ANS

Download

[email protected]

1 participants
1248 discussions

ANS-359 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Mark D. Johns 14 Dec '19

14 Dec '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-359 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Calling All Radio Amateurs: Help Find OPS-SAT! * FCC Moves to Remove 3.4 GHz Amateur Satellite Allocation * Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution * FoxTelem version 1.08w Released * AMSAT-EA works against the clock on GÉNESIS satellites * New NASA eBook Reveals Insights of Earth Seen at Night from Space * Israel Applauds Successful Launch of Duchifat3 * Ham Radio University Satellite Operations Forum on January 4 * Possible ARISS SSTV Operation Before Year's End * Recent ARISS Contacts * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-359.01 ANS-359 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 359.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2019 Dec 15 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-359.01 Calling All Radio Amateurs: Help Find OPS-SAT! Calling all radio amateurs! The European Space Agency (ESA) is chal- lenging anyone with amateur radio equipment to catch the first signals from OPS-SAT, ESA’s brand new space software laboratory. On 17 December, OPS-SAT will be launched into low-Earth orbit on a Soyuz rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, together with ESA’s Cheops exoplanet-tracker. Once launched, the satellite will deploy its solar panels and ultra- high frequency antenna, and then start to send signals back home. Could you be the first on Earth to catch them? ESA’s mission control team in Darmstadt are asking for your help to find the fledgling Cube- Sat. OPS-SAT is a first-of-its-kind CubeSat dedicated purely to experimen- tation. It carries a wide variety of advanced payloads allowing ‘Ex- perimenters’ to deploy and test their software and apps in space. Anyone can apply to be an Experimenter! Find out more about the mis- sion, and how to apply, here: https://tinyurl.com/ul8327f Lift-off is scheduled for 08:54:20 UTC on 17 December. Deployment will begin 15044.6 seconds later (T+15044.6 seconds), expected to be at 13:05:04 UTC. OPS-SAT will begin transmitting 15 minutes after satel- lite deployment and after ultra-high frequency (UHF) antenna and solar array deployment have been confirmed. The first two passes over Europe are expected on the same evening. To track OPS-SAT, a preliminary launch TLE is available here, and will be updated as soon as new orbital information is available. Main downlink characteristics: Space segment transceiver GomSpace NanoCOM AX100 Frequency UHF – 437.2 MHz Modulation GMSK Occupied Bandwidth 25 kHz Baudrate 9k6 Modulation Index 0.5 More information can be found at: https://github.com/esa/gr-opssat/blob/master/docs/os-uhf-specs.pdf [ANS thanks ESA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT! Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or accountant to make certain you are eligible. AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization 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. AMSAT's federal tax ID is 52-0888529. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- FCC Moves to Remove 3.4 GHz Amateur Satellite Allocation AMSAT (@AMSAT) tweeted at 11:51 AM on Thu, Dec 12, 2019: "At today's Open Meeting, the Federal Communications Commission passed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to delete the amateur allocation at 3.3-3.5 GHz, including the amateur satellite service allocation at 3.4-3.41 GHz." Later, @AMSAT tweeted: "Noting the importance of microwave spectrum for future amateur satel- lites in HEO and/or GEO orbits and beyond, AMSAT will file comments in this proceeding opposing the deletion of this amateur satellite service allocation." Watch ANS bulletins for future developments. [ANS thanks @AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution The following Amateur Radio satellite has been added to this week's TLE distribution: SMOG-P - NORAD CAT ID 44832 (per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO). 1 44832U 19084J 19346.85910300 .00001000 00000-0 50000-4 0 05 2 44832 97.0009 211.0657 0089111 218.3064 289.3286 15.64885322 06 Frequency: 437.1497 MHz. The Israeli student satellite Duchifat3 was successfully placed in or- bit by ISRO (India) on December 11, 2019 along with several other sat- ellites. Therefore, it will take a while for those objects to separate enough to accurately identify Duchifat3. The following is a set of preliminary TLEs supplied by Nicholas Mahr, KE8AKW (via AMSAT-BB) on December 12, 2019 for your use: Duchifat3 1 84101U 19345.41319444 .00000000 00000-0 50000-4 0 08 2 84101 37.0000 148.0000 0001442 0.0000 140.0000 15.02563222 03 On Dec. 13, Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, verified Doppler measurements show- ing that Duchifat 3 is object 44854 (2019-089C). The telemetry down- link frequency is 436.400 MHz. AMSAT Another PocketQube on this launch (only 5 cm on a side!0 has been iden- tified as ATL 1 1 44830U 19084G 19346.85945000 .00001000 00000-0 50000-4 0 08 2 44830 96.9998 211.0781 0044791 228.7076 277.5196 15.64736264 09 Frequency: 437.1741 MHz. [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, Orbital Elements Manager, and Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FoxTelem version 1.08w Released Chris Thompson, AC2CZ/G0KLA, has announced the release of version 1.08w of the FoxTelem software. This is a bug fix release to FoxTelem. If you have been seeing issues then you should upgrade to this new version. Primarily it addresses the following: * Crashes seen at run time * Issue with DDE transmission to SatPC32 which can hang FoxTelem or another program using DDE * Some minor issues with HuskySat graphs and display It is available as usual here: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/ Thanks to all who reported bugs and issues. Keep them coming. Please advise Chris if you see any other issues via g0kla <at> arrl.net Fox-in-a-box orders from the AMSAT Store after December 13, 12:01 UTC (that is, by the time you see this) will also ship with FoxTelem V1.08w. The FIAB download directory has not yet been upgrad- ed, but a downloaded SD card as well as existing cards are very easy to upgrade. Please see previous articles here and in the ANS for how to do it. [ANS thanks Chris Thompson, AC2CZ/G0KLA, and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-EA works against the clock on GÉNESIS satellites AMSAT EA is workin against the clock, together with students from the European university, in the development of the GENESIS satellites. The 1.5 P pico sats, measuring 7.5x5x5cm are expected to be launched from the United States in February 2020. These satellites are based on the designs of EASAT-2 engineering and will allow testings of the EASAT-2 subsytems. The estimated time in orbit of the GENESIS is estimated at around a month. They incorporate the linear transponder receiver module design- ed for EASAT-2 and an Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) transmitter. They will offer functionality of a regenerative repeater in ASK and CW and also incorporate the ionic motor experimental for pocketqubes devel- oped by Applied Ion Systems. [ANS thanks AMSAT-EA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- New NASA eBook Reveals Insights of Earth Seen at Night from Space Earth has many stories to tell, even in the dark of night. Earth at Night, NASA’s new 200-page ebook, is now available online and includes more than 150 images of our planet in darkness as captured from space by Earth-observing satellites and astronauts on the International Space Station over the past 25 years. The book is free for download in Kindle, ePub, and PDF formats at https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/earthatnight_detail.html “Earth at Night” shows how scientists use images such as this astronaut photo of the Gulf of Mexico taken from the International Space Station over the southern United States to study our changing planet. The images reveal how human activity and natural phenomena light up the darkness around the world, depicting the intricate structure of cities, wildfires and volcanoes raging, auroras dancing across the polar skies, moonlight reflecting off snow and deserts, and other dramatic earthly scenes. “Earth at Night explores the brilliance of our planet when it is in darkness,” wrote Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, in the book’s foreword. “The book is a compilation of stories depicting the interactions between science and wonder. I am pleased to share this visually stunning and captivating exploration of our home planet.” In addition to the images, the book tells how scientists use these observations to study our changing planet and aid decision makers in such areas as sustainable energy use and disaster response. NASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth ob- servations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. The agency makes its Earth observations freely and openly available to everyone for use in developing solutions to important global issues such as changing freshwater availability, food security and human health. [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel Applauds Successful Launch of Duchifat3 Israel has applauded the successful launch of Isro’s PSLV-C48 rocket that put an experimental satellite built by students of its country into orbit on Wednesday, Dec. 11. The Cuchifat-3 Israeli satellite was among nine foreign customer satellites piggybacking on India's primary payload Risat-2BR1, a military radar imaging satellite. The launch oc- curred at 09:55 UTC. Full article at https://tinyurl.com/uz7p35u Duchifat3 was built by high school students supported by Herzliya Science Center in Israel and carries an on-board camera for earth imaging. The V/u FM transponder has an uplink of 145.970 MHz and a downlink of 436.400 MHz -- however some reports indicate that the FM repeater downlink may actually be at 436.420 MHz. [ANS thanks The Times of India and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ham Radio University Satellite Operations Forum on January 4 The 21st annual Ham Radio University, on Saturday, January 4, 2020 is a "A day of education to share ideas, experiences, knowledge and fellowship among Amateur Radio operators." The event will be held at: LIU / Post Hillwood Commons Student Center 720 Northern Boulevard Brookville, NY 11548 Web: http://hamradiouniversity.org/ The suggested donation $5 - no preregistration is required! Doors open at 7:30 AM with first forums at 8:30 AM. Satellite operation is a part of the learning experience: 11:00 a.m. Satellite Operations for Beginners by Frank Garofalo WA2NDV [ANS thanks the Ham Radio University for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Possible ARISS SSTV Operation Before Year's End ARISS reports the possibility of a worldwide commemorative SSTV opera- tion from the International Space Station on Friday, Dec. 27 or Satur- day, Dec. 28 and following days. The SSTV downlink frequency is 145.800 MHz. ARISS will provide more information as it becomes avail- able. Watch the amsat-bb and follow @ARISS_status on Twitter for up- dates. An SSTV system is an integral part of one of the ARISS ham radio sta- tions, NA1SS/ RS0ISS in the Service Module. It transmits and receives JPEG still images.This system utilizes the Kenwood D700 and D710 ra- dios and the ARISS antennas mounted on the Service Module. The SSTV equipment also includes SpaceCam and MMSSTV software, a radio/computer interface module and data cables. A Kenwood VC-H1 is also used to pro- vide near real-time automatically transmitted images once every 3 min- utes, when active. A Kenwood D710 radio located in the Service Module was deployed by the Russian Space Agency, Energia to provide extended support of imaging experiments using various SSTV formats. It employs SpaceCam and MMSSTV software to transmit stored images. The current Expedition 61 crew aboard the ISS includes Dr. Andrew “Drew” Morgan, KI5AAA, an emergency physician in the U.S. Army; veter- an pilot Cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, RK6ATR; Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, an Italian Air Force officer, pilot, and engineer; pilot Cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka; biologist Dr. Jessica Meir; and electrical engineer Christina Koch. [ANS thanks ARISS and NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming and Recent ARISS Contacts Istituto Comprensivo “Japigia 1 – Verga”, Bari, Italy, direct via IZ7RTN and Istituto Comprensivo “Caporizzi – Lucarelli”, Bari, Italy, direct via IZ7RTN. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RØISS, The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. Contact is go: Fri 2019-12-20 12:35:30 UTC 77 deg There are few upcoming ARISS school contacts due to school holiday vacations around the world. Recent contacts were: A contact with About Gagarin From Cosmos, City of Kursk, Russia and City of Ufa, Russia, direct via RZ9WWB was scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 11. The ISS callsign was scheduled to be RSØISS, and the sched- uled astronaut was Alexander Skvortsov, RK6ATR. A contact with Woodridge Middle School, High Ridge, MO, direct via NØKBA was scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12. The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS, and the scheduled astronaut was to be Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. ANS has verified that these contacts took place as scheduled. The ARISS contact with Council Rock High School South students at the Northampton, Pennsylvania school on Thursday, December 5 rece- ived local press coverage in the Bucks County Courier Times news- paper: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-349-ARISS-CouncilRock [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations For "Ham Radio Day Aboard the Queen Mary" on Saturday, 14 December 2019. Endaf Buckley, N6UTC, and Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, will work passes as W6RO between 1700 UTC and 0100 UTC (9am-5pm Pacific time) from the Sports Deck on the RMS Queen Mary, next to the W6RO Wireless Room. More information about this event is available at: https://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2019-November/075512.html and at https://www.queenmary.com/calendar-of-events/ham-radio-day/home/ On Sunday, 15 December 2019, N6UTC and WD9EWK will go north of the Los Angeles area to the DM04/DM05/DM14/DM15 (35.0 N 118.0 W) grid intersection. They plan on working passes for a few hours there, starting with an AO-92 pass around 1740 UTC. [ANS thanks AMSAT Board member Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, for the above information] South Florida (EL95, EL96) December 11-15, 2019 James, K4WPX, will be in EL96/95 December 11th-15th, vacation style, mostly evening passes, FM only. James will be staying in EM96 but ~1mile from the EM95 line, so he can skip over there for some passes, too. Pass announcements via Twitter: https://twitter.com/k4wpx Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announce- ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Big Bend National Park (DL88) March 16-17, 2020 Ron AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will operate from Big Bend Nation- al Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details will be added here, as they come available, but you are more than welcome to keep an eye on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx, https://twitter.com/dtabor, and https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5 [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services, for the above information] XT2, BURKINA FASO (Reminder). Harald, DF2WO, is once again active as XT2AW from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, until December 20th. Activity is usually holiday style on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. He states that he works mostly on the Digital modes (FT8, PSK31, JT65 and RTTY) and slow CW. He will concentrate on 160/80/60 meters. "PLS Skeds for 80 and 160." He will also be active on the Satellites (including 3W into 85cm dish for QO-100) See QRZ.com more details. QSL via M0OXO, direct or by M0OXO's OQRS (www.m0oxo.com/oqrs/). ZZ, BRAZIL (WFF Op). Operators Joao Carlos/PU4GOD, Leo/PY1CC, Aldir, PY1SAD and Eduardo/PU1REC will be active from the headquarters of the Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park (PYFF0226) with special callsign ZZ1F between December 12-15th. This is during the first weekend of the Brazilian Parks event, under the coordination of Ronaldo (PS8RV). Activity will be on 80/40/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters including VHF using CW, SSB, Satellites and the Digital modes. QSL via LoTW or QRZ.com. [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1443 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Some observers have reported that satellite JY1 is, at least occa- sionally, transmitting image data from its on-board camera. (ANS thanks Hasan Schiers, N0AN, for the above information) + Want to build a satellite? A scholarly book, "Low Earth Orbit Satel- lite Design" by Dr. George Sebestyen, Steve Fujikawa, Alex Chuchra, and Nick Galassi, was recently published by Springer, Inc. This book offers an in-depth guide to engineers and professionals seeking to understand the technologies behind Low Earth Orbit satellites. At $139.99 for the hardcover edition, it might be a pricey stocking- stuffer, but paperback and ebook editions are cheaper, and Springer is running a holiday book special: https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319683140#aboutBook (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information) + ESA’s short film, The Burn, takes us into the heart of Europe’s mis- sion control during a critical moment in the life of a future mis- sion. Filmed on site in Darmstadt, Germany, with the help of volun- teers (many of whom are real-life spacecraft controllers), The Burn illustrates the critical importance of decades of investment in state-of-the-art mission operations infrastructure and highly train- ed teams to flying Europe’s most daring space missions. View the film at: https://tinyurl.com/yxxewnjt (ANS thanks ESA for the above information) + NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, aims to carry astronauts to the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis project, and has been described as "the most powerful rocket ever built." The SLS has just completed its latest round of testing: a "test to failure" pressure test of the main liquid hydrogen tank. The tank withstood more than 260% of expected flight loads before buckling and rupturing! The tank was pushed to its limit and failed at the point predicted by the ana- lysts, which is good news for the models used by NASA. (ANS thanks engadget.com and NASA for the above information) + Meade Instruments, a company familiar to backyard astronomers, has filed for bankruptcy. The company has fallen on hard times in recent years, as they’ve faced increasing competition. Meade also recently lost a lawsuit, which pushed them over the edge into bankruptcy. The company is based in Irvine, California, and was founded in 1972. They started out selling small refracting telescopes. They expanded and now sell telescope models worth up to $10,000. (ANS thanks Universe Today for the above information) + The Orbital Index blog (orbitalindex.com) maintains a directory of free space-related software resources for space hobbiests at: https://github.com/orbitalindex/awesome-space (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information) + The Orbital Flight Test of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is scheduled for Dec. 20 at 6:36 a.m. EST. The uncrewed flight test will be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Sta- tion for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. (ANS thanks NASA for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-335 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Mark D. Johns 30 Nov '19

