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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-361
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 -1D Matching Contribution Offer
* AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 This Week
* ARISS Celebrates 15 Years of School Contact
* AMSAT Awards
* EO-79 Transponder Activation
* NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.01
ANS-340 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.01
From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD.
December 27, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-361.01
Fox-1Cliff and -1D Matching Contribution Offer
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to AMSAT members and satellite
enthusiasts
everywhere!
In this season of giving, we’ve had a generous offer for matching funds
up to
$1,000 for those that contribute to the Fox-1Cliff and -1D crowdsourcing
campaign at https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6pz92/ab/561Zd between now and
December 31st. Make your donation twice as valuable by taking advantage
of this
opportunity and contributing before the end of the year, and help AMSAT
fund the
launch of the next two satellites in the Fox-1 series.
Slated for launch in 2016 on the inaugural Spaceflight SHERPA mission
aboard a
SpaceX Falcon 9, Fox-1Cliff and -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.
Donations of $100 or more are eligible for a special AMSAT Fox challenge
coin,
and $1,000 or more qualifies for a plaque with an actual solar panel
cover from
Fox-1Cliff or -1D. (We’ve nearly exhausted our coin supply and are
waiting on
resupply from the mint. Plaques will be distributed sometime after
spacecraft
integration. Please be patient for delivery of either premium.)
AMSAT is a 501-(c)-(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific
organization of
amateur radio operators whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and
operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to encourage
amateurs to utilize these resources. Please consider a tax-deductible
contribution to AMSAT to help underwrite the development and launch
expenses of
our Fox satellite program.
Donors wishing to provide additional matching funds please contact Drew
Glasbrenner, KO4MA at ko4ma(a)amsat.org.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 This Week
You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR
2016,
sponsored by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world.
Operate CW through any amateur satellite from 0001 through 2400 UTC on 1
January
2016, using a manual, non-electronic key. Note that bugs are now
allowed, as
they are in similar ARRL and SKCC events.
There is no need to send in a log, but please nominate someone you
worked for
Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard,
just of
those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs(a)amsat.org.. A list of those
nominated will be published in early February.
This year’s event is being held in memory of Ben Stevenson, W2BXA
(1914-2011).
Licensed since 1929, Ben was one of the world’s top DXers on both HF and
satellites. He led the DXCC Honor Roll for many years, and among his many
awards were Satellite DXCC No. 1 and post-war Worked All Zones No. 1.
Founding
president of the North Jersey DX Association, Ben shared his knowledge and
enthusiasm with one and all.
[ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Celebrates 15 Years of School Contacts
15 years ago today, on December 21, 2000, students at Burbank School in
Burbank Illinois, U.S.A. lined us and readied themselves for a very historic
event---the first school contact with the crew on the International Space
Station. ARISS mentor and radio operator Charlie Sufana, AJ9N and his team
of volunteers had aptly prepared the students, teachers and the public in
attendance for their historic contact. As AOS approached, Charlie began
calling NA1SS. Soon, Expedition 1 Commander Bill "Shep" Shepherd, KD5CDL
answered back and the students immediately began asking Shep their
questions. The rest is history.
Burbank school teacher, Rita Wright, who later became KC9CDL, continues to
be active in ARISS as a volunteer. Rita's 2004 AMSAT Symposium paper,
"Remember, We're Pioneers!" chronicles the Burbank school's journey to the
first ARISS contact and beyond. You are invited to download the paper at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8cmd0eu9y0imsz/REMEMBER--Burbank%20School.pdf?dl…
With this historic event in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to
thank our volunteers from the ARISS operations team for their outstanding,
long term support to ARISS. These folks---our mentors, telebridge operators
and operations leaders---are the foundation of ARISS. They have made
nearly 1000 ARISS contacts successful since Burbank, 15 years ago. Without
them, the goals of ARISS: inspiration, exploration, education and
experimentation, could not be achieved. Their guidance, mentoring and
presentations, before, during and after the contact were crucial in
achieving these goals. Thank you all!!
As the ARISS team prepares for 2016, with many schools in the queue,
prepared, ready and waiting for their upcoming contacts, ARISS is gearing up
for another historic event---our 1000th school contact. Wow! 1000 ARISS
contacts!! To celebrate this historic event, I would ask those that know of
an ARISS student that has graduated and is now in a science, technology,
engineering or mathematics (STEM) field to please have them share their
story with us. Please pass this along to others and have them send their
stories to me at ka3hdo at verizon.net or to our web master at ariss at
arrl.org.
We would like to compile these for our space agency customers and to share
the stories with the amateur radio community.
[ANS thanks Frank, KA3HDO, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Awards
Here are our newest award recipients and end of the year finale.
Happy Holidays and Good DX to all
AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award
Adrian Liggins, VA3NNA
John Pate, W1XQ
Mission Bay ARC, KM3RKI
Jim Leahy, N0VVV
------
AMSAT Communication Achievement Award
Fernando Ramirez-Ferrer, NP4JV #568
------
AMSAT Sexagesimal Award
Clayton Coleman, W5PFG #172
------
AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award
Frank Westphal, K6FW #84 1,000 contacts
John Papay, K8YSE/7 #85 1,000 contacts
------
AMSAT South Africa Communication Achievement Award
Fernando Ramirez-Ferrer, NP4JV #US196
To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or
http://www.amsatnet.com/awards.html
Bruce Paige, KK5DO
AMSAT Director Contests and Awards
[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
EO-79 Transponder Activation
On December 21, 2015 at 1038 UT, the EO-79 transponder was turned on for a
prolonged period.
The FUNcube transponder subsystem on QB50p1 (EO-79) had been provided by
AMSAT-
UK and AMSAT-NL and is a similar subsystem as on FUNcube-1, but without the
telemetry downlink circuitry.
The current software running on EO-79 does experience occasional
reboots. When
these reboots happen, the transponder is automatically turned off and
will have
to be turned back on by a command station. The FUNcube team has selected
a few
command stations to do so, but be advised the transponder may be off.
TLEs:
AMSAT keps name: EO-79
Celestrak keps Name: QB50P1
Celestrak file: cubesat.txt
NORAD # 40025
COSPAR designator 2014-033-R
Frequencies:
*Uplink:* 435.035-435.065 MHz LSB [See note below]
*Downlink:* 145.935-145.965 MHz USB
EO-79 has been set to only beacon the normal AX.25 beacon every 30 seconds
instead of 10 seconds. The beacon frequency is 145.815 MHz and consists
of AX.25
frames on BPSK. More details about the downlink can be found on the ISIS Ham
Radio page at http://isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html
We kindly request you to share your experiences with the AMSAT Bulletin
Board so
everyone can benefit from operating tips and tricks, as well as being
up-to-date
on the status.
We would also welcome any observation related to the transponder
behaviour when
the AX.25 beacon comes on.
Just like FUNcube-1, the crystal oscillator circuits exhibit drift with
temperature. This means manual tuning will probably work best.
Mike Seguin N1JEZ notes: I found my downlink after setting my uplink
+12 kHz
from published spec
SatPC32 tracking software Doppler SQF information used by Peter VK4NBL:
EO-79,145950,435063,USB,LSB,REV,0,0
EO-79,145814.8,435070,CW,TELEMETRY,0,0
Lastly, the commanding team will not be available over Christmas, so the
current
activations are planned from today until Thursday 24th and from Monday 28th
until Thursday 31st
[ANS thanks Wouter, PA3WEG, and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar
Some of the best works of art come from children who are only limited by
their imaginations, like the more than 150 young explorers from across the
country who submitted artwork depicting human spaceflight as they see it.
Sixteen masterpieces were chosen to be included in the NASA Commercial Crew
Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar, which is now available for
download in PDF format, at http://go.nasa.gov/1NVTww4. We offer a huge
"thank you!" to all the explorers, ranging in age from four to 12, who
submitted their work and hope that everyone will enjoy and use this calendar
next year.
[ANS thanks the NASA Commercial Crew Program 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
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-354
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:
* Special Membership Offer for Fox-1A launch expiring December 31
* 17 US Schools Move Forward Into the Next Stage of ARISS Selection
* ARISS Commemorative Event Update
* SA AMSAT Kletskous Cubesat Invites School Experiments to Fly to
Space
* Slow Scan TV Image Sent Through AO-85
* Yuri, UT1FG/MM, Itinerary During Trip Up the St. Lawrence River
* Unscheduled Spacewalk Likely on Monday
* SME-SAT video
* Look Up and Spot the Station! Learn More With STEM on Station
* NASA's Digital Learning Network Seeking Participants for
International Event
* Now Accepting Applications for NASA Summer Internships
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-354.01
ANS-354 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 354.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
December 20, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-354.01
Special Membership Offer for Fox-1A launch expiring December 31
We've welcomed dozens of new members since the AO-85 launch with our
offer of "Getting Started With The Amateur Satellites" as a free PDF
with membership in AMSAT, but this offer will come to an end on
December 31st, 2015. Point your browser to
http://store.amsat.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=32 and help AMSAT keep
amateur radio in space, and get a free e-book as a thank you.
>From http://www.amsat.org/?p=4591
AMSAT's Fox-1A is set to launch as part of the GRACE (Government
Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment) auxillary payload on the NROL-
55 mission October 8, 2015 from Vandenburg AFB on an Atlas V vehicle.
More details will be released when made available from our launch
provider. NRO has released this factsheet about the mission:
http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2015/10/GRACE_CubeSat_FactSheet.pdf
General information on Fox-1A is available in the downloadable
AMSAT Fox Operating Guide http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/FoxOperatingGuide_May2015_Hi.pdf
(Editor's Note: The above two links were truncated to in order to fit
required editorial format standards. Please copy and paste complete
link, without spaces, into your browser of choice to view the
information)
FoxTelem software for decoding and submitting telemetry has been
made available for download at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=4532
As part of the preparations for the launch and activation of this
new satellite, AMSAT is making our "Getting Started With The Amateur
Satellites" book available for a limited time as a download with any
paid new or renewal membership purchased via the AMSAT Store. This
offer is only available with purchases completed online, and for only
a limited time. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated
every year with the latest amateur satellite information, and is the
premier primer of satellite operation. The 132 page book is presented
in PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your
first contacts on a ham radio satellite.
Please take advantage of this offer today by visiting the AMSAT
store (http://store.amsat.org/catalog/) and selecting any membership
option. While there, check out our other items, including the M2
LEOpack antenna system, AMSAT shirts, hats, and other swag. Thank
you, and see you soon on Fox-1A!
[ANS thanks Drew KO4MA for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
17 US Schools Move Forward Into the Next Stage of ARISS Selection
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and the
American Radio Relay League (ARRL), US managing partners of Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), are pleased to
announce the schools/organizations selections for the second half of
2016. A total of 17 of the submitted proposals during the recent
proposal window have been accepted to move forward into the next
stage of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew
on the ISS during the July through December period of 2016. This is a
significant step in ARISS' continuing effort 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.
The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide
scheduling opportunities for these US host organizations during the
July - December 2016 time period. These 17 schools/organizations must
now complete an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their
ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once theirequipment plan is
approved by the ARISS technical team, the final selected
schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and
flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by
NASA.
The schools and organizations are:
Boca Raton Christian School Boca Raton, FL
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN
Frontiers of Flight Museum's "Moon Day 2016" Dallas, TX
Howell L. Watkins Middle School Palm Beach Gardens, FL
iSPACE Cincinnati, OH
John Glenn Middle School Maplewood, MN
Kopernik Observatory &Science Center Vestal, NY
Lawrence Public Library Lawrence, KS
Museum of Innovation and Science Schenectady, NY
Northland Preparatory Academy Flagstaff, AZ
Peoria Riverfront Museum Peoria, IL
University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute Omaha, NE
South Street School Danbury, CT
Space Jam 10 Rantoul, IL
United Space School Seabrook, TX
U.S. Space & Rocket Center Huntsville, AL
World Genesis Foundation (WGF) Goodyear, AZ
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a
cooperative venture of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
(AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States, and
other international space agencies and international amateur radio
organizations around the world. The primary purpose of ARISS is to
organize scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members
aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and classrooms or
informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio
volunteers from amateur radio clubs and coordination from the ARISS
team, the ISS crew members speak directly with large group audiences
in a variety of public forums such as school assemblies, science
centers and museums, Scout camporees, jamborees and space camps,
where students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space,
space technologies and Amateur Radio. Find more information at
www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org and www.arrl.org.
[ANS thanks ARISS, The ARRL and AMSAT for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Commemorative Event Update
ARISS is celebrating its 15th anniversary of continuous operations
on the ISS. On November 13, 2000 the crew conducted their first ham
radio contacts on ISS and then on December 21, 2000 ARISS conducted
their first school contact with the Burbank School in Burbank,
Illinois.
An SSTV commemoration of these historic events is in the planning for
December 26 and 27. The transmission mode will be PD120 instead of
the P180 mode used in the past. This will allow for more pictures to
be transmitted per pass. ARISS is also investigating the possibility
of a repeat of the event in January.
Pictures for transmission are currently under review and will be
images that commemorate 15 years of school contacts using Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station.
Please note that the event, and any ARISS event, is dependent on
other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and
are subject to change at any time.
While preparations are being finalized please check for new and the
most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org web sites and
the AMSAT-BB for the latest information on this event and others that
ARISS plans to conduct over the next few months
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SA AMSAT Kletskous Cubesat Invites School Experiments to Fly to Space
SA AMSAT is inviting Southern African leaners and school science
groups to take their next science project into space on the first
amateur radio satellite being designed and built by radio amateurs in
South Africa. Named Kletskous (Afrikaans for Chatterbox) the CubeSat
will carry a linear transponder for communication between amateurs,
school science projects and a telemetry system.
Kletskous measures 10x10x10 cm and will be powered by solar panels.
Because of the small size, any science project to be considered for
inclusion in the satellite has to be small and consume the minimum of
power. The selected projects will be incorporated on one of the main
printed circuit boards and connected to the telemetry system. This
means that participants in the science projects will be able to
download their own telemetry and evaluate how their project is
performing and analysing the data collected inspace.
The telemetry stream will also be made available on the SA AMSAT web
pages giving access to the data to learners on the tablets and
laptops. The mission of the new satellite is to give radio amateurs
and educational institutions in Southern Africa easy access to a Low
Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite on as many of the available passes as
possible and thus stimulate interest and activity in space,
satellites and amateur radio. A secondary mission is to fly
scientific payloads proposed and designed by learners or school
science groups.
Kletskous will be using the two metre and 70 cm amateur bands. The
uplink is on 70 cm, and the downlink on 2 m. A linear transponder
with a bandwidth of 20 kHz is utilised for both FM and SSB. A sub-
carrier for a telemetry downlink will be included. For command and
control purposes a separate 70 cm frequency will be used. Currently
frequencies in the 435.100 to 435.140 MHz range are considered for
the uplink and 145.860 to 145.980 MHz for the downlink. The above
architecture will ensure that the transponder is accessible for
general use while the satellite is being commanded and controlled by
the ground station.
School science payloads are being encouraged that measure things
happening in space such the temperature inside or outside the
satellite, sounds in space, radiation particle count and many more.
Develop the project on a breadboard and test it on the bench, develop
software for the project and then write up a proposal with as much
information as possible. Include information about yourself or your
group, include any photographs and contact details such as telephone
number, email address, and physical location.
Email the proposal to saamsat(a)intekom.co.za
The closing date for proposal is 31 March 2016. Depending on the
type and scope of the proposal, SA AMSAT will make the final decision
and advise all entrants by 30 April 2016. Theentrants of the
successful project or projects will be invited to make a short
presentation at the 2016 SA AMSAT Space Symposium on 28 May 2016
planned to be held at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria.
The SA AMSAT CubeSat project is funded by donations. To contribute or
participate in the project see the SA AMSAT web page at:
http://www.amsatsa.org.za/
[ANS thanks SA AMSAT for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Slow Scan TV Image Sent Through AO-85
On December 13 Brazilian radio amateur Roland, PY4ZBZ, received an
SSTV image sent in Robot 36 via AO-85.
AMSAT Vice President for Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, said "I can
tell you that in South America, they are having some fun, and that
our analog-to-digital to analog IHU processing of the audio seems to
work very well at SSTV frequencies!" Buxton told ARRL. "I don't know
who uplinked the signal, but it was a ground-satellite-ground
contact, nothing that originated on AO-85."
Buxton went on to state that the transmission was "a very good
demonstration of the capability of the FM repeater on the Fox-1
series satellites."
The FM satellite uplink is at 435.170 MHz (67 Hz CTCSS tone
required). The downlink is at 145.978 MHz. Both frequencies are
subject to Doppler shift.
Whereas is it not recommended to use satellites to transmit SSTV
images this personal experiment by South American hams didn't seem to
interfere with any other transmissions. AMSAT VP of Operations Drew
Glasbrenner KO4MA stated "At some point we will set up a period to try
it over the US, but until then please refrain from repeating this
experiment."
