates and information.
The 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting features:
+ Space Symposium with Amateur Satellite Presentations
+ Operating Techniques, News, & Plans from the Amateur Satellite World
+ Board of Directors Meeting open to AMSAT members (October 16-17)
+ Opportunities to Meet Board Members and Officers
+ AMSAT Annual General Membership Meeting
+ Annual Banquet, Speakers and Door Prizes !!
The latest news and information is always posted at:
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/
[ANS thanks the 2019 AMSAT Symposium Team for the above information]
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2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Schedule
A preliminary schedule for the 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual
General Meeting has been posted to the AMSAT website. Check back for
updates, including the speaker schedule.
https://www.amsat.org/symposium-schedule/
[ANS thanks the 2019 AMSAT Symposium Team for the above information]
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September/October 2019 Apogee View
I am pleased to be writing this edition of “Apogee View” in Joe’s
place as a special guest columnist. For those of you who don’t know
me, I am somewhat new to amateur radio satellites and AMSAT. My first
experience with amateur satellites was listening to the ARISSat-1
voice beacon and decoding its SSTV images in August 2011. In
September 2012, I made my first satellite QSOs (on AO-27) and joined
AMSAT. In 2015, I was elected Secretary by the AMSAT Board of
Directors; and, in 2017, I was elected Executive Vice President. I
also have served as both an alternate and a regular member of the
board.
As I write this in late September, getting ready for the upcoming
Symposium, summer refuses to yield to the cooler air of fall here in
Washington, D.C. I hope the weather will be more comfortable for the
Symposium in nearby Arlington, VA, in a few weeks.
In mid-September, we received the fantastic news that Amateur Radio
Digital Communications (ARDC) awarded a very generous grant to ARISS
for the InterOperable Radio System (IORS) and related infrastructure.
ARDC is the owner and manager of the Internet network known as the
AMPRNet. In June 2019, ARDC initiated a philanthropic endeavor to
provide monetary grants to organizations, groups, projects, and
scholarships which have significant potential to advance the state of
the art of Amateur Radio and digital communications in general. While
ARISS still needs additional donations to fund the IORS fully, this
grant significantly helps the endeavor. ARISS plans to have the IORS
ready for launch by the end of the year. AMSAT thanks ARDC for their
substantial contribution to this effort.
ARISS is a key component of AMSAT’s vision. As printed inside the
front cover of each issue of The AMSAT Journal, “Our Vision is to
deploy satellite systems with the goal of providing wide-area and
continuous coverage,” as we “continue active participation in human
space missions and support a stream of LEO satellites developed in
cooperation with the educational community and other amateur satellite
groups.” AMSAT teams are hard at work on each clause of that vision
statement.
The GOLF program is making good progress with development of the
GOLF-TEE satellite. GOLF-TEE is a crucial element of our path back to
high orbits and fulfilling the first clause of AMSAT’s vision to
provide wide-area and continuous coverage satellite systems. Systems
aboard GOLF-TEE include active attitude determination and control
(ADAC), a radiation-tolerant internal housekeeping unit (RT-IHU), and
a Fox-1E type VHF/UHF linear transponder. GOLF-TEE also will include a
software defined radio (SDR) with a high-speed X band (10 GHz) data
downlink which may also provide a simultaneous X band downlink of the
V/u transponder passband, effectively providing V/x capability for use
and evaluation. All of these technologies are crucial for missions to
HEO and GEO, and additional information will appear in future issues
of The AMSAT Journal.
Our participation in human space missions also is expanding. As
announced at the AMSAT Forum at the Dayton Hamvention, international
AMSAT and ARISS organizations have formed a group known as AREx
(Amateur Radio Exploration). Work currently is underway on the design
of a ham radio system for NASA’s Lunar Gateway. The Gateway will be a
small spaceship in orbit around the Moon that will provide access to
more of the lunar surface than ever before, with living quarters for
astronauts, a lab for science and research, ports for visiting
spacecraft, and more. The first sections of the Gateway are scheduled
for launch in 2022. The plans call for various uses of L (1.2 GHz), S
(2.4 GHz), C (5 GHz), and X (10 GHz) bands for repeater-type
communications, both analog and digital, through Gateway, image
transmissions from both inside and outside the Gateway, possible
access to experiments aboard Gateway, and two-way communications with
astronauts while Gateway is crewed. The challenges for amateurs
involve the substantial increase in free space path loss compared to
satellites in low earth orbit. We are very excited about AMSAT’s
participation in this project. More details will be presented at the
2019 AMSAT Space Symposium and articles will certainly follow in
future editions of The AMSAT Journal.
Finally, we continue to support a stream of LEO satellites. RadFxSat-2
/ Fox-1E is ready for launch no earlier than December 1, 2019 on the
ELaNa XX mission. That mission will launch on the first commercial
flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne air launch to orbit system. Stay
tuned to ANS for further updates on the launch date.
The linear transponder and telemetry system carried aboard Fox-1E was
designed for use in different CubeSats by merely adding an interface
adapter for connection to the host bus. Noting the prevalence of
CubeSats built and launched by universities and other organizations,
AMSAT adopted a goal of “amateur radio in every CubeSat.” Interested
CubeSat programs wanting to fly an amateur radio payload may partner
with AMSAT to carry one of these modules on their spacecraft. By
providing amateur radio capability, the CubeSat program gets a
worldwide ground station network to receive their telemetry and
experiment data while the amateur radio community gets a transponder
to use in orbit.
The first of these partnerships is with the Husky Satellite Lab at the
University of Washington. Their 3U CubeSat, HuskySat-1, is scheduled
to launch on the ELaNa XXV mission from Wallops Island, VA, no earlier
than November 2. Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft will carry
HuskySat-1 on a mission to the International Space Station. After
completing its mission at the ISS, Cygnus will continue to a higher
orbit of approximately 500 km to deploy HuskySat-1. After a 30-day
mission to complete tests of its experimental payloads, a pulsed
plasma thruster, and a K band (24 GHz) communications system, the
satellite will be turned over to AMSAT, and the linear transponder
will be made available to the amateur radio community. In addition,
AMSAT Vice President of Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, and Vice
President of Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, have been hard at
work identifying and working with several CubeSat groups interested
in carrying this system. We hope to be able to make additional
announcements soon.
The 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors election recently concluded. I
congratulate the winners and look forward to working with the newly-
elected board to further our vital mission to Keep Amateur Radio in
Space. By the time this Journal arrives, the 2019 Board of Directors
meeting and 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium will have
concluded. It promises to be an exciting weekend exploring both
AMSAT’s five-decade history and the work we are doing for the future.
While there will no doubt be many challenges in the future, I am
confident in the organization’s ability to overcome them. We will
Keep Amateur Radio in Space. I look forward to attending the AMSAT
Centennial Symposium in the fall of 2069 at the age of 84. Hopefully,
by then we will be discussing our plans for amateur radio on the
first crewed interstellar mission.