30 Nov '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-335 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT Fox Leaderboard Will Show Monthly Leaders * AMSAT Will Be at Superstition Superfest Hamfest * Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission * FCC Seeks to Clear Radio Amateurs Out of 3.4 GHz * WRC-19 Final Report: Small Satellites and the 1240-1300 MHz Band * AMSAT Auction Celebrating 45th Birthday of AO-7 Raises $480 * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-335.01 ANS-335 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 335.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2019 Dec 01 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-335.01 AMSAT Fox Leaderboard Will Show Monthly Leaders Starting from Nov. 26, the AMSAT Fox Telemetry leaderboard will now show MONTHLY totals. The top stations will be those that have submit- ted the most telemetry in the last 30 days. The old style leaderboard can be accessed by clicking "All-time Leaderboard" to see totals since the launch of Fox-1A. To see more than the top 10 stations, click on "Show all ground stations" to see everyone. The leaderboard has also been updated to show PSK frames decoded along- side FSK frames. DUV and Highspeed are both counted but are not shown separately on the totals page. HuskySat-1 is now at the ISS on the Cygnus. We expect it to be boosted to its target orbit in the new year. It will transmit BPSK telemetry continuously on 70cm, so dig out that 435Mhz antenna and make sure it works! Fox-1E will follow in the (hopefully near) future and will also transmit PSK on 70cm. As with previous spacecraft, the telemetry collected is sent to our University Partners who fly experiments and help make these missions possible. Please collect and forward telemetry if you can. The link to the leaderboard is: https://www.amsat.org/tlm/ If there are questions, contact Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ via email: g0kla <at> arrl.net (ANS thanks Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Will Be at Superstition Superfest Hamfest AMSAT will be at the Superstition Amateur Radio Club's "Superstition Superfest" hamfest on the morning of Saturday, December 7, 2019. The hamfest will be in the southwest parking lot of Mesa Community College, located on the east side of Dobson Road between Southern Avenue and US-60 exit 177 in Mesa, Arizona. More information about the hamfest is available at: http://superstitionsuperfest.org/ WD9EWK will be on the satellites during the hamfest, demonstrating satellite operating. If you hear WD9EWK on a pass that morning, please call and be a part of a demonstration. The hamfest site is in grid DM43, in Arizona's Maricopa County. QSOs made during the hamfest will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, and QSL cards are available on request (please e-mail WD9EWK directly at patrick <at> wd9ewk.net with the QSO details). [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT! Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or accountant to make certain you are eligible. AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization 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. AMSAT's federal tax ID is 52-0888529. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission Rocket Lab has announced that its next mission will launch multiple microsatellites in a rideshare mission representing five different countries. The launch window for Rocket Lab’s tenth flight, will open November 25, New Zealand time, and take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. Onboard this rideshare mission are six spacecraft comprised of 5cm PocketQube microsatellites from satellite manufacturer and mission management provider Alba Orbital. Two of these satellites include downlinks in the UHF amateur radio band. TRSI is a PocketQube for technology demostration. Its main objective is to show which functionality can be achieved with dimensions of 5cm x 5cm x 5cm. It carries two experiments that are connected to the amateur-satellite service. + First is a waterfall experiment which will show an image in the waterfall diagram by hopping the frequency within its transmission band (image-type beacon). + The second experiment is to analyze RF reception capabilities from LEO with a novel detector receiver and a small patch antenna. It was designed to test if small satellite receivers which don´t need deployable antennas are feasible. The received signal´s envelope will be sampled and forwarded using UHF in MFSK for signal ana- lysis. During the experiment phase the satellite will also perform as an amateur CW repeater, providing additional RX strength indi- cation; eg. CW morse signals will be re-sent in MFSK, showing the RX amplitude in dBm. A downlink on 437.075 MHz has been coordinated. IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=649 FossaSat-1 PocketQube by AMSAT-EA which has a 5x5x5cm structure and a total mass of 250 grams. Radio link testing features a new experi- mental RF chirp modulation called LoRa which greatly improves the link budget reducing the power consumed and reduces the cost of receivers. The output power from the transmitter required for the correct recep- tion during a pass is also very low at well under 100mW, being spread spectrum at such low power it poses no interference risk. It operates at a considerable level below the noise level of other systems and would cause no interference to weak narrowband signals. Students & amateurs will be able to receive telemetry from the satel- lite with inexpensive hardware, expanding & promoting the amateur sat- ellite community with youth. Uplink challenges will also be carried out with rewards for amateurs. The mission is completely open source with all information regarding the design of the satellite & how to decode its information clearly laid out & hosted by AMSAT-EA. The site will provide decoding soft- ware for SDR use in order to allow anyone to decode LoRa using common existing hardware & host software for users to submit telemetry data, making all data public and rewarding users with certificates & awards. The UHF downlink plans on using FSK RTTY 45 BAUD ITA2, 100mW 183hz Shift and LoRa 125kHz, Chirp Spread Spectrum Modulation, 180 bps, 100mW. A downlink on 436.700 MHz has been coordinated. IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=652 A commercial payload on board is ALE-2 from a Tokyo-based company creating microsatellites that simulate meteor particles. See http://star-ale.com/en/news/317/2019/01/04/ for more information. Rocket Labs mission web page can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/y672rjj5 [ANS thanks Rocket Labs, IARU, AMSAT-EA, TRSI, and Alba Orbital for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- FCC Seeks to Clear Radio Amateurs Out of 3.4 GHz At its December 12 open meeting, the FCC will consider adopting a No- tice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to remove the amateur radio 9-centimeter allocation at 3.3 – 3.5 GHz. ARRL plans to comment in opposition to the proposed action. According to an FCC “Fact Sheet,” the proceeding WT Docket 19-348, “Facilitating Shared Use in the 3.1 – 3.55 GHz Band,” is a follow-on from the MOBILE NOW Act, approved by the 115th Congress, which requires the FCC and the US Department of Comm- erce to make available new spectrum for mobile and fixed wireless broad- band use. It also requires the FCC to work with the National Telecom- munications and Information Administration (NTIA) to evaluate whether commercial wireless services and federal incumbents could share spec- trum between 3.1 and 3.55 GHz. NTIA manages spectrum allocated to fed- eral government users. “This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would propose to remove the exist- ing non-federal allocations in the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band as a step to- wards potential future shared use between federal incumbents and com- mercial users,” the FCC Fact Sheet explains. “By taking the initial step needed to clear the band of allocations for non-federal incum- bents, the Commission furthers its continued efforts to make more mid- band spectrum potentially available to support next generation wireless networks — consistent with the mandate of the MOBILE NOW [Making Oppor- tunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless] Act.” The NPRM proposes to clear the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band of existing non-fed- eral users by removing non-federal secondary radiolocation and amateur allocations [emphasis added] in the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band and to relocate incumbent non-federal users out of the band. The FCC would seek comment on relocation options and “transition mechanisms” for incumbent non- federal users, either to the 3.1 – 3.3 GHz band or to other frequencies, and on how to ensure that non-federal secondary operations in the 3.1– 3.3 GHz band will continue to protect federal radar systems. Regarding the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Service allocations, the FCC NPRM asks whether existing amateur spectrum in other bands might support operations currently conducted in the 3.3 – 3.5 GHz band. The 3.40 – 3.41 GHz segment is designated for amateur satellite communica- tion. “We seek comment on the extent to which the band is used for this purpose, whether existing satellites can operate on other amateur satellite bands, and on an appropriate timeframe for terminating these operations in this band,” the FCC NPRM says. Also at its December 12 meeting, the FCC will consider another NPRM in WT Docket 19-138 that would “take a fresh and comprehensive look” at the rules for the 5.9 GHz band and propose, among other things, to make the lower 45 MHz of the band available for unlicensed operations and to permit “Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything” (C-V2X) operations in the upper 20 MHz of the band. The FCC is not proposing to delete or other- wise amend the amateur allocation, and it would continue as a secon- dary allocation, but the primary allocation for 5.850 – 5.925 GHz would change. The amateur radio 5-centimeter allocation is 5650.0 – 5925.0 MHz, and the NPRM, if approved, would address the top 75 MHz of that amateur secondary band. While no changes are proposed to the amateur alloca- tion, anticipated more intensive use by primary users could restrict secondary amateur use. The band 5.850–5.925 GHz has been reserved for use by dedicated short- range communications (DSRC), a service in the intelligent transporta- tion system (ITS) designed to enable vehicle-related communications, the FCC said in a Fact Sheet in WT Docket 19-138. “The Commission ini- tiates this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to take a fresh and compre- hensive look at the 5.9 GHz band rules and propose appropriate changes to ensure the spectrum supports its highest and best use.” ARRL also will file comments opposing any changes affecting the 5-centimeter amateur allocation. Both draft FCC proposals are subject to change prior to a vote at the December 12 FCC meeting, and there will be opportunity to file com- ments and reply comments on the final proposals after they are re- leased. [ANS thanks ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WRC-19 Final Report: Small Satellites and the 1240-1300 MHz Band In the final week, the meetings at WRC-19 have been running until 3 in the morning in an attempt to get the work completed. The RSGB have released their WRC-19 report covering small satellites and also the Amateur 1240-1300 MHz band. The report notes “A lesson from the process indicates how difficult it may be in future to achieve any upgrade to other amateur allocations.” Read the RSGB Small Satellites and 23cm report at https://tinyurl.com/vjfho66 Friday, November 22 saw WRC-19 conclude its month long biggest ever conference. Many of the 3,300 delegates had started to travel home even before the release of the ‘Provisional Final Acts’ and closing ceremony. The ITU website has released the provisional acts as a huge 567-page PDF document—a tribute to the the hardworking editorial and transla- tion teams at the conference. These provisional acts are due to come into force on January 1, 2021, so no early changes are currently ex- pected in practice. Read the RSGB WRC-19 Final report at https://tinyurl.com/qjw9kvd WRC-19 Provisional Final Acts – a 567 page document - is available at https://tinyurl.com/tyzfvl3 [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Auction Celebrating 45th Birthday of AO-7 Raises $480 The auctions for a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab coat recently concluded and raised $480 to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space. Thank you to all of the bidders for participating in the auctions! If you missed out on the auctions, but still want to help out, please consider donating or purchasing items from the AMSAT store at www.amsat.org today! [ANS thanks Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is go for: 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC Council Rock High School South, Holland, Pa., direct via KC3NGG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Thu 2019-12-05 17:56:31 UTC 71 deg B. Pascal Institute - Public School, Rome, Italy, direct via IKØMGA and Istituto Comprensivo Lipari “S. Lucia”, Lipari, Italy, direct via ID9GKS. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Sat 2019-12-07 11:44:00 UTC 45 deg For more information, the ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, ARISS operation team, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 - December 6, 2019 The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec- ember 11th. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival and just before they leave, not to mention that it's wicked cold up there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out- side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd - 6th. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act- ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner's Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd – 6th. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to ac- tivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner’s Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announce- ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + NASA's "Ride to Station" App and Educator Guide equips educators with simple tools and knowledge to take a fun, interactive app and turn it into a powerful, educational tool for students of all ages! The in- teractive app gives an overview of the complexities involved in get- ting to and conducting research aboard the International Space Sta- tion. The app is also challenging and fun! The Commercial Crew Pro- gram focuses on working with NASA’s two partners Boeing and SpaceX to create American commercial capabilities to safely send humans to and from the International Space Station. For more information see: https://tinyurl.com/vj9gyfr (ANS thanks NASA for the above information) + Rovers and some multiop VHF/UHF contest stations will be interested in the future Down East Microwave DEM V/U Xverter. This device covers ALL 5 OF THE AMATEUR BANDS between 144 MHz and 1.2 GHz. According to the preliminary information from the manufacturer: "All frequencies convert to/from 28 MHz. The transmit output level is approximately 1 watt and will exhibit a 2 dB noise figure with greater than 15 dB gain on all bands. The Transverter will also contain an AUX RF port that will be configured as an additional 2M port for connection to a higher frequency transverter such as our future DEM MICRO-VERTER con- taining 4 additional higher bands of operation." (ANS thanks Pete Heins, N6ZE, the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society, and www.downeastmicrowave.com for the above information) + Rocket Lab has partnered with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to be the sole provider of ground station services for the Electron launch vehicle and Photon satellite bus customers. KSAT’s KSATlite ground network is designed and optimized for small satellite systems, providing Photon customers with downlink and uplink capabilities in UHF, S-band, X-band, and Ka-band across a global ground station net- work of over 200 antennas that supports 50,000 contacts per month. (ANS thanks SatMagazine.com for the above information) + NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be testing an improved waveform on the 48-MHz Tropospheric Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (TDRWP) from Monday, November 25 through Sunday, December 2. The purpose of the test is to improve the instrument’s resolution and still operate with- in the assigned bandwidth. NASA is requesting the amateur radio com- munity to report via email to ksc-tdrwptest(a)mail.nasa.gov any detect- ed emissions in the 50 – 54 MHz band dur ing that period. Include the date, time, location, frequency, and any other pertinent informa- tion (such as IQ files of the signal for evaluation) that might as- sist NASA in assessing potential impacts to the amateur radio comm- unity. (ANS thanks ARRL for the above information) + NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 12:51 p.m. EST Wednesday, Dec. 4, for the launch of its 19th resupply mission to the International Space Station under contract with the agency. Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website Tues- day, Dec. 3, with prelaunch events. The Dragon spacecraft, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sta- tion in Florida, will be filled with supplies and payloads, includ- ing critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science investigations and technology demonstrations that will occur during Expeditions 61 and 62. (ANS thanks NASA for the above information) + Jerri Ellsworth, AI6TK, who was the AMSAT/TAPR guest speaker at Day- ton in 2018, was featured as a "technology visionary" by the New York Times in an article first published in October, but highlighted once again in a series wrap-up on Nov. 26. Those who have a N.Y. Times online account can access the story at https://tinyurl.com/tmkhqaq + ANS wishes a happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend (or what remains of it) to all U.S. satellite operators! --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-328 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne K9JKM 23 Nov '19