[ANS thanks AMSAT, Jerry, N0JY, and Drew KO4MA for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UT1FG/MM Itinerary During Trip Up the St. Lawrence River
Yuri, UT1FG/MM, is heading up to the St. Lawrence and Montreal and
will visit two ports there. He has shared a list of grids that he
will likely travel through. Some of these grids have not been
previously activated, however, keep in mind that not every grid will
be workable due to the timing of the available satellite passes. He
may be in some of these grids for a very short time.
FL17 FL18 FL28 FL29
FM20 FM30 FM31 FM32 FM42 FM43 FM53
FM54 FM55 FM56 FM66 FM67 FM68 FM78 FM79 FM89
FN80 FN81 FN82 FN83 FN93 FN94 FN95
GN05 GN06 GN07
FN97 FN98 FN88 FN89 FN79 FN69 FN58 FN57 FN47 FN46 FN36 FN35
The ship is the Barnacle, a vessel on which he has previously sailed.
[ANS thanks John K8YSE for the above iformation]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unscheduled Spacewalk Likely on Monday
Impacts that the amateur radio on the ISS will not return to service
until after the EVA.
The International Space Station’s mission managers are preparing for
a likely unplanned spacewalk by Astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra
no earlier than Monday, Dec. 21.
Late Wednesday, the Mobile Transporter rail car on the station’s
truss was being moved by robotic flight controllers at Mission
Control, Houston, to a different worksite near the center of the
truss for payload operations when it stopped moving. The cause of the
stall is being evaluated, but experts believe it may be related to a
stuck brake handle, said ISS Mission Integration and Operations
Manager Kenny Todd. Flight controllers had planned to move the
transporter away from the center of the truss to worksite 2. The
cause of the stall that halted its movement just four inches (10
centimeters) away from where it began is still being evaluated.
Progress 62 is scheduled to launch at 3:44 a.m. EST Monday, and dock
on Wednesday to the Pirs docking compartment at 5:31 a.m. Wednesday.
The ISS Mission Management Team met Friday morning and is targeting
Monday for the spacewalk, but will meet again in a readiness review
Sunday morning. Managers could elect to press ahead for Monday, or
take an extra day and conduct the spacewalk Tuesday.
ISS Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Tim
Kopra of NASA will conduct the spacewalk. It will be the 191st
spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the
third in Kelly’s career and the second for Kopra. Kelly will be
designated Extravehicular Activity crew member 1 (EV1) wearing the
suit bearing the red stripes, and Kopra will be Extravehicular
Activity crew member 2 (EV2) wearing the suit with no stripes.
A start time for the spacewalk either Monday or Tuesday has not yet
been set, but NASA TV coverage will begin 90 minutes prior to the
start of the spacewalk.
For amateur radio enthusiats should note that the EVA impacts the
use of the amateur radio which will likely not return to service
until after the EVA.
[ANS thanks blogs.nasa.gov for the above information]
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SME-SAT video
The Surrey Space Centre in Guildford has released a ‘Softstack’
Integration time-lapse video of the SME-SAT CubeSat.
The mission objectives are:
A: Outreach – The satellite will provide beacons for which amateur
satellite users and ham radio users will be able to receive.
B: Space qualification and performance characterisation of sensors.
• High performance COTS Gyroscopes (x3).
• High precision MEMS accelerometers.
• 2 Aperture Star Camera, At a later point in the mission these will
be used in conjunction with the ADCS to characterise the closed loop
performance of the sensors.
C: Performance characterisation of Nano-Control Moment Gyros (CMGs)
for agility. The mission is equipped with 4-Nano-CMGs in a pyramid
configuration for ADCS. This part of the mission will evaluate the
performance of this system on the ADCS and agility of the satellite.
D: Space qualification and performance characterisation of the EPS
The EPS for this mission has heritage from the Delfi-C3 and other
missions and includes additional improvements to be demonstrated on
this mission.
E: Smart Thermal Radiation Devices (STRD tiles) SME-SAT is equipped
with a number of STRD tiles on the outside faces of the satellite for
passive thermal management of the internal structure.
F: Flux Gate Magnetometer The mission contains a scientific grade
miniaturized flux gate magnetometer that sits on the end of a
deployable boom to improve the performance of the sensor. This
payload will be switched into the ADCS for evaluation of performance
during parts of the mission but is not the primary magnetometer for
ADCS.
G: GPS SME-SAT also contains an experimental GPS system that will be
switched into the ADCS loop at stages in the orbit to evaluate the
performance of the system.
The IARU coordinated frequency for the satellite’s 9k6 RC-BPSK AX.25
downlink is 437.150 MHz.
More information here
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc/research/onboarddata/smesat/index.htm
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Look Up and Spot the Station! Learn More With STEM on Station
The International Space Station orbits 250 miles above Earth and
travels about 17,500 miles per hour. The space station is visible in
the night sky and looks like a fast-moving plane, but it is dozens of
times higher than any airplane and travels thousands of miles an hour
faster.
Learn more about how you can spot the space station and other ways
you can bring the station into your classroom by visiting NASA's STEM
on Station website. While you are there, stop by and learn more about
the yearlong mission and how it is helping us on our #JourneytoMars.
Opportunities, resources and more await at this space-station-focused
site!
To check out the website, visit
http://www.nasa.gov/education/STEMstation.
[ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Dec. 17, 2015 for
the above information]
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NASA's Digital Learning Network Seeking Participants for
International Event
In February 2016, NASA's Digital Learning Network is teaming up with
The Royal Institution and Faraday Studios for a series of Google
Hangout events in connection with British astronaut Tim Peake's
mission to the International Space Station. The live hourlong events
will include selected classrooms from the United Kingdom and the U.S.
These classes will pose questions to Dr. Kevin Fong (author of
"Extreme Medicine"), Dr. Steven Jacobs (Mr. Wizard) and NASA experts.
The events will be broadcast live on YouTube.
The DLN currently is seeking U.S. middle and high schools (grades 5-
12) that would be interested in participating in these events
interactively with our U.K. partners.
Schools, if selected, would be required to conduct a test call in
early January with a representative of the DLN to confirm
participation. If you would like to have your school considered,
please contact Caryn Long at caryn.long(a)nasa.gov. Inquiries must be
received no later than Dec. 21, 2015.
For more information about the lecture series, visit
http://www.nasa.gov/dln/opportunities/.
To learn more about NASA's Digital Learning Network, visit
http://www.nasa.gov/dln.
[ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Dec. 17, 2015 for
the above information]
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Now Accepting Applications for NASA Summer Internships
Now is your chance to apply for exciting hands-on summer internship
opportunities available at all NASA centers. High school,
undergraduate and graduate students are needed to help NASA
scientists and engineers with ongoing scientific and engineering
research, technology development and spaceflight operations
activities. Internship opportunities also exist in nontechnical areas
such as communications, budget, procurement, education and human
resources. NASA internships are stipend-paid and offer students
mentor-directed, degree-related, real-time tasks. If you think you
have what it takes to be part of NASA's Journey to Mars, please visit
https://intern.nasa.gov today to apply or to learn more about the
numerous opportunities available to you.
The deadline for summer applications is March 1, 2016!
Please submit inquiries about the NASA Internships, Fellowships, and
Scholarships One Stop Shopping Initiative, or NIFS OSSI, via
https://intern.nasa.gov/oic/.
[ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Dec. 17, 2015 for
the above information]
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ARISS News
>From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational
Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this
period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team.
Look for SSTV image downlinks to commemorate ARISS' 15 years of
school contacts on the ISS on December 26 and 27 (subject to change)
See related story above.
An EVA that needs to be scheduled to fix a problem with the mobile
transporter cart, will most likely mean that the the amateur radio on
the ISS will remail off until after after the EVA.
http://tinyurl.com/ANS354-ISS-EVA
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Fox-1A Operating Guide - updated with post launch information. A Hi-
resolution PDF for hard copy printing is available.
http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2144
Hamfest brochure introducing AMSAT - trifold, print double-sided
http://tinyurl.com/ANS354-AMSAT-Trifold
[ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for the above information]
+ New ISS SSTV Video and "ISS SSTV Reception Hints" webpage
To help promote the tentative December 26th International Space
Station Slow Scan TV event (and others that are planned over the next
year) John Brier, KG4AKV, made a new video of an ISS SSTV reception
that he filmed last April. He also made an extensive webpage with
information, resources, and hints on receiving ISS SSTV events,
including the upcoming ones.
Video: My First Perfect ISS SSTV Image!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7to9uX1sWC4
Webpage: ISS SSTV Reception Hints
https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/iss-sstv-reception-hints/
+ NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar
Some of the best works of art come from children who are only
limited by their imaginations, like the more than 150 young explorers
from across the country who submitted artwork depicting human
spaceflight as they see it. Sixteen masterpieces were chosen to be
included in the NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork
Calendar, which is now available for download in PDF format, at
http://go.nasa.gov/1NVTww4. We offer a huge "thank you!" to all the
explorers, ranging in age from four to 12, who submitted their work
and hope that everyone will enjoy and use this calendar next year.
[ANS thanks the NASA Commercial Crew Program 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, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-347
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:
* Upcoming ARISS Commemorative SSTV Event mid to late December
* STMSat-1 has made it to the Space Station
* ATVQ Magazine Documents Mir SSTV History
* Commemorative ANZAC Operations Include Satellite Activation
* UK students to have direct contact with astronaut Tim Peake during
Principia
mission
* NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI
* WRC-15: Amateur Bands Unsuitable for Non-Amateur Satellites
* AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-347.01
ANS-347 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 347.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE December 13, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-347.01
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARISS Commemorative SSTV Event mid to late December
On November 13, 2000 the crew conducted their first ham radio contacts
on ISS
and on December 21, 2000 ARISS conducted their first school contact with
the
Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois.
An SSTV commemoration of these historic events is tentatively planned
for mid
to late December. It is possible that the transmission mode will be P120
instead of the P180 mode used in the past. This would allow for more
pictures
to be transmitted per pass.
More information at
http://www.ariss.org/
when available
[ANS thanks ARISS & Trevor, M5AKA for the above information]
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STMSat-1 has made it to the ISS
Cygnus cargo vessel carrying STMSat-1 has made it to the space station! At
6:19am Wednesday morning, the Space Station robotic arm grasped the
ORB-4 cargo
element and mated it to the ISS.
The ISS will be it's home until on or about February 15th. On or about that
day, the STMSat-1 will be launched with other CubeSats via a pea pod ejector
and launched into low earth orbit. At that point, the timer starts for the
programmed deployment of the antennas, the solar array, and the earth
observation camera. Godspeed STMSat-1. Please open the link below for
additional information on the events of the day.
http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/12/09/u-s-resupply-of-space-station-
successfully-resumes/
http://jewelbots.tumblr.com/post/134465599599/how-did-400-grade-school-
students-built-a
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK & Spaceflightnow.com for the above information]
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ATVQ Magazine Documents Mir SSTV History
December 12 marked the 17th anniversary of the beginning of the MIR SSTV
Station which was active in sending pictures over a period of about 2 years
and 4 months. For those interested in this historical event and would like
more background information, the Spring, 2015 issue of the Amateur
Television Quarterly Magazine (ATVQ), has an article, "How Did Mir SSTV come
into Existence?"
Back issue copies of ATVQ and cyber copies of the article are available
on-line at
http://www.atvquarterly.com/
or by contacting ATVQ via e-mail at
WA6SVT(a)aol.com.
[ANS thanks Farrell Winder, W8ZCF, for the above information]
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Commemorative ANZAC Operations Include Satellite Activation
The ANZAC 100 program has entered its "last hurrah" phase, with plenty of on
air action now as ANZAC-suffixed callsigns commemorate the departure from
Gallipoli on December 20, 1915.
The multi-mode event by VI3ANZAC is in full swing, headed by Tony Hambling
VK3VTH.
In honor of the Royal Australian Navy Bridge Train, a large team lead by
Mike Charteris VK4QS is being heard through VI4ANZAC.
In the west VI6ANZAC organized by Chris Grice VK6PII has members of the Ham
College. The major operations are this weekend at the RAAF Museum Bull Creek
in the Cobra Helicopter display, and next weekend at the Ham College new
shack in a scout hall. Chris VK6PII advises that VI6ANZAC will be on HF
using SSB and sometimes CW, and plans to activate an FM satellite as well.
While VI8ANZAC is now on air, and is to finish at the Charles Darwin
National Park with Stuie VK8NSB and Rowan VK8RD, heard on HF using SSB & CW.
More details of each of these events are on the WIA website, wia.org.au
On next week's broadcast we will conclude with the special closing address
from the WIA President, Phil Wait VK2ASD. That is expected to talk about the
significance of the ANZAC legend, and the highly successful WIA ANZAC 100
program that began with pre-cursors at Queenscliff, Darwin and Albany.
These have been 50 events in the past eight months, joined by commemorative
callsigns in Turkey and Belgium.
Now the ANZAC-suffixed callsigns "last hurrah" on air until December 20, are
working the world.
[ANS thanks the VK1WIA-news from the Wireless Institute of Australia for the
above information]
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UK students to have direct contact with astronaut Tim Peake during
Principia
mission
Working with the UK Space Agency, ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station) is giving a number of UK schools the opportunity to speak
directly to Tim Peake, the first British ESA astronaut, during his
mission on
board the International Space Station (ISS). This will enable live
interaction
between pupils and Tim and is anticipated to be one of the highlights of the
Principia STEM outreach program.
During his 6 month mission to the ISS, starting in December 2015, Tim
will be
undertaking a wide range of science experiments, some of which have been
designed by students from around the UK. Additionally he has committed
to take
part in a large range of educational outreach activities with schools and
colleges around the country.
Jeremy Curtis, Head of Education at the UK Space Agency, said:
“Both Tim’s space mission and amateur radio have the power to inspire young
people and encourage them into STEM subjects. By bringing them together
we can
boost their reach and give young people around the UK the chance to be
involved
in a space mission and a hands-on project that will teach them new skills.”
The pre-arranged schools contacts will take place between January and April
2016 and students will be able to put a number of questions directly to Tim
using amateur radio VHF and UHF radio equipment specially installed at the
school for the occasion.
The 3.8 meter dish owned by Satellite Applications Catapult is being
loaned to
the project to track the ISS and will ensure real time video will be
available
during the schools’ contacts scheduled for early next year. The dish is
almost
in the shadow of the 29 meter dish “Arthur” built in 1962 to receive the
first
transatlantic television signals from the Telstar-1 spacecraft.
For Tim Peake’s mission, the ARISS team of licensed UK Radio Amateurs is
planning a world first by also receiving live video from the ISS during the
contact. Using the HamTV transmitter, which has recently been
commissioned on
board the ISS, Tim will be the first astronaut to use this equipment
during a
two way schools contact.
As well as building a vehicle based receive system, which will be
installed at
the school on the day of the contact, the team recently visited
Goonhilly Earth
Station in Cornwall to commission a dish to receive the 2.4 GHz HamTV
transmissions from the ISS.
During the contact at the schools the ARISS team will be providing
information
displays on the ISS position and have webcams showing both the local and
Goonhilly dishes as they track the ISS.
The hosting schools will be organizing presentations and displays before and
after the contact and the ARISS team will be providing a live web cast
of all
the day’s events including the actual contact with Tim Peake.
The live event webcast will be hosted by the British Amateur Television Club
(BATC) on their web streaming service at
https://principia.ariss.org/live/
The ARISS program is designed to maximize the impact of the Principia
Mission outreach activities. It will directly engage students with media and
communication technologies with the goal of inspiring them to pursue
careers in
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
UK Space Agency Principia site
https://principia.org.uk/
School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact
http://amsat-uk.org/2015/07/14/school-shortlist-tim-peake-iss/
NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI
http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/08/nasa-tv-to-cover-launch-of-tim-peake-kg5bvi/
[ANS thanks UK Space Agency, ARISS, & AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI
The next three crew members bound for the International Space Station
are set
to launch on Tuesday, December 15. NASA Television will provide full
coverage
of the launch beginning at 10:00 UT.
UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI, along with Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP and Tim
Kopra KE5UDN, will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at
11:03
UT (5:03 p.m. Baikonur time) for a six-month stay on the orbital complex.
The three will travel in a Soyuz spacecraft, rendezvous with the space
station
and dock to the Rassvet module at 17:24 UT NASA TV coverage of docking will
begin at 16:45 UT.
The hatches between the Soyuz and space station will be opened at about
19:25
UT, and the newly arrived crew members will be greeted by Expedition 46
Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Flight Engineers Sergey Volkov RU3DIS and
Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF of Roscosmos. NASA TV coverage of the hatch opening
will begin at 19:00 UT.