[ANS thanks Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the
above information]
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W3ZM - 50 States in Our 50th Year
In 1969, a group of amateur radio operators, with dreams of space,
formed the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). To commemorate
this golden milestone, AMSAT decided what better way to celebrate 50
years of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space, then to get AMSAT’s W3ZM call
sign to operate from all 50 states and the District of Columbia as a
leadup to the 2019 AMSAT 50th Anniversary Space Symposium and General
Meeting, to be held in Arlington, VA, October 18 – 20, 2019.
AMSAT put out a call to its members to get on the air and activate
their states, using AMSAT’s W3ZM call sign, as well as to cover those
states without an active AMSAT operator. Activations of United States
Territories (i.e. Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U. S. Virgin
Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) were
also encouraged.
Puerto Rico kicked it off on June 20th and was first on the air, and
then, one by one, the U.S.A. map started filling in. Members, some
without their family’s knowledge, brought satellite gear with them on
vacation to help fill in the harder ones.
By the start of October, three weeks before Symposium, 47 states and
Puerto Rico were in the log. West Virginia came in October 2nd,
Maryland and Delaware on October 6th, and finally Washington, D.C.,
the birthplace of AMSAT, on October 10th. Coincidently, Washington
D. C. was activated outside of the apartment building where one of the
first meetings to form the organization was held.
To say the response was overwhelming would be an understatement and
proved why AMSAT’s greatest strength comes from its members. To all
of the W3ZM/p activators and participants, AMSAT THANKS YOU. You made
this a fun and exciting celebration of AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary of
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space!
[ANS thanks Vice President for User Services Robert Bankston, KE4AL,
for the above information]
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The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
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ITU Magazine Reports on IARU Agenda Items for WRC-19
David Sumner, K1ZZ, Secretary, International Amateur Radio Union
(IARU) authored an article in the special WRC-19 issue of #ITU News
magazine,"Views of the International Amateur Radio Union on WRC-19
agenda items".
Among many overall IARU objectives for WRC-19 one directly affects
amateur satellite operation:
Agenda item 1.7 - spectrum for non-GSO satellites
The IARU supports satisfying the spectrum
requirements for non.GSO satellites with short
duration missions within the existing allocations
for the space operation service or the
frequency ranges identified in invites ITU.R 3 of
Resolution 659 (WRC.15), unless the satellites are
amateur satellites as defined in Radio Regulations
(RR) Nos. 1.56 and 1.57. The band 144-146 MHz is
especially important to amateurs as it is currently
the only worldwide primary amateur and amateur-satel-
lite allocation between 29.7 MHz and 24 GHz. It is
heavily used in all three Regions for all forms of
amateur communications including disaster response.
Sumner's article begins on page 72 of the magazine which can be
accessed as a 20 MB PDF file at: https://t.co/acLwy4W5Jo?amp=1
[ANS thanks the IARU for the above information]
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Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
[Ed. note - Twitter URLs can be accessed with your web browser
even if you do not have a personal Twitter account.]
Satellite Shorts:
+EM25,EM35 - WI4T - Oct 15 & 16, holiday style
+DN04 - KI7UNJ - Oct 21, 1653z to 1910z, FM only
* Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – October 19, 2019
David AD7DB will re-visit the four grids near Kettleman City CA.
AO-91, AO-92, SO-50 will be used, with eastern passes a priority.
Maybe PO-101 if it’s on, and AO-85 if it’s not too finicky.
Contacts will be put on LOTW following the trip.
Updates on Twitter https://twitter.com/ad7db
* Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a
holiday-style activation, with special emphasis on the grid that got
away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further
announcements: https://twitter.com/N7AGF
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information]
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The Fox-In-A-Box Raspberry Pi SD card for setting up a
Raspberry Pi-based telemetry station for the Fox-1 satellites
now supports the Raspberry Pi 4.
Get yours today on the AMSAT Store!
https://amsat.org/product/fox-in-a-box-raspberry-pi-sd-card/
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Mike Diehl, W8LID, recently developed a web-based tool for easy
generation of new lines for SatPC32's Doppler.sqf file. AMSAT is
pleased to host this new tool on our website at
https://www.amsat.org/doppler-sqf-line-generator/
+ NASA has announced that the Orbital CRS-12 mission is now scheduled
for launch from Wallops Island, VA no earlier than November 2nd.
HuskySat-1, carrying an AMSAT V/u linear transponder, will launch on
this mission.
+ Happy 4th Birthday, AO-85! At 12:49:30 UTC on October 8, 2015, the
first Fox-1 satellite, Fox-1A was launched on an Atlas V rocket with
the NROL-55 mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Designated AO-85
on-orbit, the satellite remains operational while in sunlight despite
battery degradation due to the high temperatures experienced in its
orbit.
+ A new distance record has been claimed on the IO-86 FM transponder:
5,324 km between PU4JOE in GH91ad and 9G5AR in IJ95vn.
+ SDRPlay has announced an easy setup for using an SDRPlay with
GNU Radio on Windows. https://t.co/RxDDzcBu8f
+ Space Daily has an article about Virgin Orbit. Virgin Orbit will
carry RadFxSat-2 / Fox-1E on its LauncherOne vehicle.
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-286-SD
+ Chris Thompson, AC2CZ/G0KLA, announced a minor update to his KLA
Track satellite tracking program. The update improves rendering of
the display. KLA Track can be downloaded at
https://www.g0kla.com/klatrack/index.php
+ The Dutch Amateur Radio Union awarded their first Worked Dutch
Kingdom Certificate for satellite QSOs on October 10th to Paul
Stoetzer, N8HM. This certificate is available for making QSOs with
each of the six DXCC entities within the Dutch Kingdom. For more
information, see https://www.daru.nu/index.php/nl/awards
+At least two new operators achieved Satellite WAS this past week.
K5IX and KB6LTY each worked W3ZM/3 in Delaware on Oct 6 for state #50.
[ANS thanks everyone 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 addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AO-92 Remaining in U/v For Potential Emergency Traffic
by JoAnne K9JKM 30 Sep '19
by JoAnne K9JKM 30 Sep '19
30 Sep '19
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN
ANS-272.02
In this edition:
* AO-92 Remaining in U/v For Potential Emergency Traffic
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-272.02
ANS-272 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 272.02
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE September 29, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-272.02
Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations has received a request
from amateurs involved with emergency communications in the Azores,
requesting we forego L/v operation on AO-92 this week.
Hurricane Lorenzo is expected to pass through the Azores as a Cate-
gory 4 storm Tuesday and Wednesday, and they are requesting AO-92
remain in U/v for potential emergency traffic. Please be aware of
and yield to any emergency traffic, on any satellite, coming from
the area during this time. Passes covering the Azores and Portugal
are the most critical.
We realize that there have been a few moves and cancellations for
this mode recently, and I ask for understanding and cooperation.