23 Nov '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-328 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT Auction Celebrating the 45th Birthday of AO-7 Now Live * November 18 Marked 2nd Anniversary On Orbit for AMSAT-OSCAR 91 * November 21 Marked 6th Anniverary of AMSAT-UK's AO-73 FUNcube-1 * Proposed FCC Auction of C-Band Increases Competition for Allocations * Satellite Operations From the Queen Mary on December 14 * Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA * Open Source 'APRS to Discord' Bridge Project Begins Testing * ARISS Activities * Upcoming Satellite Operations * The Voyage Home: Japan's Hayabusa-2 Probe Heads Back to Earth * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-328.01 ANS-328 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 328.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2019-Nov-24 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-328.01 AMSAT Auction Celebrating the 45th Birthday of AO-7 Now Live As announced in ANS-321, AMSAT is auctioning off a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab coat (size 42R). The auctions are now live on eBay and will conclude shortly after 02:00 UTC on November 26, 2019. Please bid today at https://www.ebay.com/usr/amsat-na 100% of the proceeds of this auction will go towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. Looking ahead to the future AMSAT tweeted a quick summary of projects at: https://twitter.com/AMSAT/status/1197528119806169091 1. The University of Washington's HuskySat-1 carrying an AMSAT VHF/ UHF linear transponder was launched to the ISS on Cygnus on Nov 2. After leaving the ISS, Cygnus is expected to deploy HuskySat-1 on or about Jan 13. 2. After completing its science mission, HuskySat-1 will be turned over to AMSAT and the transponder will be made available for ama- teur use. AMSAT is also working with other CubeSat builders on similar arrangements. 3. RadFxSat-2 (Fox-1E), carrying a VHF/UHF linear transponder and radiation experiments for Vanderbilt University, is complete and awaiting launch on the first commercial flight of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne no earlier than 1Q 2020. 4. The GOLF program is progressing nicely. The target delivery/inte- gration date of GOLF-TEE is 3Q 2020. More details about the GOLF program are available in the AMSAT Engineering Report from the 2019 Space Symposium. https://youtube.com/watch?v=WWwvhuIaiBA 5. The ARISS next generation InterOperable Radio System is planned for launch to the ISS on the SpaceX CRS-20 mission, scheduled for March 2020. 6. The AMSAT CubeSat Simulator project led by Alan Johnston, KU2Y and Pat Kilroy, N8PK, is generating much interest. Simulators are avail- able for loan for classrooms or events and work is underway to dev- elop CubeSat Simulator kits. http://cubesatsim.com 7. How can you help these projects succeed? Please consider volunteer- ing, joining, donating, and/or purchasing items from the AMSAT store today. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- November 18 Marked 2nd Anniversary On Orbit for AMSAT-OSCAR 91 Happy 2nd Anniversary, AMSAT-OSCAR 91! At 09:47:36 UTC on Novem- ber 18, 2017, RadFxSat (Fox-1B) launched on a Delta II rocket from SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base and became AMSAT-OSCAR 91. RadFxSat (Fox-1B), a 1U CubeSat, is a joint mission of AMSAT and the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics at Vanderbilt Uni- versity. The Vanderbilt package is intended to measure the effects of radiation on electronic components, including demonstration of an on-orbit platform for space qualification of components as well as to validate and improve computer models for predicting radiation tolerance of semiconductors. AMSAT constructed the remainder of the satellite including the space frame, on-board computer and power system. The amateur radio package is similar to that currently on orbit on AO-85. RadFxSat (Fox-1B) was sent aloft as a secondary payload on the Unit- ed Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket with the Joint Polar Satel- lite System (JPSS)-1 satellite. RadFxSat (Fox-1B) is one of five CubeSats making up this NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) XIV mission, riding as secondary payloads aboard the JPSS-1 mission. Uplink: 435.250 MHz FM (67.0 Hz CTCSS) Downlink: 145.960 MHz FM Satellite health and experiment telemetry are downlinked via the Data-Under-Voice (DUV) subaudible telemetry stream, which can be de- coded using the FoxTelem software. Visit the AMSAT-OSCAR 91 web page at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-AO-91 Make sure you have the latest AMSAT frequencies using the page at: https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- November 21 Marked 6th Anniverary of AMSAT-UK's AO-73 FUNcube-1 This week AMSAT-UK and the FUNcube team recalled the events on launch day. A very short time after the launch from Yasny in Russia and with- in a few minutes from deployment, the very first frame of data from the low power transmitter on board, was detected and decoded by ZS1LS in South Africa. He was able to relay the data over the internet from his Dashboard to the Data Warehouse and the numbers, appeared, as if by magic, at the launch party being held at the RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park. After a very brief check out, the FUNcube team were able to switch the transmitter to full power, again at the very first attempt, and were quite amazed at the strength of the signal from the 300mW trans- mitter on 145.935 MHz. The transponder was then switched on and suc- cessfully tested. The team finished the day with a request to AMSAT-NA for an Oscar number and were delighted to receive the AO73 Oscar 73 designation! Since then, FUNcube-1, with a launch mass of less than 1kg, has oper- ated continuously with only a very few interruptions. In excess of 32000 orbits, 750 million miles travelled, and with more than 7 mil- lion data packets downloaded and stored in the Data Warehouse. The spacecraft is presently in continuous sunlight and to convert as much of the sun’s thermal energy into RF (to help keep it cool), it remains in continuous high power telemetry mode. We anticipate this situation will continue until early May next after which the team expect to have 3 months with some eclipse periods. Of course, EO88 – Nayif 1 continues to operate autonomously with the transponder active when in eclipse and JO99 – JY1Sat, which includes image downloads, and which was launched just under a year ago, also remain active on a 24/7 basis. The FUNcube team still receive many requests for Fitter message up- loads for school events…please contact us by email to operations(a)funcube.org.uk giving us at least two weeks notice. The FUNcube team continue to be very grateful to all the many stations around the world that continue to upload the telemetry that they re- ceive to our Data Warehouse. They really need this data to provide a continuous resource for educational outreach. Dave Johnson, G4DPZ, network administrator for the FUNcube Data Ware- house provided this update for users of the FUNcube Dashboard Soft- ware, "The server addresses warehouse.funcube.org.uk and data.funcube.org.uk are no longer operational. If you have FUNcube Dashboard(s) using the URL data.funcube.org.uk, please change it to data.amsat-uk.org as forwarding will no longer take place." + FUNcube email group https://groups.io/g/FUNcube + FUNcube Forum http://forum.funcube.org.uk/ + FUNcube Website http://www.funcube.org.uk/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Proposed FCC Auction of C-Band Increases Competition for Allocations In an IARU News Release by Dave Sumner, K1ZZ and posted by Rick Lind- quist, WW1ME on November 18 via the ARRL-IARU(a)groups.arrl.org list he reports that the Plenary session to approve texts to be included in the Final Acts was scheduled to end at noon Thursday, November 21 and delegates at WRC-19 faced a daunting workload as the conferees try to reach consensus on several remaining issues including the agenda for the next WRC. Small Satellites which are increasingly commercial have been granted access to the space operations bands at 137/149MHz away from amateur allocations. The amateur secondary allocation at 5725-5850 MHz, which includes an amateur-satellite C-band downlink at 5830-5850 MHz, is the subject of an unresolved conflict over parameters for wireless access systems including radio local area networks. 5 GHz Wi-Fi will see most expan- sion below amateur radio in the 5150-5250 band reducing it impact on our 5725-5850 range. An article published by CNBC, also on November 18, a news item by Michael Sheetz, "Satellite stock Intelsat drops 40% after FCC 5G dec- ision", discusses increasing pressure in the United States due to a proposed public auction of 280 megahertz of the C-band spectrum. This article can be accessed in entirety at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-CNBC-5G-Article Sheetz reports that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a tweet that his agency “must free up significant spectrum” for 5G telecommunications. The FCC said it expects to begin a public auction of C-band to happen before the end of 2020, a blow to satellite operators using the valu- able spectrum. The FCC Chairman's tweet on the subject can be accessed at: https://twitter.com/AjitPaiFCC/status/1196468857025835009 Four commercial satellite operators, including Intelsat, provide C-band services in the U.S. to about 120 million households. The FCC wants to repurpose the C-band spectrum for 5G and an auction is ex- pected to raise tens of billions of dollars. But a public auction would see the proceeds go to the government. The commercial C-band satellite operators have organized as the 'C-Band Alliance' to oppose a public auction of these frequencies. The C-Band Alliance has been pushing for a private auction. The group has given a proposal to the FCC where the satellite operators would keep some of the proceeds while paying taxes on the sale, as well as contributing at least $8 billion to the U.S. Treasury and possible helping fund a rural 5G network. [ANS thanks Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, Rick Lindquist, WW1ME, the IARU and CNBC for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Operations From the Queen Mary on December 14 AMSAT will be supporting the "Ham Radio Day Aboard the Queen Mary", an on-air event which will include satellite operations from the RMS Queen Mary, on Saturday, 14 December 2019. The Queen Mary is at the Port of Long Beach in California, grid DM03vs. The satellite opera- tions will take place from the Queen Mary's Sports Deck, next to the W6RO Wireless Room. Visitors are welcome, and hams with a copy of their valid amateur license can board the ship for free on 14 December - a $40 value! QSL cards will be available from the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach (ARALB), using the process detailed at: http://www.qrz.com/db/W6RO Satellite contacts do not require the QSO number mentioned on this page. W6RO does not use Logbook of the World. Additional information about the event posted by The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach and the Queen Mary: The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach and the Queen Mary invite you aboard the legendary ocean liner for Ham Radio Day Aboard the Queen Mary on Saturday December 14th. Our world-famous station W6RO will be fully staffed all day. Come visit the station, take a turn as a guest operator, or work us on the air and earn our special 40th Anniversary QSL card. In addition, we will have the following special activities: + Static displays of the Queen Mary's vintage maritime radio equipment. + On-air demonstrations of ham radio 'go-kits' at locations around the ship. + Demonstrations of 'eclectic communications gear', including an Aldis lamp and semaphore flags. + Demonstrations of satellite ham radio, with actual contacts being made through satellites in orbit. Basic admission to board the ship is FREE for licensed radio amateurs this day. Simply show your current amateur radio license at the Hotel entrance and come aboard! The free boarding offer is subject to the following restrictions: + A valid FCC license document must be presented. (QM personnel will not look you up in the FCC database, QRZ, etc.) + Non-licensed friends and family members are not included. + Free boarding of the ship does not include admission to the Queen Mary Christmas event. + Free boarding does not include parking. Normal parking rates apply. For an alternative, ride the free Long Beach Transit Passport bus,or try LBT's AquaBus or AquaLink boat shuttles to get to the Queen Mary. We're looking forward to seeing YOU on board! 