Kelly and Kornienko will return in March 2016 with Volkov after spending a
year on the station collecting valuable biomedical data that will
improve our
understanding of the effects of long duration space travel and aid in NASA’s
journey to Mars.
Together, the Expedition 46 crew members will continue the several hundred
experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science
currently underway and scheduled to take place aboard humanity’s only
orbiting
laboratory.
For the full schedule of prelaunch, launch and docking coverage, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
Follow Tim Peake KG5BVI on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake
Follow the space station crew members on Instagram and Twitter at:
http://instagram.com/iss
and
http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station
[ANS thanks NASA, ARISS, & AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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WRC-15: Amateur Bands Unsuitable for Non-Amateur Satellites
The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) held in Geneva during November
2015 has recommended an agenda for the next WRC, to be held in 2019, to the
Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). One of the
agenda
items is of particular interest to the small-satellite community.
Agenda item 1.7 for WRC-19 reads: “to study the spectrum needs for
telemetry,
tracking and command in the space operation service for non-GSO
satellites with
short duration missions, to assess the suitability of existing
allocations to
the space operation service and, if necessary, to consider new
allocations, in
accordance with Resolution COM6/19 (WRC-15).”
Resolution COM6/19, which eventually will be given a new number,
specifies the
frequency ranges that may be considered for possible new allocations.
They are
150.05-174 MHz and 400.15-420 MHz.
One of the factors that the conference considered in deciding on these
particular frequency ranges was “that some non-amateur satellites have used
frequencies for telemetry, tracking and command in the frequency bands
144-146
MHz and 435-438 MHz which are allocated to the amateur-satellite
service, and
that such use is not in accordance with Nos. 1.56 and 1.57.” Those two
provisions of the ITU Radio Regulations define the amateur and amateur-
satellite services respectively.
The International Amateur Radio Union welcomed the exclusion from
consideration of all existing frequency allocations to the amateur and
amateur-
satellite services. IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, observed: “This is an
excellent result for the amateur services and clearly shows that non-amateur
satellite constructors need to consider spectrum other than the very limited
and congested segments that are available for amateur satellites at 144
MHz and
435 MHz.”
[ANS thanks IARU, ARRL, & AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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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, 9 January 2016 – Thunderbird Hamfest 2016 in Phoenix AZ
*Friday and Saturday, 19-20 February 2016 – Yuma Hamfest and 2016 ARRL
Southwest Division Convention in Yuma AZ
*Saturday and Sunday, 12-13 March 2016 – ScienceCity science fair, on
the University of Arizona campus in Tucson AZ
*Saturday, 19 March 2016 – Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Spring
Hamfest 2016 in Scottsdale AZ
*Saturday, 26 March 2016 – Tucson Spring Hamfest in Tucson AZ
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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ARISS News
Successful Contacts
* A direct contact via 8N2YAYOI with students at Yayoi Elementary School,
Yatomi, Japan was successful Fri 2015-12-04 09:25:46 UTC 57 deg. Astronaut
Kimiya Yui KG5BPH and answered 14 questions prepared by students.
Watch a video of the contact which was conducted in Japanese at
http://www.ariss.jp/yatomi/8n2yayoi.wmv
* The telebridge contact with students at Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden was
rescheduled via LU1CGB for Fri 2015-12-04 10:15:01 UTC 72 deg. Astronaut
Kjell
Lindgren, KO5MOS was able to answer 17 prepared questions for students.
The contact was recorded by the school. View it on the school website at:
http://www.skola.umea.se/dragonskolan
Dragonskolan is one of the biggest upper secondary schools in Sweden and is
located in central Umeå. Currently hosting 1820 students aged 16-19 and 300
staff; it has recently been renovated to meet modern needs in a stimulating
learning environment.
At Dragonskolan, we have an ethos where we believe we can offer our students
three meaningful and enjoyable years. Our core values are “open and bright”,
referring not only to the physical surroundings but also to the social
climate.
Dragonskolan is the biggest meeting place for young people in Umeå,
A wide range of 3 year programs, college preparatory and vocational, are
offered here, ranging from natural science to humanities and technological
science.
At the core of the school is the Dragonskolan Technology Center where
everything is taught from industrial welding technology to electronics,
automation, computer science, CAD and much more.
With its close ties to the industry, the school keeps in pace with the
latest
industrial technology ensuring the students get the best education available
within their chosen field.
* A direct contact with students at an event titled, “the development of
Gagarin from Space”, was sponsored by the Polytechnic Professional
Councils of
the City of Grozny, Russia on Sat 2015-12-05 16:25 UTC. The cosmonaut
for the
contact was Sergey Volkov RU3DIS.
* A telebridge contact via LU1CGB with students at Konstanty Ildefons
Galczynski Junior High School, Swietajno, Poland, was successful
Tue 2015-12-08 08:19:31 UTC 62 deg. Astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
answered
14 questions prepared by students.
An audio recording may be heard at:
http://www.ariss.org/news.html
Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski Junior High School in Swietajno,
attended by approximately 170 pupils (aged 13-15), is situated in a
picturesque Land of a Thousand Lakes in Szczytno County (Warmian-Masurian
Voivodeship, in the northeastern part of Poland. The school consists of
seven
forms and it employs twenty well-qualified teachers. Mazurian Amateur Radio
Club SP4YWM has been established here and it functions with the number of
seventeen school members (among which there are three primary school pupils
and one pre-school girl, all from Swietajno).
In preparation for the amateur radio contact with the ISS, the students
with
the guidance of their teachers improved their English, got familiar with
the
life and work on the ISS. They had a great opportunity to learn everyday
English in order to ask an astronaut questions during the ISS contact as
well
as the specialized language of science to visit space agencies pages. The
students learned geography with the use of modern technologies and
photographed
the Earth from the camera on board the ISS (EarthKAM). The school
cooperated
with the Olsztyn Planetarium to organize an observation. The planetarium
visited Swietajno to accompany one of the school events. Consequently, the
Astronomical Mobile Laboratory called Astrolabium was at the school’s
disposal.
Last year the ARISS participants from Swietajno attended the 4th
Polish-Wide
Conference of Contributors and Sympathisers in ARISS held in the central
part
of Poland, where they focused on interesting topics concerning the ISS and
learned how other Polish schools had prepared for ARISS contacts in the
past.
The pupils also performed an experiment in the near space as a part of the
miniSAT project. They sent peas, bubble wrap and a watch to near space
to the
altitude of about 30 000 meters above the Earth. The conditions differ
significantly between near space and the surface of the Earth: the
pressure is
much smaller, UV radiation is higher and the temperature is below zero
degrees Celsius. People from all over Poland, including the pupils from
Swietajno, took part in it. The balloon used in the event was marked
“CP26”.
The experiment in the near space was possible thanks to ham radio operators
and other volunteers from a non-governmental organization called Copernicus
Project Foundation (near Torun, Poland). Their two flagship projects are
MiniSAT and Near Space Program in Poland and they have organized above 30
balloon flies to the near space since 2005.
In March 2013 the school started public relations activities connected with
the ham radio contact between an astronaut on the International Space
Station
and the students from Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski School. An official
inauguration of the ARISS program in Swietajno had been prepared. TVP
Olsztyn,
Radio Olsztyn and other local mass media were present there and took
part in
an inaugural lecture on ARISS. As a continuation of EarthKAM program an
exhibition of the photographs taken by the students was organized during
the
inauguration. Before that, Swietajno primary school pupils (between the
ages
of 5 and 12) had been invited to participate in the preparations to the
ARISS
contact. As a result, some of them are going to ask the astronaut their
questions, together with their older friends from the junior high school.
Upcoming Contacts
>From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational Segment
(USOS)
hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be
conducted by the ARISS Russia team.
Watch
http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html
for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled.
[ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]
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* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* SpaceX to launch rocket Dec 19, six months after blast
SpaceX on Thursday announced plans to launch its Falcon 9 on December
19, its
first mission since a massive explosion after liftoff destroyed the
rocket and
its space station cargo six months ago.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that the company is preparing for a
static fire -- an engine test on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center
in Cape Canaveral, Florida -- on December 16, followed by "launch about
three
days later."
The Falcon rocket will carry 11 satellites for the US company Orbcomm
into low-
Earth orbit, a company spokesman said.
The spokesman did not say when SpaceX planned to begin sending cargo to the
International Space Station again.
SpaceX's only competitor in the commercial resupply industry is Orbital ATK,
which also suffered a major setback when its Antares rocket exploded after
launching from Wallops Island, Virginia in October 2014.
Orbital ATK launched on Sunday its unmanned Cygnus cargo ship to the
ISS, this
time aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket while it upgrades the
Antares, which previously used a reconditioned Ukrainian rocket engine.
The Falcon 9 exploded on June 28, just over two minutes after launching from
Cape Canaveral with its Dragon cargo ship loaded with supplies for the
astronauts living in space.
Musk said the blast was due to a faulty strut.
The accident was a blow to the California-based company, which was the first
commercial outfit to send a cargo craft to space under a $1.6 billion
contract
with NASA.
The Falcon 9 rocket that is scheduled to fly December 19 is a new
version that
is 30 percent more powerful and designed to improve the controlled
landing of
the rocket's first stage, a mission that SpaceX has been attempting to
refine
in the hope of one day making rockets as reusable as airplanes.
SpaceX has tried multiple times to land its rocket upright on a floating
platform in the Atlantic Ocean, without success.
For this next launch, SpaceX said it plans to attempt a touchdown on
land for
the first time.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, an Internet entrepreneur who like Musk also
owns a
rocket company, announced on November 24 that he had successfully landed his
New Shepard rocket after a suborbital flight.
While Bezos touted the achievement, Musk and other experts pointed out
that it
would have been much easier to control the landing of a rocket that
flies lower
in altitude than the first stage of the Falcon 9.
Once rockets do become reusable, analysts say the practice will save
millions
of dollars in equipment and launch costs.
see
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/SpaceX_to_launch_rocket_Dec_19_six_months_
after_blast_999.html
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com 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
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-340
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 Ground Terminal Development Expands to Texas
* AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 In Memory of W2BXA
* Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-12-02 20:30 UTC
* WRC-15 Satellite News
* Cubesat by an Elementary School Will be Aboard the Orbital-ATK Cygnus
Launch
* 73 on 73 Award Recipients
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-340.01
ANS-340 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 340.01
From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD.
December 6, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-340.01
AMSAT Ground Terminal Development Expands to Texas
Hardware consisting of Ettus Research USRP X300 SDR, USRP B210 SDR,
UBX40 USRP
Daughterboard, GPDSO Kits, and antennas have been ordered from National
Instruments Corp. for delivery to Bill Reed NX5R in Dallas TX to equip a
second
community for development of the AMSAT Ground Terminals. These terminals
will be
used for the Phase 4B and other digital/microwave satellites being
developed by
AMSAT and in partnership with Virginia Tech.
Michelle Thompson W5NYV has been leading the effort in the San Diego CA
area,
which started up when the P4B project was announced earlier this year.
Amateur
radio operators in the Southern California area from AMSAT, Palomar Amateur
Radio Club, and the San Diego Microwave Society have been implementing a
terrestrial system to mimic the ground and space segments of a digital
satellite
communications link and developing code and hardware techniques for use
in the
P4B and future HEO opportunities that AMSAT is pursuing. Expanding the
system to
the Dallas area will allow more collaboration, development, and testing
by AMSAT
and North Texas Microwave Society amateurs with San Diego and other
regions. The
investment in equipment and community building will increase the number and
quality of ideas in developing this next generation system of amateur radio
satellite communications.
Another development system is being planned for the east coast. AMSAT is
actively recruiting individuals and groups that want to work together to
establish increased regional technical activity in support of satellite
service
goals. Rick Hambly W2GPS has campaigned for the creation of this very
type of
activity on the east coast for many years. Successful east-coast
expansion will
add even more variability and expertise to the project.
By involving amateurs who have expertise in both microwave and digital
communications and in varying terrain and conditions, as well as including
people with various backgrounds and experience, AMSAT plans to produce a
ground
terminal that will be useful with a variety of next generation satellites
including Phase 4B, Phase 3E, the Heimdallr Lunar Cube Quest CubeSat, and an
AMSAT developed HEO CubeSat. These are all projects currently being
pursued by
the AMSAT Engineering and ASCENT (Advanced Satellite Communications and
Exploration of New Technology) Teams.
“The development of a ground terminal along with satellite projects is
part of a
plan to offer a way for amateurs to buy, build, or access ideas to
develop their
own ground terminals which will be useful for many future AMSAT satellite
mission for years to come” said AMSAT-NA Vice President of Engineering Jerry
Buxton, N0JY. “The concept of common uplink (5 GHz) and downlink (10 GHz)
frequencies with software defined transponders allows many different
experimentation and communications opportunities ranging from simple
texting to
voice, streaming video, data exchange, and reliable EMCOMM access in remote
areas, with bandwidths to support many satellites and users.”
If you are interested in supporting the effort please visit
http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1121 to submit a request. While those who
live in
the San Diego, Dallas, or Maryland areas may find it easier to participate,
volunteers from other areas are welcome to join and contribute remotely.
[ANS thanks Jerry, NØJY, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 In Memory of W2BXA
You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR
2016,
sponsored by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world.
Operate CW through any amateur satellite from 0001 through 2400 UTC on 1
January
2016, using a manual, non-electronic key. Note that bugs are now
allowed, as
they are in similar ARRL and SKCC events.
There is no need to send in a log, but please nominate someone you
worked for
Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard,
just of
those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs(a)amsat.org.. A list of those
nominated will be published in early February.
This year’s event is being held in memory of Ben Stevenson, W2BXA
(1914-2011).
Licensed since 1929, Ben was one of the world’s top DXers on both HF and
satellites. He led the DXCC Honor Roll for many years, and among his many
awards were Satellite DXCC No. 1 and post-war Worked All Zones No. 1.
Founding
president of the North Jersey DX Association, Ben shared his knowledge and
enthusiasm with one and all.
[ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-12-02 20:30 UTC
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Nanasawa Kibounooka Elementary School, Atsugi, Japan, direct via 8N1NKSG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact was successful: Wed 2015-12-02 09:33:51 UTC 61 deg
Yayoi Elementary School, Yatomi, Japan, direct via 8N2YAYOI
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact is a go for: Fri 2015-12-04 09:25:46 UTC 57 deg
Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via LU1CGB
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Fri 2015-12-04 10:15:01 UTC 72 deg
Ingushetia, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Sergey Volkov RU3DIS
Contact is a go for: Sat 2015-12-05 16:25 UTC
Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski Junior High School, Swietajno, Poland,
telebridge via LU1CGB
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Tue 2015-12-08 08:19:31 UTC 62 deg
[ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WRC-15 Satellite News
In his report for Day 16 of the WRC-15 conference Colin Thomas G3PSM says:
Discussions took place on suggested frequency bands for possible new
or an
upgrade of existing allocations to the space operations service
within the
frequency ranges 150.05-174 MHz, 400.15-420 MHz [and 420-450 MHz] for
short
duration satellites.
This potential future agenda item is an attempt to overcome the
problem of
non-amateur nano- and pico-satellites using the amateur service bands. No
decision was reached and the document has been passed to plenary for
decision.
More reports about WRC-15 activities can be found at
http://rsgb.org/main/blog/category/news/special-focus/wrc-15/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cubesat by an Elementary School Will be Aboard the Orbital-ATK Cygnus Launch
NASA will enable the deployment of three small research satellites, or
CubeSats,
selected through the CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) for two
universities and
one primary school as part of the ninth installment of the Educational
Launch of
Nanosatellite (ELaNa) missions.
Full story at this URL:
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ELaNa_IX_mission_launches_first_cubesat_b…
by_elementary_school_students_999.html
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
73 on 73 Award Recipients
Paul Stoetzer N8HM reports more awards have been issued for contacts
made via
the AO-73 (FUNcube-1) amateur radio satellite.
The 73 on 73 Award aims to promote activity on AO-73. The requirements are
straight-forward:
1. Work 73 unique stations on AO-73.
2. Contacts must be made on or after September 1, 2014.
3. There are no geographic restrictions on your operating location.
The latest recipients are:
20. David D’Aliesio IW0HLG – 31 May 2015
21. Kiyosi Hasegawa JA3FWT – 22 June 2015
22. Mariusz Kocot SQ9MES – 28 June 2015
23. Hector Luis Martinez W5CBF – 12 July 2015
24. George K. Carr II WA5KBH – 17 July 2015
25. Michel Ribot F6GLJ – 18 July 2015
26. Paul Stoetzer N8HM – 21 July 2015
27. Jeffrey Lamb NX9B – 2 August 2015
28. Imre Füzi HA1SE – 13 September 2015
29. Herman Blom PB0AHX – 1 November 2015
30. Joseba Andoni Barrio – 22 November 2015
Full information on how to apply is at
http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/
[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
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-333
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:
* Nov/Dec Edition of AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer
* March 2016 Activation of St. Pierre & Miquelon
* 2016 High-Altitude Student Platform Opportunity
* ARISS Commemorative Events in the Planning
* S7 Sao Tome and Principe Dxpedition Includes LEO Satellites
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-333
ANS-333 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 333
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
[MONTH DAY, YEAR]
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-333
Nov/Dec Edition of AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer
AMSAT Journal editor Joe Kornowski, KB6IGK, reports that the
November-December editon of the Journal has been sent to to the
printers. Expect delivery mid to late December.