Emergency use is always first priority, and AMSAT is happy to assist
in any way we can.
[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations for the
above information]
/EX
2
1
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-272
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service
Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
In this edition:
* Experimenter Wednesday Announced for AO-92
* The AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions Web Page Updates
* 2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
* 2019 AMSAT Symposium On-line Registration Open Until October 11
* Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne Moves Another Step Closer to Flight
* ARISS Activities & Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* NASA's International Space Apps Challenge Coming October 18-20
* FO-29 Returns!
* AMSAT-DL Memorandum Regarding QO-100 Operation
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-272.01
ANS-272 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 272.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE September 29, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-272.01
Experimenter Wednesday Announced for AO-92
The AO-92 Command Team announces that Experimenter Wednesday will
run on UTC Wednesday (begins Tuesday evening in North America) when
AO-92 will be commanded to operate in mode L/v for 24 hours. This
new schedule will be followed for an as of yet undetermined test
period.
The frequencies for AO-92 L/V are:
Uplink: 1267.359 MHz FM with 67 Hz CTCSS tone for access
Downlink: 145.880 MHz FM (including DUV telemetry)
The mode change is announced by the command team via Twitter (follow
@AMSAT). You can view AMSAT tweets without needing an account with
Twitter - go to https://twitter.com/AMSAT
The tweets flow through to the AMSAT facebook page and and are plan-
ned to include amsat-bb. Also current status can be found on the
AO-92 health and telemetry page at:
http://www.amsat.org/tlm/health.php?id=4&port=
[ANS thanks the AO-92 Command Team for the above information]
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The AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions Web Page Updates
Information about AMSAT activities at important events around the
country is posted on the AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions web page:
https://www.amsat.org/other-events/
Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT repre-
sentatives give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur
satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence such as a table or
booth with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with pre-
sentations, forums, and/or demonstrations.
A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from
the page (above) - get the "AMSAT Intro Brochure", a color brochure
that is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold
handout. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office if you need pre-printed
copies.
To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration,
please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Ambassadors for the above information]
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Don’t miss the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium
October 18-20 in Arlington, VA.
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/
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2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
Please join us for the 2019 AMSAT 50th Anniversary Symposium, to be
held in the Washington, DC Metro Area on October 18, 19, and 20,
2019.
The Symposium venue will be the Hilton Arlington, located in the
heart of the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, VA. The Hilton
Arlington is located at 950 North Stafford Street, Arlington,
Virginia, 22203, USA TEL: +1-703-528-6000 and the reservation code is
AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation).
Connected to the Ballston Metro Station, the hotel offers easy and
effortless access to Washington DC's top tourist destinations like
the National Mall, Smithsonian Museums and historic monuments. The
hotel is six miles from Reagan National Airport and the National Mall.
There are plenty of restaurants nearby.
The Symposium will feature OSCAR Park - a display of satellites from
throughout the history of amateur radio in space - paper
presentations, and a banquet with speakers celebrating AMSAT's long
history, and other events. The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will
be held on October 16th and 17th at the same hotel. Two guided tours
are available. On Sunday, October 20th a bus tour to the Smithsonian
Air & Space Museum is available for $30 (max 35 people) and on
Monday, October 21st, AMSAT President Joe Spier will lead a day tour
to the National Mall via the Metro.
So please plan on attending the 50th Anniversary Symposium - you
will be glad you did and keep checking the AMSAT website for further
updates and information.
The 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting features:
+ Space Symposium with Amateur Satellite Presentations
+ Operating Techniques, News, & Plans from the Amateur Satellite World
+ Board of Directors Meeting open to AMSAT members (October 16-17)
+ Opportunities to Meet Board Members and Officers
+ AMSAT Annual General Membership Meeting
+ Annual Banquet, Speakers and Door Prizes !!
The latest news and information is always posted at:
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/
[ANS thanks the 2019 AMSAT Symposium Team for the above information]
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2019 AMSAT Symposium On-line Registration Open Until October 11
An on-line registration rate for the 37th Annual AMSAT Space
Symposium and General Meeting, Friday through Sunday, October 18-20,
2019, in Arlington, Virginia, is available through October 11, 2019
per the following schedule:
Registration September 16, 2019 – October 11, 2019 .... $65 (on-line)
Registration at the Door .............................. $70
You can complete your registration on-line via the AMSAT Store:
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-symposium/
This year, all registrants will receive a digital copy of the Proceed-
ings on a thumb drive. Attendees may purchase a hard copy for $25.00.
Non-attendees may put their name on a waiting list for a hard copy, if
there are any left over. The digital version of the Proceedings will
be made available on the online store shortly after the Symposium
concludes.
Student Registration is 50% off and does not include the Proceedings.
[ANS thanks the 2019 AMSAT Symposium Team for the above information]
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Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne Moves Another Step Closer to Flight
Virgin Orbit LauncherOne's progress report this week says that the
rocket has been "been fully integrated, tested, checked, re-checked,
analyzed, and triple-checked". LauncherOne now is destined for a rig-
orous crucible of engineering demonstrations and tests at a test site
up in Mojave to begin Virgin Orbit's first proper launch campaign.
The orbital test flight rocket is currently being installed into a
newly built test stand in Mojave, where in the coming weeks it will
run through a number of critical exercises, including loading and
fueling with our mobile ground support equipment. The Virgin Orbit
team is prepping and practicing, making sure we know how to do every-
thing they could conceivably ever need to do. Then, it’s off to the
skies — first for a captive carry flight, and then for the launch
itself. The second flight of LauncherOne will carry RadFxSat-2/Fox-1E
to orbit.
Read the Virgin Orbit press release (with photos) posted at:
https://virginorbit.com/launcherone-shaping-up-and-shipping-out/
View a video of captive flight testing of LauncherOne
https://www.instagram.com/p/BybTdllh_z9/
[ANS thanks Virgin Orbit for the above information]
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Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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ARISS Activities & Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
+ About Gagarin From Space, Meeting of 30 universities, Plovdiv,
Bulgaria, direct via LZ1KDP. The contact was successful.
+ ARISS Contact Colorado University/Northridge Elementary School Suc-
cessful. ARISS Mentor Bob, WB4SON reported that the September 24
contact between Astronaut Nick Hague and Northridge Elementary
School (Colorado University in Boulder) was a complete success. All
16 student questions were asked and answered. One of the teacher
questions was asked and answered before Claudio, IK6SLD, who's team
did a fantastic job at the ground station, completed the contact.
Thanks also to Charlie, AJ9N. who moderated the contact. Colorado
University Aerospace, The Boulder Amateur Radio Club (BARC), and
the University of Colorado Amateur Radio Club hosted the event and
did a wonderful job. (via WB4SON)
+ Sonoma County Main Library, Santa Rosa, CA, telebridge via K6DUE*
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-10-01 19:53:13 UTC
* Ed. note - K6DUE is located in Maryland, USA so the contact
will be audible over eastern portions of North America.
