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ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 17 Jul '16

17 Jul '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-199 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * ARISS Well Represented at ISS R&D Conference * LUSEX Transponder Test Successful * Home of Australia's First Satellite is at it Again * Cubesat Launch Opportunity for December | Are You Ready To Go? * LilacSat-2 Linear Transponder Tested * AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots in the Mail * Satellite Activation of NPOTA Blue Ridge Pkwy PK01 * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-199.01 ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 199.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. July 17, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-199.01 ARISS Well Represented at ISS R&D Conference ARISS was well represented at the ISS R&D Conference, held this past week in San Diego. An ARISS Team led by ARISS International Chairman and AMSAT VP for Human Spaceflight Frank H. Bauer KA3HDO, had the opportunity to meet with others that have a vested interest in or support to the ISS-including those responsible for ISS payloads, scientists/researchers, contractors, aerospace developers and NASA employees. The team including Bauer, Rosalie White K1STO, Kerry Banke N6IZW, Tim Bosma W6MU, and Dave Taylor W8AAS, staffed a display and helped with an ARISS contact during the conference. The ARISS contact was conducted among a consortium of schools attending the ISS R&D conference as part of STEM day and telebridged via W6SRJ. Descriptions of the schools participating in the contact are shown below: Lake Elementary School, Oceanside, CA Lake Elementary School opened in 1989 in southeastern Oceanside. A top priority continues to be the use of technology by students and staff to prepare children for 21st Century College and Career readiness. Community Montessori Charter School, Escondido , CA CMCS currently serves approximately 375 students in grades K-8. Students attend one of five resource centers located throughout San Diego county, and are on a Montessori home study program. Vista Magnet Middle School, Vista, CA Students will be literate, reflective and critical thinkers in all areas of interaction who transfer knowledge and embrace diversity within a global society. Monte Vista Elementary School, Vista, CA Our vision at Monte Vista Elementary is to ignite a love of learning and a sense of curiosity in all students. We will promote academic achievement through high expectations and develop problem solvers who are technologically proficient. Lilac School, Valley Center, CA The Lilac Learning Community shares a commitment to exploring, developing and differentiating deliberate, effective strategies and practices for learning in a dynamic environment of collaboration, inquiry and diversity. STAR Prep Academy, Los Angeles, CA The STAR PREP ACADEMY is an extraordinary private middle & high school for students who seek an individualized approach to learning, based on their desired areas of specialization. Westminster Christian School, Miami, FL Founded in 1961, Westminster is an independent, college-preparatory, coeducational Christian school serving 1,241 students from preschool through 12th grade. There were 210 in attendance near CASIS Space Station Explorers booth. Astronauts Carl Walz and Josh Cassada attended and talked with audience pre and post contact. All 16 students asked and had their questions answered with a total of 21 questions being answered. The event was covered by San Diego TV station Channel 8 (CBS). [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- LUSEX Transponder Test Successful On the night of Wednesday 13 July, the scheduler loaded into the computers of fresh, the satellite ñusat1 that houses the lusex, active the experiment of Amsat-Lu. The breath of the transponder could be received between 145.950 and 145.955 with more intensity and heard the call of lu1esy and the issuance of lu9do CW. These first tests will continue during the next weekend conducted by lu1cgb, to try to improve the living conditions of the operational lusex. Those who live in the ignition of the lussat-1 we could feel the same way this "birth" of lusex and feel the same way. Friends, it's an honor to join the group of lusex development, which is proposed and I reach the goal and congratulations... We by the commitment to achieve it. In a follow-up it was reported "...07/14 LUSEX transponder was activated. We heard noise from space @145.950 and then a call from LU1ESY. Transponder is under test, enabled occasionally. We are very excited. More news soon. http://lusex.org.ar https://facebook.com/Amsat.LU http://amsat.org.ar [ANS thanks Nacho LU1ESY for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Home of Australia's First Satellite is at it Again The Melbourne University is now designing a CubeSat, and hopefully will have it ready for launch in 2018. The same university built Australia's first Amateur Radio satellite Australis-OSCAR-5, that was launched on 23 January 23, 1970. It was then the first Amateur Radio satellite built outside of the United States. Australis-OSCAR-5 was a beacon on 29.450 MHz and 144.050 MHz with telemetry starting with HI sent in Morse code, with sensors giving the battery voltage, temperature and the satellite's orientation. Passive magnetic attitude stabilisation was achieved by two bar magnets to align with the Earth's magnetic field to provide a favourable antenna footprint. Built on a small budget, it had bed springs for deploying the bird, and a cut down metallic measuring tape for antennas that extended from the sides of the satellite. At least 200 observers heard it reporting from 27 countries up to 46 days before going silent when its batteries failed. Today, Melbourne University Engineering Department students are working on the CubeSat project and restoring the Melbourne University old dish tracking antenna getting it ready for launch day. Despite its small size the satellite's state-of-the-art communications system can send more data than other satellites, because of a world- first antenna that uses a special acid for inflation in space. The new CubeSat could potentially find applications in agriculture, weather monitoring or even as a telescope in space. [ANS thank Jim Linton, VK3PC and the VK1WIA News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cubesat Launch opportunity for December | are you ready to go? In an email to the Cubesat,org mailing list, Abe Bonnema Marketing Director, ISIS - Innovative Solutions In Space wrote, "Dear CubeSat (and nanosat) developers, "We normally present launch opportunities well in advance and primarily through our website, at conferences and in direct communication with you, yet given the very short time available, we opted for using the great medium of the CubeSat mailing list to make you aware of a very interesting, short-term launch opportunity; Launch Vehicle: Indian PSLV Launch Period: Dec 2016 - Feb 2017 Orbit: 580 km SSO Launch Interface: ISISpace QuadPack or DuoPack family deployers (or ISIPOD on request) (www.isispace.nl/cubesats/#supported-sizes) "We have a few 1U/2U/3U or 6U slots available still. "We'll have to close the manifest and configuration in the coming weeks. So if you're still looking for a launch from end of this year, and the abovementioned orbit is suitable, please contact us through launches(a)isispace.nl. We'll be at the CubeSat Workshop and SmallSat as well for possible final additions to the manifest. Looking forward to placing your satellites on this (or another, future) launch." [ANS thanks Abe Bonnema for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- LilacSat-2 Linear Transponder Tested On July 10, 2016 the SSB/CW linear transponder on the student built satellite LilacSat-2 was successfully tested LilacSat-2, call sign BJ1SI, was built by students at the Harbin Institute of Technology and launched on September 19, 2015. The 40 kHz wide SSB/CW transponder is Non-Inverting which means the Doppler shift of a signal going through the transponder will be twice that seen on other Low Earth Orbit inverting linear transponder satellites. Clayton Coleman W5PFG reported that he and Glenn Miller AA5PK had a contact through the transponder, a recording can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/w5pfg/lilacsat-2-2016-07-11-1315z-ssb- transponder The transponder frequencies are: • 144.3425-144.3825 MHz Uplink • 437.180-437.220 MHz Downlink It is not yet known when the transponder will be activated again. LilacSat-2 https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/lilacsat-2/ [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots in the Mail Ballots have been mailed to AMSAT-NA members in good standing, and must be returned to the AMSAT-NA office by September 15, 2016 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America were sent by air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your QTH, please contact the AMSAT-NA office. Your completed ballot should be sent as promptly as possible, and those from outside North American preferably by air mail or other expedited means. This year there are five candidates: Tom Clark, K3IO Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Mark Hammond, N8MH Bruce Paige, KK5DO Paul Stoetzer, N8HM The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be seated as voting Board Members with two year terms. The two candidates receiving the next highest number of votes will be non-voting Alternate Board Members with terms of one year. Please vote for no more than three candidates. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT-NA. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Activation of NPOTA Blue Ridge Pkwy PK01 John Brier's KG4AKV first National Parks on The Air activation from Blue Ridge Parkway PK01 EM85 at Craggy Gardens in North Carolina was a big success and very fun. On the July 16th 1546 UTC SO-50 pass he made fourteen contacts with the following stations, in order of contact: K8YSE, N8HM, K4FEG, KM4ULB, W2JV, KI4RO, WI9I, WA5KBH, W4DTA, N4UFO, AA5PK, WU2M, K5ND, W1PA. John thanks all the above stations. To those he couldn't get back to, like NP4JV, he suggests "we'll have to do it next time." John stated he really enjoyed the spot he found, it had a very wide open view to the west and was mostly clear in the other directions except for some small brush in the immediate vicinity. It was also out of the way from most of the park attendees, so he didn't have to annoy anyone expecting a tranquil nature hike. After the pass he wasn't sure he made the ten contacts he needed to get credit to be an activator, so he made several more contacts on 146.520 simplex, talking to stations in South Carolina, Charlotte, Hickory, Hendersonville, and a few more nearby towns. He was also able to connect with one of the Golden Packet [1] stations in Roan Mountain and communicated with him over the UHF coordination frequency. He helped John configure his Kenwood TH-D72a to communicate on their APRS network and they shared several packets. John wasn't digipeated along the whole length of the Appalachian Trail, nor did he stick around for the golden packet attempt, but he did communicate directly with one of the stations using the official frequency, and states "that was very cool." John hopes to take part more seriously next year. John further thanks Bob, WB4APR, for responding to his NPOTA activation announcement email to let him know about the event. A picture of the video of the beautiful view where he recorded the SO-50 pass is on his Twitter profile. He plans to make a video of the pass for his "Space Comms" YouTube channel. New videos are released there every Wednesday. This coming Wednesday, July 20th, won't be a video of this NPOTA activation as he has already started work on an ISS SSTV video, but look for the NPOTA video in two weeks. http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html https://twitter.com/johnbrier/status/754349709104480256 https://www.youtube.com/c/Spacecomms1 [ANS thanks John KG4AKV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Frontiers of Flight Museum's "Moon Day 2016", Dallas TX USA and Astronaut Jeff Williams KD5TVQ using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began Sat 2016-07-16 15:54:09 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridge via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentor was Keith W5IU. + A Successful contact was made ISS R&D Conference, San Diego, CA, USA and Astronaut Jeff Williams KD5TVQ using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began Thu 2016-07-14 16:03:33 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridge via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentor was Frank KA3HDO. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: YOTA Camp 2016 IARU-R1, Salzburg, Austria, telebridge via VK4KHZ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: United Space School hosted by the Foundation for International Space Education (FISE), Seabrook TX, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Tue 2016-07-19 14:52:20 UTC Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Thu 2016-07-23 18:50 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + The world's largest radio telescope has just been completed China's 30-soccer-field-wide radio telescope will start the hunt for extraterrestrials. For the full story visit http://tinyurl.com/ANS199-RadioTelescope [ANS thanks Astronomy Magazine for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM (former KC8YLD) kc8yld at amsat dot org

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ANS-192 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 10 Jul '16

10 Jul '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-192 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT Field Day Submissions Due July 11 * AMSAT Awards Update * Two Radio Amateurs Set to Head for the International Space Station * Australia CubeSat Testing Begins * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-192.01 ANS-192 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 192.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE July 10, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-192.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Field Day Submissions Due July 11 If you participated in Field Day and you plan on submitting your group's score, you have until 23:59 PM on Monday, July 11th to get those submission sheets in to AMSAT. AMSAT's deadline is sooner than the ARRL deadline for Field Day. Bruce Paige, KK5DO, will then prepare the story and send it off to the editor of the AMSAT Journal who will have it in the upcoming issue that goes to press shortly thereafter. Please send your score sheet and photos to Bruce kk5do(a)arrl.net or kk5do(a)amsat.org You will receive an email back that day or the next day when Bruce has received your submission. If you do not receive the email, he did not get it. Don't assume that because you sent it,it was received. Make sure you get the confirmation email. [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Awards Update Congrats to all who have earned an AMSAT Award since the last posting. AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO Vinícius Leite, PU4VLT Marcos Kazan, PU2MXU Cleber Rodrigues PU3IBD Pitor Gorecki, SP9RXP Malcolm Harper, VE2DDZ Italo Adriano B.C. Marcelino, PU7ASP Marc-Andre Gingras, VA2EI ------ AMSAT Century Club Award Carl Noll, KA4H #46 ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award Ramirez-Ferrer, NP4JV #86 1000+ To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com/awards.html [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Radio Amateurs Set to Head for the International Space Station Two Amateur Radio licensees are part of the International Space Station (ISS) crew increment bound for the orbiting outpost this week. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, astronaut Takuya Onishi, KF5LKS, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos will launch early on July 7 (0136 UTC) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio will spend approximately 4 months on station and will return to Earth in October. An upgraded Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft will carry Rubins, Onishi, and Ivanishin into space. They will test modified systems for 2 days - 34 Earth orbits - before docking with the ISS on July 9. According to NASA, the modified Soyuz is equipped with upgraded thrusters that are fully redundant, additional micrometeoroid debris shielding, redundant electrical motors for the Soyuz docking probe, and increased power with more photovoltaic cells on the spacecraft's solar arrays. This week's launch will mark the first of at least two missions in which enhanced Soyuz hardware will be tested and verified. Once the hatches between the Soyuz and the ISS have been opened, Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, of NASA, and Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU, and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos will greet their new crewmates. The Expedition 48 crew members will continue experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science. Rubins, Onishi, and cosmonaut Ivanishin will replace Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra, KE5UDN; Flight Engineer Tim Peake, KG5BVI/GB1SS, and Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, who returned to Earth in mid-June after a little more than 6 months in space. NASA TV will cover the launch and the arrival online at, http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public . About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, go to: www.ariss.org www.amsat.org www.arrl.org Also, join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status [ANS thanks the ARRL and ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia CubeSat Testing Begins Satellites are being tested at the Australian National University Mount Stromlo space facility in Canberra ahead of a mass satellite launch from the International Space Station later this year. The three CubeSats to be rigorously proven as space-ready have been developed by researchers at ANU, the University of Sydney, University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. In one Australian experiment, space weather and solar activity will be looked at as they are important to GPS navigation, financial systems and electricity grids. A second CubeSat will carry new instruments to measure atmospheric water and carbon dioxide. The third will carry four separate experiments including a specially designed receiver and electronics with the ability to self-repair if hit by radiation and something breaks. The Australian CubeSats will be launched as part of the European Union’s QB50 program of 50 satellites from 27 countries including Brazil, China, Europe, Russia and the USA. [ANS thanks WIA News and Jim Linton VK3PC for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Saturday, 6 August 2016 – Austin Summerfest in Austin TX *Saturday, 13 August 2016 – KL7KC Hamfest in Fairbanks AK *Saturday, 20 August 2016 – Spark in the Park in Wyoming MI *Saturday, 3 September 2016 - Shelby Hamfest in Shelby, NC (ARRL North Carolina State Convention) - AMSAT Forum Only *Saturday and Sunday, 10-11 September 2016 Boxboro Hamfest in Boxborough, MA (ARRL New England Division Convention) *Friday, 23 September 2016 – presentation at Jet Propulsion Laboratory Amateur Radio Club in Pasadena CA *Friday and Saturday, 21-22 October 2016 – CopaFest 2016, south of Maricopa AZ *Saturday, 12 November 2016 – Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in Marana AZ *Saturday, 3 December 2016 – Superstition Superfest in Mesa AZ *Saturday, 14 January 2017 – Thunderbird Hamfest 2017 in Phoenix AZ *Saturday, 4 February 2017 – Palm Springs Hamfest in Palm Springs CA *Friday-Sunday, 10-12 February 2017 Orlando HamCation in Orlando, FL *Friday and Saturday, 17-18 February 2017 – Yuma Hamfest in Yuma AZ [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Sucessful Contacts * Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut was Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact was successful: Wed 2016-07-06 14:28:20 UTC 77 degx A successful telebridge contact this morning. All 20 questions were answered, with time to spare for a round of thanks from the audience and a farewell from Jeff. * A direct contact via DN1JKG with students at Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium, Bruchsal, Germany was successful Fri 2016-07-01. The Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium is one of the biggest schools of general education in the administrative district of Karlsruhe in Baden-Wurttemberg. More than 1,300 students are taught by over one hundred teachers. Our focus is on a scientific profile with the succession of languages being English-French or English-Latin. Furthermore, science and technology is a major subject starting in year 8. About 85% of our students opt for this profile. For four years now the Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium has been one of 44 model schools in Baden-Wurttemberg which allow students to take their A-levels at different speeds - either after eight or nine years of secondary education. The Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium is also participating in three different educational pilot projects. In the last two years leading up to their A-levels, students may take up Mathematics "plus" (an enhanced version of the subject Mathematics, six lessons a week) or computer science as a major subject as well as science and technology as a minor subject. Additionally, there are optional subjects for senior students, such as for example psychology, philosophy, drama, and especially natural sciences like geology, computer algebra, computer science, and astronomy. The Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium cooperates with partners in various fields, especially the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In 2015 the town of Bruchsal organized the "Heimattage Baden-Württemberg" (Homeland Days of Baden-Württemberg). The Justus Knecht-Gymnasium took part in different projects, e.g. "Heimat Erde" (Homeland Earth). Students of different years worked on the topic. Moreover there's a study team working together with the amateur radio operators of Bruchsal. They established radio communication, built a stratosphere balloon and prepared the radio link to the ISS. see: http://www.jkg.ka.schule-bw.de/ (Note: above link is in German) BadenTV video link (Also in German) http://www.baden-tv.com/mediathek/video/iss-funkkontakt-date-mit-einem- raumfahrer/ * A direct contact vie RZ9WWB with The All-Russian Public Organization Radio And Radiolûbitel 'Stva" The Russian Amateur Radio Union", in Ufa, Russia, was successful Thu 2016-06-30. Upcoming Contacts * ISS R&D Conference, San Diego, CA, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is go for: Thu 2016-07-14 16:03:33 UTC 37 deg Descriptions of the schools participating in the contact are shown below. Lake Elementary School, Oceanside, CA Lake Elementary School opened in 1989 in southeastern Oceanside. A top priority continues to be the use of technology by students and staff to prepare children for 21st Century College and Career readiness. Community Montessori Charter School, Escondido , CA CMCS currently serves approximately 375 students in grades K-8. Students attend one of five resource centers located throughout San Diego county, and are on a Montessori home study program. Vista Magnet Middle School, Vista, CA Students will be literate, reflective and critical thinkers in all areas of interaction who transfer knowledge and embrace diversity within a global society. Monte Vista Elementary School, Vista, CA Our vision at Monte Vista Elementary is to ignite a love of learning and a sense of curiosity in all students. We will promote academic achievement through high expectations and develop problem solvers who are technologically proficient. Lilac School, Valley Center, CA The Lilac Learning Community shares a commitment to exploring, developing and differentiating deliberate, effective strategies and practices for learning in a dynamic environment of collaboration, inquiry and diversity. STAR Prep Academy, Los Angeles, CA The STAR PREP ACADEMY is an extraordinary private middle & high school for students who seek an individualized approach to learning, based on their desired areas of specialization. Westminster Christian School, Miami, FL Founded in 1961, Westminster is an independent, college-preparatory, coeducational Christian school serving 1,241 students from preschool through 12th grade. * Frontiers of Flight Museum's “Moon Day 2016”, Dallas TX, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is go for : Sat 2016-07-16 15:54:09 UTC 88 deg * Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Thu 2016-07-23 18:50 UTC Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS, Dave, AA4KN, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over Upcoming High Altitude Balloon Flights Include Amateur Radio The Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning e-mail list (BALLOON_SKED(a)yahoogroups.com) reports that two upcoming flights will include amateur radio payloads beyond the usual APRS downlinks used for tracking. ----- 2016-07-23 @ 09:00 MST Arizona Near Space Research to launch: ANSR-101 from the Williams Ham Fest, Williams, Arizona (35.2587, -112.185 Grid: DM35VG) Website: http://www.ansr.org, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ballooning/ Tracking via APRS.FI: KA7NSR-6, KA7NSR-7 Telemetry: APRS: 144.340 MHz, Also 445.925, both digipeated to 144.39 2 crossband repeaters: Uplink #1: 146.560 MHz CTCSS 162.2 Downlink #1: 445.925 MHz Uplink #2: 147.560 MHz CTCSS 89.1 Downlink #2: 446.025 MHz Live video streaming on 440 MHz and 2.4 GHz to ground station at Ham Fest. Contact: Bill McLean bmclean1(a)gmail.com QRZ: KA7NSR ----- 2016-08-06 @ 07:45 CDT Balloon Assisted Stratospheric Experiments (DePauw University) to launch BASE 90 from Rantoul National Aviation Center Airport-Frank Elliott Field Rantoul, IL (100 miles south of Chicago; 40.294, -88.142 Grid: EN50WH) during the Space Jam 10 Boy Scout Jamboree Website: http://www.depauw.edu/academics/departments-programs/physics-astronomy/ department-research/base/ Tracking via APRS.FI: WB9SA-11 Telemetry: APRS: 144.390MHz Contact: Howard Brooks hlbrooks(a)depauw.edu QRZ: WB9SA Crossband repeater and SSTV downlink frequencies will be announced. [ANS thanks the BALLOON_SKED(a)yahoogroups.com list for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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ANS-185 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 03 Jul '16

03 Jul '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-185 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT Field Day Submissions * AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 * North Texas "Moon Day" for AMSAT, ARISS and Amateur Radio * South Africa Satellite Day * UAE Satellite Will Have Amateur Radio Transponder SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-185.01 ANS-185 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 185.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. July 3, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-185.01 AMSAT Field Day Submissions Now that Field Day is only a blur, it is time to prepare your score and submit it for the AMSAT Field Day results. All submissions are due by 11:59PM Central Time on Monday, July 11, 2016. Bruce Paige, KK5DO, will then prepare the story and send it off to the editor of the AMSAT Journal who will have it in the upcoming issue that goes to press shortly thereafter. Please send your score sheet and photos to Bruce kk5do(a)arrl.net or kk5do(a)amsat.org You will receive an email back that day or the next day when Bruce has received your submission. If you do not receive the email, he did not get it. Don't assume that because you sent it,it was received. Make sure you get the confirmation email. [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 This year’s Colloquium is now only a few weeks away. The event, taking place as usual at the Holiday Inn in Guildford, will be held over the weekend of the 29/31st July. A full programme of presentations, covering all aspects of the amateur satellite world, has been developed for the Saturday and Sunday and a “Beginners Session” is scheduled for the Friday afternoon. Sessions will include updates on the many new satellites that are expected to be launched over the next few months. This includes Eshail-2 which will carry the first ever geostationary amateur radio transponder and provide more than 8MHz of new intercontinental spectrum - it will provide coverage to five continents. Additionally we will have a session on how to develop software receivers using GNU radio, reviews of the Tim Peake ARISS contacts and the STEM results achieved, information about a new 76GHz satellite project, a review of how to operate “in the field” and lots more. As well as the presentations during the day, Libby Jackson, from the UK Space Agency, with whom the ARISS UK team worked closely during the Tim Peake mission, will be speaking during the Gala Dinner on the Saturday evening. Other highlights will include visits to the SSTL facilities (Friday evening and Saturday morning) and the opportunity to see the special ground station equipment that was used for all the ARISS contacts. This will be available for use for contacts during passes of all the available satellite transponders. Visitors can either turn up on the day, book day passes on the website or, if planning an overnight stay, now is the last week to make their hotel bookings at the preferential rate and which have been block-booked by AMSAT-UK. The URL for the AMSAT-UK shop to book day passes is http://shop.amsat-uk.org. If you wish to book overnight accommodation, please contact the hotel direct on 01483 784413. Please note that due to problems with their booking system THE HOTEL WILL KEEP OUR RESERVED ROOMS UNTIL 6 JUL. Day passes cost £10 per day (incl tea/coffee, etc) , please pay at the AMSAT-UK shop (not hotel reception). If you wish to attend the Gala dinner on Saturday, please book at least 7 days in advance, either with the hotel (by booking dinner, bed, and breakfast), or at the AMSAT-UK shop. As well at the AMSAT-UK shop, there will be a number of specialist suppliers present, and we are hoping that the RSGB bookshop will also be present Members and non-members will be made very welcome and booking info can be found here https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ The Colloquium team are looking forward to meeting many old friends and making many new acquaintances during the event. [ANS thanks Jim, G3WGM, Hon Sec AMSAT-UK, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- North Texas "Moon Day" for AMSAT, ARISS and Amateur Radio July 16th, 2016 will be the date for the annual "Moon Day" at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field in Dallas, TX, STEM event. Check out http://www.flightmuseum.com/moon-day-2016/ for more information. Moon Day is a large space exploration and science themed STEM event from 10a-5P that features numerous exhibitors, technology demonstrations, an ARISS contact with the ISS and AMSAT/Amateur Radio as key elements. Over 1500 attended last year's event including many Boy/Girl Scouts and other young people and families. This year's event might be even bigger. As last year, AMSAT members from North Texas, along with the Dallas Amateur Radio Club, will have a shared display space with STEM activities for people to learn about satellites, orbital mechanics and the exciting possibilities of personal communications through Amateur Radio and Amateur Radio satellites. Aside from the indoor space, we want to be able to offer multiple opportunities for satellite pass demos on the outside of the building as well. Keith Pugh, W5IU, will be the ARISS Mentor/coordinator for the scheduled ARISS contact and has a support team for that but we need other Amateur Satellite enthusiasts to help man the display space and also to run the pass demos outside the facility. Tom Schuessler, N5HYP, has communicated with the event coordinator asking them to provide an approved outside space and published promotion and "Carrots" to get people out there. Being summer and most likely hot. Tom also asked if there could have some sort of tent or easy-up to block the sun from the operating point. What is needed are people to man the inside display table, where you will get to explain some of the basics of Amateur Radio satellites, orbits, footprints and cubesat to hundreds of inquisitive young people. Also needed are some experienced satellite and Amateur Radio operators who will be willing to handle the heat outside and get people involved with this fun aspect of our hobby. (With enough of us we can do shifts). There is quite a good list of pass opportunities between 10a and 5p so you would not be bored. Please let Tom, N5HYP, or Keith, W5IU, know if you can join us and help with a great public outreach for Amateur Radio and AMSAT. [ANS thanks Tom, N5HYP, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- South Africa Satellite Day AMSAT SA is planning to arrange a weekly satellite day to encourage radio amateurs to operate satellites. The proposal is to dedicate preferred slots for satellite operation, for example Tuesday between 18:00 and 23:00. There are a number of relatively easy to operate satellites. These will be identified and operating slots with details about the orbit and time over South Africa and neighboring countries will be published in advance. AMSAT SA is seeking input from radio amateurs who would be interested in participating. Please send your proposals and ideas to saamsat(a)intekom.co.za [ANS thanks the SARL weekly news in English 2016-7-2 for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- UAE Satellite Will Have Amateur Radio Transponder The United Arab Emirates newspaper The National reports on the Nayif-1 spacecraft developed by Emirati students from the American University of Sharjah in partnership with The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. Nayif-1 carries a 435/145 MHz transponder (FUNcube-5) for amateur radio SSB/CW communications. It is expected to launch along with other amateur radio satellites such as Fox-1C and Fox-1D on a SpaceX rocket between September and November 2016. The National says: Yousuf Al Shaibani, director general of The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, said the satellite’s development was a testament to its commitment to develop Emirati talent. “There is no doubt that the field of satellite design and manufacturing is a new industry to UAE universities and students,” Mr Al Shaibani said. “The Emirati students possess the skills and capabilities to design and build a CubeSat as a result of a knowledge-transfer strategy and cooperation between academic and professional institutions that are launching real space projects, enabling students to see the product of their work as a reality in space.” The satellite is about 10 cubic centimetres and weighs about 1 kilogram. One of its most notable features is that it is programmed to transfer messages in Arabic. “This is a great achievement and a source of pride for all of us,” said Dr Bjorn Kjerfve, chancellor of American University of Sharjah. Nayif-1 CubeSat https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/nayif-1/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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ANS-178 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 26 Jun '16