This is Kornowski's first Journal since accepting the Editorial post
last October. The atricles are well done and ‘meaty’ with lots of
information. The overall appearance looks great. There is much here
for every AMSAT member to enjoy.
The line up of articles include:
AMSAT Announcements
Apogee View, Barry Baines, WD4ASW,
Engineering Update, by Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Fox-1 Satellite Telemetry Part 1: On the Satellite by Burns Fisher,
W2BFJ
A Raspberry Pi Net Server/Client for Antenna Rotor by Tom Doyle, W9KE
Dual Band Low Noise Amplifier for 2 Meters and 70 Centimeters, by
Jim Kocsis, WA9PYH
ARISS “Out of This World” Update by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
Close Encounters of the Law Enforcement Kind by Patrick Stoddard,
WD9EWK/VA7EWK
On the Grids: Working the United States/Mexico Border by Clayton L.
Coleman, W5PFG
[ANS thanks Joseph KB6IGK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
March 2016 Activation of St. Pierre & Miquelon
Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon
(NA-032, DIFO FP-002, WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between March
16-29th (2016). Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and
RTTY (but primarily SSB and RTTY). He will generally be on the
highest frequency band that is open (favoring 12/10m). He will be
active in the Russian DX and BARTG RTTY Contests (March 19-20th).
Also, look for him to be in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 26-27th)
as a Single-Op/All-Band/Assisted entry. QSL via KV1J, direct or by
the Bureau. Also eQSL and LoTW. For more details and updates, check
out his Web page at:
http://www.kv1j.com/fp/Mar16.html
PLEASE NOTE:
Eric mentions, "I will also be on the analog Satellites when the WX
is good enough to operate from outside."
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1241 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2016 High-Altitude Student Platform Opportunity
The Louisiana Space Grant Consortium, or LaSPACE, is accepting
applications from students at U.S. colleges and universities who want
to send experiments to the edge of space on a high-flying scientific
balloon.
The annual project, supported by the NASA Balloon Program Office and
LaSPACE, provides near-space access for 12 undergraduate and graduate
student experiments to be carried by a NASA high-altitude research
balloon. The flights typically last 15 to 20 hours and reach an
altitude of 23 miles.
Experiments may include compact satellites or prototypes.
The experiments are flown aboard the High-Altitude Student Platform,
or HASP, a balloon-born instrument stack launched from the Columbia
Scientific Balloon Facility's remote site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
The goals of the project are to provide a space test platform to
encourage student researchand stimulate the development of student
satellite payloads and other space-engineering products.
HASP seeks to enhance the technical skills and research abilities of
students in critical science, technology, engineering and mathematics
disciplines.
The deadline for applications is Dec. 18, 2015.
For application information and technical details about the program,
visit
http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp.
Questions about the High-Altitude Student Platform opportunity
should be directed to T. Gregory Guzik at
guzik (at) phunds.phys.lsu.edu.
[ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- Nov. 25, 2015 for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Commemorative Events in the Planning
Over the next couple months, ARISS will be celebrating its 15th
anniversary of continuous operations on the ISS. On November 13, 2000
the crew conducted their first ham radio contacts on ISS and on
December 21, 2000 ARISS conducted their first school contact with the
Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois.
An SSTV commemoration of these historic events is tentatively planned for
mid to late December. It is possible that the transmission mode will be P120
instead of the P180 mode used in the past. This would allow for more
pictures to be transmitted per pass.
Because preparations are not final it is suggested that you stay tuned to
the AMSAT-BB and the AMSAT and ARISS web site for the latest information on
this event and others that ARISS plans to conduct over the next few months
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
S7 Sao Tome and Principe Dxpedition Includes LEO Satellites
S7, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE. Operators Lee/WW2DX, Ray/W2RE and
Pat/N2IEN will be active as S9TM from Praia between November 28th and
December 1st.
The team is planning on taking a WRTC tri-band yagi for 10/15/20 as
well as a OCF for the lower bands. They will have an Expert 1.3K amp
with them for that station. The second station will be K3/KPA500 that
will be used on the 30/17/12m bands. A third station will be setup
for LEO satellites and they are going to attempt 2m EME, but this is
new territory for this group so don't set expectations too high. They
will be posting to Twitter
https://twitter.com/@ww2dx>
and possible live streaming using periscope.
QSL via LoTW and paper cards to NR6M.
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1242 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
+ A Successful contact was made between Scuola Media Statale “G.
Marconi”, Soleto, Lecce, Italy and Astronaut Kimiya Yui KG5BPH using
Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2015-11-23 09:21 UTC and lasted
about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via VK4KHZ.
ARISS Mentor was IKØWGF.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-11-26 01:00 UTC
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VE4ISS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact was not successful: Wed 2015-11-25 09:44:25 UTC 78 deg
ARISS is working to determine what happened.
Nanasawa Kibounooka Elementary School, Atsugi, Japan, direct via
8N1NKSG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact is a go for: Wed 2015-12-02 09:33:51 UTC 61 deg
Yayoi Elementary School, Yatomi, Japan, direct via 8N2YAYOI
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact is a go for: Fri 2015-12-04 09:25:46 UTC 57 deg
Ingushetia, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Sergey Volkov RU3DIS
Contact is a go for: Sat 2015-12-05 16:25 UTC
>From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational
Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during
this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team.
Stay tuned to the AMSAT-BB, The AMSAT website {www.asmat.org) and
the ARISS website (www.ariss.org) for information on ARISS
commemorative events celebrating 15 years of Amateur Radio on the ISS.
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
Eduardo Erlemann PY2RN published a Panoramic view of AO-7
transponder, using FCDP+ for RX and TS-2000 for TX. Although he was
late on he bird after 1/2 pass that started at 18:40 UTC, forgot to
swap SDR# IQ in the first moment.
Max elevation was 64deg TX power 5 Watts all the time and RHCP most
of the time. About 2 min before end of recording it is possible to
hear what he believes is a CU station calling.
Find the recording at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCq0WaEZ9g8&feature=youtu.be
[ANS thank Eduardo PY2RN 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, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-326
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
* The Second Birthday of FUNcube-1 (AO-73)
* FM Repeater Test at IO-86 Satellite
* AMSAT-LU announces transponder satellite payload and launch
* Space Brazilian Agency With Amateur radio PY2SDR LABRE/AMSAT-BR
* United Launch Alliance Reveals Transformational CubeSat Launch Program
* Nayif-1 at UAE YouthConnect
* DeorbitSail Update and Initial Camera Image
* SPROUT SSTV and Digitalker active every Sunday
* AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-326.01
ANS-326 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 326.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE November 22, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-326.01
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
AO-85 has been formally commissioned and turned over to AMSAT
Operations, who are now responsible for the scheduling and modes.
The following guidelines are provided for users:
Uplink power should be on the order of minimum 200 W EIRP for full
quieting at lower antenna elevation angles. Your mileage may vary.
With an Arrow, 5 W has been used successfully to make contacts.
Polarity is important. The satellite antennas are linear. So, if you
are using linearly polarized antennas, you will need to adjust
throughout the pass. Full duplex operation facilitates these
adjustments while transmitting and is highly recommended.
The downlink is very strong and should be heard well with almost any
antenna.
Downlink audio is 5 kHz deviation, as expected. Many will perceive
that the audio is "low." This is an effect of the filtering below 300
Hz, which provides for the DUV telemetry, coupled with any noise on
the uplink signal resulting from lack of full quieting or being off
frequency. That makes for less fidelity than a typical receiver in
terms of audio frequencies passed.
Transmit (downlink) frequency varies with temperature. Due to the
wide range of temperatures we are seeing in the eclipse cycle, the
transmitter can be anywhere from around 500 Hz low at 10°C to near 2
kHz low at 40°C.
Receive frequency has been generally agreed to be about 435.170 MHz,
although the AFC makes that hard to pin down and also helps with the
uplinks that are off frequency.
Probably the most notable observations about AO-85 are an apparent
lack of sensitivity and difficulty in turning on the repeater with
the 67 Hz CTCSS when it is not yet activated, or holding it on by the
presence of the CTCSS. We have determined a probable cause for the
sensitivity issue and while that can't be fixed on AO-85 we are
taking steps to prevent similar issues on the rest of the Fox-1
CubeSats. The tone detection threshold along with the receive
sensitivity issue makes it hard to bring up the repeater. This is
being addressed by adjusting the values for a valid tone detection in
the other Fox-1 CubeSats now that we have on orbit information about
temperatures and power budget. Full details will be in the Nov/Dec
AMSAT Journal.
It is important to remember that science is the reason behind the
Fox-1 satellites. Not only does science help with the launch cost, it
provides a great amount of educational value both from the science
payload and in amateur radio itself. The data-under-voice (DUV)
telemetry is an excellent way to provide the science without
sacrificing the use of the satellite for communications, which would
be the case if higher speed downlinks were needed. DUV provides
constant science as long as the repeater is in use, which in turn
provides more downlink data for the science - a mutually beneficial
combination.
Fox-1A is AMSAT-NA's first CubeSat. Many new techniques are
incorporated and lessons will be learned, as with any new "product."
The Fox-1 Project is a series of CubeSats. A total of five will be
built and flown. Launches are scheduled for three more, and a new
NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative proposal will be submitted for the
fifth. We will incorporate changes from what we learn in each launch,
to the extent possible, in subsequent Fox-1 CubeSats.
Of the four NASA sponsored CubeSats on the ELaNa XII launch October
8, we are sad to report that ARC1 was never heard from and BisonSat
was lost after a few weeks of operation. AMSAT extends our deepest
sympathy to the people who worked so hard on these projects. To our
members, we want to say that the Fox Team is very proud and pleased
that our first CubeSat is very successful and hopefully will be for
some time.
[ANS thanks AMSAT's Vice President of Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Second Birthday of FUNcube-1 (AO-73)
The FUNcube-1 Ops Team reports:
FUNcube-1 was launched into space two years ago on November 21st 2013.
We are delighted to be able to report that more than 900 stations, including
many schools around the world, have received the telemetry from the
spacecraft
since launch. Our Data Warehouse is storing more than 750 MB of data from
almost 1 million data packets. We are very grateful to everyone who has been
contributing to the success of this mission. Please continue to keep the
data
flowing as it will provide a valuable resource for students in the future.
The stats continue – speeding along at around 17,500 mph, FUNcube-1,
which had
a launch mass of just 982 grams, has completed more than 10,500 orbits
of the
earth. This means a total distance travelled of more than 260 million miles.
All telemetry sensors continue to provide valid data, real time, whole orbit
and high resolution channels alike. The flight code is really robust and we
have only had three unexpected “events” since launch. Two of these we
believe
to have been caused by noise of the command receiver being incorrectly
interpreted as a command and only one appears to have been caused by a RAM
error. The battery and solar panels also continue to work perfectly and
provide
a very positive power budget.
We have sent out many Fitter messages for school and other similar events.
Earlier this week there was a demonstration at Thorne Green Top School in
Yorkshire.
Here is a report from Dave EI4HT/M0GIW:
Good Morning All
Firstly -thanks to all for your help, we had a great morning at Green
Top and
the highlight was FUNcube.
I started with a slide show talking about communications from cave
paintings
all the way up to smartphones, we looked at space communications and travel
from Sputnik to Astra and Apollo to the Millennium Falcon! We spoke about
satellites and how they are used every day and how we all got to watch
“I’m A
Celebrity” via Satellite last night from Australia.
I brought in lots of props too, some old Motorola MX330 radios, some PMR
446,
and a marine band radio .I also had a small model of a CubeSat that I
knocked
up over the weekend, I also passed around some NOAA images from last week’s
Abigail storm and I had a few QSL cards from ISS and MIR from years ago
when I
lived in Ireland.
The FUNcube pass was great, really strong signals, I had my turnstile
and FCD
set up and had audio through speakers and used the class projector to show
Satpc32 and the Dashboard.
There was a great buzz of excitement when we got the first packet and even
more when the Fitter messages came through. The kids were fascinated to
see the
signal arrive just as the software predicted and then hear the telemetry and
the decode.
After the pass we were able to look at the Warehouse online and print
off the
QSL card and certificate.
I didn’t get a chance to take many pics but Mrs Overson will update the
School Blog and she took lots of pics.
http://greentopschool.co.uk/blog
Once again thanks to all at FUNcube, looking forward to Tim Peake on the ISS
in the New Year and planning another visit to the School then.
Regards
Dave EI4HT / M0GIW
PS: I was back dropping my own kids off this morning and Mrs Overson told me
they have printed a QSL card and Certificate for each of the students
and they
have used them for their class journals.
As well providing a great educational resource, FUNcube-1 operates at night
and generally at weekends with the linear transponder active for radio
amateurs
to use for communications. The transponder continues to provide an excellent
service. As users will be aware, the transponder uplink frequencies vary
with
receiver temperature. The RX temp telemetry channel is the best one to
use for
tracking this effect. This does make it quite difficult to use full computer
control for transponder operations and we have already developed new
oscillator
circuits to improve this performance for future missions.
For the telemetry uplinked to the Data Warehouse, it is possible to download
special Certificate or QSL Card here
http://amsatuk.me.uk/on/funcube_qsl.php
and, for transponder users, the “73 on 73 award” continues at
http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/
The Nayif-1 CubeSat mission, which includes a full FUNcube payload, is
expected to be launched into a similar orbit in the first half of next
year and
will provide an additional level of service to the community.
Meanwhile we hope everyone will continue to have fun with FUNcube-1!
See:
http://funcube.org.uk/2015/11/20/the-second-birthday-of-funcube-1/
[ANS thanks Graham, G3VZV and the FUNcube-1 Ops Team for the above
information]
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FM Repeater Test at IO-86 Satellite
A confirmation for the upcoming test of the FM Repeater on IO-86 Satellite
(LAPAN-A2/ORARI), has been announced and would be conducted this weekend:
- Saturday, 21 Nov 2015, at 02:30 UTC - 04:50UTC
- Sunday, 22 Nov 2015, at 02:55 – 05:00 UTC
Voice Repeater info:
- Uplink 145.880 Mhz tone 88,5
- Downlink 435.880 Mhz
AMSAT Keplerian data
0 IO-86
1 40931U 15052B 15316.15776324 .00001070 00000-0 60618-4 0 9994
2 40931 6.0030 69.3893 0012877 275.6206 84.2533 14.76374433 6653
As the satellite was designed for emcomm using handheld radio (the
reason of
the relatively high-power downlink), we would like all reports of
portable ops
(handheld radio using some sort of portable directional antenna,
i.e. CJU / IOio / Moxon / Arrow / etc).
Responses via the amsat-bb
[ANS thanks Suryono Adisoemarta – YD0NXX / N5SNN for the above information]
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AMSAT-LU announces transponder satellite payload and launch
(From AMSAT-LU Facebook page:)
Dear friends,
Since several years ago AMSAT Argentina is working to keep alive the
dream of
many amateur radio back into space with a satellite of its own, which is the
continuity of the legendary LuSat-1 of the años1990 and reaping the
benefits of
the technological advance of our days.
For this held various technical activities, developing experiments on board
the occasional platforms, all with the same objective: to preserve the human
group, enhance their capabilities and spread their resources by guiding
them to
the education and development of the activity.
In recent times, AMSAT Argentina has been working in many ways with the
company Satellogic, which already launched three satellites of low orbit:
Captain Beto, manolito and tita, two of them are now broadcast telemetry and
data in uhf and are identified in the Distinctive LU7AA.
Under an agreement signed between the two institutions AMSAT-LU provides
support to those missions operate one of the stations of control in uppsala,
Prov. Of BS. As.
Currently satellogic is facing the construction of a constellation of
satellites of observation of the earth and has invited AMSAT-LU to
participate
in the project of the next two satellites, the ÑUSAT 1 AND ÑUSAT 2,
riding on
one of them a Linear Transponder Analog Amateur Radio Antenna and its
corresponding.
The experiment which provides AMSAT was tested on several occasions in the
land, and also on board one of flights in a balloon launched from the
prov. Of
the Pampas. At that time was called carposat, showing a good performance in
spite of its low power and small size and weight.