+ UAE school #3 with Space Flight participant, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Hazza Al Mansour
Contact is go for Wed 2019-10-02 09:45 UTC
+ AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium
Sat 2019-10-12 to Sun 2019-10-13
+ Watch for MAI-75 SSTV sessions:
Wed 2019-10-09 09:50 to 16:00 UTC
Thu 2019-10-10 08:45 to 16:25 UTC
AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise
$150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. These up-
grades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astro-
nauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone
with $33,830 raised or about 23% towards our goal. This would not have
been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more informa-
tion and to DONATE TODAY visit:
https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
[Ed. note - Twitter URLs can be accessed with your web browser
even if you do not have a personal Twitter account.]
Remember to check out W3ZM On the Road for additional upcoming
activations
+ EM87 Sept 27-30 N4DCW | Twitter: https://twitter.com/MWimages
+ EL07 Sept 29 K5IX | Twitter: https://twitter.com/K5IXdave
+ Brennan, N4QX, England (IO-91), October 1-3
Next week, October 1-3, work and facilities permitting: QRV on
the FM satellites as M/N4QX from grid square IO91. QSL *exclus-
ively* via Logbook of the World. Yeah, I know London isn't rare,
but it's where I will be.
+ #AMSATandAngling (DM15, DM06) October 11-13, 2019
Ed, KN6DBC, is going fishing (literally), but he is bring gear to
work FM Satellites. October 11 he’ll be in DM15, and October 12-13
in DM06. Visit Ken’s Twitter feed for specific pass schedule and
further updates: https://twitter.com/KN6DBC
+ Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – October 19, 2019
David AD7DB will re-visit the four grids near Kettleman City CA.
AO-91, AO-92, SO-50 will be used, with eastern passes a priority.
Maybe PO-101 if it’s on, and AO-85 if it’s not too finicky. Con-
tacts will be put on LOTW following the trip. Updates on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ad7db
+ FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON (GN17) September 24 to October 8, 2019
Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon
(NA-032, DIFO FP-002 WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between
September 24 and October 8. This is his 13th trip to the island.
Activity will be on 160-6 meters (no 60M – not authorized) using CW,
SSB, RTTY, FT8 (but primarily SSB, RTTY and FT8) and the satellites.
He will generally be on the highest frequency band that is open
(favoring 12/10m). He will be active in the CQWW DX RTTY Contest
(September 28-29). ADDED NOTE: Eric will usually try to be on as
many Satellite passes as he can when the WX is good, generally
favoring the FO-29, XW-2x, AO-7, and possibly the FM birds. Eric
states, “Equipment is two FT-817s and an Arrow dual band yagi.
I’ll favor the SSB birds usually higher in the passband, but will
also try FM if they do not get too busy. Satellite logging is by
paper so may not get loaded to LoTW until the week after I return
to the USA.” Weekends may be limited since he will be concentrat-
ing on the low(er) bands and contests. QSL via KV1J, direct or by
the Bureau. Also eQSL, ClubLog and LoTW. For more details and up-
dates, check out his Web page at: http://www.kv1j.com/fp/Sep19.html
+ D4, CAPE VERDE (Update/Satellite Op). Harald, DF2WO, will once
again be active as D44TWO from Praia, Santiago Island (AF-005),
between September 29th and October 13th. Activity will be holiday
style on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and mostly the Digital modes.
(FT8, PSK31, JT65 and RTTY) and slow CW.
Harald has been working hard in the last few months getting his
satellite station for QO-100 working and is now confident he will
use it from Cabo Verde. He will be using an Icom 7300, 2 Transvert-
ers with 3 watts output on EsHail using the QO-100 Geostationary
Satellite. He will also have a FT-450D into a homemade HEX BEAM
and a dipole for 40 meters. Please DO NOT send your card via the
Bureau it WILL NOT be received - To receive a bureau card you MUST
request via M0OXO OQRS ONLY! (Via Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1428)
+ WW0, UNITED STATES (Special Event). Members of the Northern Colorado
Amateur Radio Club (NCARC), WWV ARC, RMHam, and FCCW along with the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will activate
special event station WW0WWV between September 28 and October 2 to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of WWV, the world's oldest contin-
uously operating radio station.
The WW0WWV station(s) will be set up adjacent to the WWV transmitter
site in Fort Collins, Colorado. Operations will be on various HF bands
following typical propagation, and will include 160 meters as well as
satellites (SO-50, AO-91, and AO-92) and 6-meter meteor scatter.
Modes will be CW, SSB and digital. QSL via ClubLog's OQRS, LoTW,
or direct to the WWV Amateur Radio Club, 1713 Ridgewood Rd, Fort
Collins, CO 80526, USA. For more details, visit the following URLs:
http://wwv100.com
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-244-NIST-WWV
(Via Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1428)
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information]
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The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
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NASA's International Space Apps Challenge Coming October 18-20
NASA's International Space Apps Challenge has become the world's largest
global hackathon, engaging thousands of citizens across the globe to use
NASA's open data to build innovative solutions to challenges we face on
Earth and in space.
Space Apps inspires local communities to come together, think intensely,
and create solutions to important problems. Each year, Space Apps engages
thousands of individuals in cities around the world to work with NASA's
open source data in a 48-hour sprint. Teams of technologists, scientists,
designers, entrepreneurs, artists, and others collaborate to answer some
of the most pressing challenges on Earth and in space.
Space Apps 2019 will take place on October 18-20, 2019
See: https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/
On one weekend each year, with the help of NASA's Global Organizing Team
(fondly known as the GO Team), hundreds of local leads around the world
host events in a 48-hour sprint in which their participants hack solutions
to challenges that NASA proposes, creating games, smartphone and computer
apps, videos, teaching tools, and much more.
The challenges change each year within the theme of Earth and space.
https://2019.spaceappschallenge.org/challenges/
There are two ways to find a location to participate near you:
https://2019.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/
https://2019.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/map
Registration information is posted on the Space Apps web page.
[ANS thanks NASA's International Space Apps Challenge for the above
information]
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The Fox-In-A-Box Raspberry Pi SD card for setting up a
Raspberry Pi-based telemetry station for the Fox-1 satellites
now supports the Raspberry Pi 4.
Get yours today on the AMSAT Store!
https://amsat.org/product/fox-in-a-box-raspberry-pi-sd-card/
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FO-29 Returns!
FO-29 is reported to be back in operation after being off the air
since last July:
Modes: Analog - CW, SSB voice
Telemetry: JA - CW, 100 mW
Uplink: 146.000 MHz - 145.900 MHz LSB/CW
Downlink: 435.800 MHz - 435.900 MHz USB/CW
Telemetry: 435.795 MHz, CW - 100 mW; frame rate of one frame per
minute. Each frame begins and ends with
the historic 'HI'. The characters are sent
at a rate of about 100 characters per minute.