73 [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, and the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach and the Queen Mary] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT! Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or accountant to make certain you are eligible. AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization 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. AMSAT's federal tax ID is 52-0888529. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Open Source 'APRS to Discord' Bridge Project Begins Testing Harold Giddings, KR0SIV, reports on an on-going open source project called the 'APRS to Discord bridge'. The Discord network supports text and voice chat, project documentation and source code for dev- elopers, gamers, and makers in an open source environment. For more information about the Discord network see https://discordapp.com/ The APRS to Discord bridge, by Alexandre Rouma (@WhatsTheGeekYT on twitter), is designed to connect APRS traffic from terrestrial and spacecraft sources with user's servers on the Discord network. The software, still under development, is pretty simple at the moment but will be open source (Node.js). The design will allow amateur radio groups to set up their own node for bridging an APRS callsign/message to their discord server. It is written in a way that requires the bot operator to validate amateur operators with a special role in Discord preventing illicit use by non-licensed operators. Source code can be found here: https://github.com/AlexandreRouma/aprs_bridge https://github.com/AlexandreRouma/npm-aprs-parser Harold also hosts the SDR-centric 'Signals Everywhere' channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/signalseverywhere [ANS thanks Harold Giddings, KR0SIV, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Activities + Lakeside Elementary School, West Point, UT, telebridge via IK1SLD Contact was successful: Mon 2019-11-18 + Istituto San Paolo delle Suore Angeliche, Milano, Italy and Istituto Comprensivo Di Merone – Mons. A. Pirovano, Merone, Italy, telebridge via W6SRJ Contact was successful: Thu 2019-11-21 + MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is go for 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC A reminder that the deadline to submit proposals for ARISS contacts to be scheduled between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 is coming up on November 30, 2019. For more information visit https://www.ariss.org/ Possible RSØISS - Inter MAI-75 SSTV activity is tentatively planned for Dec 14 – 15, 2019. Details will follow later, the organization of this SSTV event depends on the necessary EVA activities. No SSTV can take place during EVA activities. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS opera- tion team members, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 - December 6, 2019 The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec- ember 11th. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival and just before they leave, not to mention that it's wicked cold up there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out- side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd - 6th. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act- ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner's Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announce- ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The Voyage Home: Japan's Hayabusa-2 Probe Heads Back to Earth By Kyoko Hasegawa - Tokyo Japan's Hayabusa-2 mission to the asteroid Ryugu received its orders to head for home on Wednesday, November 13. Next, on November 18 it broke free of the asteroid's gravity. It will fire its main engines early next month en route to Earth, JAXA said. Hayabusa-2 is carrying samples that could shed light on the origins of the Solar System. It took the probe three-and-a-half years to get to the asteroid but the return journey should be significantly short- er because Earth and Ryugu will be much closer due to their current positions. Ryugu's orbit ranges from .96 AU to 1.41 AU with a period of 474 days, coming within just 95,400 km of Earth at its closest (just 1/4 LD), but is currently 1.7 AU away. Hayabusa will spend the next year clos- ing that distance to Earth and will eject its sample capsule into the atmosphere in December 2020. After the departure burn Hayabusa-2 had changed it's orbit to a 0.96 x 1.41 AU x 5.9 deg heliocentric orbit. Hayabusa-2 is expected to drop the samples off in the South Austral- ian desert. Under the current plan, Hayabusa-2 will boldly continue its journey in space after dropping off its capsule to Earth, and might "carry out another asteroid exploration," according to JAXA. Access the full article (and photo) at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-Hyabusa-Coming-Home [ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + AMSAT has received the sad news on the passing of Brian Kantor, WB6CYT (SK). Brian was one of the co-founders (with Phil Karn, KA9Q) of AMPRnet, the TCP/IP over amateur radio network. Brian continued to manage it until his passing. Brian recently creat- ed and served as chair and CEO of Amateur Radio Digital Commun- ications (ARDC), a charitable foundation funded by the sale of unused AMPRnet IPv4 addresses. ARDC promotes STEM education and amateur radio digital development through scholarships and by funding the development of open source hardware and software. Brian will be sorely missed and impossible to replace. Memorial arrangements will be announced when known. via Phil Karn, KA9Q) + UniverseToday.com notes the contribution of Daniel Estévez, EA4GPZ, with the location of the impact site of China's Longjiang-2 satel- lite on the moon: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-EA4GPZ-LunarImpact The article notes, "Among amateur astronomists and citizen scient- ists, Daniel Estévez is a well-known figure. In addition to being an amateur radio operator with a PhD in Mathematics and a BSc in Computer Science, Estévez is also an amateur spacecraft tracker." (via UniverseToday.com) + Roland Hesmondhalg spoke on public radio station WFIT with FL Tech Professor Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, and two senior students Luiz Fernando Leal and Antonio Masturzo about the amateur radio project on the ISS. Did you know you can use amateur radio to talk to astronauts in space? Ken Ernandes is part of the team building the next upgraded communi- cation station to be flown on the ISS this coming year. The program is primarily intended by NASA to promote STEAM in schools. There is an application process to get a scheduled school contact and he would be happy to work with any body on the application process. Listen on the link at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-WFIT-Interview + NASA released their latest software catalog offering FREE NASA Technology software packages that are applicable to academic research, engineering development, business applications & more! NASA Press Release: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-NASA-Software-Press Access the software at: http://software.nasa.gov + Explore student STEM opportunities, downloads, mission information and Artemis Student Challenges on NASA's STEM Engagement pages at: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/artemis.html - then - try your hand at driving a Mars rover: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/explore-mars/en/ + John Brier, KG4AKV, wrote, "A woman in Israel recently contacted me about including some of my videos in a video she was going to make about how to view the ISS. Well, she just uploaded that video and I have to say, it is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laQ9VEJJmpU (To turn on English subtitles while viewing YouTube on the web/ desktop, click the CC button in the bottom right corner of the video. On mobile, tap the three dots in the top right and then tap captions) - via John Brier, KG4AKV + Paul Wade, W1GHZ, author of the W1GHZ Microwave Antenna Book says he has added an update of Chapter 7, Slot Antennas, and included an improved 32-bit version of the HDL_ANT program for Windows 7 and 10. Access the book at: http://w1ghz.org/antbook/preface.htm Click on the 'Table of Contents' link to continue. (Paul Wade, W1GHZ via the microwave list) + Scott Manley posted a video showing the effect if all satellites in orbit were visible. There are over ten thousand satellites in orbit, but only the largest ones in low earth orbit are visible in the hours just after sunset and before sunrise. What would the sky look like if you could see everything in space? He took satel- lite data and rendered a view of the night sky for an 'average' viewer in North America. View the satellites at: https://youtu.be/dJNGi-bt9NM (via Scott Manley's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxzC4EngIsMrPmbm6Nxvb-A ) + Voyager's transmitters use just 23 watts, roughly the same as an incandescent refrigerator bulb, yet we are able to interpret the 0.1 billion-billionth of a Watt that makes it to earth from 11 billion kilometers away. An article at wired.com explains: https://www.wired.com/2013/09/vintage-voyager-probes/ + AMSAT-LU (Argentina) plans to operate their WSPR buoy when it is deployed between November 25 through December 12, weather condi- tion permitting. The WSPR beacon will transmit on 14.095,6 MHz with 900 mW, callsign LU7AA. The beacon will be active for 2 min- utes ON followed with 8 minutes of standby. They appreciate WSPR reception reports to wsprnet.org which will qualify you for an award certificate: http://lu7aa.org.ar/wspr.asp AMSAT-LU Buoy Project page can be found at: http://amsat.org.ar/?f=boya APRS tracking can be found at: http://aprs.fi?call=lu7aa-8 + Versions 1.46 and 1.47 (to address a bug fix) of the Magic-Eye Plugin for SDRSharp has been released: https://github.com/BlackApple62/SDRSharp-Magic-Eye-Plugin/releases This plug-in adds an old-style "Magic Eye", or "Cat's Eye" to SDR# software (available via www.airspy.com) This release adds an analog- style SNR Meter. This Plugin, is compiled for 32bit platform, with .NET Framework version 4.6. It may not run on SDR# versions older than r1362 (14 Sept 2015) - via airspy.com and GitHub + If you've been kept up at night trying to find a solution to the chaotic three-body problem access a paper, "Newton vs the machine: solving the chaotic three-body problem using deep neural networks" from: https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.07291 - and if you're not sure what is the significance of this check out an explanation posted at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-body_problem --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and remember to behave and to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM k9jkm at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-324 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Auction Celebrating the 45th Birthday of AO-7 Now Live
by Paul Stoetzer 20 Nov '19