26 Jun '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-178 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * Fox-1Clif and Fox-1D Launch Window Update * 2016 AMSAT Symposium Call for Papers * AMSAT-SA Invites SDR Transponder Developers * Sathyabamasat Update * AMSAT P4 Information Published * UKube-1 Transponder Remains Active * Bahamas Satellite Activation * Final Call For Speakers For The AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 * CY9C St. Paul Island Expedition June Update * 2016 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-178.01 ANS-178 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 178.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. June 26, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-178.01 Fox-1Clif and Fox-1D Launch Window Update AMSAT has been informed that the launch period for Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D has been moved and is now commencing on September 1, 2016 and ending on November 30, 2016. Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D will be integrated onto the Spaceflight SHERPA platform for its maiden flight aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching into a sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Fox- 1Cliff and Fox-1D carry university experiments from Pennsylvania State-Erie, Vanderbilt, University of Iowa, cameras provided by Virginia Tech, as well as amateur radio voice repeaters capable of U/V or L/V operation. [ANS thanks AMSAT and Paul N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 AMSAT Symposium Call for Papers This is the first call for papers for the 2016 AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of November 10- 14, 2016. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than September 15th. The final copy must be submitted by October 15th for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv(at)amsat.org The 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held aboard the cruise ship Carnival Liberty departing from the port of Galveston, Texas on November 10, 2016 and returning to port on November 14, 2016. [ANS thanks 2016 Symposium Committee for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-SA Invites SDR Transponder Developers AMSAT SA is accelerating the development of its Kletskous transponder by introducing a parallel development process. Two RF experts have recent joined the team, they are Leon Lessing ZS6LMG and Francois Visser ZS1CED. At its recent strategy meeting the association discussed its long term plans which includes the development of a Software Defined Radio transponder and other digital payloads. Radio Amateurs who have an interest in being part of discussions on these projects are invited to send their contact details including their Skype address to saamsat(a)intekom.com.za. For more information on SDR visit the AMSAT SA website at www.amsatsa.org.za and download the SDR presentation delivered by Deon Coetzee ZR1DE at the recently held space symposium. Join the conversation! {ANS thanks the SARL weekly news in English 2016-6-25 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sathyabamasat Update Forwarding a message received at the AMSAT Office. Keps sent by the Sathyabamasat team leader: I am Dr. K. Vasanth, team leader for sathyabamasat. Please find the TLE of sathyabamasat that was launched in PSLV c34 on 22 June 2016 by ISRO SATHYABAMASAT 1 99995U 16040Z 16175. 20805119 -.00000069 00000-0 00000+0 0 9993 2 99995 97.5054 234.3601 0013199 239.3342 211.7362 15.18710336 154 Kindly track our satellite and send me the tracked results if possible. E-mail vasanthecek at gmail dot com Thank you for the help regards Dr. K. Vasanth [ANS thanks the Sathyabamasat Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT P4 Information Published AMSAT-DL published information on Friday about their P4 mission: http://tinyurl.com/ANS178-amsat-p4-a-es-hail-2 (posted in German but on-line translation services are useful) The AMSAT-DL Phase 4 brochure is available at: http://amsat-dl.org/images/stories/satellites/Eshail-2/P4A_Leaflet.pdf AMSAT-UK covers this news also: https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/24/phase-4a-transponder-video/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UKube-1 Transponder Remains Active UKube-1's transponder continues to remain active. Users will find that their signals may disappear during short periods when the satellite's primary beacon is active. Once the primary beacon's transmission is finished, the transponder will go back to normal. The 145.15 MHz telemetry from FUNcube-2 is being copied a bit higher at 145.16 MHz. Users have noted that the transponder uplink is roughly 13-15 KHz high as well. [ANS thanks Clayton W5PFG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bahamas Satellite Activation Gabriel Zeifman, KM4RTS, made a successful satellite activation of the Bahamas as C6AGZ on Sunday, June 19. He reports that his Logbook of the World certificate has been approved and he will soon be uploading the contacts. Following his activation of the Bahamas, he activated several grid squares via satellite on a trip to Oklahoma City where he will reside following his recent college graduation. A relative newcomer to satellites, Gabriel has been steadily improving his portable station and now operates all FM and linear SSB transponders with ease using a pair of Yaesu FT-817ND transceivers and an Arrow II satellite antenna. [ANS thanks Clayton W5PFG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Call For Speakers For The AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 Final call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 which will be held from Saturday, July 29 to Sunday, July 31, 2016 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, United Kingdom: https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about Amateur satellites, CubeSats, Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on the AMSAT-UK web site or Oscar News. Those wishing to participate should contact Dave, G4DPZ, dave at g4dpz dot me dot uk [ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CY9C St. Paul Island Expedition June Update CY9C ST. PAUL ISLAND DXPEDITION (Update, dated June 18th). Randy, N0TG, reports: The countdown is on; just 60 days 'til activation. Procurement of final materials and supplies is in process and being shipped to team member K8LEE - Wayne. Wayne and Jay-K4ZLE will rent a cargo van for transport of most of the gear to our staging area in Canada departing their homes around 12 August. Phil, VA3QR, will be driving to the staging area with the generators and several other items. And, lastly Murray, WA4DAN, will also drive to Dingwall, Canada, with several yagi's. Other team members will be flying. The team is excited and looking forward to a very inclusive operation, i.e, satellite, 2 meter EME, RTTY, CW, SSB. We also have plans to include working Tech and General Class. We appreciate the visits to our website and those who have taken the "NEED SURVEY". We are gearing up to assure we meet the band and mode needs expressed, as well as, concentrating on successful contacts on the long and difficult propagation paths to various locations in Oceania, Japan, India, Asiatic Russia, western USA and VE, etc. Our thanks for the financial support; that helps greatly on the upfront cost of the dxpedition. Website: http://www.CY9DXpedition.com [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1270 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced The 2016 candidates, in alphabetical order by last names are: Tom Clark, K3IO Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Mark Hammond, N8MH Bruce Paige, KK5DO Paul Stoetzer, N8HM This year AMSAT-NA will be electing three voting members of the Board of Directors. These will go to the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternates chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT-NA membership by July 15, 2016 and must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15, 2016 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America will go by air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your location, please contact the AMSAT office. Completed ballots should be returned as promptly as possible, and those from outside North America preferably by air mail. Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that will accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. You have the option to vote for up to three candidates. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Gagarin From Space, "Slavic Commonwealth" Sochi, Russia and Cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka RN3FU using Callsign RS0ISS. The contact began 2016-06-19 09:30 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via R2Ø16SS. ARISS Mentor was Sergey RV3DR. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Thu 2016-06-30 07:55 UTC Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium, Bruchsal, Germany, direct via DN1JKG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-07-01 08:31:23 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] Exp. 46 back on earth. Congratulations on a job well done! Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + John 9H5G reports that I'll once again be active in C6 from January. I expect to activate the following grids: FL 05, 15, 14, 24, 23, 22, and possibly 21. Some of these will be /MM as they lack land. Unless I magically come across a pair of 817s or the like I'll only be on the FM birds although I may do some APRS once I get that figured out. [ANS thanks John 9H5G for the aboive information] + Congratulations to Frank Westphal for the Got Grids Award #16 For more info on these free awards go to www.starcommgroup.org These awards are free we only ask that you make a donation to Amsat if you can. [ANS thanks Damon WA4HFN for the above information] + 2016 ARRL / TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference ) Hilton Saint Petersburg Bayfront Hotel Tampa, FL September 16 - 19, 2016 DCC Information at: www.tapr.org/dcc [ANS thanks Mark Thompson for the above information] + Satellite presentations in September - So CA Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his satellite presentations in two venues in Southern CaliforniaSeptember. Thursday, September 1, 2016, 7:30 PM Downey Amateur Radio Club First Baptist Church, Room 120, in Downey, California. The church is between 2nd and 3rd streets, at 8348 E. 3rd St. Use 2nd St, East from Downey Ave (one block north of Firestone Blvd.) adjacent to City Hall. Entrance via double glass doors on the north side of 2nd St. Tuesday, September 13, 2016, 7:00 PM Sitting Bull Academy Library, 19445 Sitting Bull Road, Apple Valley. CA. [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] + Free Downloads: Mars Explorers Wanted Posters Mars needs you! In the future, Mars will need all kinds of explorers, farmers, surveyors, teachers … but most of all, YOU! Join NASA on the Journey to Mars as we explore with robots and, one day, send humans there. Download a Mars poster that speaks to you. Each of the eight posters represents a different type of explorer NASA is seeking. You can view them online, print them and share them with your friends. Check out the posters at http://tinyurl.com/ANS178-MoreOnMars And for more information about Mars, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/ [ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- June 23, 2016 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM (former KC8YLD) kc8yld at amsat dot org

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ANS-171 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 19 Jun '16

19 Jun '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-171 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * 2016 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced * May/June 2016 Issue of The AMSAT Journal Sent To Press * Amateur Radio Geostationary Satellite Phase 4B Information * ISRO PSLV-C34 will Launch 20 Satellites from Space Centre at Andhra Pradesh June 22 * Data Modes on Ham Radio Satellites * LibreCube Initiative Invites Comments on CubeSat PC Board Standardization * Special Calls From Brazil on the Satellites * Special Event Station K1D to Operate Satellites on Field Day 2016 * ARISS Delivers the Excitement of Space Exploration to UK Students * NASA Astronaut Scott Tingle Earns Amateur Radio License, KG5NZA * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-171.01 ANS-171 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 171.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 19, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-171.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced The 2016 candidates, in alphabetical order by last names are: Tom Clark, K3IO Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Mark Hammond, N8MH Bruce Paige, KK5DO Paul Stoetzer, N8HM This year AMSAT-NA will be electing three voting members of the Board of Directors. These will go to the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternates chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT-NA membership by July 15, 2016 and must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15, 2016 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America will go by air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your location, please contact the AMSAT office. Completed ballots should be returned as promptly as possible, and those from outside North America preferably by air mail. Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that will accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. You have the option to vote for up to three candidates. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- May/June 2016 Issue of The AMSAT Journal Sent To Press The May/June 2016 issue of The AMSAT Journal has gone to press and should be arriving in member's mailboxes soon. In this issue: *Dateline Dayton - Notes from Hamvention 2016 - Joe Kornowski, KB6IGK and Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF *Tom Clark, K3IO, Receives ARRL President's Award *GNU Radio Companion Protoype for a Dual Analog/Digtal Transponder System for the AMSAT GEO Mission - Dr. William C. Headley, KM4KAL, Dr. Robert McGwier, N4HY, and Dr. Tom Clark, K3IO *Orbital Debrief - Paul Stoetzer, N8HM *Member Footprints - John Smith, KI4RO *An Arduino Controlled GPS Corrected VFO - Gene Marcus, W3PM/GM4YRE *On the Grids - Melvin C. Vye, W8MV *AMSAT Activites at Greater Houston Hamfest 2016 - Allen F. Mattis, N5AVF and Andy MacAllister, W5ACM *GOTA Station Demos Satellites to Over 400 Students - Richard Siff, WA4BUE [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio Geostationary Satellite Phase 4B Information At website hosted by the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech lists the relevant information available for the Phase 4B HEO Satellite. The beginning parts of the brochure state: Hands on, Minds on; RF and Security Research at Virginia Tech: • On-orbit learning laboratory to develop new capabilities in satellite communications and amateur radio • Digital protocols to enable push-to-talk, WiFi, streaming video, etc. • Onboard processing - geolocation, co-channel, machine learning • App development and real time experimentation • Beam steering and coordinated collection • User authentication and prioritization • Open cryptography AMSAT Phase4B Project Program Specifications: • SDR-based 5 & 10 GHz amateur satellite payload being designed to take advantage of a geosynchronous launch opportunity • Rideshare opportunity on the US Air Force Remote Sensing Program Office Wide Field of View (WFOV) geosynchronous satellite being designed by Millennium Space Systems • Software-defined radio (SDR) payload from Rincon Research Corporation Dr. McGwier has promised upcoming articles for the AMSAT Journal and QST. see the full description at: http://www.hume.vt.edu/geo/ [ANS thanks Bob McGwier, N4HY, and the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISRO PSLV-C34 will Launch 20 Satellites from Space Centre at Andhra Pradesh June 22 The Indian Space Agency has announced that it would be launching twenty satellites from its Sriharikota barrier Island base off the southeast coast on June 22. According to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will lift off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh with 20 satellites at 9.25 am that day. While the rocket’s main cargo will be India’s 725.5 kg Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation, the other 19 satellites weighing around 560 kg are from Canada, Germany, Indonesia and the United States as well as one satellite each from Sathyabama University, Chennai, and the College of Engineering, Pune, said the Indiatoday.in report. The satellites will be launched from the second launch pad with a total payload of 1,288 kg. The whole mission will take approximately 26 minutes for its completion. The images sent by the Cartosat satellite will be useful for cartographic, urban, rural, coastal land use, water distribution and other applications. The Cartosat series of satellites was originated in India and is a part of Indian Remote Sensing Program. According to Indiatoday.in, the Swayam satellite weighing 1kg from Pune will provide point-to-point messaging services to the HAM radio community. HAM Radio, or Amateur Radio, is a popular service that brings people, electronics and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world, or even into space, all without the Internet or mobile phones. The 1.5 kg Sathyabamasat from Sathyabama University will collect data on greenhouse gases. Satellite Uplink Downlink Beacon Mode ------------ ------- -------- ------- --------------- BEESAT-4 . 