On this occasion, the experiment of AMSAT LU - that has no name yet own
- will
be further reduced in its dimensions and mounted on a plaque radiadora
of 10 x
10 cm, in which also won't hold the necessary components for the Source
of food
and the duplexer. The package will be installed on the bus from the NUSAT,
which will provide the energy and will be part of a number of other
experiments
that will carry out this satellite.
The Transponder receives in the band of UHF and VHF Transmitted in, has a
bandwidth of 30 Khz and its output power is 200 mw.;
Frequencies of ascent 435.935 ~ 965 Lsb / CW,
Frequencies of descent 145.965 ~ 935 USB / CW.
Basic telemetry in 145.900 CW.
The launch is scheduled for April 2016 with a Chinese launcher in a
polar orbit
at 500 km. In Height and an inclination of 97 degrees with respect to the
equator.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to our institution, and for all the
Radioamateurs Argentines, be able to have a new satellite in orbit,
after after
so many years of successful LuSat-1.
So far, the funds needed for the preliminary activities of recent years, the
construction and the logistics, were provided by a small number of
members of
the board of directors and partners of AMSAT-LU. Now come the largest
economic
positions for the completion of the electronics and integration with the
satellite principal.
In order to comply with this circumstance, it has been proposed the
establishment of a list where it will include the names and distinctive
signs
of all those who are able and willing to work together, and then give them a
certificate alluding to his gesture.
The neighbors of the autonomous city or the great Buenos Aires, can perform
their collaboration personally during the monthly meetings of AMSAT-LU.
Also at
the headquarters of the RC Qrm Belgrano, permanent partners of AMSAT-LU.
If I'd
be interested in making donations from other sites away, we'll let you
know the
way to make their contribution.
Also, we would like to take this opportunity to invite all the partners of
AMSAT and amateur radio colleagues who are interested in suggest the
name and
the logo for our next satellite Argentine, write to us on the page of AMSAT
Argentina in Facebook or sending it by e-mail to
parapente(a)amsat.org.ar.
[ANS thanks Ignacio Mazzitelli, LU1ESY for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Brazilian Agency With Amateur radio PY2SDR LABRE/AMSAT-BR
Brasilia, November 20, 2015 - The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) received on
Tuesday (17) the visit of amateur Edson Wander Pereira, the first to receive
and decode the data sent by Serpens-1 cubesat.
The nanossatélite was launched into orbit from the International Space
Station
(ISS), the 17th of last September. Ham Radio is in Brasilia
(DF) to attend the 7th Meeting of Science and Technology (ECT - FGA)
which ends
today (20) in the Range Campus of the University of Brasilia (UNB).
Pereira lives in Pardinho (SP) and his visit emphasized the importance of
dissemination of knowledge to amateurs and students who are interested in
nanossatélites.
"The experimental amateur radio is an activity that collaborates with the
nanossatélites projects. This joint action causes the development of
CubeSats
in schools and universities is promoted by having more data exchange
possibilities transmitted by these nanos, "says Pereira.
At the meeting with President of the Agency, José Raimundo Braga, Pereira
received from teacher Chantal Capeletti, of UNB and coordinator of Serpens
Program, a transmitter that can be used to send data to the satellite and
experiment with its payload.
This equipment is part of the mission ground follow-up and was produced in
limited numbers, but will be distributed to experimental radio amateurs
operating in the area and among the member institutions of the
nanossatélite
consortium.
See the story here
http://www.aeb.gov.br/radioamador-experimental-visita-aeb-apos-decodificar-
dados-do-serpens-1/
[ANS thanks Paulo, PV8DX for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
United Launch Alliance Reveals Transformational CubeSat Launch Program
Centennial, Colo., (Nov. 19, 2015) – As the most experienced launch company
in the nation, United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced today it is taking
CubeSat rideshares to the next level by launching a new, innovative program
offering universities the chance to compete for free CubeSat rides on future
launches.
“ULA will offer universities the chance to compete for at least six CubeSat
launch slots on two Atlas V missions, with a goal to eventually add
university
CubeSat slots to nearly every Atlas and Vulcan launch,” said Tory Bruno, ULA
president and CEO. “There is a growing need for universities to have
access and
availability to launch their CubeSats and this program will transform
the way
these universities get to space by making space more affordable and
accessible.”
"This is exactly the kind of collaborative innovation that we celebrate in
Colorado," said Lt. Gov. Joseph Garcia. “Here, we have a Colorado company
giving Colorado students at a Colorado university an unbelievable
opportunity
to send a satellite into space. What a great day for our state."
Rideshare is a flight-proven, innovative approach that provides customers a
low-cost way to achieve various mission objectives without the need for a
dedicated launch vehicle. CubeSats are miniaturized satellites originally
designed for use in conjunction with university educational projects and are
typically 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm (4 inches x 4 inches x 4 inches) and
approximately 1.3 kg (3 lbs).
“Since its inception, ULA has been committed to science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives and programs such as this
help to motivate, educate and develop our next generation of rocket
scientists
and space entrepreneurs,” said Bruno. “We are making the announcement today
with University of Colorado President Bruce Benson and University of
Colorado
Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano, key partners in STEM education, and are
pleased to offer the university the first free CubeSat launch slot in 2017.”
"CU-Boulder students have been building and operating small satellites
for 20
years, including the Colorado Student Space Weather CubeSat launched on
a ULA
Atlas rocket in 2012," DiStefano said. "The ability to provide science and
engineering students with the opportunity to fly the satellites they
build is
an invaluable motivational and educational tool. We are thrilled to partner
with ULA, a visionary organization that is helping to facilitate a
nationwide
STEM effort."
Interested universities should email ULACubeSats(a)ulalaunch.com by Dec. 18,
2015 to notify ULA they are interested in participating. In early 2016, ULA
will release a request for proposal (RFP) for the first competitive CubeSat
launch slots. The selected universities will be announced in August 2016.
In addition, ULA is offering the nation’s universities the chance to
help name
the new CubeSat program. Universities, educators and students can submit
names
for consideration to ULACubeSats(a)ulalaunch.com using a campus-issued email
address. Submissions are due by Dec.18, 2015. The winning name will be
announced early next year, and the institution will receive a free CubeSat
launch slot on a future mission.
As America’s ride to space, ULA has launched 102 missions, including 55
CubeSats, with 100 percent mission success.
About United Launch Alliance
With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the
nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has
successfully delivered more than 100 satellites to orbit that provide
critical
capabilities for troops in the field, aid meteorologists in tracking severe
weather, enable personal device-based GPS navigation and unlock the
mysteries
of our solar system.
For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at
www.ulalaunch.com .
Join the conversation at
www.facebook.com/ulalaunch
twitter.com/ulalaunch and
instagram.com/ulalaunch.
See America’s Ride to Space Offers University Competition for Free STEM
CubeSat Rides on Future Launches
http://www.ulalaunch.com/ula-reveals-transformational-cubesat-launch.aspx?t…
=United+Launch+Alliance+Reveals+Transformational+CubeSat+Launch+Program+
http://www.ulalaunch.com/cubesats.aspx
See also:
http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/11/19/ula-says-it-will-launch-some-cubesats-…
-free/
[ANS thanks Jeff Yanko, WB3JFS on the AMSAT-BB for the above information]
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Nayif-1 at UAE YouthConnect
YouthConnect is an initiative led by the Expo 2020 UAE team and is catered
specifically for the Youth of today. The Nayif-1 team took part in the
event by
throwing a workshop titled “Introduction to Cubesatellites.”
YouthConnect is the first in a long-lasting and wide-ranging series highly
interactive forums designed by youth for youth. The inaugural event took
take
place on Saturday, November 14, 2015. This first interactive, full-day
forum,
part of a far wider programme to talk to the younger members of society, was
open to all UAE residents between the ages of 18-25.
“From our earliest days conceiving Expo”, says Her Excellency Reem Al
Hashimy,
UAE Minister of State and Director General of the Bureau Dubai Expo 2020 “we
were determined to put our youth at the heart of our plans. It is these
young
men and women who will be representing and leading our nation in the
years to
come. So it is important that they contribute to these events and decide
what
they want to see and do on the day.”
Nayif-1 was built by students at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, in
partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. The nanosatellite
will
incorporate a novel autonomous attitude determination and control
system. This
will be the first flight of this system. Additionally it will carry a UHF to
VHF linear transponder that will have up to 0.5 watt output and which can be
used by Radio Amateurs worldwide for SSB and CW communications.
A launch is planned for the first half 2016 on the SpaceX Falcoln 9 SHERPA
mission with deployment into an elliptical, sun synchronous, Low Earth Orbit
(LEO) of about 450 by 720 km.
Follow Nayif-1 on Twitter
https://twitter.com/Nayifone
Frequency information
http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/nayif-1/
YouthConnect at Expo 2020 Dubai
http://expo2020dubai.ae/en/news/article/expo_2020_dubai_unveils_youthconnect
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DeorbitSail Update and Initial Camera Image
Chris Bridges 2E0OBC of the Surrey Space Centre provides this update on the
status of the DeorbitSail Cubesat.
Dear AMSAT Community,
We would like to express our gratitude for your cooperation in the
DeorbitSail
project, and update you on the status of the mission.
As you know the DOS mission was launched on 10th July. After 4 months of
operations, the satellite is healthy and stable, although unfortunately
we have
not been able to meet all of the mission objectives. Initial contact
with the
satellite was established relatively smoothly and we received a lot of good
data, both through our own ground station but also via the network of
you radio
amateurs who have been very generous with your time and help.
We achieved a power stable state early on, with good comms (uplink and
downlink) established within the first few days. We deployed the solar
panels
successfully, and managed to return to a good and stable power state after
deployment. The ADCS has been challenging from the start, and continues
to be
challenging – we have struggled to accurately determine the satellite tumble
rate and get it under control (more detail on that is included below).
We know
that the satellite has seen some very high spin rates for various reasons,
including some inherent design/magnetic characteristics which have become
apparent.
Despite many attempts, we have unfortunately not been able to deploy the
sail,
and having recently thoroughly analysed and investigated the possible
causes,
mission events and ground test data and history, we are now reaching the
conclusion that achieving successful sail deployment is very unlikely. Again
there is more detail on that in the main body of text below.
We thank you for your patience and would like to apologise for not keeping
you updated on mission progress as often as we’d hoped. The operations phase
has been a learning and sometimes stressful experience for all of the
team at
SSC, with a lot of head scratching and sleepless nights involved.
Here is some more detailed information regarding what progress and
achievements have been made during the operations to date.
• After the launch on the 10th of July, and the first week in orbit, with a
power safe and healthy satellite, the operation passed from the LEOP
phase to
the ADCS Commissioning phase. This second phase was estimated to last
between
three and four weeks; this proved to be optimistic.
• Although the spin up of the S/C was much higher than expected and
saturated
the sensors, the SU simulations and the available data suggested a large
Z-spin
rate on DOS which was confirmed by the B-field and MEMS magnetometry
measurements. To induce a bigger difference in the Moments of Inertia
(MoI) of
the two non-longitudinal axes, the decision was taken to deploy the solar
panels. This operation was performed the 10th of August.
• More than a month after the launch the satellite was really healthy, power
safe and with great comms through newly developed software defined radio and
database backend operations. Although the stabilization wasn’t achieved even
with the solar panel deployment, at one month from the launch the team
decide
to proceed with the sail deployment.
• This decision was agreed with DLR that confirmed that tumbling rates
were no
issue for the sail deployment, because the Moments of Inertia increase
rapidly
slowing down the tumble rate. DLR has performed a deployment test on
Gossamer
while tumbling before coming to this opinion.
• On the 15th of August, the first attempt for sail deployment was
performed,
the command was sent and the acknowledgement from the S/C was received,
but no
current was drawn from the boom deployer motor. Multiple experiments were
performed to try and determine the cause of sail deployment failure.
• At this point, after a thorough investigation, the most plausible
hypothesis
and justification seems to be a physical disconnection of the motor cables.
(Note that after the vibration test, it wasn’t possible to physically
inspect
the connection due to the design itself of the S/C)
Our simulations showed that with the actual configuration (deployed solar
panels, undeployed sail) the decay time should be 20 years circa.
The aim now is to exercise and exploit the parts of the satellite that are
working, and gain more confidence and experience with the SU ADCS
system, the
ISIS TRXUV and solar panels, and the SSC SDR groundstation and database
tools
to explore better the interaction of the panel circuitry with the attitude
stabilisation. That will allow us to improve our performances in the next
missions.
From here, the team have worked hard to take images of the Earth and
via SU’s
CubeSense camera – which we are delighted to show you today. This would
not be
possible without the dedication from the SSC team here and, of course, the
amateur telemetry you kindly send us. We are going to continue imaging and
testing at higher resolutions too so watch this space.
We thank you for all the support.
Chiara Massimiani, DOS Project manager & Prof Guglielmo Aglietti SSC
Director
and DOS PI
DeorbitSail
http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/telemetry/deorbitsail/
Surrey Space Centre
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc/research/space_vehicle_control/deorbitsail/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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SPROUT SSTV and Digitalker active every Sunday
Slow Scan TV (SSTV) images in Scottie 1 format will be transmitted from the
SPROUT satellite every Sunday (Japanese Standard Time) on 437.600 MHz FM
(+/- 9
kHz Doppler shift). The Digitalker will also be active.
SPROUT, a 20 x 20 x 22 cm amateur radio nano-satellite with a mass of
7.1 kg,
launched successfully with the L-band (1236.5 MHz/1257.5 MHz/1278.5 MHz)
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite ALOS-2 on May 24, 2014 at 0305 UT.
SPROUT is in a 654 km, 97.9 degree inclination Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).
SPROUT (Space Research On Unique Technology) was built by students from
Nihon
University and its objectives are:
1. Operation of satellite by radio amateurs.
A FM Digitalker will enable the satellite to speak to amateurs around
the world.
The Voice Message Box will record transmissions from radio amateurs and play
them back.
Pre-loaded images from the Message Gallery can be transmitted using Slow
Scan
TV (SSTV).
Pictures of the Earth can be transmitted by SSTV and radio amateurs can
receive it using free software such as MMSSTV. As part of the Earth mapping
project the team ask radio amateurs to contribute pictures they have
received
from the satellite for display on the SPROUT website.
The satellite also has a packet radio Digipeater and Text Message Box
function.
2. Demonstration of the deployment of the combined membrane structure and
verification of the design method of the structure SPROUT has a triangular
membrane supported by two tubes like framework. They are folded and
stored in the satellite before the launch. After the launch, the
nitrogen gas
is injected into the tubes in space, and they extend, so that the membrane
deploys (called “combined membrane structure”).
3. Demonstration of attitude determination and control of a nanosatellite
using the sun sensors, gyros, geomagnetic sensor and magnetic torquers.
Callsign: JQ1ZJQ
Size: 214x210x220 mm
Weight: 7.1 kg
Mode: 1200bps AFSK, 9600bps GMSK
CW downlink 437.525 MHz
FM packet downlink 437.525 MHz
Digipeater uplink 437.600 MHz
Digitalker downlink 437.600 MHz
SSTV downlink 437.600 MHz
SPROUT English website
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/
SPROUT Japanese website
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout/
Nihon-Univ. Miyazaki Laboratory on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nihon-Univ-Miyazaki-Laboratory/4065666428188…
Telemetry Software
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Software-e.html
Telemetry format
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Formats%20of%20telemetry-e.html
SPROUT launch data page
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Launch%20data-e.html
TLE’s from the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) are also
available at
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt
Free Slow Scan TV (SSTV) software MMSSTV
http://hamsoft.ca/pages/mmsstv.php
The JE9PEL website has information on other satellites on this launch
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/jaxalos2.htm
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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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, 5 December 2015 – Superstition Superfest 2015 in Mesa AZ
*Saturday, 9 January 2016 – Thunderbird Hamfest 2016 in Phoenix AZ
*Friday and Saturday, 19-20 February 2016 – Yuma Hamfest and 2016 ARRL
Southwest Division Convention in Yuma AZ
*Saturday and Sunday, 12-13 March 2016 – ScienceCity science fair, on
the University of Arizona campus in Tucson AZ
*Saturday, 19 March 2016 – Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Spring
Hamfest 2016 in Scottsdale AZ
*Saturday, 26 March 2016 – Tucson Spring Hamfest in Tucson AZ
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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ARISS News
Successful Contacts
* Kiluutaq School, Umiujaq, Nunavik Quebec, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ
The ISS callsign was NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact was successful: Tue 2015-11-17 16:47:02 UTC 41 deg
We are students from Kiluutaq school. Our school is located in the
village of
Umiujaq. This is a small village of about 460 people in northern Quebec
(Canada). In winter, we use special clothes to go hunting. We hunt seals,
belugas, caribou, fish and foxes. In addition, every year we celebrate the
blueberry festival and we pick a lot of blueberries. Our village is very
special since we are talking 3 different languages: Inuttitut, English and
French. In our village there are two stores, a school, an arena, an
airport,a
health center and a community center.