Sponsor: JAMSAT, JARL
Mineo Wakita JE9PEL offers a nice FO-29 Satellite CW Telemetry
Analysis Program for free on his web site. The program is called
"fo29cwts". Mineo's web site is:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/fo29cwts.htm
[ANS thanks JAMSAT for the above information]
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AMSAT-DL Memorandum Regarding QO-100 Operation
AMSAT-DL and QARS asks the users of the new geostationary QO-100
satellite for radio discipline. During the last weeks some stations
have been transmitting with much too much power and sometimes out-
side of the official band limits. Also permanent carriers are sent
without indication of callsign. This was also critically observed
in the control center of Es'hailSat in Qatar.
Please do not send louder than the CW beacon.
Stick to the band plan: No operation is allowed below the CW beacon
and above the PSK beacon.
The satellite is not a measuring device: To test your power ampli-
fier in continuous operation, please use a dummy load and a suitable
measuring device.
Check regularly the bandwidth of your transmissions, maximum band-
width 2.7 kHz, no FM.
Qatar has made a great gift to the amateur radio community with the
Qatar OSCAR 100 satellite. We should act accordingly. Please, kindly
point this out to other stations on the transponder. If there are
still violations, in the worst case a temporary shutdown could be
expected.
A video describing the LEILA-2 power detection system aboard QO-100
can be accessed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AabJGt0vzXU&feature=youtu.be
[ANS thanks Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, and AMSAT-DL for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ AMSAT-DL reports the sad news of the passing of Hanspeter Kuhlen,
DK1YQ, who died suddenly last weekend. Peter Gülzow, DB2OS, wrote
on behalf of the Rudak and AMSAT-DL team, "We're going to miss him.
Our hearts are with his family." Hanspeter was the Project Manager
for RUDAK on OSCAR-13 and on OSCAR-21/RS-14. He was also part of
the command station team for OSCAR-10 and OSCAR-13.
+ AO-73's BPSK telemetry downlink on 145.935 MHz includes text mes-
sages, called FITTER messages, for announcements, greetings, and
commemorations. Satellite users can have their message uplinked by
the FUNcube team so that it can be read globally in the downlink
message stream. Simply email: operations(a)funcube.org.uk to request
FITTER messages to be uploaded. Please keep them short and give them
a couple of weeks notice if you can. As well as being available for
download on 2 metres they can be also be seen via the internet at:
http://data.amsat-uk.org/ui/fc1-fm/fitter
+ Fred Kemerer, AB1OC, has documented a satellite station set-up based
on the Flex 6000 series radios on his blog at:
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-272-AB1OC-Flex
+ APRS on IO-86 uses aliases of ARISS and YBSAT - APRS operation is
active on a schedule alternating with the FM repeater and the other
primary payload of LAPAN A2/ORARI. Typically one in the morning and
another one in the evening. Please check twitter @lapansat for the
weekly schedule. (Yono, YD0NXX, AMSAT-ID Technical Team)
+ This article covers available SDR hardware, software and configura-
tions, but it also teaches a little radio theory and a taste of the
mathematics to understand what's going on:
https://arachnoid.com/software_defined_radios/
(via nooelec.com on Twitter)
+ 2019 marks AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary of Keeping Amateur Radio in
Space. To help celebrate, AMSAT is sponsoring the AMSAT 50th
Anniversary Awards Program. Full details are available at
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/
Bruce Paige, KK5DO, Director of Contests and Awards, reported
this week that the awards are being printed and will be sent
shortly to all those who have applied.
+ The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2019 for K-12 students
in U.S. public, private and home schools can enter the Mars 2020
Name the Rover essay contest. One grand prize winner will name the
rover and be invited to see the spacecraft launch in July 2020 from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Name the Rover
contest is part of NASA's efforts to engage students in the STEM
enterprise behind Mars exploration and inspire interest in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics. NASA posted all the info
at: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/name-the-rover/
+ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has produced a safety guide for
approaching a black hole. Watch this video before you blast off to
learn more about black holes and (more importantly) how to stay
safe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMTwtb3TVIk&feature=youtu.be
Brochures, science video clips are available for downloading from:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13322 NASA has produced a visualization
model of the appearance of a black hole depending on the observer's
angle of approach https://youtu.be/o-Psuz7u5OI
(NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)
+ AMSAT-SA Space Symposium 2020 in South Africa is planned for
July 18, 2020. The theme will be: Amateur Radio in Space – explor-
ing VHF, UHF and Microwaves. The latest information will be post-
ed at: http://www.amsatsa.org.za/
+ AMSAT SA has announced that parallel to its analogue Kletskous
CubeSat, the group is working on a digital project featuring a
Software defined transponder. Called AfriCUBE, the CubeSat will
use the same space frame as KLETSKOUS. Anton Janovsky is current-
ly building a prototype transponder. AMSATSA is inviting persons
interested in becoming part of the development team to send their
details to admin(a)amsatsa.org.za.
+ Dance like nobody's watching! A Boston Dynamics robot performs
its gymnastics floor routine: https://youtu.be/_sBBaNYex3E
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and remember to behave and to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN
ANS-263.01
In this Special Bulletin:
* 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Results
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-263.01
ANS-263 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin 263.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE September 20, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-263.01
2019 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Results
As a result of the 2019 Board of Directors Election, Jerry Buxton, N0JY;
Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA; Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK; and Michelle
Thompson, W5NYV; will serve on the board for two years.
The First Alternate is Brennan Price, N4QX. The Second Alternate is
Howard (Howie) Defelice, AB2S. Both will serve for a term of one year.
The results of the voting with 1,052 ballots cast (892 electronic + 160
paper) are as follows:
675 votes ... Michelle Thompson, W5NYV
585 votes ... Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK
526 votes ... Jerry Buxton, N0JY
515 votes ... Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
480 votes ... Brennan Price, N4QX
435 votes ... Howard (Howie) Defelice, AB2S
399 votes ... Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
366 votes ... Jeff Johns, WE4B
These results submitted September 20, 2019 by
Clayton Coleman, W5PFG
AMSAT Secretary
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers life memberships,
and sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to
receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from
the AMSAT Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student
rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and Remember to help keep Amateur Radio in space,
This week's ANS Contributing Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-258
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service
Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
In this edition:
* Request For Cooperation in Receiving FO-29 (Fuji 3)
* NO-104 Camera Will be 'Live' This Week
* Chinese Taurus-1 Amateur Satellite Launched
* Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Awards Grant to ARISS
* IARU Region 3 Approves New 15m Satellite Allocation
* Improvements to the AMSAT Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page
* Volunteer Opportunity - AMSAT Looking for Graphics Designer
* Nine US Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
* AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium, October 12-13
* Final Steps Taken Toward ELaNa 25 Amateur Satellite Launch
* AMSAT Academy at the Albuquerque Duke City Hamfest
* Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* DM02 Satellite Expedition Sunday, September 22 - N6O/MM
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.01
ANS-258 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 258.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2019-Sept-15
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-258.01
Request for cooperation in receiving Fuji 3 (FO-29)
The amateur satellite “Fuji 3” has been unable to confirm the opera-
tion of CW telemetry and heterodyne repeaters after 21:45 (UTC) on
July 9, 2019, but is more unstable than yesterday. However, while con-
firming the operation of CW telemetry and heterodyne repeaters, we con-
tinue to test for stable operation.