435.950 435.950 4800bps GMSK,CW BIROS . 437.525 . 4800bps GMSK LAPAN-A3 435.880 145.880 145.825 FM,APRS Max Valier . 145.860 145.960 CW Sathyabamasat . 145.980 . 2400bps BPSK Swayam COEP . 437.025 437.025 1200bps BPSK,CW Venta-1 . . 437.325 CW ------------ ------- -------- ------- --------------- see http://www.newsgram.com/in-a-single-mission-on-june-22-isro-will-launch-20- satellites-from-space-centre-at-andhra-pradesh/ https://amsat-uk.org/2016/05/25/amateur-satellite-launch-from-india/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and newsgram.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Data Modes on Ham Radio Satellites Tony Bombardiere, K2MO has released a video showing operation of PSK31, PSK63, and Hellshreiber on the amateur radio satellites. He demonstrates WinPSK and IZ8BLY’s Hellschreiber which both have satellite capabilities. Essentially, the applications make it easy for the operator to monitor digital signals on the satellites downlink while simultaneously transmitting on the satellites uplink; it’s accomplished by utilizing the sound cards full-duplex operation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaaHy02g9cM https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/17/data-modes-on-ham-radio-satellites/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and Tony Bombardiere, K2MO, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- LibreCube Initiative Invites Comments on CubeSat PC Board Standardization On June 16 Cubesat.org announced on their cubesat(a)cubesat.org e-mail list that the LibreCube Initiative, a community-driven initiative to provide open source solutions for space and earth exploration, is seeking input to formalize the mechanical specification of the stacked PC/104 circuit boards utilized in most CubeSat designs. The LibreSat project invites inline comments into the draft document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vEx4Wg5NjpI21a7JNdPjHnXPRjmNMTzArlYTK1sg 1Ng/edit?usp=sharing You may also discuss about it in the forum: http://librecube.net/forums/topic/librecube-board-specification/ When finalized, this specification shall become binding for future LibreCube open source CubeSat projects, but may be useful to other members of the CubeSat community as well. More information about the LibreCube project can be found on their web page: http://www.librecube.net The e-mail contact provided on the announcement is: Email: artur.scholz(a)librecube.net [ANS thanks CubeSat.org and LibreCube.net for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Calls From Brazil on the Satellites The Brazilian Amateur Radio Satellite Community of ARSATC, is celebrating its first "birthday" on the air with the calls ZV8SAT, ZX9SAT, ZV1SAT, and ZV2SAT until the end of the month. They will be QRV on the Satellites; QSL for all calls via PT9BM and LoTW. More information is on-line at: http://www.arsatc.org/home.html [ANS thanks the DXNL 1993 - June 15, 2016 DX Newsletter for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Event Station K1D to Operate Satellites on Field Day 2016 Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday. Field Day 2016 is June 25-26. In an effort to encourage more kids and their families to get involved in the hobby, the kids at Ham Radio (dot) World are working to put an all-kids Special Event ARRL Field Day station on the air in 2016. This station will have the special event call sign of K1D and it will be set-up, operated, and put away by kids who are ham radio operators. Kids of all ages and their parents (both licensed hams and non-hams alike) are encouraged to come out and participate in this exciting event. New hams and even non-hams can experience the excitement of talking to people around the world with the Get On the Air (GOTA) station, which will have the callsign K4G. Both stations will operate from grid EL99IA in Deland, Florida, USA. The kids will be on the HF bands and on the Amateur Radio satellites. K1D will be joined by AMSAT’s Vice-President Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, who will be a kid-for-a-day to help get the kids on the linear satellites. Look for them and give them a shout! The K1D Special Event Field Day station will be built by the kids prior to the Field Day activities. The kids have built a solar power solution–from scratch–to use to power their K1D Special Event Field Day station. Kyocera Solar and West Mountain Radio have graciously donated parts to this solar power supply – THANK YOU! They also plan on using a Genasun MPPT Charge Controller to manage charging the battery. Emmett of Radiowavz.com is providing a Sentinel Expedition Hex Beam for K1D. Finally, the kids have built their own W7FG True Ladder Line antenna with parts provided by TrueLadderLine.com and are building additional antennas to use for Field Day. Keep watching Ham Radio (dot) World for videos of the kids as they build their Special Event Station. Join WX4TVJ (Zechariah), who was licensed at 12 years old, AE4FH (Faith Hannah), who was licensed at 10 years old, KM4IPF (Hope), who was licensed at 8 years old, & 7 year old Grace (KM4TXT)for Field Day 2016. Listen for them on the air and give them a break by making K1D one of your 2016 Field Day contacts. For helping to encourage youth in amateur radio, stations who work K1D and/or K4G during the 2016 ARRL Field Day will be eligible for a special K1D/K4G Commemorative QSL card. More information at http://hamradio.world/ [ANS thanks James, WX4TV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Delivers the Excitement of Space Exploration to UK Students Two stories shared in UK media capture the excitement and reward of the UK’s ARISS ham radio operations team’s efforts in connection with Tim Peake’s Principia Mission. Carole Cadwalladr, a writer from The Guardian (a UK national newspaper) was present for the ARISS contact on May 9 at The King’s School, Ottery St. Mary in Devon, UK. In the Sunday, May 29 edition, she posted a story that beautifully captures the spirit of space adventure and how the ARISS program brings that excitement to students, their educators, and their communities in profound ways. The story is at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/29/tim-peake-ground-control- revive-science-interest-schools-space TXFactor produced a documentary about the ARISS program’s interface with Tim Peake’s Principia Mission. The documentary describes the process UK schools undertook to apply for a scheduled radio interview with Peake, and preparations for the contact opportunity by the King’s School in Devon. It details the station set up by the ARISS UK Operations team which accomplished successful radio contacts between 10 UK schools during Peake's Principia endeavor. Seven of these ten contacts included the reception of HamTV signals both at the school (using a mobile based ATV reception facility) and a 3.8m dish located at the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station. Watch the video on YouTube at: http://www.txfactor.co.uk/txf011.shtml [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Astronaut Scott Tingle Earns Amateur Radio License, KG5NZA NASA Astronaut Scott Tingle Earns Amateur Radio License. He is now the owner of call sign KG5NZA and will support ARISS on upcoming ISS Expeditions 53 and 54. NASA Astronaut Scott D. Tingle has just earned his Amateur Radio license, passing his exam on June 3, 2016. The FCC issued the call sign, KG5NZA, to him on June 8. In January, as he began some NASA training in Russia he requested the license study material. He had heard about ARISS during his astronaut training, and in January, decided to study on his own. The astronaut training program runs for at least two years, is intense, and heavily loaded with all types of required studies, and Amateur Radio is optional. Tingle earned his technician license and plans to use it to support ARISS during his scheduled time on the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 53 crew. Launch is tentatively planned for fall of 2017. His stay continues into Expedition 54. Tingle graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 1988 with a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in fluid mechanics and propulsion. A captain in the United States Navy, he has served as a combat pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan and has earned copious awards and commendations. He was selected for the astronaut program in 2009 as one of 14 members of NASA Astronaut Group 20, and graduated in 2011. ARISS Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, said, "The ARISS Team is excited to see continuing great interest among the Astronauts and Astronaut Candidates who are looking forward to supporting Amateur Radio activities through the ARISS platform." About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, go to: www.ariss.org www.amsat.org www.arrl.org Also, join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status [ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN and ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Wednesday, 6 July 2016 – Chehalis Valley Amateur Radio Society meeting in Chehalis WA *Saturday, 13 August 2016 – KL7KC Hamfest in Fairbanks AK [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Sucessful Contacts * A telebridge contact via VK4KHZ with students at Briargreen Public School, Nepean, ON, Canada was successful Mon 2016-06-13 at 15:19:15 UTC 31 deg. Astronaut Timothy Peake, KG5BVI answered 15 questions for an audience of 250 students along with parents and visitors. Briargreen is an amazing K-6 open-concept school nestled in a suburban community of west Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. It is a caring community of diverse students, teachers and parents, who love to share both our in-class and out-of-class experiences with each other. Some of our noteworthy special events include our Kindergarten Chinese New Year parade, Terry Fox Run activities and junior community games days. Our learning community has some of the most wonderful students in the world! Visit our website at briargreenps.ocdsb.ca/Pages/home.aspx * Glenmore State High School, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut was Tim Kopra KE5UDN A telebridge contact via W6SRJ with students at Glenmore State High School, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia was successful Mon 2016-06-06 08:39:31 UTC 31 deg. The audience assembled in the school’s 500 seat sports stadium. All seats were filled with an additional 100 persons standing as astronaut Tim Kopra, KE5UDN provided answers to questions from students. Glenmore High School is a modern, progressive secondary school providing quality education for students from years 7 to 12. Since its establishment in 1975 Glenmore High School has earned a reputation for high quality educational programs and services which develop a passion in students for learning and life. Glenmore SHS runs an extension Science/Math program named “SCOPE” where students enroll and work through year levels at an accelerated rate, which allows them to finish traditional schooling early and conduct further studies at our local university, to which we are partnered (Central Queensland University), during their final year of schooling. Students in the “SCOPE- Science” program are encouraged to participate in our schools astronomy club and robotics club as an extra curricula activity. The schools astronomy club works with local primary schools, teaching about space and running viewing evenings. * Bouze Island Elementary and Junior High School, Homeji, Japan, direct via 8N3B The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut was Timothy Peake KG5BVI A direct contact via 8N3B with students at Bouze Island Elementary and Junior High School, Homeji, Japan, was successful Sat 2016-06-04 08:31:09 UTC 74 deg. Astronaut Timothy Peake KG5BVI answered 16 questions for students and an audience of 500. Watch a video of the interview at http://www.ariss.jp/bouze/bouze.wmv Bouze Island is one of the Ieshima small Islands which are located in the Seto Inland sea of Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. There are about 1400 people on the island and are part of the marine products industry. They live with simplicity and are friendly. But the students of this Island have not had a chance for scientific experience as part of their school education because of their remote location. There are 140 persons in the elementary school and 100 persons in the junior high school. Upcoming Contacts * Chuvash Republic, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Sun 2016-06-19 09:30 UTC Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS, Dave, AA4KN, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT Argentina Balloon Flight with Crossband Repeater AMSAT Argentina plans a high altitude balloon launch carrying a crossband repeater from Las Heras in the Mendoza province on July 9, 2016. Launch is currently planned for 10:00 AM local time, depending on weather conditions. AMSAT Argentina will also present news of their satellite plans. NEA-1 Repeater Information -------------------------- Uplink: 145.725 Mhz FM (123.0 Hz CTCSS) Downlink: 436.725 Mhz FM APRS information will be relayed via: http://aprs.fi/?call lu7aa-1 BALLOON NEA - 1 [ANS thanks AMSAT Argentina for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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ANS-164 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 12 Jun '16

12 Jun '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-164 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nomination Deadline This Week * ARRL Network Maintenance Set for Sunday, June 12 * 38 Years of Satellite Contacts Nets Satellite WAS for K8BL * Special Event Station K1D to Operate Satellites on Field Day 2016 * K6R Expedition to Santa Rosa Island and CM93 * Download Planetary Society's LightSail-2 Morse Beacon as a Ringtone SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-164.01 ANS-164 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 164.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. June 12, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-164.01 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nomination Deadline This Week It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Three director's terms expire this year: Tom Clark, K3IO, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and Lou McFadin, W5DID. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, Fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to MARTHA at AMSAT.ORG or Faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Network Maintenance Set for Sunday, June 12 The ARRL IT Department will conduct network maintenance on Sunday, June 12, to improve reliability and security. The work will occur between 1100 UTC and 2300 UTC. During this period some or all systems may be temporarily unavailable, including the website. Among services that will be affected are the ARRL Store, the National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) page, Logbook of The World (LoTW), the DXCC page, and the ARRL VEC page. E-mail also will be offline, but all messages will be queued for later delivery. Telephone service to ARRL Headquarters also may be affected. ARRL apologizes for any inconvenience. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- 38 Years of Satellite Contacts Nets Satellite WAS for K8BL Congratulations are in order to Bob Liddy, K8BL, for achieving Worked All States via satellite and earning WAS Satellite Award #341. The con- tacts for his award spanned 38 years. Bob's oldest satellite QSL card was from W7LSV in Oregon, 10/13/78 for an Oscar 8 Mode A CW contact. Bob's last state contacted was North Dakota W0N for a contact with Wyatt, AC0RA, via SO50 FM on 11/13/15. An AMSAT member since 1979, Bob wrote via the amsat-bb, "Earlier this year, I was going through my paper QSL's getting ready to make some submissions for various ARRL Awards at the Dayton Hamvention. Sorting through the cards, I made a stack of Satellite QSL's. I started to notice that I had quite a few States confirmed and wondered if I was finally close to WAS even though I wasn't really int he hunt very seriously. Would you believe I had them ALL worked but was only missing a QSL from Vermont?!! Happily, it was Nick, KB1RVT who I KNEW was always good for a confirmation which he quickly returned confirming our contact via SO-50 FM on 1/4/16. 