20 Nov '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-324 In this edition: * AMSAT Auction Celebrating the 45th Birthday of AO-7 Now Live SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-324 ANS-324 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 324 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE November 20, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-324.01 AMSAT Auction Celebrating the 45th Birthday of AO-7 Now Live As announced in ANS-321, AMSAT is auctioning off a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab coat (size 42R). The auctions are now live on eBay and will conclude shortly after 02:00 UTC on November 26, 2019. Please bid today at https://www.ebay.com/usr/amsat-na 100% of the proceeds of this auction will go towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] /EX

1 0

ANS-321 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Paul Stoetzer 16 Nov '19

16 Nov '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-321 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Happy 45th Birthday AMSAT-OSCAR 7! * 19th Anniversary of ARISS Operations * PO-101 (Diwata-2) QSLs Available * IARU Update Regarding Amateur Satellite Allocations * AMSAT Member Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, Youth Excellence Award * G4BAO 23cm-45 W-PA Available as Public Domain * Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 14, 2019 * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.01 ANS-321 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2019-Nov-17 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-321.01 Happy 45th Birthday AMSAT-OSCAR 7! At 17:11 UTC on November 15, 1974 a Delta-2310 rocket lifted off from SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, sending AO-7 into orbit along with NOAA-4 and Intasat. Details about the launch and initial tele- metry reception can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7Launch After nearly 7 years of service, AO-7 was thought to have reached the end of its life in June 1981 due to battery failure. A retrospective detailing its exemplary record was published in the AMSAT Satellite Report, available at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7Record Though it was thought to be lost in 1981, there are reports that the Polish Solidarity movement used AO-7 to pass messages in 1982 while Poland was under martial law. An article, in Polish, with the details is available at https://tinyurl.com/AO-7-Poland Twenty years later, on June 21, 2002, G3IOR reported that he heard an old-style CW beacon from an unknown OSCAR satellite near 145.970 MHz. This was soon identified as AMSAT-OSCAR 7. The original AMSAT-BB post with news of the discovery is archived at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7BB Despite some pre-launch predictions that the CMOS logic circuits on- board "wouldn't last 3 weeks," AO-7 remains operational and well-used while in sunlight. It is the oldest operational satellite, in any service, in orbit. https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ao-7/ To celebrate AO-7's 45th birthday, AMSAT will auction off a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab coat (size 42R) next week. Check AMSAT-BB or AMSAT's social media pages for details on Monday morning. [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 19th Anniversary of ARISS Operations On November 13, 2000, the ARISS amateur radio payload was turned on and the first operations occurred over Russia and the United States. Our ARISS team is working feverishly on the final certification of our nextgeneration radio system: the Interoperable Radio System. We thank all those that have supported this development effort through team support as well as donations!! We continue to move closer to a planned March 2020 launch of the hardware on SpaceX CRS-20. [ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT Vice President for Human Space- flight and ARISS International Chair for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- PO-101 (Diwata-2 QSLs) Available The PHL Microsatellite Program, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, University of the Philippines operates PO-101. The FM transponder is available on a schedule published by the team on the PO-101 Users Group on Twitter (@Diwata2PH) and the PO-101 Users Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/880769575655081 PO-101 Operations (FM) Uplink: 437.500 MHz - 141.3 Hz PL Tone Downlink: 145.900 MHz QSL Cards will be provided through email every month to users who sub- mit their QSO information via PO-101 using the Google form posted at: https://forms.gle/XZnjRGNSC2jSF51j6 Users may also upload your contact recordings or videos with PO-101 here: https://forms.gle/pV5DgBQeWf1fjqmu9 [ANS thanks the PO-101 Diwata2-PH team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- IARU Update Regarding Amateur Satellite Allocations The second week of the World Radiocommunication Conference reports on the status of two issues affecting the amateur satellite service. In a report written by Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, first is an agenda item currently under review during this WRC-19 session; second is planning for future pressure on frequencies for the amateur satellite service. Current WRC-19 -------------- While it does not directly affect us - work at WRC-15 saw to that - we are following an agenda item that seeks spectrum for telemetry, tracking and command in the space operation service for non-GSO satellites with short duration missions (Cubesats, among others). We would like a solution to be found to cut down on the misuse of the very limited amateur-satellite spectrum for commercial applica- tions. Discussions are focusing on spectrum near 137 MHz (down)/149MHz (up) but reaching agreement is proving to be very difficult. Future - WRC-23 --------------- With the spectrum from 8.3 kHz to 275 GHz fully allocated and some bands above 275 GHz already identified for particular uses, any pro- posal for new allocations involves sharing with one or more incumbent services. The pressures for spectrum access to accommodate new uses for commercial purposes are intense; for an established service such as ours, any WRC that does not reduce our own useful spectrum access is a success. The idea of including the amateur two meter band in a study of non- safety aeronautical mobile service applications has not resurfaced. However, the IARU is concerned with a proposed item for WRC-23 entit- led: "Review of the amateur service and the amateur-satellite service allocations to ensure the protection of the radionavigation-satellite service (space-to-Earth) in the frequency band 1240-1300 MHz." Our regulatory status is already clear. The amateur service is secon- dary in this band and the amateur-satellite service is permitted to operate in the Earth-to-space direction on a non-interference basis in the band 1260-1270 MHz. In the international Radio Regulations this is all the protection a primary service such as radionavigation-satellite requires; implementation is up to individual administrations. The one well-documented case of interference to a Galileo receiver that prompted this proposed agenda item occurred more than five years ago and was quickly resolved by the administration concerned. There have been no known interference cases to user terminals. An amateur service allocation of 1215-1300 MHz was made on a primary, exclusive basis in 1947, later downgraded to secondary to accommodate radiolocation (radar) and narrowed to 1240-1300 MHz. The radionaviga- tion-satellite service was added in 2000. As a secondary service ama- teur radio has operated successfully in the band for many years. Given the relatively modest density and numbers of amateur transmis- sions in the band, we view the Galileo-oriented proposal for an agen- da item as disproportionate. The IARU recognizes the concern and does not want the amateur service to affect the operation of the Galileo system in any way. It has al- ready updated its operational recommendations for amateur stations in Region 1. If necessary, further recommendations may be developed and rolled out globally. In CEPT, two preliminary measurement studies of Galileo receiver performance/vulnerability (from 2015 and 2019) are currently being evaluated. Discussions can be more timely and focused within CEPT. The IARU believes that this process already offers the potential for a satisfactory solution and thus the issue does not warrant WRC action and the commitment of ITU resources. Posted on: http://www.iaru.org/news--events [ANS thanks Dave Sumner, K1ZZ and the IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Member Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, Youth Excellence Award Congratulations to AMSAT member Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, Newsline Young Ham of the Year on his award as the first ever Youth Excellence Award in collaboration with McLean County (Bloomington-Normal, IL) Indian Association (MCIA) for the year 2019. The MCIA invited nominations for individuals from Asian Indian youth in Bloomington-Normal who have gone above and beyond in community ser- vice and individual attainment. Dhruv's award was based on attaining the goals of the Youth Excellence Award: 1. To celebrate exemplary behavior among young people in Blo-No's Asian Indian Community 2. To encourage and motivate young people in the pursuit of Excellence & Creativity in the Performing Arts, Community Leadership, Sports, Academics, Innovation etc. to name a few 3. To push one's own self-imposed boundaries and become better ver- sions of oneself 4. To encourage young people to be positive role models/ambassadors and mentors in their communities 5. To foster a spirit of volunteerism and public service among youth Dhruv received his award during the MCIA Diwali Dinner 2019 in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. [ANS thanks and congratulates Dhruv's and his father, Hari Rebba and the McLean County Indian Association for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 14, 2019 The following Amateur Radio satellite has decayed from orbit and has been removed from this week's TLE distribution: NO-83(BRICSAT-P) - NORAD CAT ID 40655 - Decayed 11/07/2019 at approx. 19:49 UTC Thanks to Alan Biddle, WA4SCA for decay date estimate. [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- G4BAO 23cm-45 W-PA Available as Public Domain This repository contains details of the G4BAO 45 Watt 23cm Power Amplifier published in RSGB RadCom Magazine in June 2009 and later in the book " Microwave Know How for the Radio Amateur" by Andy Barter, G8ATD. This PA was sold for many years as a kit by the designer. The decision has been made to not sell any further kits so the designs are now made available here under the terms of an MIT license. It includes a copy of the original article, Eagle board and schematic files, plus Gerber files for the PCB, which must be made from Taconic 0.7mm RF35 sub- strate. The design can be accessed at: https://github.com/g4bao/23cm-45W-PA [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA’s Required Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT! Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or accountant to make certain you are eligible. AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization 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. AMSAT’s federal tax ID is 52-0888529. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Quick list of scheduled contacts and events as of 2019-11-15 02:00 UTC + Lakeside Elementary School, West Point, UT, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Mon 2019-11-18 19:01:06 UTC 30 deg Watch for live streaming at www.ariotti.com starting about 15 minutes before AOS + Istituto San Paolo delle Suore Angeliche, Milano, Italy and Istituto Comprensivo Di Merone – Mons. A. Pirovano, Merone, Italy, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Thu 2019-11-21 09:12:07 UTC 50 deg + MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is go for 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC A reminder that the deadline to submit proposals for ARISS contacts to be scheduled between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 is coming up on November 30, 2019. For more information visit https://www.ariss.org/ [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS opera- tion team members, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 – December 6, 2019 The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec- ember 11th. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival and just before they leave, not to mention that it’s wicked cold up there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out- side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc EA9 Melilla (IM85) November 18-21, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating from MELILLA as EA9/EA4NF from Nov- ember 18 to 21, 2019. This very small Spanish territory located in Northern Africa, which is a very rare GRID and is listed as one of the Most Wanted SAT DXCC. Updates and passes on Philippe’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT New River Gorge National River, WV (EM98) November 21-24, 2019 Michael, N4DCW, is visiting New River Gorge National River (with sat gear) and a swing through EM97 on his way home. Watch for further an- nouncements on Michael’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/MWimages Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd – 6th. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act- ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner’s Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announce- ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Dr. Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT VP Educational Relations will be giving a presentation at the 110th Radio Club of America Awards Banquet and Technical Symposium, held this year at the Westin Times Square, New York City on November 23. The topic is “Designing the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: A Functional Satellite Model for the Class- room”. For more information see: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-RCA + The Seattle Times featured an article about the University of Washington's HuskySat-1 satellite. HuskySat-1 carries an AMSAT- provided linear transponder. https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-UW + At 01:07 UTC on November 16, 2000, Phase 3D launched on an Ariane V rocket from Kourou, French Guiana and became AMSAT-OSCAR 40. Likely the most ambitious project ever completed by radio amateurs, the sat- ellite unfortunately suffered an explosion in its propulsion system during a burn of its primary motor on December 13, 2000. Though damaged by the explosion, the satellite went on to provide worldwide amateur radio communications until the main battery suddenly failed on January 25, 2004. Though its life was unfortunately shortened, the satellite did conduct a successful experiment that helped to validate above-the-constellation use of GPS and influenced the design of the current Block III GPS series of satellites. See https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO-40 for details on the experiment. + Proceedings of the Microwave Update 2019, held in Dallas, Texas October 3-5, have been published as a PDF which includes a couple of satellite related presentations. It is now available for free download at http://ntms.org/files/MUD2019/MUD_Proceedings_2019.pdf (via North Texas Microwave Society) + All the photos in the MUD Proceedings are in black and white. The MUD GNR file is in color at http://www.ntms.org/ (via Zack W9SZ on the Microwave list) + All videos from the AMSAT-DL symposium Bochum are online. Recorded from the wideband transponder by DB8TF A playlist includes all videos from Saturday and Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Gtsa1KaEAgRc-dvWo44QQ If you can, please translate Screen texts to other languages and add to the video. (Via AMSAT-DL) + On October 7, 8 and 9, 2019, the University of New Brunswick’s (UNB) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and CubeSat NB hosted the first of three Preliminary Design Review (PDR) meetings for the Canadian CubeSat Project initiated by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Radio Amateurs of Canada was present for the meeting. More details at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-RAC (Via RAC) + This page gives a statistical plot showing groups of satellites as a plot of the semi-major axis of the orbit against orbital inclination resulting in "families" and "clusters" in orbit. https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-Orbits --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM N8HM at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-314 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Mark D. Johns 09 Nov '19