Therefore, those who can receive CW telemetry of Fuji No. 3 (FO-29)
will try to start with a command during the next pass through Japan,
so please report the reception report to the following address.
(Time of pass through Japan)
2019/09/14 06:40 16:45 (UTC)
2019/09/15 05:40 17:35 (UTC)
[Send email address of received report] oper(a)jarl.org
We ask for your cooperation in collecting information on Fuji 3 of
many users.
JARL Secretariat Member Section “Fuji 3” Telemetry
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NO-104 Camera Will be 'Live' This Week
Controllers for NO-104 (PSAT-2) announced on September 13 that they
have commanded the camera to take a picture and store it into memory
every 10 minutes. This mode should last for 7 days or at least to next
commanding session on Monday.
The transmitting counter, which selects a picture for downlink, is not
sychronized with the camera, so there is an uncertain delay between ac-
quiring a picture and its transmission, up to a maximum of 64 minutes.
Every picture will be downlinked just once so every reception counts.
The downlink is not operating during eclipse.
Further info on https://github.com/alpov/PSAT-2/blob/master/README.md
[ANS thanks Ales Povalac, OK2ALP, and Tomas Urbanec, OK2PNQ, for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese Taurus-1 Amateur Satellite Launched
BG2BHC reported on Twitter that Taurus-1 launched on Thursday, Sept. 12
on the CZ-4B launch from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. Taurus-1
carries an FM to Codec2 repeater that operates using the same protocol
as LO-90 (LilacSat-1) and can use the same software (after frequencies
are changed). FM uplink is on 145.820 MHz, downlink on 436.760 MHz,
and the telemetry downlink is on 435.840 MHz.
CelesTrak currently has three objects from the launch cataloged out of
an expected four. The currently cataloged objects are 2019-059A,
2019-059B, and 2019-059D. TLEs can be found at
https://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt
Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, reports that Doppler measurements suggest that
Taurus 1 is object 44530 (2019-059C), and the actual measured telemetry
downlink frequency: 435.8387 MHz. TLEs can be found at
https://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt
For more information about this unique analog uplink, digital downlink
system, see the AMSAT Journal article / Symposium paper about LO-90 at
https://tinyurl.com/y6jzoful
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, adn Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Awards Grant to ARISS
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has awarded a very
generous grant to ARISS for the Next Generation radio system. ARDC is
the owner and manager of the Internet network known as the AMPRNet. In
June of 2019, ARDC initiated a philanthropic endeavor to provide
monetary grants to organizations, groups, projects, and scholarships
which have significant potential to advance the state of the art of
Amateur Radio, and digital communications in general.
The ARISS Next Generation radio system (or Inter Operable Radio System
- IORS) will support easier radio mode transition, to enable new,
exciting capabilities for hams, students and the general public
including:
+New amateur radio communication and experimentation capabilities,
including an enhanced voice repeater and updated digital packet radio
(APRS) capabilities.
+Slow Scan TV (picture up and downlinks) in both the US and Russian
segments of ISS.
+New multi-voltage power supply will support present and future radio
capabilities and allow wireless experiments to be conducted.
In July, the Inter Operable Radio System successfully completed a
battery of stressful tests required as part of the final certification
of the hardware for launch to and operation on the International Space
Station. Final assembly of the flight safety certification in
preparation for launch is now underway and ARISS is working towards
launch ready status by the end of the year.
For more information on the award please see:
https://www.ampr.org/g2019-09-01a/
To contribute to ARISS and the IORS please see:
https://www.ariss.org/donate.html
ARISS and AMSAT thank ARDC for their generosity in supporting this
important project.
[ANS thanks ARISS, the AMSAT office, and ARDC for the above informa-
tion.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Symposium Papers Due September 23rd!
Final copies of papers must be submitted by September 23rd for
inclusion in the printed proceedings.
Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz
at n8fgv(at)amsat.org
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
---------------------------------------------------------------------
IARU Region 3 Approves New 15m Satellite Allocation
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) - Region 3 (Asia-Pacific
Region) Directors meeting was held in Tokyo September 2-3. A modified
interim Region 3 bandplan was approved which included an Amateur-Sat-
ellite Service allocation in the 15m band. The modified interim Region
3 bandplan proposed by the Region 3 Bandplan Committee was approved. A
notable change was addition of a satellite portion in 15m Band as
agreed at the last Region 3 Conference. The interim IARU Region 3 band-
plan is available at: https://tinyurl.com/y637aw47 A complete report
of the Region 3 Directors meeting may be found at:
https://amsat-uk.org/2019/09/12/iaru-r3-bandplan/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign
to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades
on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to
continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio.
We have reached a great milestone with $33,580 raised
or about 22% towards our goal. This would not have been
possible without your outstanding generosity!!
For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit:
https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Improvements to the AMSAT Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page
Thanks to the efforts of new member Ed Little, KN6DBC, improvements
have been made to www.amsat.org/status<http://www.amsat.org/status>,
specifically, some filtering of the "Your Callsign" field has been
added in an effort to reject the occasional nonsense report. The entry
must look like a callsign, for example it must have at least one digit,
it must not end with a digit etc.
As a bonus, the "Your Grid Square" field has been added. Separate en-
tries are now preferred instead of workarounds like KM1P-FN42.
AMSAT maintains this page to give a single global reference point for
all users in the Amateur Satellite Service to show the most up-to-date
status of all satellites as actually reported in real time by users
around the world. Please help others and keep it current every time
you access a bird.
[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
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/
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Volunteer Opportunity - AMSAT Looking for Graphics Designer
AMSAT has a need for a volunteer graphics designer to occasionally
assist with page layout of our in-house advertising panels for the
AMSAT Journal. The Journal uses Adobe InDesign software to publish
but our software can import and place PDF and JPG formatted pages
that you create with the graphics tools of your choice.
If you can fill this need contact Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT
VP-User Services at ke4al (at) amsat.org.
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Nine US Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has ann-
ounced the schools/host organizations selected for amateur radio con-
tacts with the ISS during the first half of 2020. A total of 9 of the
submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accept-
ed to move forward in the processes of planning to host a scheduled
amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS. The primary goal of the
ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engin-
eering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of
space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and re-
lated areas of study and career possibilities.