50 Paper QSL's, 38 Years!! WHEW!! Thanks to all who helped." [ANS thanks -and, congratulates - Bob Liddy, K8BL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Event Station K1D to Operate Satellites on Field Day 2016 Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday. Field Day 2016 is June 25-26. In an effort to encourage more kids and their families to get involved in the hobby, the kids at Ham Radio (dot) World are working to put an all-kids Special Event ARRL Field Day station on the air in 2016. This station will have the special event call sign of K1D and it will be set-up, operated, and put away by kids who are ham radio operators. Kids of all ages and their parents (both licensed hams and non-hams alike) are encouraged to come out and participate in this exciting event. New hams and even non-hams can experience the excitement of talking to people around the world with the Get On the Air (GOTA) station, which will have the callsign K4G. Both stations will operate from grid EL99IA in Deland, Florida, USA. The kids will be on the HF bands and on the Amateur Radio satellites. K1D will be joined by AMSAT’s Vice-President Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, who will be a kid-for-a-day to help get the kids on the linear satellites. Look for them and give them a shout! The K1D Special Event Field Day station will be built by the kids prior to the Field Day activities. The kids have built a solar power solution–from scratch–to use to power their K1D Special Event Field Day station. Kyocera Solar and West Mountain Radio have graciously donated parts to this solar power supply – THANK YOU! They also plan on using a Genasun MPPT Charge Controller to manage charging the battery. Emmett of Radiowavz.com is providing a Sentinel Expedition Hex Beam for K1D. Finally, the kids have built their own W7FG True Ladder Line antenna with parts provided by TrueLadderLine.com and are building additional antennas to use for Field Day. Keep watching Ham Radio (dot) World for videos of the kids as they build their Special Event Station. Join WX4TVJ (Zechariah), who was licensed at 12 years old, AE4FH (Faith Hannah), who was licensed at 10 years old, KM4IPF (Hope), who was licensed at 8 years old, & 7 year old Grace (KM4TXT)for Field Day 2016. Listen for them on the air and give them a break by making K1D one of your 2016 Field Day contacts. For helping to encourage youth in amateur radio, stations who work K1D and/or K4G during the 2016 ARRL Field Day will be eligible for a special K1D/K4G Commemorative QSL card. More information at http://hamradio.world/ [ANS thanks James, WX4TV for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- K6R Expedition to Santa Rosa Island and CM93 The K6R Satellite Expedition to Santa Rosa Island and CM93 is a go for September 16th-18th, 2016. Permissions have been secured and arrangements made to get to the island, spend 2 nights camping, and operate on a number of Satellite passes – as well as some terrestrial and HF too. Updates will be on the K6R QRZ.com page at https://www.qrz.com/lookup/K6R and over the coming months FAQs, pictures, and more information will be added. [ANS thanks Wyatt, AC0RA & Dave, KG5CCI, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Planetary Society's LightSail-2 Morse Beacon as a Ringtone On the Planetary Society's Blog Jason Davis wrote about reception of the morse code beacon from the upcoming LightSail-2 mission ... "Many off-the-shelf CubeSat software packages also have an option to transmit Morse code beacons, and for the LightSail 2 mission, we're activating this feature. Every 45 seconds, the spacecraft will transmit "L-S-2," and radio operators tuned in to the spacecraft's 437.325 megahertz frequency should be able to hear it." The Blog provides details of how to make the LightSail-2 morse code beacon into a ringtone on your phone: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2016/20160609-lightsail-2-morse- code.html [ANS thanks the Planetary Society for the above information and wishes them success with their LightSail-2 mission] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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ANS-157 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 05 Jun '16

05 Jun '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-157 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice * French Schools to Talk to ISS * A Dozen Schools/Organizations Move Closer to Hosting a Ham Radio Contact with the ISS Crew * Amateur Satellite Launch from India * ÑUSAT-1 SSB/CW Transponder Satellite Launched * ZF2AE from Grand Cayman via Satellite * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-157.01 ANS-157 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 157.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 5, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-157.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Three director's terms expire this year: Tom Clark, K3IO, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and Lou McFadin, W5DID. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, Fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to MARTHA at AMSAT.ORG or Faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- French Schools to Talk to ISS ARISS-F and AMSAT-F have announced the 13 French schools that have been selected for amateur radio contacts with ISS astronaut Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG. He is planned to launch to the International Space Station in November 2016. The 13 French schools selected represents 66% of planned ARISS contacts for Europe. AMSAT-F article in Google English http://tinyurl.com/ARISS-Thomas-Pesquet ARISS-F list of selected schools http://tinyurl.com/ARISS-F Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG on Twitter https://twitter.com/Thom_astro [ANS thanks ARISS-F and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- A Dozen Schools/Organizations Move Closer to Hosting a Ham Radio Contact with the ISS Crew The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program has announced that 12 schools or organizations that submitted proposals to host an Amateur Radio contact with a member of the ISS crew have moved into the next stage of the selection process. Contacts would take place during the first half of 2017. The 12 semifinalists, in eight states, must now complete an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once the ARISS technical team approves the equipment plan, the selected schools/organizations will be scheduled, matching their availability and flexibility with the scheduling opportunities that NASA can offer. The schools and organizations are: Blair Pointe Upper Elementary School, Peru, Indiana Brook Haven School, Sebastopol, California Greater Niagara Frontier Council BSA, Buffalo, New York McBride High School, Long Beach, California Palmetto Scholars Academy, North Charleston, South Carolina Rainbow Middle School, Rainbow City, Alabama SCaN/Glenn Research Center, Brook Park, Ohio Space Center Houston, Houston, Texas St Joseph School, Ronkonkoma, New York Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, Tennessee Virginia Reinhardt Elementary School, Rockwall, Texas Warwick Valley Central School District, Warwick, New York The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities and raise their awareness of space exploration, space communications and related areas of study and career possibilities. [ANS thanks ARISS and the ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Satellite Launch from India Mineo Wakita JE9PEL reports on the Indian ISRO PSLV-C34 amateur radio satellite launch planned for June 10, 2016 at 0355 UT into a 500 km 98 degree inclination orbit. Main Payload, Cartosat-2C, Earth Observing PSLV-XL(C-34), Satish Dharwan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India Satellite Uplink Downlink Beacon Mode ------------ ------- -------- ------- --------------- BEESAT-4 . 435.950 435.950 4800bps GMSK,CW BIROS . 437.525 . 4800bps GMSK LAPAN-A3 . . . Non-Amateur Max Valier . 145.860 145.960 CW Sathyabamasat . 145.980 . 2400bps BPSK Swayam COEP . 437.025 437.025 1200bps BPSK,CW Venta-1 . . 437.325 CW ------------ ------- -------- ------- --------------- http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/be4lapan.htm Among the satellites being launched is Swayam-1 developed by students at the College of Engineering Pune (COEP). It will provide a text messaging facility using the COEPSAT protocol. see http://amsatindia.org/coep-satellite-swayam-project/ http://www.coep.org.in/csat/track-swayam/ UPDATE: Yono YD0NXX reports the Indonesian built LAPAN-A3 does not have an amateur radio payload. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ÑUSAT-1 SSB/CW Transponder Satellite Launched ÑUSAT-1, carrying an amateur radio 435/145 MHz linear transponder and a 436 MHz telemetry beacon, was launched May 30, 2016 at 0317 UT on a CZ-4B rocket from Taiyuan. With ÑUSAT-1 on the launch was its sister satellite ÑUSAT-2 which has a 437 MHz beacon. UPDATE May 30, 2016 at 1300 UT: ÑUSAT-1 and ÑUSAT-1 launched and deployed successfully, signals reported from both telemetry beacons. Satellogic reports “All Systems: Nominal”. AMSAT-LU reports both satellites are sending strong TLM on 436.445/437.445 at 9K6/19K2 GFSK. During first few days they are being stabilized, after that the U/V linear transponder will be activated on ÑUSAT-1. A notice will be given on the AMSAT Bulletin Board (AMSAT-BB). As we quoted when the announcement of the launching of this experiment, Amsat Argentina has been working for several years to keep alive the dream of many Argentine amateurs to get back into Space with their own satellite as a follow- on of the legendary 1990’s LUSAT-1, reaping the benefits of Technological advancement of our days. We believe technical activities and developments of experiments in near space share the same goals: preserving the human group, enhancing their capabilities as well as disseminate and guiding the education and development of the activity, meanwhile contributing to Space available resources. Our agreement with Satellogic Enterprises, which already launched three low orbit satellites: Captain Beto, Manolito y Tita, two of which transmit telemetry and data currently in UHF identifying themselves with callsign LU7AA, allowed us to ride a linear analog amateur radio transponder and corresponding antenna aboard one of their next satellite, ÑUSAT-1 AMSAT-LU provides simultaneously, support for this mission and the ÑUSAT-2 mission, by operating one of the control stations at Tortuguitas, Prov. Of Bs.As. The experiment Amsat-LU developed, evolved from original design of our colleague and partner William, PE1RAH, while electronic adaptation, mechanical and software was made by the LU Satellite Experiment group, mounted on a 10 x 10 centimeters radiating plate, in which components of the power supply as well as a duplexer and dual band antenna where also incorporated. This set was installed on the Ñusat-1 bus, which supplies power and becomes part of several other experiments this satellite will make. The transponder receives UHF which is broadcasted in VHF, has a bandwidth of 30 kHz. with an output power of 250 mW. 435.935 ~ 435.965 are LSB/CW uplink passband 145.965 ~ 145.935 are USB/CW downlink passband 145.900 Basic CW Telemetry The launch will be from a Chinese launcher in a polar orbit at 500 km. height, with inclination of 97 degrees from Equator. see http://www.amsat.org.ar https://www.facebook.com/Amsat.LU http://lusex.org.ar http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-Argentia for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ZF2AE from Grand Cayman via Satellite Cayman Islands (EK99) - Adrian, AA5UK will be QRV as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman, IOTA NA-016 from June 27, 2016 - July 2, 2016. Activity is holiday style on 40 to 6 meters mostly RTTY/PSK, including satellite activity from grid EK99HI41RB. He will also be active in the DL DX RTTY contest in the Single Operator, Multiband, Single Radio category. QSL to home call, bureau, LOTW preferred. For pass updates, see @AA5UK on Twitter http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=3921 [ANS thanks JoAnne, K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Friday and Saturday, 10-11 June 2016 – Ham-Com 2016 in Irving TX *Saturday, 11 June 2016 – Prescott Hamfest in Prescott AZ *Wednesday, 6 July 2016 – Chehalis Valley Amateur Radio Society meeting in Chehalis WA *Saturday, 13 August 2016 – KL7KC Hamfest in Fairbanks AK [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Sucessful Contacts * Venta School, Carp, ON, Canada, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact was successful: Mon 2016-05-30 19:01:25 UTC 32 deg A telebridge contact via IK1SLD with students at Venta School,Carp, Ontario, Canada was successful 2016-05-30 19:01:25 UTC 32 deg. Astronaut Jeff Williams answered 12 questions for an audience of 150 students and teachers. Venta Preparatory School is a small co-ed day and boarding school from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 10, located just outside of Ottawa in Carp, Ontario. We foster and continually enhance an environment where each student can grow and achieve their highest potential. Upcoming Contacts * Bouze Island Elementary and Junior High School, Homeji, Japan, direct via 8N3B The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-06-04 08:31:09 UTC 74 deg Bouze Island is one of the Ieshima small Islands which are located in the Seto Inland sea of Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. There are about 1400 people on the island and are part of the marine products industry. They live with simplicity and are friendly. But the students of this Island have not had a chance for scientific experience as part of their school education because of their remote location. There are 140 persons in the elementary school and 100 persons in the junior high school. * Glenmore State High School, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-06-06 08:39:31 UTC 31 deg Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS, Dave, AA4KN, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over N5AFV Reaches 57,000 Satellite Contacts George, WA5KBH reports on the AMSAT-BB that on the FO29 west pass on May 29 I had the privilege of being Allen's (N5AFV) 57,000th contact! Well done, My Good friend!!! And Hector (W5CBF) was his 57,001th! [ANS thanks George, WA5KBH for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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ANS-150 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 29 May '16

29 May '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-150 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D Launch No Earlier Than July 28, 2016 * 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice * AMSAT's Bob Carpenter W3OTC Inducted into CQ Hall of Fame * AMSAT Demonstration Station at the Dayton Hamvention Recap * A Tiny Satellite of Your Very Own * New VHF, UHF, uW Handbook Available for Download * Amateur Satellite Launch from India * UWE-3 Status Report * Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat Video * Es’Hail-2 Geostationary P4-A Transponder Frequencies * ÑUSAT-1 SSB/CW Transponder Satellite * ESA Announces Winning Radio Amateurs * Symposium to Address Interference-free Satellite Services * DCC Call for Papers * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-150.01 ANS-150 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 150.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE May 29, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-150.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D Launch No Earlier Than July 28, 2016 This week AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, announced at the Dayton Hamvention AMSAT Forum on Saturday that the launch for Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D is now NET (No Earlier Than) July 28, 2016. Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D will be integrated onto the Spaceflight Sherpa platform for its maiden flight aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. http://www.amsat.org/?p=5219 Not a member of AMSAT yet? You're invited to join on-line at: http://store.amsat.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=32 Please consider making a donation to support the Fox-1 series of cubesats using the links on the front page http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Three director's terms expire this year: Tom Clark, K3IO, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and Lou McFadin, W5DID. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, Fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to MARTHA at AMSAT.ORG or Faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT's Bob Carpenter W3OTC Inducted into CQ Hall of Fame Bob Carpenter, W3OTC, a longtime devoted AMAST volunteer became a Silent Key Friday, January 8th. Bill Tynan, W3XO, wrote a memorial item in ANS-024 http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2016/000893.html AMSAT has received the news that Bob has been inducted into the CQ Hall of Fame. CQ ANNOUNCES 2016 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES (Press Release, Date May 20th): CQ magazine today announced its 2016 Hall of Fame inductees, including only the second non-amateurs elected to the CQ DX Hall of Fame, two new inductees to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame and 21 new members of the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honors those individuals, whether licensed hams or not, who have made significant contributions to amateur radio; and those amateurs who have made significant contributions either to amateur radio, to their professional careers or to some other aspect of life on our planet. The 2016 inductees (listed alphabetically) are: Bob Arnold, N2JEU (SK) - Co-developer (with Keith Lamonica, W7DXX, see below) of the first internet-controlled remote base Grant Bingeman, KM5RG (SK) - Developed "method of moments" antenna modeling software for AM broadcast stations and 160-meter amateur antennas Bob Carpenter, W3OTC (SK) - Pioneer of meteor scatter and FM stereo broadcast technology; longtime AMSAT volunteer David Dary, W5ZAX - Journalist, author, journalism educator - former correspondent for CBS and NBC News, journalism professor at University of Kansas and University of Oklahoma, author of over 20 books on the American West Matt Ettus, N2MJI - Software defined radio pioneer; developed first Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) with GNU radio software support Terry Fox, WB4FJI - Packet radio pioneer; primary developer of AX.25 amateur packet protocol Elmer "Bud" Frohardt, Jr., W9DY (SK) -- The original "Elmer" for whom ham radio mentors are named (courtesy of a 1971 QST "How's DX?" column by Rod Newkirk, W9BRD/VA3ZBB) Fred Gissoni, K4JLX (SK) - Adaptive technology pioneer; co-developer of the Porta-Braille and Pocket-Braille note-taking devices for the visually impaired, as well as many other devices Ken Kellerman, K2AOE - Radioastronomer; pioneer of radio interferometry; co-developer of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), which permits multiple telescopes to function as a single instrument Keith Lamonica, W7DXX - Co-developer (with the late Bob Arnold, N2JEU) of the first internet-controlled remote base George Mitchell, K6ZE (SK) - Member of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and 2007 recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal for his wartime service Les Mitchell, G3BHK (SK) - Founder of Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), annual event to introduce amateur radio to scouts and guides around the world William Moerner, WN6I - Co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work in high-resolution microscopy Leigh Orf, KG4ULP - Co-developer of tornado simulator using computer modeling to simulate conditions under which tornadoes form Joe Rudi, NK7U - Former Major League baseball player; 3-time All-Star Wes Schum, W9DYV (SK) - Co-founder of Central Electronics, developed first commercially-manufactured amateur radio SSB transmitter Garry Shandling, ex-KQ6KA/KD6OY (SK) - Well-known comedian, actor, writer and television personality Mason Southwirth, ex-W1VLH (SK) - Head of ARRL International Geophysical Year (IGY) Propagation Research Project in 1958-59; conducted additional propagation research at Stanford University Boris Stepanov, RU3AX (ex-UW3AX) - Leading Russian amateur, deputy editor of Russian Radio magazine; pioneer of computerized contest logging and log-checking; developed prototype for World Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC); first to propose "glass cockpit" for ham transceiver, combining frequency readout and spectrum scope on front panel display Rufus Turner, W3LF (SK) - Believed to be the first African-American radio amateur in the U.S.; helped develop 1N34A diode; wrote 1949 article in Radio-Electronics magazine on how to "Build a Transistor" Perry Williams, W1UED (SK) - Longtime ARRL Washington Coordinator and League archivist; convinced Congress to approve vanity call- sign program and not to impose a license application fee on amateurs; persuaded FCC to retain large amateur microwave al- locations and to create primary amateur allocation at 2.4 GHz [ANS thanks CQ Magazine for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Demonstration Station at the Dayton Hamvention Recap This was my first year running the AMSAT demonstration station at the Dayton Hamvention after Keith Pugh, W5IU, had run it for many years. After volunteering at the demo station the past couple of years, I knew what to expect: a poor horizon to the north (due to the arena), high levels of RF (including lids running FM simplex inside the satellite subband on 2m), and lots of fun demoing satellite operation to curious newcomers as well as meeting many satellite operators I've worked on the satellites in person. The core of the demo station was similar to past years. I brought my pair of Yaesu FT-817s (known fondly among many satellite operators as a Yaesu FT-1634) as well as a Windows 10 tablet and a FUNcube Dongle Pro+. The antenna was an Arrow II 146/437-10BP and I also brought a cheap Optera camera tripod. In addition, John Papay, K8YSE, brought his Icom IC-910H, laptop, and Arrow antenna on a speaker stand with a mount that allowed a smooth way to change polarity throughout the pass. With this mix of equipment, we were able to demonstrate several methods of satellite operating: computer controlled Doppler tuning of a transceiver designed for satellite operating, manual Doppler tuning with a pair of VHF/UHF all-mode transceivers, and use of an SDR receiver with a VHF/UHF all-mode receiver for full-duplex operating on linear transponders. The demo area was up and running by the time the outdoor areas of the Hamvention opened at 8:00am on Friday morning. Our first pass was an XW-2A pass at 8:17am, with K8YSE operating his IC-910H and KD8CAO running the antenna. The demos were generally a two man operation with one operator at the radio and one serving as the antenna rotor. After this pass, we listened to the 70cm PSK31 signal from NO-84 and a few packet bursts from the ISS using the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ and Windows 10 tablet before a pair of AO-85 passes and an XW-2F pass operated by K8YSE. By special request, the AO-73 transponder was activated a day area and was available for Friday morning's demos. I operated the 10:51am pass with my pair of Yaesu FT-817s. A video of this pass is available on the AMSAT North America Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7828379515/permalink/10154235785829516/ Later, I operated an SO-50 and FO-29 pass with that pair of FT-817s as well, but had to fight strong desense. After those two passes, I grabbed a diplexer I had brought and placed it on the 2m transmit side (to filter out the third harmonic from the transmitter) and experienced no further desense problems with my setup. PY5LF captured part of the SO-50 pass on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVPb1a9NqxQ K8YSE then operated the rest of the FO-29, AO-7, and SO-50 passes that afternoon. On Saturday morning, we opened with listening (and decoding a bit) to the PSK31 beacon on NO-84. Unfortunately, we did not have HF transmit capability. The signal from NO-84's PSK31 transponder is very good and I highly recommend anyone who can transmit on 10m at 25-50 watts and receive a 70cm FM signal give it a try. After working an XW-2F pass with the pair of FT-817s, I decided to give the SDR receiver a try and made one QSO each on XW-2C and XW-2A using the SDR as a downlink receiver. This was the first time I had tried doing this and it was fun, though I definitely need some more practice with it! I also tried the SDR receiver on AO-73 and FO-29 and made a couple of QSOs. Shortly after the ARRL Youth Forum ended around noon, a large crowd began to arrive at the demo area. Nine-year old Hope Lea, KM4IPF, who had given a talk at the Youth Forum operated a pass of SO-50 around 12:19pm and made many QSOs from coast-to-coast. A video of this pass is available from the AMSAT North America Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/james.g.lea/videos/10154297928734363/ After the SO-50 pass, we made several QSOs on FO-29 and then listened to the SPROUT digitalker. The SPROUT digitalker is generally active on Saturday passes. A video of this pass is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FRNZkMb5yM K8YSE then operated the Saturday afternoon passes of FO-29, AO-7, and AO-85 with his Icom IC-910H setup. Highlights included several of us passing around the microphone to work Paulo, PV8DX, in Brazil. We got an early start on Sunday morning, operating a pass of AO-85 to the northeast using my dual FT-817 setup just prior to 8:00am. Although I was the only person in the demo area, I made three QSOs on AO-85, holding the antenna myself and leaning over the table to operate the radio. After this, I operated a pass of XW-2F around 8:30am. For the 8:44am XW-2A pass, ARRL Media & Public Relations Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, took the microphone and made several QSOs on that pass while I pointed the antenna. Although I did have a tripod for the antenna, I was simply using the stock camera tripod mount and had no way to adjust polarity. Since polarity is so critical while operating satellites, the operators who pointed the antenna while using my Arrow generally took the antenna off the tripod and held it in their hand for quick polarity adjustments. K8YSE's speaker stand mount demonstrated a good way to mount an Arrow antenna on a tripod while retaining adequate control over polarity. The next pass after this was a low western pass of XW-2C where I made several QSOs. At 9:37am, we operated a pass of AO-85 and made QSOs from coast-to-coast. A video of AMSAT VP of Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, at the microphone is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrmzym39X5E I would note that we were using a pair of FT-817s, barefoot, on that pass and were able to make several QSOs with just 5 watts, mostly full quieting. Though AO-85 can often take a bit more power to get in to, QSOs using 5 watts and an Arrow antenna are very possible. Passes of SO-50, AO-73, and FO-29 rounded out the demos for the Hamvention and we were QRT at 12:12pm on Sunday, but not before working MI6GTY in Northern Ireland on FO-29. It was nice to get Europe in the log from the Dayton Hamvention demo station and it was our last QSO of the 2016 Hamvention. The AMSAT demo station has been a fun place to spend a majority of the last three Dayton Hamventions and I would encourage all satellite operators and those curious about satellite operation to visit the station outside of Ball Arena (near the ARRL and AMSAT booth areas) next May. Volunteers and guest operators are always sought! A few pictures are posted on the AMSAT North America Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7828379515/permalink/10154235785829516/ (The AMSAT North America Facebook group is very active - in fact, traffic has likely surpassed the traffic on the AMSAT-BB. If you are not a member, I would encourage you to check it out https://www.facebook.com/groups/7828379515/?qsefr=1) Thanks to the following for volunteering at the demo station (and apologies if I missed anyone): Mark Hammond, N8MH Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA John Papay, K8YSE Doug Papay, KD8CAO Art Payne, VE3GNF Wyatt Dirks, AC0RA Michael Kirkhart, KD8QBA John Brier, KG4AKV Jeff Griffin, KB2M Hope Lea, KM4IPF Sean Kutzko, KX9X Thanks to the following for providing equipment for the demo station: Mike Young, WB8CXO (Batteries) Keith Pugh, W5IU (DC power distribution) Washington, DC P. S. I did not keep logs at the demo station, though I will remember if I worked you! If you need a card or LoTW upload for EM79, please let me know. -Paul, N8HM [ANS thanks to AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM and his team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- A Tiny Satellite of Your Very Own They're not just for rocket scientists anymore Satellites used to be the exclusive playthings of rich governments and wealthy corporations. But increasingly, as space becomes more democratized, these sophisticated technologies are coming within reach of ordinary people. Just like drones before them, miniature satellites are beginning to fundamentally transform our conceptions of who gets to do what up above our heads. As a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences highlights, these satellites hold tremendous potential for making satellite-based science more accessible than ever before. However, as the cost of getting your own satellite in orbit plummets, the risks of irresponsible use grow. The question here is no longer “Can we?” but “Should we?” What are the potential downsides of having a slice of space densely populated by equipment built by people not traditionally labeled as “professionals”? And what would the responsible and beneficial development and use of this technology actually look like? Some of the answers may come from a nonprofit organization that has been building and launching amateur satellites for nearly 50 years. Just a few inches across and ready for orbit. The technology we’re talking about Having your own personal satellite launched into orbit might sound like an idea straight out of science fiction. But over the past few decades a unique class of satellites has been created that fits the bill: CubeSats. The “Cube” here simply refers to the satellite’s shape. The most common CubeSat (the so-called “1U” satellite) is a 10 cm (roughly 4 inches) cube, so small that a single CubeSat could easily be mistaken for a paperweight on your desk. These mini, modular satellites can fit in a launch vehicle’s formerly “wasted space.” Multiples can be deployed in combination for more complex missions than could be achieved by one CubeSat alone. Within their compact bodies these minute satellites are able to house sensors and communications receivers/transmitters that enable operators to study the Earth from space, as well as space around the Earth. They’re primarily designed for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) – an easily accessible region of space from around 200 to 800 miles above the Earth, where human- tended missions like the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station (ISS) hang out. But they can attain more distant orbits; NASA plans for most of its future Earth-escaping payloads (to the moon and Mars especially) to carry CubeSats. Because they’re so small and light, it costs much less to get a CubeSat into Earth orbit than a traditional communication or GPS satellite. For instance, a research group here at Arizona State University recently claimed their developmental “femtosats” (especially small CubeSats) could cost as little as US$3,000 to put in orbit. This decrease in cost is allowing researchers, hobbyists and even elementary school groups to put simple instruments into LEO, by piggybacking onto rocket launches, or even having them deployed from the ISS. The first CubeSat was created in the early 2000s, as a way of enabling CalPoly and Stanford graduate students to design, build, test and operate a spacecraft with similar capabilities to the USSR’s Sputnik. Since then, NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office and even Boeing have all launched and operated CubeSats. There are more than 130 currently operational in orbit. The NASA Educational Launch of Nano Satellite (ELaNa) program, which offers free launches for educational groups and science missions, is now open to U.S. nonprofit corporations as well. Clearly, satellites are not just for rocket scientists anymore. Thinking inside the box The National Academy of Sciences report emphasizes CubeSats' importance in scientific discovery and the training of future space scientists and engineers. Yet it also acknowledges that widespread deployment of LEO CubeSats isn’t risk- free. The greatest concern the authors raise is space debris – pieces of “junk” that orbit the earth, with the potential to cause serious damage if they collide with operational units, including the ISS. Currently, there aren’t many CubeSats and they’re tracked closely. Yet as LEO opens up to more amateur satellites, they may pose an increasing threat. As the report authors point out, even near-misses might lead to the “creation of an onerous regulatory framework and affect the future disposition of science CubeSats.” More broadly, the report authors focus on factors that might impede greater use of CubeSat technologies. These include regulations around earth-space radio communications, possible impacts of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (which govern import and export of defense-related articles and services in the U.S.), and potential issues around extra-terrestrial contamination. But what about the rest of us? How can we be sure that hobbyists and others aren’t launching their own “spy” satellites, or (intentionally or not) placing polluting technologies into LEO, or even deploying low-cost CubeSat networks that could be hijacked and used nefariously? As CubeSat researchers are quick to point out, these are far-fetched scenarios. But they suggest that now’s the time to ponder unexpected and unintended possible consequences of more people than ever having access to their own small slice of space. In an era when you can simply buy a CubeSat kit off the shelf, how can we trust the satellites over our heads were developed with good intentions by people who knew what they were doing? Some “expert amateurs” in the satellite game could provide some inspiration for how to proceed responsibly. Guidance from experienced amateurs In 1969, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) was created in order to foster ham radio enthusiasts' participation in space research and communication. It continued the efforts, begun in 1961, by Project OSCAR – a U.S.