09 Nov '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-314 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * HuskySat Paving the Way for Cooperation * WRC-19 Debates Satellite Allocations * Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission * 2020 Cubesat Developers Workshop Call for Papers * Second Batch of 50th Anniversary "Friends of 50" Certificates Sent * AMSAT Seeks Digital Communications Team Members * NO-83 (BRICSAT-P) Nears Re-Entry * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-314.01 ANS-314 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 314.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2019-Nov-11 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-314.01 HuskySat Paving the Way for Cooperation As previously reported by ANS, HuskySat-1 achieved orbit last week aboard the Cygnus cargo vessel, which docked to the International Space Station on Nov. 4. The satellite is scheduled for a boost to higher orbit and deployment in January. Following completion of its primary mission, it will be turned over to AMSAT for operation of its linear transponder sometime in the second quarter of 2020. Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT VP - Engineering, explains that this partner- ship presented some regulatory challenges, but has paved the way for similar partnerships in the future: "The Part 97 license that AMSAT will operate under does not include or allow the use of any of the experiments on board. As those experiments were not able to conform to the Part 97 so called 'educational exemption', including the K-band radio, that is ultimately why two licenses were required. Part 5 Experimental is operated by UW for everything including the telemetry downlink of the AMSAT transponder module, and the transponder must remain off during that operation. Part 97 operation by AMSAT will solely be the AMSAT transponder module. "This was the first partnership with an educational institution where an AMSAT radio was flown on a non-AMSAT (UW in this case) CubeSat. In the process of working with the FCC and NASA to obtain a single Part 97 license that was not complicated or restricted by "pecuniary interest", the experience developed an understanding with FCC as to how a mission such as HuskySat-1 could be fully licensed under Part 97. There were delays and difficulties in executing all of the requirements to qualify Part 97 and that ultimately carried on up to the mission deadline requirement for having a license in hand in order for HuskySat-1 to be integrated on the LV. The only way forward at that time, in order for UW to make the launch, was to do the separate licensing. "It was lots of work and some good frustration along the way. I thank and commend our partners at University of Washington as well as the FCC for their work to make it happen, and our friends at NASA for giving us the opportunity to push for a path to amateur radio licensing for more of the CubeSat launches they sponsor. I believe that it has resulted in a known path toward fully Part 97 licensed educational(e.g. university) CubeSats. That should in turn offer more opportunities for AMSAT radios to fly as the communications package for a mission as well as an operating amateur radio satellite, in the same way as the CubeSats we produce." (ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT VP - Engineering for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- WRC-19 Debates Satellite Allocations The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), and ARRL have posted updates on activities at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference currently taking place in Sharm El- Sheikh, Egypt. One early agreement was to turn down requested changes to one of the amateur satellite allocations. The band 47.0 - 47.2 GHz was allocated solely to the Amateur and Amateur Satellite Services by the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC-79). Commercial wireless broad- band industries had expressed interest in the band being designated for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), and there was some concern that such a proposal might be made at WRC-19. The fact that none was forthcoming was due in part to the work of the IARU at the Conference Preparatory Meeting earlier this year and in the six re- gional telecommunications organizations. The WRC has agreed to "no change" at 47.0 - 47.2 GHz. One of the most difficult issues facing WRC-19 is to develop an agenda for WRC-23. Dozens of proposals for agenda items have been suggested, and they cannot all be accommodated. One proposal being introduced for the next World Radio Conference in 2023 is protecting the Radio Navi- gation Satellite Service (Galileo, etc.) from secondary amateur usage in the 23cm band (1.2 GHz -- the amateur satellite band is between 1260 MHz and 1270 MHz for up-links only). Future mobile/IMT (cell phone) allocations were also being discussed in the 3-18 GHz range (including our 10 GHz satellite band). Another item may even affect 241 – 700 GHz. However, it will be a while before the WRC-23 agenda gets agreed at this conference, and these items may or may not be up for debate at the next conference. Daily bulletins on the progress of WRC-19 are being posted at: https://rsgb.org/main/blog/category/news/special-focus/wrc-19/ During this period of World Radio Conference, one place to follow the events and issues is on The ARRL discussion group for the Interna- tional Amateur Radio Union. The group provides a forum for anyone in- terested in the work of the IARU. It is open to participants anywhere, whether or not they are members of an IARU member-society. Additional information and a link to join the group can be found at https://groups.arrl.org/g/ARRL-IARU [ANS thanks Trevor Essex, M5AKA, AMSAT-UK, and ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission Rocket Lab has announced that its next mission will launch multiple microsatellites in a rideshare mission representing five different countries. The launch window for Rocket Lab’s tenth flight, will open November 25, New Zealand time, and take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. Onboard this rideshare mission are six spacecraft comprised of 5cm PocketQube microsatellites from satellite manufacturer and mission management provider Alba Orbital. Two of these satellites include downlinks in the UHF amateur radio band. TRSI is a PocketQube for technology demostration. Its main objective is to show which functionality can be achieved with dimensions of 5cm x 5cm x 5cm. It carries two experiments that are connected to the amateur-satellite service. + First is a waterfall experiment which will show an image in the waterfall diagram by hopping the frequency within its transmission band (image-type beacon). + The second experiment is to analyze RF reception capabilities from LEO with a novel detector receiver and a small patch antenna. It was designed to test if small satellite receivers which don´t need deployable antennas are feasible. The received signal´s envelope will be sampled and forwarded using UHF in MFSK for signal ana- lysis. During the experiment phase the satellite will also perform as an amateur CW repeater, providing additional RX strength indi- cation; eg. CW morse signals will be re-sent in MFSK, showing the RX amplitude in dBm. A downlink on 437.075 MHz has been coordinated. IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=649 FossaSat-1 PocketQube by AMSAT-EA which has a 5x5x5cm structure and a total mass of 250 grams. Radio link testing features a new experi- mental RF chirp modulation called LoRa which greatly improves the link budget reducing the power consumed and reduces the cost of receivers. The output power from the transmitter required for the correct recep- tion during a pass is also very low at well under 100mW, being spread spectrum at such low power it poses no interference risk. It operates at a considerable level below the noise level of other systems and would cause no interference to weak narrowband signals. Students & amateurs will be able to receive telemetry from the satel- lite with inexpensive hardware, expanding & promoting the amateur sat- ellite community with youth. Uplink challenges will also be carried out with rewards for amateurs. The mission is completely open source with all information regarding the design of the satellite & how to decode its information clearly laid out & hosted by AMSAT-EA. The site will provide decoding soft- ware for SDR use in order to allow anyone to decode LoRa using common existing hardware & host software for users to submit telemetry data, making all data public and rewarding users with certificates & awards. The UHF downlink plans on using FSK RTTY 45 BAUD ITA2, 100mW 183hz Shift and LoRa 125kHz, Chirp Spread Spectrum Modulation, 180 bps, 100mW. A downlink on 436.700 MHz has been coordinated. IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=652 A commercial payload on board is ALE-2 from a Tokyo-based company creating microsatellites that simulate meteor particles. See http://star-ale.com/en/news/317/2019/01/04/ for more information. Rocket Labs mission web page can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/y672rjj5 [ANS thanks Rocket Labs, IARU, AMSAT-EA, TRSI, and Alba Orbital for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 Cubesat Developers Workshop Call for Papers The Cubesat Developers Workshop for 2020 will be held May 4-6 at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The planning team has announced a call for abstracts. All abstract and poster appli- cations will need to be submitted using the online submission form by Friday, January 10, 2020. For more information, visit http://www.cubesat.org/workshop-information [ANS thanks The CubeSat Workshop Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA’s Required Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT! Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or accountant to make certain you are eligible. AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization 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. AMSAT’s federal tax ID is 52-0888529. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Second Batch of 50th Anniversary "Friends of 50" Certificates Sent A second batch of 50th Anniversary AMSAT "Satellite Friends of 50 A- ward" certificates went out in the mail on Wednesday, November 6. Chances are you may have already qualified for this award! The require- ment is to make satellite contacts with 50 amateur radio operators on 50 differenton days during the anniversary year of 2019.(limit of 1 contact per day counted toward the award). For details, see: https://amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Seeks Digital Communications Team Members AMSAT is in the process of redesigning its website and is looking to immediately fill key volunteer member additions to its digital communications team. Available positions include a Webmaster, Content Managers, and an Online Store Co-Manager. Candidates must have experience with Word press and be a current AMSAT member. Webmaster: The Webmaster works as an integral member of the AMSAT Digital Communications Team in planning, organizing, implementing, and supporting strategic web technologies. Under minimal supervision, the Webmaster collaborates with the Digital Communications team and AMSAT Development to facilitate ongoing content creation, development of standards, and overall management of AMSAT's website and member portal. The primary objectives of the Webmaster are to ensure that AMSAT's digital presence accurately portrays the character, quality and heritage of AMSAT, provide an efficient user experience, and serve to increase recruitment and financial contributions. Web Content Managers: Web Content Managers ensure AMSAT's website and webpages follow best content practices and meet the diverse needs of internal and external customers. As part of the AMSAT Digital Communications Team, Website Content Managers must understand the organizational needs, map them to the end-user needs and work with applicable AMSAT departments to create content strategy and plan for individual webpages. Online Store Co-Manager: The Online Store Co-Manager updates and refreshes the AMSAT Store when new merchandise becomes available, deletes merchandise when no longer available, and updates pricing and shipping information when necessary. Experience in WooCommerce is required. If you want to be a part of the solution in delivering the quality web services AMSAT members deserve, we could sure use your help. Please contact the AMSAT VP of User Services at ke4al (at) yahoo (dot) com. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- NO-83 (BRICSAT-P) Nears Re-Entry NO-83 (BRICSAT-P, CAT ID 40655) is nearing decay from orbit. Alan Biddle, WA4SCA, has run the TLEs through the SATEVO software and a re-entry is possible on November 9, 2019. TLEs for NO-83 remain in this week's TLE distribution. [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at "Alcide De Gasperi" Secondary School: Part Of The Istituto Comprensivo Statale "E. L. Corner", Vigonovo, Italy and Istituto Comprensivo Di Pederobba, Onigo Di Pederobba, Italy on 11 Nov- ember. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:10 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and VK6MJ. The contact should be audible over Australia and adjacent areas. Inter- ested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in Italian. Watch for live stream from Vigonovo at https://tinyurl.com/y2n3eojw and from Pederobba at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLRZahLgMma_2ngllrj9iVg . An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at European High School - Brindisi, Brindisi, Italy and I.I.S.S. "Majorana - Laterza", Putignano, Italy on 13 Nov. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:18 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and K6DUE. The contact should be audible over the east coast of the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in Italian. A reminder that the deadline to submit proposals for ARISS contacts to be scheduled between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 is coming up on November 30, 2019. For more information visit https://www.ariss.org/ [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS opera- tion team members, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations Big Bend National Park, TX (DL89) November 10-11, 2019 Glenn, AA5PK, is taking a trip down to Big Bend National Park in South Texas and will operate from DL89 on Monday November 11th. In addition, Glenn will be transitioning through DM81 (a few good morning passes) on the way there and staying in DM80 Sunday night. Watch Glenn’s Twitter feed for any pass announcements: https://twitter.com/AA5PK. Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 – December 6, 2019 The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec- ember 11th. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival and just before they leave, not to mention that it’s wicked cold up there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out- side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc EA9 Melilla (IM85) NOVEMBER 18-21, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating from MELILLA as EA9/EA4NF from Nov- ember 18 to 21, 2019. This very small Spanish territory located in Northern Africa, which is a very rare GRID and is listed as one of the Most Wanted SAT DXCC. Updates and passes on Philippe’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT New River Gorge National River, WV (EM98) November 21-24, 2019 Michael, N4DCW, is visiting New River Gorge National River (with sat gear) and a swing through EM97 on his way home. Watch for further an- nouncements on Michael’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/MWimages Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd – 6th. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act- ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner’s Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announce- ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + This week begins the 20th year of continuous human presence living off-planet aboard the International Space Station. NASA and its part- ners have successfully supported humans living in space since the Ex- pedition 1 crew arrived Nov. 2, 2000. A truly global endeavor, the unique microgravity laboratory has hosted 239 people from 19 coun- tries, more than 2,600 experiments from 3,900 researchers in 107 countries, and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. (ANS thanks NASA for the above information) + Talks from this year's PocketQube Workshop are now available at: https://tinyurl.com/y2fmszbl Some slides are available here: http://www.albaorbital.com/3rd-pocketqube-workshop (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information) + 27 videos from the Open Source Cubesat Workshop 2019 held in Athens Conservatoire in Athens, Greece are available for viewing: https://tinyurl.com/y6rd5pzn The third edition of the workshop was hosted by Libre Space Foundation. (ANS thanks https://libre.space for the above information) + Radio amateurs in Sweden are limited to just 100 mW on 2.4 GHz. Yet an article by Christer, SM0NCL, shows how they can still send CW and SSB signals via the QO-100 / Es'hail-2 narrowband transponder! Read the article in Google English at https://tinyurl.com/AMSAT-SM (ANS thanks Southgatearc.org for the above information) + Wonder why that downlink signal suddenly fades? Since launch of the amateur radio FUNcube-1 (AO-73) CubeSat in 2013 the team have ob- served the spin of the satellite based on the panel temperatures. The FUNcube team have speculated why the satellite spins up and down and occasionally flips the direction of spin. A fascinating explan- ation (without math!) of why satellites can flip as they spin can be found in a YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VPfZ_XzisU&feature=emb_title (ANS thanks R.L. Brunton, G4TUT, for the above information) + Hams like free stuff! So here's a free PDF download of issue #87 of the MagPi magazine is available at: Raspberry Pi Weekly Issue #307 https://magpi.raspberrypi.org/issues/87 + Celebrate #NationalSTEMDay with a @Virgin_Orbit community grant! Fall applications close on November 20, which means if you reach out now, you still have a chance to secure up to $2,500 cash for your local STEM education program. Apply at: https://t.co/FySZrXmrKe + Instead of searching many manufacturer sites or calling on companies to find and compare designs, now you can search for designs based on the circuit's performance using Digi-Key's Reference Design Library. New designs are being added weekly and improvements will be made based on user feedback: https://www.digikey.com/reference-designs/en (ANS thanks JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above information) + The 2019 AMSAT Symposium Proceedings USB flash drives, including the 2019 Proceedings and all previously published Proceedings dating back to 1986 are back in stock. Backorders will go out soon and more are available. To order, visit https://tinyurl.com/yxmnqxew + The AMSAT Symposium Engineering Update video is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWwvhuIaiBA&t=50s (ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive VP, for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-307 AMSAT News Service Weekly News Bulletin November 3, 2019
by Frank Karnauskas 02 Nov '19