Steve, VE3TBD reported:
Contact went well... very well in fact.
All questions answered - 13
140 students.
50 parents.
Astronaut was a little low at times but overall very good. I heard him well
but I know the many languages and cultures do influence how we hear things -
very interesting to have the French, English and native languages involved.
Our humanoid robot did a very god job of getting the students up for event.
Presentations were undertaken in both English and local language.
My thanks goes to the very excellent job by Radio Station W6SRJ, Moderator
Brian Jackson and all else connected and involved.
* A direct contact via OEØARISS with students at BORG Monsbergergasse,
Graz,
Austria, was successful Mon 2015-11-09 09:42:15 UTC 49 deg. Astronaut Kjell
Lindgren KO5MOS answered 11 questions for students.
The BORG Monsbergergasse is a grammar school in Graz, Monsbergergasse
16. Graz
is the second largest city in Austria, located in the southeast of the
country.
The school can easily be reached from everywhere in Graz using public
transport.
About 800 students attend the school and there are about 100 teachers. Our
students can choose between 5 different areas of interest: sports, science,
music, art and informatics. After four to five years the students
graduate from
school after taking their A-levels.
The school offers a fantastic infrastructure for the students. Apart
from the
classrooms there is a lab, a library and a cafeteria. There are special
computer rooms, four gyms and outside there are several courts for doing
sports. Besides there is a garden to relax in the breaks.
Upcoming Contacts
* Scuola Media Statale “G. Marconi”, Soleto, Lecce, Italy, And, Scuola
Secondaria di Primo Grado “Benedetto Croce”, Civate, Italy, telebridge via
VK4KHZ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact is a go for: Mon 2015-11-23 09:21:53 UTC 87 deg
The event will be webcast on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkFhGc2nes4
* Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VE4ISS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go: Tue 2015-11-24 09:44:25 UTC 78 deg
Watch
http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html
for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled.
[ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]
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* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* W5PFG Plans Satellite Operation From South Padre Island
IOTA NA-092 - (Satellite Op) Clayton, W5PFG, will operate portable from
South Padre Island, Texas, in EL16 between November 22-26th. He plans to
operate several passes a day from EL15, covering the southern-most tip of
Texas. An operation from EL06 is possible sometime in the beginning of that
week. You can follow his operation on Twitter <https://twitter.com/@w5pfg>
starting November 21st. It's possible he will operate once or twice while
enroute. Clayton will try to work as many different satellites as possible.
He tends to favor FO-29, typically 15-20 kHz above the center of the
transponder.
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1240 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
1
0
ANS 321 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN - AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
by E.Mike McCardel 18 Nov '15
by E.Mike McCardel 18 Nov '15
18 Nov '15
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN
ANS-321
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.01
ANS-321 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
November 17, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-321.01
AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
AO-85 has been formally commissioned and turned over to AMSAT
Operations, who are now responsible for the scheduling and modes.
The following guidelines are provided for users:
Uplink power should be on the order of minimum 200 W EIRP for full
quieting at lower antenna elevation angles. Your mileage may vary.
With an Arrow, 5 W has been used successfully to make contacts.
Polarity is important. The satellite antennas are linear. So, if you
are using linearly polarized antennas, you will need to adjust
throughout the pass. Full duplex operation facilitates these
adjustments while transmitting and is highly recommended.
The downlink is very strong and should be heard well with almost any
antenna.
Downlink audio is 5 kHz deviation, as expected. Many will perceive
that the audio is "low." This is an effect of the filtering below 300
Hz, which provides for the DUV telemetry, coupled with any noise on
the uplink signal resulting from lack of full quieting or being off
frequency. That makes for less fidelity than a typical receiver in
terms of audio frequencies passed.
Transmit (downlink) frequency varies with temperature. Due to the
wide range of temperatures we are seeing in the eclipse cycle, the
transmitter can be anywhere from around 500 Hz low at 10°C to near 2
kHz low at 40°C.
Receive frequency has been generally agreed to be about 435.170 MHz,
although the AFC makes that hard to pin down and also helps with the
uplinks that are off frequency.
Probably the most notable observations about AO-85 are an apparent
lack of sensitivity and difficulty in turning on the repeater with
the 67 Hz CTCSS when it is not yet activated, or holding it on by the
presence of the CTCSS. We have determined a probable cause for the
sensitivity issue and while that can't be fixed on AO-85 we are
taking steps to prevent similar issues on the rest of the Fox-1
CubeSats. The tone detection threshold along with the receive
sensitivity issue makes it hard to bring up the repeater. This is
being addressed by adjusting the values for a valid tone detection in
the other Fox-1 CubeSats now that we have on orbit information about
temperatures and power budget. Full details will be in the Nov/Dec
AMSAT Journal.
It is important to remember that science is the reason behind the
Fox-1 satellites. Not only does science help with the launch cost, it
provides a great amount of educational value both from the science
payload and in amateur radio itself. The data-under-voice (DUV)
telemetry is an excellent way to provide the science without
sacrificing the use of the satellite for communications, which would
be the case if higher speed downlinks were needed. DUV provides
constant science as long as the repeater is in use, which in turn
provides more downlink data for the science - a mutually beneficial
combination.
Fox-1A is AMSAT-NA's first CubeSat. Many new techniques are
incorporated and lessons will be learned, as with any new "product."
The Fox-1 Project is a series of CubeSats. A total of five will be
built and flown. Launches are scheduled for three more, and a new
NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative proposal will be submitted for the
fifth. We will incorporate changes from what we learn in each launch,
to the extent possible, in subsequent Fox-1 CubeSats.
Of the four NASA sponsored CubeSats on the ELaNa XII launch October
8, we are sad to report that ARC1 was never heard from and BisonSat
was lost after a few weeks of operation. AMSAT extends our deepest
sympathy to the people who worked so hard on these projects. To our
members, we want to say that the Fox Team is very proud and pleased
that our first CubeSat is very successful and hopefully will be for
some time.
[ANS thanks Jerry NoJY 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, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-319
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:
* EO-79 CubeSat Update
* QB50 Frequency Table
* Newsline Interview With ISS First School Contact Teacher
* Signal Reports Requested From IO-86 FM Transponder Test
* ARISS Contact Featured in ARRL Radio Waves Newsletter
* McMurdo completes MEOSAR satellite ground station in New Zealand
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.01
ANS-319 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.01
From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD.
November 15, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-319.01
EO-79 CubeSat Update
Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG has provided this update on the status and plans for
QB50p1 – EO-79.
Earlier testing campaigns indicate that the AMSAT-UK/AMSAT-NL transponder on
board of this spacecraft is in good health. We have activated the
transponder on
various occasions for testing purposes.
At the moment we believe the power system is capable of sustaining
transponder
operations indefinitely. ISIS (the satellite designer and operator)
still needs
to write and apply a software patch that would keep the transponder
running. The
current logic in the satellite will switch off the transponder if a
reset occurs
of the On Board Computer or power system.
Efforts are being made to allow usage of the transponder in the mean
time and
also allow select command stations to take the satellite out of safe
mode if it
does reset. ISIS will continue to monitor all telemetry and the satellites
health.
The precursor satellites have gathered valuable data about the sensor
payloads,
and the lessons learnt are being implemented in the flight units for the
QB50
main mission.
We will still have to wait until procedures are in place and the
activation is
cleared by the operator and owners of the satellite, but we are nearly
ready for
the activation of another transponder!
Transponder activations will be announced on the AMSAT Bulletin Board.
On behalf of AMSAT-NL and the ISIS operations team I would like to thank the
community for supporting our mission and thank you for your patience.
[ANS thanks Wouter, PA3WEG, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
QB50 Frequency Table
Here is a link worth keeping an eye on as the QB50 launch in 2016 gets
closer. JE9PEL has a page documenting the frequencies of the 50 cubesats at:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/qb50sats.htm
[ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsline Interview With ISS First School Contact Teacher
This week’s Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1985 November 13, 2015 includes an
interview with Rita Wright, KC9CDL, the science teacher who was lucky
enough to
help her students be chosen to talk with ISS astronaut William M. “Shep”
Shepherd, KD5GSL, for the first school contact with the International Space
Station.
Amateur Radio Newsline has this week’s bulletins posted at:
http://www.arnewsline.org/news/2015/11/13/amateur-radio-newsline-report-198…
november-13-2015.html
Select ‘Script’ or ‘Audio’ to access the newscast as desired.
[ANS thanks the Amateur Radio Newsline for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Signal Reports Requested From IO-86 FM Transponder Test
The FM transponder aboard IO-86/LAPAN-ORARI was activated for testing,
and was
available for amateur radio use on 14 November 2015 between 01:35 UTC -
03:40
UTC. This satellite is in a 6° inclination orbit so only stations in
equatorial
regions have access. Station in far southern United States may have access.
+ Uplink: 145.880Mhz with 88.5 Hz tone
+ Downlink: 435.880 Mhz
If you heard IO-86 or had any contacts please e-mail signal reports to
yd1eee(a)gmail.com
The two-line Keplerian elements are:
IO-86
1 40931U 15052B 15316.15776324 .00001070 00000-0 60618-4 0 9994
2 40931 6.0030 69.3893 0012877 275.6206 84.2533 14.76374433 6653
These are also included in the keps download available from www.amsat.org
[ANS thanks Dirgantara Rahadian. YE0EEE for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Contact Featured in ARRL Radio Waves Newsletter
The American Radio Relay League's Fall 2015 issue of "Radio Waves", a
newsletter
for teachers, license instructors, and radio science education features
coverage
of the ARISS contact with Tulsa Community College. The PDF issue can be
accessed
at:
http://www.arrl.org/radio-waves
[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
McMurdo completes MEOSAR satellite ground station in New Zealand
The legacy of AMSAT OSCAR 6 & 7 in demonstrating satellite based Doppler
location of ground transmitters for search-and-rescue operations in the
1970s
set the stage for the Cospas-Sarsat system which is now entering into
the next
stage of evolution.
McMurdo's next-generation MEOSAR satellite ground station system
installation in
New Zealand will reduce rescue times in one of the world's most active
search
and rescue regions.
McMurdo has announced that it has completed the installation of a
six-antenna
next-generation Medium-Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) satellite
ground
station system in New Zealand.
The project, which is part of a joint initiative with Maritime New
Zealand and
the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, is expected to significantly boost
search and rescue capability in the New Zealand and Australia search
regions and
marks the first implementation of MEOSAR in Asia Pacific. MEOSAR is the
next-
generation version of Cospas-Sarsat, the international search and rescue
satellite system that has helped to save 37,000 lives since 1982.
In a typical satellite-based search and rescue scenario, ships, aircraft or
individuals transmit distress signals from an emergency location beacon via
satellite to a fixed ground receiving station or local user terminal.
The ground
station receives and calculates the location of the distress signal and
creates
and sends an alert to the appropriate rescue authorities.
Today, the beacon-to-alert process depends on a limited number of Low Earth
Orbit (LEO) satellites and may take several hours before a position is
confirmed. With MEOSAR, beacon signals will be received more quickly and
beacon
locations identified with greater accuracy thereby reducing this time to
minutes.
The New Zealand MEOSAR system, and another being installed in Western
Australia,
will cover one of the largest search and rescue areas in the world -
from north
of Australia/New Zealand to the Equator and south to the South Pole, east to
half way across the Pacific, and west half way across the Indian Ocean. The
systems will undergo rigorous testing before being officially brought
online in
late 2017 by Cospas-Sarsat.
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily 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
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-312
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* AO-85 Testing November 8 and 9
* US Radio Amateurs Back in Space and SA AMSAT Kletskous Update
* SAREX Reflector Has Been Shut Down
* ISS Astronauts Link-Up with ITU WRC-15 in Geneva
* Help Wanted Astronauts
* QB50 project 2016
* BRICSAT-1 recovery challenge
* Hawaii Launch of Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Payloads Fails
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-312
ANS-312 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 312
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
November 8, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-312
AO-85 Testing November 8 and 9
*Summary of AO-85 testing:*
* Please do not try to uplink to AO-85 during the following times
(all of which occur while AO-85 is over North America) even though
the transponder will be active and you may hear activity.
*Sunday November 8, 15:35 through 15:55 UTC*
*Sunday November 8, 17:15 through 17:35 UTC*
*Monday November 9, 00:05 through 00:25 UTC*
*Monday November 9, 01:45 through 02:10 UTC*
All dates and times are UTC, all passes are Sunday local time in
North America. Stations in North, Central, and northern South America
are asked to comply.
You are encouraged to copy telemetry with FoxTelem during these
times to forward to the server to help us analyze the test results.
*Details of this AO-85 testing:*
Sunday, November 8 and into early Monday, November 9 (UTC) the Fox-1
Engineering Team will be testing the COR (carrier operated relay)
mode of AO-85. COR is the backup to the IHU failing, if IHU fails AO-
85 should continue operating as a simple COR repeater with no CTCSS
necessary as long as there is power. In COR mode no telemetry or
voice ID is present because those are generated by the IHU.
Orbit 443 ascending, at approximately 15:35 UTC over North America we
will test a telemetry high/low reset command. Following the command
look for Ground Resets = 2 in the Computer window of FoxTelem. Once
that is confirmed, we will command the IHU OFF on the same pass.
Please keep the uplink clear in order to help us test and monitor
the telemetry.
Orbit 444 ascending, at approximately 17:15 UTC over North America
AMSAT command and engineering stations will test the COR mode on the
air to observe performance. Please keep the uplink clear so that we
may test without interference, to expedite the testing and allow for
good measurements. We may command IHU ON during the pass in order to
observe battery voltage in the telemetry. Please have FoxTelem
running even if there is no telemetry seen, it may turn on at any
time during this pass.
Orbit 448 descending, at approximately 00:05 UTC Monday over North
America we will command AO-85 IHU ON. Please keep the uplink clear in
order to help us test and monitor the telemetry after the IHU is
turned on.
Orbit 449 descending, at approximately 01:45 UTC Monday over North
America if we were unable to command IHU ON on orbit 448, we will
attempt to command again. Please keep the uplink clear in order to
help us test and monitor the telemetry after the IHU is turned on.
During the testing stations outside North, Central and northern South
America are invited to use the COR repeater mode and share your
assessment of AO-85 receive sensitivity and audio on amsat-bb.
Stations in North, Central, and northern South America may use the COR
repeater on orbits 445 through 447 and are also invited to share your
assessment of AO-85 receive sensitivity and audio on amsat-bb.
Please share this widely to help reach everyone who may be operating
AO-85.
The AO-85 team thanks you for your support.
[ANS thanks Jerry N0JY for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
US Radio Amateurs Back in Space and SA AMSAT Kletskous Update
The launch of the Fox 1A CubeSat on 8 October 2015 marked the return
of satellites built by AMSAT North America (Amateur Radio Satellite
Corporation). US amateurs were the first to build and launch
satellites just a few years after the Russians stunned the world with
Sputnik 1 in 1957. For several decades they led the pack and built
bigger and better satellite. That that came to an end some five years
ago when free rides into space dried up.
AMSAT had to refocus its activities and look at CubeSat as the best
alternative possible option as free and more affordable launches
became available. One of the options is the NASA ELaNa program.
NASA and the Launch Services Program are partnering with several
universities to launch small research satellites. These missions
provide NASA with valuable opportunities to test emerging
technologies and economical commercial off-the-shelf components that
may be useful in future space missions. NASA nanosatellites are
designed for a wide spectrum of space missions, including biology
experiments, testing advanced propulsion and communications
technologies.
CubeSats are only 10 x 10 x 10 cm and weigh under 1,3 kg. NASA’s
Kennedy Space Centre in Florida has adapted the Poly-Picosatellite
Orbital Deployer (PPOD) to put these CubeSats into orbit. This
deployment system was designed and is manufactured by the California
Polytechnic State University in partnership with Stanford University.
Fox-1A was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base as part of the
ELaNa-XII group of satellites. In addition, Fox-1C and Fox-1D are now
scheduled to fly together under contract with Spaceflight, which is
expected to launch in first quarter 2016. Fox 1B also known as
RadFXSat has been assigned a launch that is currently expected to take
place in November 2016 from Vandenberg Air Force Base as part of
ELaNa-XIV.
“The next 14 months will be rewarding ones for our volunteers, who
spent countless hours designing, documenting, collaborating,
fabricating, testing and integrating ourFox-1 design into flight
hardware,” AMSAT president Barry Baines said. “These satellites will
be used by radio amateurs, students, and scientists who will benefit
from amateur radio capabilities on board, educational opportunities
that our spacecraft can provide to the classroom, and the scientific
data that will be available from payloads on board provided by
university students and faculties,” he said.
Organizationally, AMSAT has benefited tremendously from the Fox-1
program as it provides the basis for training anew generation of
satellite builders who are now seasoned veterans, capable of tackling
more complex and challenging projects.