The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide sched-
uling opportunities for the 9 US host organizations during the January
to June 2020 time period. They are now at work completing an acceptable
equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio
contact. Once their equipment plan is approved by the ARISS Technical
Mentors, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as
their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling oppor-
tunities offered by NASA.
The schools and host organizations are:
Celia Hays Elementary School, Rockwall, Texas
Golden Gate Middle School, Naples, Fla.
J.P. McConnell Middle School, Loganville, Ga.
Kittredge Magnet School, Atlanta, Ga.
Maple Dale Elementary School, Cincinnati, Ohio
Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tenn.
Oakwood School, Morgan Hill, Calif.
Ramona Lutheran School, Ramona, Calif.
River Ridge High School, New Port Richey, Fla.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooper-
ative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space
agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the
United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
(AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab
and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary
goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engin-
eering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts
via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in
classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts,
students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space
technologies, and amateur radio.
For more information, see www.ariss.org.
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium, October 12-13
The AMSAT-UK Colloquium, incorporated into the RSGB Convention, will
take place October 12-13 at the Kents Hill Park Conference Centre,
Timbold Drive, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ.
A webstream of the Colloquium talks will be available at
https://batc.org.uk/live/
Booking for the RSGB Convention which includes the AMSAT-UK Colloquium
is at https://rsgb.org/main/about-us/rsgb-convention/
The weekend event attracts an international audience that ranges from
those involved in building and operating Amateur Radio satellites to
beginners who wish to find out more about this fascinating branch of
the hobby.
Included will be a roundup of a number of new live and potential space-
craft projects that are under investigation and/or development, plus
all the usual networking opportunities, the gala dinner, auction and
raffle.
Travel Information http://kentshillpark.com/how-to-find-us
The full schedule for both the AMSAT-UK Colloquium and RSGB Convention
talks is at https://rsgb.org/main/about-us/rsgb-convention/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Steps Taken Toward ELaNa 25 Amateur Satellite Launch
The upcoming NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission
25 is scheduled to boost several new satellites carrying amateur radio
into space this fall.
The launch will carry more than a dozen cubesats to the ISS for deploy-
ment, including two satellites of particular interest to amateurs:
TJREVERB - Thomas Jefferson High School, Alexandria, Va. will carry
a 145.825 MHz APRS digipeater. Information on TJREVERB may be found
at https://activities.tjhsst.edu/cubesat/index.php
HuskySat – University of Washington, Seattle will be boosted into a
higher, 500km orbit via the Cygnus external deployment device, and
will carry a V/U linear transponder provided in cooperation with
AMSAT. The HuskySat web page is
https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/huskysatellitelab/huskysat-1
Although launch schedules and manifests are always subject to change,
other satellites announced for the ELaNa 25 launch that have secured
IARU coordination for amateur frequencies are:
Argus – St. Louis University, Mo. (437 MHz telemetry)
AzTechSat-1 – NASA Ames Research Center, Calif. (437 MHz telemetry)
CySat – Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa (436 MHz telemetry)
Phoenix – Arizona State University, Tempe (437 & 2400 MHz telemetry)
RadSat-U – Montana State University, Bozeman (437 MHz telemetry)
SPOC - University of Georgia, Athens (437 & 2400 MHz telemetry)
SwampSat II - University of Florida, Gainesville (437 & 2400 MHz
telemetry)
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
2019 marks AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary
of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
To help celebrate, we are sponsoring the
AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program.
Full details are available at
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Academy at the Albuquerque Duke City Hamfest
AMSAT® Academy 2.0, which builds on last year's day-long course to in-
clude: guidance on how to set up a portable satellite ground station;
guidance on how to join a growing network of stations that capture,
record, and submit amateur-radio satellite telemetry to a central re-
pository; and practical tips for breaking the ice with local schools
in order to fold amateur-radio satellite and Amateur Radio in the In-
ternational Space Station (ARISS) activities into STEM education ef-
forts.
This year's AMSAT® Academy instructors include Robert Bankston, KE4AL,
vice-president, User Services, Amateur Radio Amateur Satellite Corpor-
ation (AMSAT), Ron Bondy, AD0DX, an AMSAT® Ambassador, and long-time
satellite enthusiasts Dan Eggert, AC9E, and Bill Ripley, KY5Q, an em-
bedded-systems architect. The course fee is $30, and includes break-
fast and a copy of the organization's "Getting Started with Amateur
Satellites."
Info about the hamfest is http://www.dukecityhamfest.org. Specific
info on the AMSAT Academy is at:
http://www.dukecityhamfest.org/amsat-academy .
[ANS thanks Bill Ripley, KY5Q, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
Templestowe College, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via
VK6MJ. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The sched-
uled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV. Contact is go for: Wednesday, 18
September, 2019 at 08:06:32 UTC 42 deg
Boys and Girls Club, Ft. Meade, MD., telebridge via VK4KHZ. The ISS
callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut
is Nick Hague KG5TMV. Contact is go for: Friday, 20 September, 2019 at
19:58:23 UTC 54 deg
School in Bulgaria, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently
scheduled to be RSØISS. The scheduled astronaut is TBD. Contact is go
for Tuesday, 24 September at 16:10 UTC.
[ANS thanks ARISS team member Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DM02 Satellite Expedition Sunday, September 22 - N6O/MM
Alex, N7AGF, and Ron, AD0DX, are planning to activate DM02 on Sunday,
September 22, 2019 on FM and Linear satellites.
It's a 5 or 6 hour boat trip to anchor off San Clemente Island. We
will be on the water for 22 hours and operating around 10 hours
beginning around 3:00 AM PDT (1000Z) on Sunday, September 22
The cost of the boat is $2500 and we would appreciate contributions
to help offset this cost. In the 24 hours after posting to Twitter we
have received around $1300 which Alex and I are very thankful for. The
island has Verizon and AT&T and Alex has a Garmin InReach so we
should be able to tweet passes. The plan is to make as many passes as
possible once we start operating around 3:00 AM PDT. We may skip some
of the low western passes.
We will be using N6O/mm and we have a qrz.com page with all the
details: https://www.qrz.com/db/N6O
If you need the grid please give us a call!
Of course this is dependent on the weather, but the captain says it
has been a good September so far. If you are able to contribute
financially we really appreciate the help to offset some of our
costs. Details to contribute are on the N6O QRZ.com webpage.
[ANS thanks Ron, AD0DX, and Alex, N7AGF, for the above information.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Satellite Operations
EN54/EN64 September 13-15
Brad Smith, KC9UQR, will be active on AO-91 and AO-92 while traveling
this weekend in Wisconsin.