02 Nov '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-307 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat dot org. In this edition: * HuskySat Successfully Lifted into Space * ARISS Contact Opportunities - Call for Proposals * FoxTelem Version 1.08r Released * Fox-in-a-Box Upgrades for FoxTelem V 1.08 * AMSAT Seeks Digital Communications Team Members * The 39th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference Announced September 11-13, 2020, Charlotte, NC * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for October 2019 * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-307.01 ANS-307 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 307.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. November 3, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-307.01 HuskySat-1 Successfully Lifted into Space A Cygnus cargo spacecraft carrying the University of Washington's HuskySat-1 was successfully launched atop a Northrup Grumman Antares rocket Saturday morning, November 2, 1459 UTC. The Cygnus spacecraft will dock with the ISS on November 4. Cygnus is then scheduled to depart the ISS on January 13, 2020 and raise its orbit to approximately 500 km where HuskySat-1 and SwampSat will be deployed. After deployment, HuskySat-1's 1200 bps BPSK beacon on 435.800 MHz should be active.(This beacon is decodable with the latest release of FoxTelem.) HuskySat-1 is expected to run its primary mission (testing a pulsed plasma thruster and experimental 24 GHz data transmitter) for thirty days. The satellite will then be turned over to AMSAT for Amateur Radio operation, featuring a 30 kHz wide 145 to 435 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW communications. For those interested in reading about HuskySat-1's development and its science, read the UW News article at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-HuskySat-1 [ANS thanks SpaceNews.com, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, and UW News for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Contact Opportunities - Call for Proposals - Current Proposal Window is October 1, 2019 to November 30, 2019 - Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact for proposals submitted in the proposal window now open would be held between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. ARISS is happy to announce a second proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit proposals for contacts between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 is November 30, 2019. The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact. Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio. More Information For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. [ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR for the above information.] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Video recordings of the 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium have been posted: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AMSATNA/videos/ (This page should be accessible to all) The Foundations of AMSAT - 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Panel is posted at: https://youtu.be/bRmn4gjvuTI +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ FoxTelem Version 1.08r Released Chris Thompson, G0KLA has released Version 1.08r of FoxTelem. This release provides several enhancements and needed changes for FOX-1E and HuskySat, a partnership with the University of Washington. Users will need to download this version to successfully decode data from the two new spacecraft which will transmit BPSK telemetry on 70cm. (Chris suggests now is a good time to put up a 70cm antenna if you do not have one!) After version 1.08p was released earlier this week, IC-9700 users immediately noticed difficulties. Version 1.08r was immediately released. Chris notes: " There were two issues that prevented good decodes from the IC-9700: 1 - The IF output of the IC-9700 is not a true IQ signal and you have both a lower and upper sideband image. One has the bits flipped upside down. Historically FoxTelem has coped with the bits with either sense, even though only one is "correct", so 1.07 decoded fine from the wrong image. I had introduced a bug that meant the "bit flip" check was not run. That code is back in. 2 - There was also an issue where the algorithm that finds the signal was not being run if SatPC32 position was being read. That was a common configuration for IC-9700 owners, so it compounded the problem. The code is now fixed." Key changes include the following: - PSK decoders are easier to select. - Automatically change the band from 2m to 70cm and the mode from FSK to PSK if needed (and enabled). - Allows default mode to be set for each spacecraft. - No longer overwrites the user settings (e.g. as max/min frequency) when spacecraft files are updated. - Saves the properties whenever they are changed (rather than just at exit). - Allows the user to change the display name for a spacecraft without changing the KEPS name. - Prevents FOXDB from being corrupted when power restarted. - Better memory management so that long running FoxTelem sessions do not end up out of memory. - Allows MAX and MIN records to be displayed in table on the telemetry tab. - Shows the Capture Date for the record being displayed (e.g. RT, MAX, MIN). - Deletes existing files when server data is downloaded. - Ties the STP date more accurately to the position of the SYNC word in the bit buffer to avoid stamping frames with the same date. - Many small bugs and crashes fixed. A full list of changes can be found at https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/milestone/15?closed=1 You can download the new release at http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/ http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/ Feel free to email Chris with any questions, suggestions or bug reports to chrisethompson at gmail dot com. [ANS thanks Chris E. Thompson, G0KLA for the above information.] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The 2019 AMSAT Symposium Proceedings USB flash drives, featuring 1.98 GB of information, including the 2019 Proceedings and all previously published Proceedings dating back to 1986 are now available on the AMSAT store https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Symposium-Flash-Drive (allow 10 business days for the next batch to be loaded with the files) +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Fox-in-a-Box Upgrades for FoxTelem V 1.08r In addition to Chris Thompson's announcement. Burns Fisher, WB1FJ reports that version of FoxTelem has been tested on Fox-in-a-Box installations (FoxTelem running on a Raspberry Pi). Starting immediately with serial number 110, FoxTelem Version 1.08r will be included on the SD cards that are ordered from the AMSAT store. (It is not yet on the download file.) If you have a Fox-in-a-Box with an older version and you wish to upgrade it (highly recommended) follow these steps: - Download http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/FoxTelem_1.08p_linux.tar.gz to the Desktop using the browser on your FIAB. - Double-click the file to extract it to a directory(folder) named "FoxTelem_1.08r_linux". - Next, stop the running FoxTelem and edit the file on your desktop named "StartFoxTelem". (Right-click and choose Text Editor.) - About the third line from the bottom, change "foxtelem_1.07_linux" to "FoxTelem_1.08r_linux". (Be sure the capital letters are right.) - Exit from the editor and double-click on "StartFoxTelem" and chose "Execute". - The new FoxTelem will start running and, as described in the manual you will start getting questions about whether you want to upgrade. Say yes to each question. After FoxTelem has started successfully, you should be all set, and FoxTelem should start automatically every time your reboot. If you have any issues, please Burns know at wb1fj at amsat dot org. [ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ for the above information.] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ AMSAT Seeks Digital Communications Team Members AMSAT is in the process of redesigning its website and is looking to immediately fill key volunteer member additions to its digital communications team. Available positions include a Webmaster, Content Managers, and an Online Store Co-Manager. Candidates must have experience with Word press and be a current AMSAT member. Webmaster: The Webmaster works as an integral member of the AMSAT Digital Communications Team in planning, organizing, implementing, and supporting strategic web technologies. Under minimal supervision, the Webmaster collaborates with the Digital Communications team and AMSAT Development to facilitate ongoing content creation, development of standards, and overall management of AMSAT's website and member portal. The primary objectives of the Webmaster are to ensure that AMSAT's digital presence accurately portrays the character, quality and heritage of AMSAT, provide an efficient user experience, and serve to increase recruitment and financial contributions. Web Content Managers: Web Content Managers ensure AMSAT's website and webpages follow best content practices and meet the diverse needs of internal and external customers. As part of the AMSAT Digital Communications Team, Website Content Managers must understand the organizational needs, map them to the end-user needs and work with applicable AMSAT departments to create content strategy and plan for individual webpages. Online Store Co-Manager: The Online Store Co-Manager updates and refreshes the AMSAT Store when new merchandise becomes available, deletes merchandise when no longer available, and updates pricing and shipping information when necessary. Experience in WooCommerce is required. If you want to be a part of the solution in delivering the quality web services AMSAT members deserve, we could sure use your help. Please contact the AMSAT VP of User Services at ke4al (at) yahoo (dot) com. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The 39th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference Announced September 11-13, 2020, Charlotte, NC Mark your calendar and start making plans to attend the premier technical conference of the year, the 39th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 11-13, 2020 in Charlotte, NC. The conference location is the Renaissance Charlotte Suites. The ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work, and present new ideas and techniques. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and software advances, theories, experimental results, and practical applications. Topics include, but are not limited to: Software Defined Radio (SDR), digital voice , digital satellite communications, Global Position System (GPS), precision timing, Automatic Packet Reporting System(tm)(APRS), short messaging (a mode of APRS), Digital Signal Processing (DSP), HF digital modes, Internet interoperability with Amateur Radio networks, spread spectrum, IEEE 802.11 and other Part 15 license-exempt systems adaptable for Amateur Radio, using TCP/IP networking over Amateur Radio, mesh and peer to peer wireless networking, emergency and Homeland Defense backup digital communications, using Linux in Amateur Radio, updates on AX.25 and other wireless networking protocols. Complete conference details including registration information, call for papers and preliminary agenda can be seen at https://www.tapr.org/dcc [ANS thanks TAPR for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for October 2019 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period October 1, 2019 through November 1, 2019. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! Call Sep Oct W5RKN 675 694 N0JE 569 637 K9UO 475 500 W5TD 384 392 AC9E 352 353 HP2VX 300 351 AD0HJ 325 350 K5IX 325 350 W7JSD 309 336 G0IIQ 112 251 ND0C 200 250 WB8TGY New 210 N4DCW New 201 KC9VGG 127 200 NX2X 119 178 KC9UQR 132 172 W0NBC 137 152 VE1VOX New 126 N4QX 120 125 AA0MZ 102 112 WA9JBQ New 104 N9FN New 103 PU8MGB New 102 KI4US New 101 AB4GE New 100 N0RC New 100 S57NML New 100 W2ASC New 100 If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! [ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations South TX (EL0x and EL1x) November 2-9, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, will be vacationing in McAllen TX area the week of Nov 2 - 9. Ron is flying in and out of San Antonio (EL09) and staying in EL06. He hopes to activate most of the surrounding grids (EL06, EL07, EL08, EL09, EL15, EL16, EL17, EL18, and EL19) over the week. Ron will tweet details during the trip at https://twitter.com/ad0dx EM68/69 November 3-5, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Illinois, November 3 - 5. Key word is vacation, but he will jump over to activate the EM68/EM69 gridline on FM satellites. Watch Tanner's Twitter feed for further announcements at https://twitter.com/twjones85 Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 - December 6, 2019 The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6 through December 11. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival and just before they leave, not to mention that it's wicked cold up there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step outside at https://twitter.com/vy0erc EA9 Melilla (IM85) November 18-21, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating from Melilla as EA9/EA4NF from November 18 to 21, 2019. This very small Spanish territory located in Northern Africa, which is a very rare GRID and is listed as one of the Most Wanted SAT DXCC. Updates and passes on Philippe's Twitter at https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3 - 6. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to activate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner's Twitter feed for further announcements at https://twitter.com/twjones85 Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special emphasis on the grid that got away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announcements at https://twitter.com/N7AGF [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ARISS News * Completed Contacts Farmwell Station Middle School Space Dreamers, Ashburn, VA, direct via K4LRG The ISS callsign was NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut was Drew Morgan KI5AAA. The contact was successful on October 29, 2019 at 15:01:27 UTC. * Upcoming Contacts Private UKEB School, Izmir, Turkey, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP. Contact is go for Tuesday, November 5, 2029 at 12:34 UTC. Istituto Comprensivo "G.B. Perasso", Milano, Italy and Istituto Comprensivo Montignoso - Scuola secondaria I grado "G.B.Giorgini", Montignoso, Italy Telebridge via VK5ZAI. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP. Contact is go for: Wednesday, November 6 2019 at 09:27:34 UTC. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Shorts from All Over * AmazonSmile Purchases Add Up! AmazonSmile recently reported that the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation received a quarterly donation of $280.92 thanks to customers shopping at smile.amazon.com. To date, AmazonSmile has donated a total of $4,194.21 to AMSAT. [ANS thanks Dr. Thomas A Clark, K3IO for the above information.] * GNU Radio Conference Recordings Available The GNU Radio Conference was held September 16-20, 2019 at the Marriott at the Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. A total of 41 talks across a variety of topics are now available on YouTube. The GNU Radio Conference staff thanks all the speakers for their participation. View the playlist of presentations at https://t.co/zjRYq7yjr1 [ANS thanks GNU Radio for the above information.] * Building a Raspberry Pi-Based SatNOGS Ground Station Corey Shields uses a Stegoboard 122 kit with the new Raspberry Pi4 to rebuild his ground station. What resulted is a pretty cool wall-mounted ground station. Read the full article at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-Ground-Station [ANS thanks Corey Shields for the above information.] * News from the First Week of WRC Week 1 of the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, November 1, 2019 saw agreement reached on several issues on which discussions prior to the conference had revealed consensus. Those were the easy ones; the rest will be more difficult. Read the full report at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-WRC [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] * The Dzhanibekov Effect (Or, Tennis Racket Theorem) and AO-73 Dave Johnson, G4DPZ, posted an analysis of the AO-73 rotation and flip. Dave says, "We have speculated why the satellite spins up and down and occasionally flips the direction of spin. Recently Jason Flynn, G7OCD found a YouTube video that might explain the flip which introduces The Dzhanibekov Effect or Tennis Racket Theorem in regards to stability of rotating bodies (such as spacecraft)." Read the article and watch the video at: https://groups.io/g/FUNcube/topic/40405577 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VPfZ_XzisU [ANS thanks Dave Johnson, G4DPZ for the above information.] * Amateur Radio and Linux - A Beginners Guide Linux and Amateur Radio is a PDF presentation about Amateur Radio and Linux presented by : Dave Mamanakis, KD7GR. This presentation cover basic concepts of the open source operative system. View the presentation at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-Linux [ANS thanks the DX Zone for the above information.] * Amateur Radio CubeSat Demonstration at Goddard, November 3, 2019 The Goddard Amateur Radio Club members invite the public to see a demonstration of an Amateur Radio CubeSat simulator. The simulator consists of a solar/battery powered CubeSat that beacons telemetry data and a Raspberry Pi-based ground station that will receive and display the data in real time. The club will also set up radio equipment and attempt to communicate with other hams across the country using amateur satellites as they pass overhead. Club members will be on hand to explain the use of Amateur Radio satellites and equipment. The event is open to the public from 12:00 to 4:00 PM. The Center is located at 9432 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771. [ANS thanks Patch.com for the above information.] * ESA Announces New ISS Opportunity for University Students ESA Education is inviting university student teams to submit proposals related to designing, building and operating an experiment that will be launched to the International Space Station and hosted inside the ICE Cubes facility for up to 4 months. The deadline for letters of intent is December 1, 2019. Full details can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-307-ESA-Opportunity [ANS thanks ESA for the above information.] * CQ-DATV November Issue Available The November issue of CQ-DATV has arrived and is ready for downloading. This month's issue includes plans for a 70 cm, DVB-T, television repeater with a duplexer. Download the free, complete issue at https://cq-datv.mobi/77.php [ANS thanks CQ-DATV for the above information.] * Satellite: The "Go To" Solution for Resilient Emergency Response Communications Independent from terrestrial and wireless infrastructure, satellite communications provide a secure and reliable solution that can be deployed quickly for disaster response or national emergencies. A thorough analysis of why satellites can be useful in widespread emergency situations by a commercial provider. Read the full story at http://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=1950983317 [ANS thanks SatMagazine for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW n1uw at amsat dot org Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