-based group that built and launched the very first nongovernmental satellite just four years after Sputnik. As an organization of volunteers, AMSAT was putting “amateur” satellites in orbit decades before the current CubeSat craze. And over time, its members have learned a thing or two about responsibility. Here, open-source development has been a central principle. Within the organization, AMSAT has a philosophy of open sourcing everything – making technical data on all aspects of their satellites fully available to everyone in the organization, and when possible, the public. According to a member of the team responsible for FOX 1-A, AMSAT’s first CubeSat: This means that it would be incredibly difficult to sneak something by us … there’s no way to smuggle explosives or an energy emitter into an amateur satellite when everyone has access to the designs and implementation. However, they’re more cautious about sharing info with nonmembers, as the organization guards against others developing the ability to hijack and take control of their satellites. This form of “self-governance” is possible within long-standing amateur organizations that, over time, are able to build a sense of responsibility to community members, as well as society more generally. How does responsible development evolve? But what happens when new players emerge, who don’t have deep roots within the existing culture? Hobbyist and student “new kids on the block” are gaining access to technologies without being part of a longstanding amateur establishment. They are still constrained by funders, launch providers and a tapestry of regulations – all of which rein in what CubeSat developers can and cannot do. But there is a danger they’re ill-equipped to think through potential unintended consequences. What these unintended consequences might be is admittedly far from clear. Certainly, CubeSat developers would argue it’s hard to imagine these tiny satellites causing substantial physical harm. Yet we know innovators can be remarkably creative with taking technologies in unexpected directions. Think of something as seemingly benign as the cellphone – we have microfinance and text- based social networking at one end of the spectrum, improvised explosive devices at the other. This is where a culture of social responsibility around CubeSats becomes important – not simply for ensuring that physical risks are minimized (and good practices are adhered to), but also to engage with a much larger community in anticipating and managing less obvious consequences of the technology. This is not an easy task. Yet the evidence from AMSAT and other areas of technology development suggest that responsible amateur communities can and do emerge around novel technologies. For instance, see the diy-bio community, where hobbyists work in advanced community biotech labs. Their growing community commitment to safety and responsibility is highlighting how amateurs can embrace responsibility in research and innovation. A similar commitment is seen within open-source software and hardware communities, such as the members of the Linux Foundation. The challenge here, of course, is ensuring that what an amateur community considers to be responsible, actually is. Here’s where there needs to be a much wider public conversation that extends beyond government agencies and scientific communities to include students, hobbyists, and anyone who may potentially stand to be affected by the use of CubeSat technology. See the Houston Chronicle website for further readings: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Your-own-persona… satellite-7947152.php?t=756e94597b438d9cbb [ANS thanks Elizabeth Garbee and Andrew Maynard from Arizona State University for the above information --------------------------------------------------------------------- New VHF, UHF, uW Handbook Available for Download Version 7.5 of the IARU Region 1 VHF Handbook is now available for download. The key Amateur Satellite section is on pages 123-131. There are also chapters on Band Planning, Contests, Propagation Research, Operating Procedures. Page 116 defines which way to thread a helical beam antenna. http://www.iaru-r1.org/index.php/documents/Documents/VHF/Handbook-7.50.pdf/ [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Satellite Launch from India Mineo Wakita JE9PEL reports on the Indian ISRO PSLV-C34 amateur radio satellite launch planned for June 10, 2016 at 0355 UT into a 500 km 98 degree inclination orbit. Main Payload, Cartosat-2C, Earth Observing PSLV-XL(C-34), Satish Dharwan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India Satellite Uplink Downlink Beacon Mode ------------ ------- -------- ------- --------------- BEESAT-4 . 435.950 435.950 4800bps GMSK,CW BIROS . 437.525 . 4800bps GMSK LAPAN-A3 . . . Non-Amateur Max Valier . 145.860 145.960 CW Sathyabamasat . 145.980 . 2400bps BPSK Swayam COEP . 437.025 437.025 1200bps BPSK,CW Venta-1 . . 437.325 CW ------------ ------- -------- ------- --------------- http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/be4lapan.htm Among the satellites being launched is Swayam-1 developed by students at the College of Engineering Pune (COEP). It will provide a text messaging facility using the COEPSAT protocol. see http://amsatindia.org/coep-satellite-swayam-project/ http://www.coep.org.in/csat/track-swayam/ UPDATE: Yono YD0NXX reports the Indonesian built LAPAN-A3 does not have an amateur radio payload. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UWE-3 Status Report On May 21, 2016 the CubeSat UWE-3 celebrated 2.5 years in space without any significant failures. Batteries, EPS, OBC and ADCS are fine, nevertheless we were confronted with a minor problem with one of the radios UWE-3 autonomously recovered from. Since then UWE-3 is in a very stable condition again. Some weeks ago we have re-initiated operations with UWE-3 on an interim basis. The goal is to test new magnetic control algorithms in space. Therefore we operate the satellite on the 436.395200 MHz frequency and perform data downloads from time to time. In the figure below the satellite’s rotation rate w is shown for one of the experiments. The goal was to establish a rotation about the satellite’s X-axis at 10 deg/s while the Y/Z-axes should be at 0 deg/s. In general the desired rotation rate could be achieved but with major deviations from the setpoint. With the intention of optimizing the relevant control laws we will continue with these experiments within the next days and weeks. During our experiments we received an outstanding support from the radio community from all over the world we are very thankful for. The received packets were instantaneous injected into our algorithms and delivered an important contribution to our research work. We would like to express our special thanks to DK3WN, PE0SAT, DL8MCO, EU1XX, ON4HF, Rainer, JA5BLZ, JA6PL, CU2JX, LU4EOU, JA1GDE, SP7THR, G7GQW, YC3BVG, JF1EUY, JE9PEL, JE1CVL, JO1PTD, ZL4JL, EA7ADI, K4KDR, JA0CAW, JH4XSY, PA2EON, SM0TGU. THANK YOU! Yours sincerely, UWE-3 Team UWE-3 was launched with FUNcube-1 on November 21, 2013. Latest UWE-3 news at http://www7.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/forschung/space_exploration/projects /uwe_3/uwe_3_news/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat Video The Russian space agency Roscosmos has released a video of the Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat commemorative transmission from the International Space Station. The satellite was developed by students at the Tomsk Polytechnic University to test new space materials technology and is the world’s first space vehicle with a 3D-printed structure. It was launched from Baikonur to the ISS on March 31, 2016 in a Progress-MS-2 cargo vessel. It will be deployed by hand during a future Russian spacewalk (EVA), which is why unlike other CubeSats this one has a handle. The call sign of the satellite is RS4S. Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat Callsign RS4SIn May 2016 the Tomsk Polytechnic University celebrated its 120th anniversary. As part of the celebrations on May 10/11 the Tomsk-TPU-120 was activated in the ISS and transmitted a greeting to Earth inhabitants, recorded by students of the university in 10 languages: Russian, English, German, French, Chinese, Arabic, Tatar, Indian, Kazakh and Portuguese. The greeting message was transmitted once a minute on 437.025 MHz FM. One of the Kenwood transceivers on the ISS provided a cross-band relay, re- transmitting the signal on 145.800 MHz FM. The video, recorded in the Russian ISS Service Module, shows the CubeSat and the amateur radio station. The video is in Russian. Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnYIjgGU4vQ The next Russian spacewalk appears to be EVA-43 which is expected to take place in early 2017 http://spaceflight101.com/iss/iss-calendar/ World’s First 3D-printed Satellite http://tpu.ru/en/news-events/760/ Dmitry R4UAB operates a WebSDR which you can use to receive the transmissions when the ISS is over Russia http://websdr.r4uab.ru/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Es’Hail-2 Geostationary P4-A Transponder Frequencies The launch of the Es’Hail-2 satellite into a geostationary orbit at 25.5 degrees East is planned for December 2016. The coverage area of the amateur radio Narrowband (NB) and Wideband (WB) transponders should extend from Brazil to Thailand. Es’hail 2 will carry two “Phase 4” amateur radio non-inverting transponders operating in the 2400 MHz and 10450 MHz bands. A 250 kHz bandwidth linear transponder intended for conventional analogue operations and an 8 MHz bandwidth transponder for experimental digital modulation schemes and DVB amateur television. Narrowband Linear transponder 2400.050 - 2400.300 MHz Uplink 10489.550 - 10489.800 MHz Downlink Wideband digital transponder 2401.500 - 2409.500 MHz Uplink 10491.000 - 10499.000 MHz Downlink Equipment requirements: X-Band 10 GHz Downlink: – 89 cm dishes in rainy areas at EOC like Brazil or Thailand – 60 cm around coverage peak – 75 cm dishes at peak -2dB – NB: linear vertical polarisation – WB: linear horizontal polarisation S-Band 2.4 GHz NB-Uplink: – narrow band modes like SSB, CW – 5W nominal Uplink power (22.5 dBi antenna gain, 75cm dish) – RHCP polarisation S-Band 2.4 GHz WB-Uplink (DATV): – wide band modes, DVB-S2 – peak EIRP of 53 dBW (2.4m dish and 100W) required – RHCP polarisation Presentation on Es’hail by Peter Guelzow DB2OS, President of AMSAT-DL, at the 2013 AMSAT-UK Colloquium http://www.batc.tv/streams/amsat1306 [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-DL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ÑUSAT-1 SSB/CW Transponder Satellite The launch of ÑUSAT-1, the second AMSAT ARGENTINA amateur satellite on May 30, will mark an extraordinary event for our Institution and fostering of hope for satellite community. As we quoted when the announcement of the launching of this experiment, Amsat Argentina has been working for several years to keep alive the dream of many Argentine amateurs to get back into Space with their own satellite as a follow- on of the legendary 1990’s LUSAT-1, reaping the benefits of Technological advancement of our days. We believe technical activities and developments of experiments in near space share the same goals: preserving the human group, enhancing their capabilities as well as disseminate and guiding the education and development of the activity, meanwhile contributing to Space available resources. Our agreement with Satellogic Enterprises, which already launched three low orbit satellites: Captain Beto, Manolito y Tita, two of which transmit telemetry and data currently in UHF identifying themselves with callsign LU7AA, allowed us to ride a linear analog amateur radio transponder and corresponding antenna aboard one of their next satellite, ÑUSAT-1 AMSAT-LU provides simultaneously, support for this mission and the ÑUSAT-2 mission, by operating one of the control stations at Tortuguitas, Prov. Of Bs.As. The experiment Amsat-LU developed, evolved from original design of our colleague and partner William, PE1RAH, while electronic adaptation, mechanical and software was made by the LU Satellite Experiment group, mounted on a 10 x 10 centimeters radiating plate, in which components of the power supply as well as a duplexer and dual band antenna where also incorporated. This set was installed on the Ñusat-1 bus, which supplies power and becomes part of several other experiments this satellite will make. The transponder receives UHF which is broadcasted in VHF, has a bandwidth of 30 kHz. with an output power of 250 mW. 435.935 ~ 435.965 are LSB/CW uplink passband 145.965 ~ 145.935 are USB/CW downlink passband 145.900 Basic CW Telemetry The launch will be from a Chinese launcher in a polar orbit at 500 km. height, with inclination of 97 degrees from Equator. see http://www.amsat.org.ar https://www.facebook.com/Amsat.LU http://lusex.org.ar http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-Argentia for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ESA Announces Winning Radio Amateurs On April 21, 2016, ESA’s Education Office set a challenge for the worldwide radio amateur community to start listening out for three new orbiting CubeSats. The results have now been released. ESA’s Education Office published the transmission frequencies of the student- built satellites that were about to be launched as part of the Fly Your Satellite! Program, and invited the radio amateur community to listen out for them. The first three radio amateurs to send a recorded signal from AAUSAT4, e-st@r- II or OUFTI-1 would receive a prize from ESA’s Education Office. Hundreds of radio amateurs from around the world joined in the friendly competition. The CubeSats started sending signals after their release from the Soyuz VS-14 rocket and the triggering of their automatic activation sequence. Participants from Russia, USA, Poland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil, Italy, Denmark, and more tuned their receivers and listened. Thanks to skill and patience on the ground, the winners come from Russia, the United States of America, Germany, and the Netherlands. Contact with the first CubeSat came at 00:53:51 UT on April 26, 2016, within an hour of its separation from the launcher. Dmitri Paschkow R4UAB, Russia, heard the signal from OUFTI-1 using two receiving stations, in Kemerovo and Ruzaevka. Upon hearing OUFTI-1, he communicated the news immediately. “I understand that the students are worried [to hear from their satellite] and decided to please them!” says Paschkow. Just over an hour after the first signal from OUFTI-1 was recorded, the next CubeSat checked in. AAUSAT-4 was heard over California, US, by Justin Foley KI6EPH of California Polytechnic State University. He had a personal interest in the mission because some of his colleagues had developed the P-POD deployer that was used to eject the CubeSats into orbit. He was ready at the receiver from the moment of deployment but heard nothing on that first pass, probably because the activation sequence had not yet completed. The signal came through on the second pass, arriving at 02:02 UT. “It was extremely exciting to see signals from the newly launched satellite, and witness the beginning of a space mission”, says Foley. Then the wait began for e-st@r-II. At 05:40:58 UT, something dimly lit the screen of Mike Rupprecht DK3WN in Germany. But something was not quite right. It certainly looked like a signal from the last remaining CubeSat, but why was the message so faint? It galvanized the amateur radio community to look harder. Jan van Gils PE0SAT had to wait until May 2 at 16:38:05 UT to receive a signal from e-st@r-II that was strong enough to be decoded. Why e-st@r-II was only transmitting weak signals is under investigation, but the most important news is that all three CubeSats are functioning and transmitting, and their signals can be decoded. A special mention goes to a young radio amateur who scored a personal best. Twelve year-old space enthusiast Matteo Micheletti from Belgium caught the OUFTI-1 signal with a portable log periodic antenna and a portable receiver. His triumph occurred on May 1, 2016 between 17:34 and 17:39 UT. To mark their success, the radio amateur winners will each receive a Fly Your Satellite! Poster, a goodie bag and a scale 1:1 3D printed model of a CubeSat from ESA’s Education Office. Read the full ESA story at http://www.esa.int/Education/CubeSats_- _Fly_Your_Satellite/CubeSats_competition_winners [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and ESA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Symposium to Address Interference-free Satellite Services Experts are planning to meet in Geneva, 13-14 June for a Symposium to address interference-free satellite services. Geneva, 4 May 2016 - The ITU International Satellite Communication Symposium to be held in Geneva, 13-14 June, will explore measures to prevent and combat interference in satellite communications. International experts will examine the current situation and the latest technologies to detect, identify, locate and mitigate harmful interference, which may severely impact satellite services, including safety operations. Discussions will also focus on International space law, protecting space science services, radio astronomy, global navigation satellite services, and cybersecurity as well as ensuring interference-free satellite broadcast services. A special session will be dedicated to innovation in satellite systems, focusing on technical characteristics and benefits arising from new generations of non-geostationary satellite orbit (non-GSO) constellations and High Throughput Satellites (HTS). What: ITU International Satellite Communication Symposium 2016 When: 13-14 June 2016 Where: ITU Tower Building, Popov Room Why: To provide an overview of ongoing progress on regulations, technologies and measures to prevent and combat interference in satellite communications and to share experiences on the latest developments and innovations. Who: Experts from the satellite industry, operators, regulators and broadcasters from around the world. For more information, please contact: Sanjay Acharya Chief, Media Relations & Public Information, ITU telephone +41 22 730 5046 tel +41 79 249 4861 email sanjay.acharya(a)itu.int Grace Petrin Communication Officer ITU Radio Communication Bureau telephone +41 22 730 5810 tel +41 79 599 1428 email brpromo(a)itu.int see http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2016/Advisory-06.aspx [ANS thanks the ITU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- DCC Call for Papers Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 35th Annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference, to be held September 16-18 in St Petersburg, Florida. Papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings. Authors do not need to attend the conference to have their papers included in the Proceedings. The submission deadline is July 31, 2016. The ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an international forum for technically minded radio amateurs to meet and present new ideas and techniques. Paper/presentation topic areas include -- but are not limited to -- software defined radio (SDR), digital voice, digital satellite communication, digital signal processing (DSP), HF digital modes, adapting IEEE 802.11 systems for Amateur Radio, Global Positioning System (GPS), Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS), Linux in Amateur Radio, AX.25 updates and Internet operability with Amateur Radio networks. Submit papers to via e-mail to maty(a)arrl.org<mailto:[email protected]>, or via postal mail to: Maty Weinberg, KB1EIB, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Papers will be published exactly as submitted, and authors will retain all rights. Please do not email zip files as these will be rejected by our servers. 