DN11/DN12 + DN03 September 17, 2019
Casey, KI7UNJ is heading to the DN11/DN12 line, September 17th. Look
for him on SO-50, AO-92, and AO-91, between 1657z and 1812z. On the
way back, Casey will make a quick stop in DN03 to catch te 2043z PO-101
pass. Watch Casey’s Twitter feed for further updates
https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ
DM02/mm (need we say more) September 22, 2019
Ron, AD0DX, and Alex, N7AGF, are chartering a boat to the ultra-rare
DM02 grid square. They will use the special event call sign November 6
Ocean/Maritime Mobile. Expected window of operation is from 1000z to
1900z, Sunday, September 22nd. More information is available on QRZ
https://www.qrz.com/db/N6O to include how you can help support this
monumental operation. Ron and Alex are expected to have cellular
service out there, so keep an eye on their Twitter feeds
https://twitter.com/ad0dx and https://twitter.com/N7AGF
FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON (GN17) September 24 to October 8, 2019
Eric, KV1J, will once again be oper ating from the Island of Miquelon
(NA-032, DIFO FP-002 WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between Septem-
ber 24th and October 8th. This is his 13th trip to the island. Activi-
ty will be on 160-6 meters (no 60M – not author ized) using CW, SSB,
RTTY, FT8 (but primarily SSB, RTTY and FT8) and the satellites. He will
generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring
12/10m). He will be active in the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 28-
29th). ADDED NOTE: Eric will usually try to be on as many Satellite
passes as he can when the WX is good, generally favoring the FO-29,
XW-2x, AO-7, and possibly the FM birds. Eric states, “Equipment is two
FT-817s and an Arrow dual band yagi. I’ll favor the SSB birds usually
higher in the passband, but will also try FM if they do not get too
busy. Satellite logging is by paper so may not get loaded to LoTW until
the week after I return to the USA.” Weekends may be limited since he
will be concentrating on the low(er) bands and contests. QSL via KV1J,
direct or by the Bureau. Also eQSL, ClubLog and LoTW. For more details
and updates, check out his Web page at:
http://www.kv1j.com/fp/Sep19.html
Remember to check out W3ZM On the Road for additional upcoming
activations! https://www.amsat.org/events/was-w3zm/
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ The AMSAT-LU WSPR Picoballoon on 14.0956 USB released August 31 is
about to complete its first circumnavigation of the globe after tra-
veling 33,000 km in 12 days. AMSAT-LU appreciate any WSPR stations
that help to receive it, AMSAT-LU will recognize with a certificate
to stations that capture its 25 mW beacon. Also the APRS PicoBalloon
(145.825 via Sat 1W) will be returning to South America. Full story
with links at https://tinyurl.com/y5xkbrbr
(ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information)
+ For Flashback Friday, AMSAT released disk images of Bob McGwier,
N4HY's QUIKTRAK for both the Commodore 64 and Apple II to provide a
fun look back at the state-of-the art in satellite tracking in the
mid-1980s. Check them out at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-258-FBF
+ The Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory at the University of Hawaii has
applied to the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) for frequency
coordination for the amateur radio payloads aboard its Neutron-1
spacecraft. The amateur payload will provide a V/U FM voice repeater
for amateur and educational purposes. Proposed are 1k2-9k6 AX telem-
etry and FM voice UHF downlink and a VHF FM uplink. The Neutron-1
website is: https://www.hsfl.hawaii.edu/web/neutron1/
(ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information)
+ Japan called off a planned cargo ship launch to the International
Space Station on September 10 after a fire erupted on the launch
platform for the mission's rocket.
(ANS thanks Space.com for the above information)
+ The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) has signed a 5-year
agreement to keep Dayton Hamvention® at the Greene County Expo Cen-
ter. The agreement was announced on September 9.
(ANS thanks ARRL for the above information)
+ After years of construction, China’s new radio telescope is in ac-
tion. The telescope, called FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spher-
ical Radio Telescope) has double the collecting power of the Arecibo
Observatory in Puerto Rico, which has a 305 meter dish. Until now,
Arecibo was the world’s largest radio dish of its type.
(ANS thanks Universe Today for the above information)
* The College of Engineering at Villanova University has published a
very nice feature story about the University's involvement with ham
satellites. The article, titled, "They May be Building Nanosatel-
lites, but there’s Nothing Small about Villanova’s CubeSat Club,"
may be found at: https://tinyurl.com/yytj6vsj
+ An article by Karl-Heinz Krawczyk, DL1GKK, describes how to install
amateur radio software on the Raspberry Pi to provide the popular
data modes, SSTV, satellite tracking, SDR, rig control and logbook.
The English language article is available on the site of Indonesia's
national amateur radio society ORARI: https://tinyurl.com/y4gb82hb
(ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information)
+ An interesting article on Satellite collisions has been published
this week in SatNews Daily: https://tinyurl.com/yyk3f2q2
(ANS thanks Christy Hunter, KB6LTY, for the above information)
+ Help AMSAT return to Greater Orbits with Larger Footprints with ex-
citing technologies like attitude determination and control, and
software-defined transponders utilizing microwave bands. Consider a
one-time or recurring donation today: https://tinyurl.com/y5kupb55
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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 addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,
K0JM at amsat dot org
1
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ANS-256 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Awards Generous Grant to ARISS
by Paul Stoetzer 13 Sep '19
by Paul Stoetzer 13 Sep '19
13 Sep '19
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN
ANS-256
In this Special Bulletin:
* Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Awards Generous Grant to
ARISS
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.01
ANS-256 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin 256.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD
DATE September 13, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-256.01
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Awards Generous Grant to
ARISS
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has awarded a very
generous grant to ARISS for the Next Generation radio system. ARDC is
the owner and manager of the Internet network known as the AMPRNet. In
June of 2019, ARDC initiated a philanthropic endeavor to provide
monetary grants to organizations, groups, projects, and scholarships
which have significant potential to advance the state of the art of
Amateur Radio, and digital communications in general.
The ARISS Next Generation radio system (or Inter Operable Radio System
- IORS) will support easier radio mode transition, to enable new,
exciting capabilities for hams, students and the general public
including:
+New amateur radio communication and experimentation capabilities,
including an enhanced voice repeater and updated digital packet radio
(APRS) capabilities.
+Slow Scan TV (picture up and downlinks) in both the US and Russian
segments of ISS.
+New multi-voltage power supply will support present and future radio
capabilities and allow wireless experiments to be conducted.
In July, the Inter Operable Radio System successfully completed a
battery of stressful tests required as part of the final certification
of the hardware for launch to and operation on the International Space
Station. Final assembly of the flight safety certification in
preparation for launch is now underway and ARISS is working towards
launch ready status by the end of the year.
For more information on the award please see:
https://www.ampr.org/g2019-09-01a/
To contribute to ARISS and the IORS please see:
https://www.ariss.org/donate.html
ARISS and AMSAT thank ARDC for their generosity in supporting this
important project.
[ANS thanks ARISS, the AMSAT office, and ARDC for the above information.]
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers life memberships,
and sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to
receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from
the AMSAT Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the
student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and Remember to help keep Amateur Radio in space,
This week's ANS Contributing Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org
1
0