“AMSAT’s reputation as a satellite innovator is enhanced as the Fox-1
design allows seamless integration of scientific payloads that can
benefit from a reliable communications downlink capable of low speed
and high speed data transmissions,” Baines said.
Fox-1A is the first FM repeater satellite in a 1U CubeSat form
factor, capable of sending low speed telemetry as well as payload
data while the FM repeater is in normal amateur service.
Fox-1B will fly with the Vanderbilt University radiation experiments
expected in 2016. Fox-1C will launch on Spaceflight’s maiden mission
of the SHERPA multi-cubesat deployer planned for the 1st quarter of
2016. U- and L-band uplinks with the VHF band downlink will be
available. Fox-1D will launch with Fox-1C. It will include the
University of Iowa HERCI experiment. IA Virginia Tech camera will
also be included. U- and L- band uplinks with the VHF band downlink
will be available. Fox-1E “Evolution” will carry a Mode J linear
transponder. The transponder is planned to be 30 kHz wide and will
also have a 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon.
South African AMSAT’s (SA AMSAT) CubeSat, named Kletskous
(chatterbox) is making good progress with the third generation space
frame to be completed before the end of the year. Good progress is
being made with all the subsystems and it is expected that by the end
of February 2016, a breadboard layout will be tested. The breadboard
layout is also referred to as flatsat as all the subsystems are wired
together on the test bench and tested as a fully operational satellite.
SA AMSAT is also planning to include experimental projects and is
inviting high school learners and tertiary education students to
submit proposals for their science project to be included in
Kletskous and make use of the transponder facilities to have the data
of their projects downloaded as part of the telemetry stream. Because
of the size of a CubeSat and the limited power budget available,
proposals must be for projects which have few components and require
little power.
For more details about Kletskous visit
www.amsatsa.org.za.
Proposals should be submitted to saamsat(a)intekom.co.za and reach the
Kletskous team by 28 February 2016.
See:
http://www.ee.co.za/article/us-radio-amateurs-back-space.html
[ANS thanks Hans, ZS6AKV for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SAREX Reflector Has Been Shut Down
As previously announced the SAREX Reflector was shut down November
1. What follows is Frank Bauer's KA3HDO, AMSAT V.P. for Human
Spaceflight Programs and the ARISS International Chair, final
comments to the SAREX Reflector.
"SAREX Reflector Participants:
As previously announced, on November 1, 2015 we are shutting down
the SAREX Reflector for future message postings. This posting
represents the SAREX reflector’s last message.
It is not clear when the SAREX reflector was first started, but from
a query to Paul Williamson, who started all the AMSAT reflectors, it
has been in operation since at least 1992.
Over the years, many of you have used this forum to gather and share
information on our “frequent flyer” SAREX missions on the Shuttle,
our operations on the Space Station Mir and, since 2000, our
operations on ISS. But times have changed since the early 1990s.
For starters, we have moved from the SAREX activities on the Shuttle
to ARISS on the International Space Station. AMSAT, ARRL and the
ARISS international team of volunteers have also transitioned our
ARISS communications to you and are providing you many ways to get
information on ARISS. This includes the ARISS Web Site
www.ariss.org, the ISS Fan Club web site www.issfanclub.com and the
AMSAT web site, www.amsat.org. The ARISS team noticed that many on
the AMSAT BB reflector were not seeing late-breaking opportunities
for ARISS connections (School, SSTV, QSOs) unless these messages were
cross-posted between SAREX and BB. So the decision was made by me to
move all the SAREX real-time traffic over to BB and to end the SAREX
reflector postings on this date.
Before we hit “send” and closeout this reflector, I encourage you to
sign up and continue to get these messages on AMSAT-BB. If you feel
there is too much traffic on BB, you can always sign up for the
digest mode, which combines many messages and sends them out
periodically (usually daily). And don’t forget that the SAREX
archives will still be available on the AMSAT web site, so you can
research past messages.
On behalf of AMSAT-NA and the ARISS International Team, I want to
thank you for your sustained participation in this phenomenal amateur
radio human spaceflight journey. Moreover, we look forward to your
further participation and volunteer support in the future.
While there are many ARISS volunteers to thank for their outstanding
support, I want to send a particular shout out to Charlie Sufana,
AJ9N, who has provided all SAREX reflector participants frequent
updates on ARISS status. Thanks Charlie!
As I close this final e-mail, I want to announce that over the next
couple months, ARISS will be celebrating its 15ths anniversary of
continuous operations on the ISS, starting with November 13, 2015
when we conducted our first ham radio contacts on ISS and on December
21, 2000 when we conducted our first school contact with the Burbank
School in Burbank, Illinois. Stay tuned on BB and our web site for
ham radio activities that we will be conducting over the year to
commemorate these historic events.
73,
Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs
ARISS International Chair"
[ANS thanks SAREX and Frank KA3HDO for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ISS Astronauts Link-Up with ITU WRC-15 in Geneva
The ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) is taking
place in Geneva from November 2-27. On Tuesday, November 3 at 1241 UT
there was an amateur radio link-up between WRC-15 and two astronauts
on the International Space Station (ISS).
The contact took place using the permanent amateur radio station at
the ITU. The station’s normal call sign is 4U1ITU but during the
conference the special call sign 4U1WRC is being used.
Students from Institut Florimont were able to use the ITU station to
talk to astronauts Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS and Kimiya Yui KG5BPH who
were using the amateur radio station in the ISS Columbus module,
call sign OR4ISS.
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program
established the first permanent amateur radio presence in space 15
years ago. The inaugural ARISS contact took place on December 21,
2000, between a member of the ISS Expedition 1 crew and youngsters at
Luther Burbank Elementary School near Chicago. Several pupils and a
teacher got to chat using amateur radio with “Space Station Alpha”
Commander William “Shep” Shepherd KD5GSL.
The ARISS program lets students worldwide experience the excitement
of talking directly with crew members of the International Space
Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in careers in science,
technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio
science technology through amateur radio.
A video of the contact event can be viewed at:
https://youtu.be/ahdDiuFk2-Y
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and WRC15 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Help Wanted Astronauts
NASA Press Release: Job Openings for Astronauts
In anticipation of returning human spaceflight launches to American
soil, and in preparation for the agency's journey to Mars, NASA
announced it will soon begin accepting applications for the next
class of astronaut candidates. With more human spacecraft in
development in the United States today than at any other time in
history, future astronauts will launch once again from the Space
Coast of Florida on American-made commercial spacecraft, and carry
out deep-space exploration missions that will advance a future human
mission to Mars.
The agency will accept applications from Dec. 14 through mid-
February and expects to announce candidates selected in mid-2017.
Applications for consideration as a NASA Astronaut will be accepted
at:
http://www.usajobs.gov
The next class of astronauts may fly on any of four different U.S.
vessels during their careers: the International Space Station, two
commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S.
companies, and NASA's Orion deep-space exploration vehicle.
>From pilots and engineers, to scientists and medical doctors, NASA
selects qualified astronaut candidates from a diverse pool of U.S.
citizens with a wide variety of backgrounds.
"This next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars
generation to reach for new heights, and help us realize the goal of
putting boot prints on the Red Planet," said NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden. "Those selected for this service will fly on U.S.
made spacecraft from American soil, advance critical science and
research aboard the International Space Station, and help push the
boundaries of technology in the proving ground of deep space."
The space agency is guiding an unprecedented transition to
commercial spacecraft for crew and cargo transport to the space
station. Flights in Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon
will facilitate adding a seventh crew member to each station mission,
effectively doubling the amount of time astronauts will be able to
devote to research in space.
Future station crew members will continue the vital work advanced
during the last 15 years of continuous human habitation aboard the
orbiting laboratory, expanding scientific knowledge and demonstrating
new technologies. This work will include building on the regular six-
month missions and this year's one-year mission, currently underway
aboard the station, which is striving for research breakthroughs not
possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic
exploration into deep space.
In addition, NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft,
now in development, will launch astronauts on missions to the proving
ground of lunar orbit where NASA will learn to conduct complex
operations in a deep space environment before moving on to longer
duration missions on its journey to Mars.
"This is an exciting time to be a part of America's human space
flight program," said Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations at
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "NASA has taken the next step
in the evolution of our nation's human spaceflight program - and our
U.S. astronauts will be at the forefront of these new and challenging
space flight missions. We encourage all qualified applicants to learn
more about the opportunities for astronauts at NASA and apply to join
our flight operations team."
To date, NASA has selected more than 300 astronauts to fly on its
increasingly challenging missions to explore space and benefit life
on Earth. There are 47 astronauts in the active astronaut corps, and
more will be needed to crew future missions to the space station and
destinations in deep space.
Astronaut candidates must have earned a bachelor's degree from an
accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical
science or mathematics. An advanced degree is desirable. Candidates
also must have at least three years of related, progressively
responsible professional experience, or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-
in-command time in jet aircraft. Astronaut candidates must pass the
NASA long-duration spaceflight physical.
For more information about a career as a NASA astronaut, and
application requirements, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
QB50 project 2016
As reported to the AMSAT-BB, Mineo Wakita JE9PEL informs us "For the
purpose of the demonstration and development of CubeSats of the
technology of the universities around the world, it is scheduled to
be launched all 50 satellites by Ukraine Tsiklon-4 rocket on February
1, 2016. There are still also uncertainties, but I, JE9PEL
investigated the current frequencies and summarized it in an Excel
file. I'm going to issue in the future this revised version."
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/51106qb5.png
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/51106qb5.xls
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/#1602
[ANS thanks Mineo JE9PEL for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BRICSAT-1 recovery challenge
If anyone has 9600 baud satellite capability and is looking for a
challenge, you could be successful in recovering BRICSAT (NO83).
BRICSAT simply has a negative power budget. When it wakes up, it
should be possible to get in the command to tell it to turn off
unnecessary loads and then let it achieve full recovery. As is, it
wakes up, sends a few feeble 20 second packets and dies again.
Bricsat has another excellent PSK31 transpodner on it too. You can
detect BRICSAT when it awakes by the 20 second packet on the downlink
OR by the occasional PSK31 beacon on 435.350 MHz (+/- Doppler). Do
not be confused by PSAT which also has a PSK31 tranpsonder on the
same frequency. But they have different audio tones for the beacon.
> Downlink: 437.975 MHz, 9600 baud
> Uplink: 145.825 MHz, 9600 baud
> Latest “guess” at the TLE (not sure if this is BRICSat)
> 1 90722U 15294.38156592 +.00051032 +00000-0 +11686-2 0 0166
> 2 90722 054.9895 030.6075 0226665 199.3544 159.8861 15.1979213102332
The commands are simple keyboard dumb terminal commands.
If you think you want to take on this challenge, contact us.
(bruninga at usna.edu)
[ANS thanks Bob WB4APR and Jin KB3UKS for the above information]
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Hawaii Launch of Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Payloads Fails
The November 4 inaugural launch of an experimental US military
vehicle carrying several satellites with Amateur Radio payloads into
orbit failed in mid-flight shortly after taking off at 0345 UTC from
Hawaii. The experimental Super Strypi launch vehicle, carrying a
collection of small satellites into orbit as part of the ORS-4
mission for the Department of Defense, was fired from a truss-mounted
rail system from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, off Barking
Sands on Kauai. According to Spaceflightnow.com, the Super Strypi
rocket is designed for low-cost, quick-reaction satellite launches.
Destroyed in the demonstration flight were 13 small research
spacecraft clustered on the mission for NASA researchers and
university students.
None of the satellites carried Amateur Radio transponders, but
several were equipped to transmit beacon signals and telemetry on 2
meter, 70 centimeter, and 13 centimeter amateur frequencies. The
satellites lost included Argus, EDSN, HawaiiSat-1, ORS-Squared,
PrintSat, STACEM, STU-1, and Supernova-Beta. PrintSat carried a 3D
printed structure and was designed to measure the performance of the
material over the course of its 3 year mission.
Spaceflightnow.com said the experimental launcher apparently lost
control and broke up downrange from the launch site. The November 4
maiden flight took place following several delays. The test flight
was one of two planned demonstrations of the launcher.
View the Super Strypi & ORS-4 Launch On PMRF 3 November 201 at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsMegDZ_VFQ
Spaceflightnow's detailed coverage of the event can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/ANS312-Spaceflightnow
[ANS thanks ARRL Newsletter for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
+ The scheduled contact with Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden was postponed
because the scheduled astronaut was tied up in other activities. The
contact will be rescheduled for a later date.
+ A Successful contact was made between ITU World Radio
Communication Conference 2015 WRC-15, Geneva, Switzerland and
Astronaut Kimiya Yui KG5BPH using Callsign OR4ISS.
The contact began 2015-11-03 11:47 UTC and lasted about nine
and a half minutes. Contact was direct via 4U1WRC.
ARISS Mentor was ON4WF.
+ A Successful contact was made between Eleanor Palmer School,
London, United Kingdom and Astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS using
Callsign NA1SS.
The contact began 2015-11-03 11:47 UTC and lasted about nine
and a half minutes. Contact telebridged via VK6MJ.
ARISS Mentor was MØXTD.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
BORG Monsbergergasse, Graz, Austria, direct via OEØARISS. The ISS
callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS. The scheduled
astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Mon 2015-11-09 09:42:15 UTC
Ste. Genevieve du Bois Catholic Elementary School, Warson Woods,
Missouri, direct via NØKBA. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled
to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
The contact is a go for: Thu 2015-11-12 16:25:16 UTC
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
Very nice coverage, and features Keith, W5IU, with the ARISS contact
with Daggett Montessori School in Ft. Worth, Texas:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS312-DaggettMontessori
[ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM and the Star-Telegram for the above
information]
ARISS Contact Documentary
WKTV did a really nice job producing a documentary of the October 23
ARISS contact with West Michigan Aviation Academy.
Here is a link to the youtube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkOvN9CKB9M&authuser=0
[ANS thanks Les Brown, Chief Pilot, West Michigan Aviation Academy
and WKTV ro 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, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-305
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:
* Super Strypi (SPARK) Launch Planned for November 2, 2015
* Duchifat 1 status update
* UKube-1 CubeSat Completes Mission
* Fort Worth students talk to ISS
* Tim Peake KG5BVI and the ISS Astro Pi’s
* Radio amateurs to help London children talk to ISS
* AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-305.01
ANS-305 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 305.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE November 1, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-305.01
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Super Strypi (SPARK) Launch Planned for November 1, 2015
The following satellites are planned to be launched on 2, Nov 2015.
Argus, EDSN, HawaiiSat-1, ORS-Squared, PrintSat, STACEM, STU-1,
Supernova-Beta
Site is Pacific Missile Range - Kokole Point, Kauai, Hawaii
Satellite Downlink Beacon Mode
---------------------- ----------------- ------- ------------
Argus 2403.000-2403.400 437.290 1200bps AFSK
EDSN 2401.200-2431.200 437.100 1200bps AFSK
HawaiiSat1 (HiakaSat1) 145.9805 437.2705 9600bps GFSK
ORS-Squared 437.325 . 9600bps GMSK
PrintSat 437.325 . 9600bps GMSK
STACEM . . ?
STU-1 2402.000-2445.000 436.360 9600bps GMSK
Supernova-Beta 437.570 . 1200bps AFSK
---------------------- ----------------- ------- ------------
HawaiiSat-1
1 99999U 00000 15306.00000000 .00002809 00000-0 69295-4 0 00007
2 99999 094.6040 077.7732 0056131 182.2912 079.1822 15.38919159000464
http://spaceflight101.com/spacerockets/spark-super-strypi/
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/sparksat.htm
http://www.cubesat.org
[ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Duchifat 1 status update
We're happy to report that the satellite is still operational and doing
very well.
We've already received 20 stations using Duchifat 1, and all said stations
are displayed on our map at
www.h-space-lab.org .
QSL cards are on their way, and a few have already been received.
It's a fantastic experience to be heard by the satellite, get immediate
digipeating response from it, and later see your position on the map on
the website, after a successful dump at our GS from the satellite.
If you try to contact it and encounter any difficulty, please don't
hesitate to write to us at
4X4HSC(a)gmail.com
It's all very fun. We also hope people can share their experiences here.
73, and good luck.
[ANS thanks the Herzliya Science Center team posting on the AMSAT=BB for
the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UKube-1 CubeSat Completes Mission
UKube-1, the UK Space Agency’s first national spacecraft, has now completed
its nominal mission following over 14 months of operations. Discussion is
underway with AMSAT-UK about the possibility of taking over UKube-1
operations
to continue its educational and outreach activities.
Launched in July 2014, UKube-1 is a technology demonstration mission with a
broad set of objectives aimed at attracting and training future
generations of
engineers, encouraging collaboration across sectors and institutions, fast
tracking space technology development and engaging with students.