73 . . . Steve Ford, WB8IMY QST Editor in Chief and Publications Manager ARRL -- the National Association for Amateur Radio tel 860-594-0287 sford(a)arrl.org<mailto:[email protected]> [ANS thanks the ARRL, TAPR, and Steve Ford, WB8IMY for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Saturday, 4 June 2016 – White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low AZ *Friday, Saturday, & Sunday 10-12 June 2016 – Ham-Com in Irving, TX *Saturday, 11 June 2016 – Prescott Hamfest in Prescott AZ *Wednesday, 6 July 2016 – Chehalis Valley Amateur Radio Society meeting in Chehalis WA *Saturday, 13 August 2016 – KL7KC Hamfest in Fairbanks AK [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Successful Contacts Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, Garden City, New York, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact was successful: Mon 2016-05-23 12:57:05 UTC 43 deg The ARISS contact with Jeff Williams by the students at Westbury Magnet Academy at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York was successful. Jeff answered 19 questions before loss of signal. Dan Dalby did a great job of operating at W6SR. The telebridge contact with students at Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, Garden City, New York, USA was successful Mon 2016-05-23 12:57:05 UTC 43 deg. Astronaut Jeff Williams KD5TVQ answered 19 questions for the students at Westbury Magnet Academy who were on site at the Museum. A local news channel filed this report: Students Take Call from Astronaut on ISS see NBC New York http://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Students-Take-Call-from-Astrona… -on-ISS_New-York-380581991.html?_osource=mobilesharebar The Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, located in Garden City, New York, opened in 2002. The mission of the museum is to inspire students with the spirit of discovery through the exploration of air and space technologies, and to encourage them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The museum is home to the Westbury Magnet Academy at the Cradle of Aviation, the first magnet school to open on Long Island. The Museum and Academy offer two summer STEM enrichment programs for students entering the seventh and ninth grades. The ARISS event will be an invaluable tool to supplement classroom instruction and research. Upcoming Contacts * Venta School, Carp, ON, Canada, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-05-30 19:01:25 UTC 32 deg Venta Preparatory School is a small co-ed day and boarding school from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 10, located just outside of Ottawa in Carp, Ontario. We foster and continually enhance an environment where each student can grow and achieve their highest potential. * Bouze Island Elementary and Junior High School, Homeji, Japan, direct via 8N3B The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-06-04 08:31:09 UTC 74 deg Bouze Island is one of the Ieshima small Islands which are located in the Seto Inland sea of Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. There are about 1400 people on the island and are part of the marine products industry. They live with simplicity and are friendly. But the students of this Island have not had a chance for scientific experience as part of their school education because of their remote location. There are 140 persons in the elementary school and 100 persons in the junior high school. Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS, Dave, AA4KN, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over St. Paul Island Satellite Ops Word Getting Around The DXer pages are picking up on the news of satellite operation from CY9C St. Paul Island. This something of a blog and the May 23 update mentions AMSAT often: http://www.dxcoffee.com/eng/2016/cy9c-st-paul-island/ [ANS thanks JoAnne, K9JKM for the above information] GK4LOH Received Over 3467km on 144 MHz by Reflection off ISS A reflection from the structure of the International Space Station enabled a 144.175 MHz signal from Tim GK4LOH in Cornwall to cross the Atlantic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vii8DmG3ftc The YouTube description reads: 02:40 UTC May 24th 2016 ISS Flypast. Signal heard 2 minutes 45 into the recording and continues for over a minute. The CW transmitted message was “GK4LOH GK4LOH T T T T T T T T T T” As soon as ISS set in GN37 I stepped outside the shack and watched as the ISS fly right over here:-) Recorded by Frank VO1HP using the remote receiver beacon VO1FN. GK4LOH Blog http://www.g4loh.com/ The RSGB VHF Manager John Regnault G4SWX has received a Canadian station on 144 MHz which on investigation was also found to be by ISS reflection, see http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2014/july/uk_radio_ham_copies_canadian_144… _signal.htm [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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ANS-143 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 22 May '16

22 May '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-143 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * Island on the Air Satellite Activation - Isle of Arran * FoxTelem Release 1.04: New Graphs, Better Performance, and Upcoming Launches * Upcoming ARISS Contact with Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center * CubeSats with Amateur Radio payloads deploy from ISS * ULA Cubesat Launch Application Deadline Approaching SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-143.01 ANS-143 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 143.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. May 22, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-143.01 Island on the Air Satellite Activation - Isle of Arran EU-123. Members of the Camb-Hams will be active as GS3PYE/P from the Isle of Arran on the west part of the island near Balliekine (IO75HO) between May 22-29th. Activity will be on the HF bands, 6/4/2m, and the satellites. The location on the island favors the South/West/North as there's a hill to the east, but hopefully that will not limit them. Peter, 2E0SQL, reports: "We'll be taking along an ICOM IC-910, Wimo X-Quads, Preamps and Yaesu G-5500 rotator all controlled by our favorite bit of software SatPC32 for backup. I'll have my FT-817 and Arrow, but this kit hasn't let us down yet for the last few trips." They plan to operate on all satellites both FM/SSB/CW, if you want a CW QSO you'll need to contact them as Peter will need to find a suitable CW operator. Peter will try to post regular updates on Twitter either using his own account @2e0sql or the groups account @g3pye and also posting updates on their Web site at: http://dx.camb-hams.com [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1266 for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- FoxTelem Release 1.04: New Graphs, Better Performance, and Upcoming Launches From FoxTelem developer Chris Thompson, G0KLA / AC2CZ: This is a quick note to say that FoxTelem Version 1.04 is being released. There is a lot in this version so I have written some blog posts to summarize new features. See below. You can download FoxTelem for your platform from one of these links: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/foxtelem_1.04f_windows.zip http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/foxtelem_1.04f_linux.tar.gz http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/FoxTelem_1.04f_mac.zip Broadly speaking the changes fit into the following categories: 1. Full support for Fox-1Cliff, Fox-1D and RadFXSat including better High Speed decoding and a better find signal algorithm. 2. Additional analytical capabilities so you can plot one telemetry variable against another. I hope this will inspire more people to analyze the telemetry from the spacecraft and post comments on what they see. I have put some of my own thoughts online here: http://www.g0kla.com/workbench/2016-05-07.php 3. Enhanced tools to analyze your ground station with SkyPlots for satellite measurements like Signal to Noise ratio and graphs for pass measurements. Skyplots in particular need a bit of explanation, so I have written more details here: http://www.g0kla.com/foxtelem/skyplot.php You can read a full list of the changes here on github: https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/issues?q= is%3Aissue+milestone%3A%22Release+1.04%22+is%3Aclosed [ANS thanks Chris G0KLA/AC2CZ for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact with Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, Garden City, New York on 23 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:57 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible over the state of California and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. The Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, located in Garden City, New York, opened in 2002. The mission of the museum is to inspire students with the spirit of discovery through the exploration of air and space technologies, and to encourage them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The museum is home to the Westbury Magnet Academy at the Cradle of Aviation, the first magnet school to open on Long Island. The Museum and Academy offer two summer STEM enrichment programs for students entering the seventh and ninth grades. The ARISS event will be an invaluable tool to supplement classroom instruction and research. [ANS thanks Dave, AA4KN, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- CubeSats with Amateur Radio payloads deploy from ISS Monday, May 16, 2016 saw the deployment of five CubeSats carrying amateur radio payloads. UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI / GB1SS deployed the first two satellites MinXSS-1 and CADRE from the Japanese ISS Kibo module at 1005 UT. The Slow Scan Television (SSTV) satellite STMSat-1, built by Elementary students at Saint Thomas More Cathedral School (STM), was deployed along with the pair of NODES CubeSats built by students at Santa Clara University at 1440 UT. STM is thought to be the first Elementary school to build their own satellite, even Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade students were involved in the project. It is designed to transmit a Robot36 SSTV signal. IARU Coordinated Frequencies: http://amsat.org.uk/iaru • STMSat-1 437.800 MHz FM SSTV Robot36 UPDATE May 18: STMSat-1 Twitter feed suggests listening 437.000 MHz FM • MinXSS-1 437.345 MHz 9600 bps FSK • CADRE 437.485 MHz 9600 bps FSK and 3.404 GHz • NODES 437.100 MHz 1200 bps AX.25 and 2401.2-2431.2 MHz 115.2 kbps spread spectrum FSK STMSat-1 https://twitter.com/STMSAT11 https://www.facebook.com/stmsat1/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/491135804399695/ http://www.stmsat-1.org/ MinXSS CubeSat http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/minxss/ CADRE CubeSat http://exploration.engin.umich.edu/blog/?page_id=961 NODES mission dashboard http://nodes.engr.scu.edu/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ULA Cubesat Launch Application Deadline Approaching If you are a U.S. College or University, please don't forget to submit an application for a FREE LAUNCH opportunity to the ULA CubeSat Launch Program! Applications are due no later than June 1st, 2016 by 5pm PST, which is only a week and a half away. Information about how to apply can be found at http://www.ulalaunch.com/cubesats.aspx [ANS thanks the Ryan Nugent for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN - ARISS-US Kicks Off Major Fundraising Initiative with Challenge Coin Door Prize at 2016 Dayton Hamvention
by E.Mike McCardel 17 May '16

17 May '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-139.01 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * ARISS-US Kicks Off Major Fundraising Initiative with Challenge Coin Door Prize at 2016 Dayton Hamvention SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-139.01 ANS-139 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 139.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. [MONTH DAY, YEAR] To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-139.01 ARISS-US Kicks Off Major Fundraising Initiative with Challenge Coin Door Prize at 2016 Dayton Hamvention The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Team has donated two of its handsome ARISS Challenge Coins to the Dayton Amateur Radio Association as a 2016 Hamvention door prize. The two keepsake coins are positioned side by side in a beautiful display box so that each side of the coin is seen from either direction. The Challenge Coin Door Prize can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/ANS139-ARISSCoin The commemorative ARISS Challenge Coin is the premium received by donors who give $100 or more to ARISS. Dayton Hamvention General Chairman Jim Tiderman, N8IDS, agreed to feature the ARISS keepsake coin by holding a special prize drawing immediately following the introduction of the winners of the 2016 Dayton Hamvention national awards at 2 pm on Sunday. The ARISS Team kicks off its 2016 fund-raising campaign at the Dayton Hamvention to raise money for the very high cost of replacing its aging radio system on the ISS and to help defray the cost of continuing ARISS operations. This special Hamvention prize drawing is the first step of the campaign. ARISS International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, noted the importance of this fundraising campaign: "ARISS is in need of critical upgrades of our on-orbit equipment. The radio system in the Columbus module is over 17 years old and underpowered. We need a 21st Century next generation solution. This fundraising campaign will enable these upgrades and, as a result, significantly improve ARISS operations and provide the funding necessary to better support our stakeholders and the amateur radio community." Those wanting to support the ARISS fundraising campaign can donate to ARISS online via the AMSAT Website, www.amsat.org (select the "ARISS Donate" button) or the ARISS web page, www.ariss.org (select the "Donate" tab). ARISS representatives will also be at the AMSAT Booth during the Hamvention with Challenge Coins ready for people ready to donate $100 or more. Be sure to go to the Hara Arena at the Dayton Hamvention on Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 2 pm for the major door prize drawings … and good luck! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, go to: www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org , and www.arrl.org . Also, join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) / Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status Contact: David Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks ARISS and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This Special's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM former KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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