As a 3 unit CubeSat (30x30x10cm), flying 4 main payloads, with all the key
subsystems of much larger satellites, UKube-1 remains one of the most
advanced
CubeSats ever built. Despite some technical challenges in orbit, the mission
has achieved a range of milestones including:
• delivery into the correct planned orbit (around 650km, sun-synchronous)
• successful deployment of solar panels and antenna
• good battery health
• slow spin rate measured
• uplink and downlink capabilities checked, including Large Data Transfer,
downlink at 3 speeds, and redundant communications mode
• all core payloads commissioned and data collected for each
• on-board camera technology successfully tested
• data downlinked from multiple ground stations across the globe
UKube-1 has also helped maintain the UK’s leading position in the CubeSat
sector. Participation in the mission placed Clyde Space in an excellent
position to capitalize on the fast growing global nanosatellite market. The
company has experienced 100% year on year growth, both in turnover and
employees, as a direct result from involvement in UKube-1, and is firmly
established as a global leader.
Mark McCrum, Bright Ascension Ltd, said:
“UKube-1 provided us with an invaluable opportunity to gain flight heritage
for our software technology and to get deeply involved in the operation of a
complex CubeSat mission. It gave a huge boost to our credibility as a space
software provider and has been instrumental in winning further work.”
Craig Clark, CEO Clyde Space Ltd, said:
“UKube-1 represents a pivotal achievement in the development and growth of
Clyde Space. The project moved the company from being a spacecraft
subsystems
supplier to providing full missions for our customers. To give some
context to
the extent that Ukube-1 has had to our business, Clyde Space has more than
quadrupled in size in the last 3 years and there are currently over 60
CubeSats
planned through production here in Glasgow over the next 18 months. The
return
on investment for Ukube-1 in terms of jobs and export sales for the UK
has been
outstanding and is a great example of industry and the UK Space Agency
working
together to put the UK at the forefront of global space technology.”
Professor Andrew Holland, Open University, added:
“Involvement in the UKube-1 mission, though our C3D instrument, has had a
positive effect on our research and technology program within the Space
Instrumentation Group at the Open University, as well as a positive
effect on
our technology partners in the project; XCAM Ltd and e2v Ltd. The
project has
helped the OU to build a new strand of instrument development within the
group,
raised awareness of the CubeSat platform as a potential vehicle to
accelerate
the development of scientific space instrumentation, and has provided
early in-
orbit-demonstration of technologies. The mission introduced us to new
academic
and industrial collaborators operating in the space sector and supported the
career development of the young engineers and scientists working on the
project.”
STFC’s RAL Space provided the Ground Station for the mission at Chilbolton
Observatory in Hampshire UK, and UKube-1 operations were commanded from
there.
Mission Manager Dr Helen Walker said:
“It has been a very exciting time, made possible only with the great support
from all the teams involved.”
Although the Agency-supported mission phase has ended, discussion is
underway
with AMSAT-UK about the possibility of taking over UKube-1 operations to
continue its educational and outreach activities until the satellite orbit
naturally degrades.
More information about UKube-1 can be found in the missions section of
the UK
Space Agency website
https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/ukube-1
Source
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukube-1-completes-mission
UKube-1 carries a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards which provide an
educational
beacon for use by schools and a linear transponder for amateur radio
communications.
UKube-1 nominal frequencies:
• 145.840 MHz Telemetry downlink
• 145.915 MHz FUNcube subsystem beacon
• 400 mW inverting SSB/CW linear transponder
– 435.080-435.060 MHz Uplink
– 145.930-145.950 MHz Downlink
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fort Worth students talk to ISS
Students at Daggett Montessori School in Fort Worth used amateur radio
to talk
to astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS, aboard the International Space Station.
Before the contact Cowtown Amateur Radio Club member Keith Pugh W5IU
explained
to the students how they are able to talk to the ISS.
The contact, which took place on Thursday, October 29, gave the students the
opportunity to ask questions about life in space. The Star-Telegram
newspaper
reports Grace Jordan, a seventh-grader, wondered about the effects of
microgravity on food digestion.
Kjell used the amateur radio station in the ESA ISS Columbus module callsign
NA1SS, while the students used the station K5COW set up by Cowtown Amateur
Radio Club in the school auditorium.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) lets students
worldwide experience the excitement of talking directly with crew members of
the International Space Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in
careers
in science, technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio
science technology through amateur radio.
Watch Daggett Montessori MS Talk to Space Station 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uzIBucg2SE
Read the Star-Telegram story at
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-
worth/article41837055.html
ARISS
http://ariss.org/
[ANS thanks ARISS and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Peake KG5BVI and the ISS Astro Pi’s
AMSAT-UK members are leading on the Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) Schools
contacts program for the upcoming Tim Peake Principia mission to the ISS. A
number of high profile school contacts are planned to be carried out and
this
activity is being coordinated with the UK Space Agency as part of the
overall
Principia Educational Outreach program.
Two specially augmented Raspberry Pi’s called Astro Pi‘s are planned to
fly on
an Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo freighter to the ISS in early
December. They
will be used by UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI during his Principia
mission on
the Space Station which is expected to commence in mid-December.
The Astro Pi’s are planned to run experimental Python programs written by
young people in schools across the country; the results will be returned
back
to Earth at the end of the mission. ARISS/AMSAT-UK members are actively
involved in discussions with the UK Space Agency, ESA, the Raspberry Pi
Foundation and others to establish the feasibility of re-purposing one
of the
Astro Pi units, either within or post Tim Peake’s mission, to provide an
alternative video source for the amateur radio HamTV transmitter in the ISS
Columbus module. Additional discussions are ongoing with all parties for
joint
educational activities into the future with the Astro Pi units being
networked
and potentially enhancing the capability of the amateur radio station on
board
Columbus.
The main mission of HamTV is to perform contacts between the astronauts
on the
ISS and school students, not only by voice as now, but also by
unidirectional
video from the ISS to the ground. ARISS has been working with Goonhilly and
hope to provide a video download facility via one of their large dishes
for the
schools contacts as well as attempting to receive the video at each
school as
part of the contact.
Principia mission
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Principia
School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact
http://amsat-uk.org/2015/07/14/school-shortlist-tim-peake-iss/
HamTV
http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/hamtv-on-the-iss/
Astro Pi
http://astro-pi.org/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/astro_pi
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio amateurs to help London children talk to ISS
On Wednesday, November 4 pupils at the Eleanor Palmer Primary School in
Camden, London should have the opportunity to speak to an astronaut in space
thanks to an Amateur Radio Telebridge link via Australia. The audio will be
streamed via the web and Echolink.
An International Space Station school contact has been planned with
participants at Eleanor Palmer School, London, United Kingdom on Wednesday,
November 4. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:51 GMT.
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 astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS,
using the callsign NA1SS from the amateur radio station in the ISS Columbus
module, and Martin Diggens VK6MJ in Western Australia. The contact should be
audible over portions of Australia and adjacent areas. Interested
participants
are invited to listen in on the 145.800 MHz FM downlink.
Audio from this contact will be available via the amateur radio Echolink
system on node *AMSAT* (101377) and via the IRLP Node 9010 Discovery
Reflector.
Streaming Audio will be able on the web at
https://sites.google.com/site/arissaudio/
Audio on Echolink and web stream is generally started around 20 minutes
prior
to the contact taking place so that you can hear some of the preparation
that
occurs. IRLP will begin just prior to the ground station call to the
ISS.
Contact times are approximate. If the ISS executes a reboost or other
manoeuvre, the AOS (Acquisition Of Signal) time may alter by a few minutes
Eleanor Palmer Primary School, a non-selective community school, is
located in
central London in the United Kingdom. London is an exciting and dynamic
capital
city and its schools are the best in the country, attributed to the
social and
ethnic diversity, excellent local leadership and the quality of teaching.
Eleanor Palmer is a relatively small school of around 220 pupils with single
classes of 30 children per year. The youngest pupils are 3 years old and the
oldest 11 years old. Due to the central London location it is a highly
diverse
and inclusive school with staff and children from many different
backgrounds.
The pupils achieve highly as judged by national benchmarks. One of the core
aims of the school is to inspire in all pupils a love of learning and the
desire to continue to learn and they therefore seek to provide a rich
and broad
curriculum opening minds and creating opportunities. The school hope
that their
contact with the ISS will inspire pupils to go on to learn more about space
through the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What have you seen that is more beautiful than earth?
2. Who or what inspired you to choose this job?
3. Does being in space make you feel differently about earth?
4. What can you learn from the ISS that you cannot learn on earth?
5. Will normal people who are not astronauts be able to visit space in the
ISS one day?
6. How do you sleep?
7. Is it quiet up there in the ISS?
8. When you get back to earth, do you have to re-train your muscles?
9. Can you call home?
10. Do you all have to be scientists?
11. What do you think is the most important things children should know
about
space?
12. What time zone do you use?
13. Do you have plants on the ISS?
14. What has been your favourite experiment?
15. How does your brain respond to micro gravity?
16. How do you wash your clothes?
17. If you cry in space, with laughter, what happens to your tears?
18. What do you want to do when you come back to earth?
19. How do you get enough oxygen?
20. Is it more scary taking off from earth or returning to earth?
21. What is your energy source on the ISS?
22. What does it feel like to be in space?
23. Is it always dark in space?
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) lets students
worldwide experience the excitement of talking directly with crew members of
the International Space Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in
careers
in science, technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio
science technology through amateur radio.
http://www.ariss-eu.org/
A telebridge contact, where a dedicated ARISS amateur radio ground station,
located somewhere in the world, establishes the radio link with the ISS.
Voice
communications between the students and the astronauts are then patched over
regular telephone lines.
http://www.ariss-eu.org/ARISS%20Telebridge%20Guidelines.doc
What is Amateur Radio ?
http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio
Eleanor Palmer Primary School
http://www.eleanorpalmer.camden.sch.uk/news/countdown-to-iss-link-up/
Twitter @eleanorpalmersc
[ANS thanks ARISS and AMSAT-UK 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, 7 November 2015 – Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in
Marana AZ
*Saturday and Sunday, 7-8 November 2015 – Stone Mountain Hamfest and ARRL
Georgia Section Convention in Lawrenceville GA
*Monday, 16 November 2015 – Tri-City Amateur Radio Association meeting in
Goodyear AZ
*Saturday, 5 December 2015 – Superstition Superfest 2015 in Mesa AZ
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
Successful Contacts
* A direct contact via K5COW with students at Daggett Montessori
School K-8,
Fort Worth, Texas, USA, was successful Thu 2015-10-29 14:12:56 UTC 31 deg.
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS responded to 10 questions from students.
Watch a video recording of the contact at
http://youtu.be/CIsWPZ3TbWU
Daggett Montessori, a “School of Choice” within the Fort Worth Independent
School District, was created thirty years ago and was one of the first
public
school Montessori programs in the nation. Based on the highly successful
Montessori methodology and philosophy, Daggett Montessori has
approximately 500
students, all selected through a blind lottery system. We are a Title I
school,
with close to 60% of our students economically disadvantaged.
As a kindergarten through eighth grade program, we provide a safe, nurturing
environment that focuses on long term relationships among staff,
students, and
parents. Our parents are actively involved in every aspect of school life.
Maria Montessori was the first woman to graduate from medical school in
Italy
so science is an area of particular focus in the Montessori curriculum. She
designed many of the lessons to instill a sense of awe about the natural
world.
Our parents are very involved in every aspect of school at Daggett
Montessori.
Of particular interest is our greenhouse with an aquaponics system in
which we
raise various herbs and vegetables. We also have multiple raised beds
in which
the children grow vegetables. Our parents provide gardening lessons on a
weekly basis. Our students were very excited to learn that lettuce is being
grown on the ISS!
* A direct contact via K8UTT with students at Dearborn Public Schools,
Dearborn, Michigan, USA was successful Tue 2015-10-27 16:01:59 UTC 57 deg.
Dearborn Public Schools is a public school district that serves a
community in
suburban Detroit, MI. This school district is part of a growing, vibrant
area
built upon quality education for nearly 19,600 students. Dearborn also has a
unique feature added to this growing, vibrant area. It is home to the
largest
Arabic-speaking population outside of the Middle East. One out of every two
students learns English as a second language. These qualities help to form
Dearborn Public Schools into the exceptional and diverse community of
learners
it is today!
Mary Varady, STEM Coordinator for the District has been working with local
Amateur Radio operators for almost a year to arrange the contact with the
International Space Station. In the spring of 2015, Dearborn Public Schools
Media Tech Specialist Gordon Scannell, an Amateur Radio operator,
presented the
details of the program to district teachers. Varady has been working with
principals to provide lessons and other activities tied to the event.
Scannell, along with other Amateur Radio volunteers have spent countless
hours
arranging the technical details for Tuesday’s event including such
activities
as installing a large temporary antenna on the roof of the Berry Center.
Students will be able to ask questions of the ISS crew during their
scheduled
time. Varady received more than 2,000 questions from students across the
district and then had the daunting task of narrowing them down to only the
best. In total, 18 students in grades first through eighth had their
questions
selected. In addition, students across the district will be able to tune in
and watch as the students gathered in the lecture hall talk with the crew of
the International Space Station.
However, an ARISS contact encompasses more than just students asking
questions
with the ISS crewmember. Additional components include student
activities such
as class lessons about space research, the International Space Station, and
radio technology. The ARISS contact is a “hands on” real world
application of
the science, technology, engineering and math being taught in the
classroom.
* A direct contact via RA1AJN between cosmonaut Sergey Volkov RU3DIS and
students at "About Gagarin From Space: Ham Radio Session with the Members of
Cosmonautics Federation and Students" in St Petersburg, Russia, was
successful
on 2015-10-27 11:35 UTC.
* A direct contact via W8ISS with students at West Michigan Aviation
Academy, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, was successful Fri 2015-10-23 17:58:48 UTC
49 deg.
Astronaut Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH answered 20 questions for students.
Local TV news stations reported on the event:
http://www.wzzm13.com/videos/news/local/2015/10/23/students-talk-to-astrona…
aboard-space-station/74486064/
http://woodtv.com/2015/10/23/w-mi-students-chat-with-astronauts-aboard-iss/
http://fox17online.com/2015/10/23/local-students-talk-to-an-astronaut-in-sp…
Listen to an audio recording of the contact at
http://www.k8tb.org/W8ISS%20Edited.mp3
The West Michigan Aviation Academy is a tuition-free public charter high
school founded by Dick DeVos upon encouragement from wife, Betsy.
Stemming from
their passion for both education and aviation, the school opened its
doors in
the fall of 2010 and is located on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford
International Airport. Like other high schools, our curriculum includes
core
subjects. But as an aviation-themed high school the curriculum at WMAA is
designed for students who have a passion for aviation and/or an interest in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics. (STEM)
The Aviation program includes training for the Private Pilot certificate in
the student's senior year. The school owns our own Cessna 172 that is
provided
at direct operating costs to the students. Although they must pay for the
flight training the total cost is much lower than renting at the local
flight
school and ground instruction is provided for as part of their elective
classes. Currently we have 11 students in the program and hope to have
18 by
the time of the contact. We also try to get the kids out around the
airport to
experience the many different job opportunities available in aviation.
The Robotics program includes FIRST robotics programs and many of our
competitors are taking both engineering and aviation classes. Our
engineering
program provides for instruction in aerospace, robotics and electronic
fields.
We try to closely alley the Aviation and Engineering departments.
* A direct contact via 8NØSDF with students at Saku Children’s Science
Dome
for the Future, Saku City, Japan, was successful Thu 2015-10-22
09:52:21 UTC
54 deg. The interview with astronaut Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH was conducted in
Japanese.
Yui answered 10 questions for students.
Watch a video of the interview at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl6fkE14Rrw
The Saku Children’s Science Dome for the Future is a science museum that was
founded in 2001. It has a variety of exhibits on earth science, space,
biotechnology, the environment and more. Some of the attractions that
gain the
attention of the children are a life-size model of a dinosaur, a 170 seat
planetarium and a “mercury” display model presented by NASA. The center is
located near the birth place of Mr. Kimiya Yui. Mr. Yui himself has
visited the
center several times. The name of the center has the word “children’s”
in it,
yet all ages can learn from the Saku Children’s Science Dome for the Future.
* A direct contact via RA1AJN between cosmonaut Sergey Volkov RU3DIS and
students at "About Gagarin From Space: Ham Radio Session with the Members of
Cosmonautics Federation and Students" in St. Petersburg, Russia, was
successful
on 2015-10-20 14:30 UTC.
Upcoming Contacts
* Eleanor Palmer School, London, United Kingdom, telebridge via VK6MJ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1S
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Wed 2015-11-04 09:51:39 UTC 44 deg
* Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VK6MJ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-11-05 10:35:17 UTC 28 deg
Watch
http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html
for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled.
[ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]
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/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Joe Spier, K6WAO
k6wao at amsat dot org
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