1 0

ANS-300 AMSAT News Service Bulletins for October 27
by JoAnne K9JKM 26 Oct '19

26 Oct '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-300 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT Goal: "Amateur Radio in Every CubeSat" * AMSAT VP User Services Describes Planning for Improvements * AMSAT-DL Symposium and JHV 2019 November 9 - November 10 * Reminder - ARISS Proposal Window is Open Until November 30, 2019 * ARISS Activities & Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * Software Update for UZ7HO's Software Packet-Radio TNC * Upcoming Satellite Operations * The AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions Web Page Updates * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-300.01 ANS-300 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 300.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE October 27, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-300.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Video recordings of the 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium have been posted: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AMSATNA/videos/ (This page should be accessible to all) The Foundations of AMSAT - 2019 AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Panel is posted at: https://youtu.be/bRmn4gjvuTI +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT Goal: "Amateur Radio in Every CubeSat" The ARRL Letter for October 17, 2019 AMSAT wants to see Amateur Radio in every CubeSat, and it's part- nering with non-Amateur Radio partners to make that happen. In the "Apogee View" editorial for the September/October issue of The AMSAT Journal, Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, wrote, "[W]e continue to support a stream of LEO satellites. RadFxSat-2/Fox-1E is ready for launch no earlier than December 1, 2019, on the ELaNa XX mission. The linear transponder and telemetry system carried aboard Fox-1E was designed for use in different CubeSats by merely adding an interface adapter for connection to the host bus." Stoetzer said CubeSat programs interested in launching an Amateur Radio payload may partner with AMSAT to carry a Fox-1E module on their spacecraft. "By providing Amateur Radio capability, the Cube- Sat program gets a worldwide ground station network to receive their telemetry and experiment data while the Amateur Radio commun- ity gets a transponder to use in orbit," he pointed out. Stoetzer said the first such partnership will be with the Husky Satellite Lab at the University of Washington. Its 3U CubeSat -- HuskySat-1 -- is set to launch on the ELaNa XXV mission from Wallops Island, Virginia, no sooner than November 2. A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft will carry HuskySat-1 to the International Space Station, and after completing its mission there, Cygnus will con- tinue to an orbit of approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) to deploy HuskySat-1. "After a 30-day mission to complete tests of its experimental payloads -- a pulsed plasma thruster, and a K-band (24 GHz) communications system -- the satellite will be turned over to AMSAT, and the linear transponder will be made available to the Amateur Radio community," Stoetzer said. Ed. Note - HuskySat-1 will carry a 30 kHz wide 145 to 435 MHz linear transponder for amateur radio SSB/CW communications along with 1k2 BPSK telemetry. The IARU has coordinated a downlink on 436.810-435.840 MHz and uplink on 145.910-145.940 MHz. NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/ntv) will provide coverage of the launch. Pre-launch details are posted at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Cygnus-Launch-Nov2 [ANS thanks AMSAT and the ARRL for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The 2019 AMSAT Symposium Proceedings USB flash drives, featuring 1.98 GB of information, including the 2019 Proceedings and all previously published Proceedings dating back to 1986 are now available on the AMSAT store https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Symposium-Flash-Drive (allow 10 business days for the next batch to be loaded with the files) +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT VP User Services Describes Planning for Improvements At the conclusion of the 2019 AMSAT Symposium and Annual General meeting, Robert Bankston, KE4AL, VP User Services provided a state- ment outlining his plans. Robert's statement follows: I am so honored to be elected by the AMSAT Board of Directors to be the AMSAT Treasurer and reelected to be the AMSAT Vice-President of User Services, as well as reappointed as the Director of AMSAT Ambas- sadors by the AMSAT President. Thank you for your confidence in me. I am humbled. This is a lot of hats to wear, along with my full-time job, but I look forward to the challenge. I believe in AMSAT's mis- sion and have a wonderful team of volunteers to assist me. I am excited to announce that there are major improvements coming for our AMSAT members in the near future. The AMSAT Board of Direc- tors approved my recommendations for an internet-based, member manage- ment system, the transition to a digitally delivered, full-color AMSAT Journal, and a complete overhaul of our AMSAT website. I have been putting together these proposals for several months and thank the Board of Directors for the permission to move these projects forward. These improvements will modernize how AMSAT serves you. I hope that you will be as impressed with them as I am. The member management system puts you in control of your membership account, allowing you to update your contact information, pay your dues, and register for events in real time. In addition, the program will automatically push out reminders, newsletters, and a digital copy of the AMSAT Journal. Transitioning to a digitally-delivered, AMSAT Journal will allow us to provide a full-color magazine, without raising the cost of member- ship. In addition, we will have to opportunity to provide member-only content on our website, to include back issues of our AMSAT Journal. Lastly, we will be working on a complete overhaul of our AMSAT web- site. Over the years, our website has received several facelifts, and, in the process, it has become somewhat disjointed. Our goal is to make the navigation more intuitive and offer the content you deserve. The front of the website will focus on external visitors, explaining who we are, what we do, and what we have to offer. We will also have portals for our members and friends in the AMSAT community, how to guides on getting started in amateur radio satellites, and all the important information about current satellites you will need to work them. AMSAT's User Services is committed to serving AMSAT members and the AMSAT community and to deliver the quality services you deserve as we move forward into the next 50 years of Keeping Amateur Radio is Space! If you would like to join us on this incredible journey, we could sure use you help. 73, Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Director, AMSAT Ambassadors Treasurer Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) [Ed. note - The AMSAT News Service is a proud member of the AMSAT User Services Team] [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT's Man of Many Hats for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT-DL Symposium and JHV 2019 November 9 - November 10 AMSAT-DL extends an invitation to the Satellite Symposium and General Assembly of AMSAT Deutschland e.V. in Bochum, Germany. Lectures on current amateur radio satellites and space projects will be presented. The lecture program and symposium schedule have been posted. Landing coordinates have been posted as 07° 11' 39" E 51° 25' 40" N. See https://amsat-dl.org/en/event/amsat-dl-symposium-und-jhv-2019/ for the latest information and travel directions. [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Reminder - ARISS Proposal Window is Open Until November 30, 2019 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organiza- tions, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and inte- grate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is November 30, 2019. Proposal information and documents can be found at https://www.ariss.org/ [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Activities & Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule + Liceo Scientifico Teresa Gullace, Rome, Italy,direct via IZØDIB and I.S.I.S. “ Zaccagna - Galilei” sede “G. Galilei”, Carrara. Italy, direct via IQ5VR Thu 2019-10-24 11:13 UTC Contact was successful. + I.I.S. “Ciampini-Boccardo”, Novi Ligure, Italy, direct via I1LJV and I.T.I.S. "Magistri Cumacini", Como, Italy, direct via IZ2MCC Fri 2019-10-25 10:24 UTC Contact was successful. + Golden Oak Montessori, Castro Valley, CA, telebridge via K6DUE. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Mon 2019-10-28 15:50 UTC + Young Scientists Program at USC and Vermont Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA, direct via KN6CHS. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact is go for: Mon 2019-10-28 18:57 UTC + Farmwell Station Middle School Space Dreamers, Ashburn, VA, direct via K4LRG. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA Contact is go for: Tue 2019-10-29 15:01 UTC The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. These up- grades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astro- nauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $33,830 raised or about 23% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more informa- tion and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Software Update for UZ7HO's Software Packet-Radio TNC Andrei, UZ7HO, the developer of the UZ7HO Soundmodem software, has released an updated version: soundmodem105. The UZ7HO soundmodem is a dual-port Packet-Radio TNC that uses a soundcard as a modem and supports the AX.25 protocol on computers running the Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 operating systems. The newest version of Soundmodem supports these packet protocols: + AFSK 300, 600, 1200, 2400 bps (conventional packet) + BPSK 300, 600, 1200, 2400 bps + QPSK 2400, 3600, 4800 bps + 8PSK 4800 bps The updated software and documentation can be accessed at: http://uz7.ho.ua/packetradio.htm - and look for - + soundmodem105.zip 13-Oct-19 03:57 + CHANGELOG.txt 13-Oct-19 04:36 High-speed packet software supporting the telemetry from amateur and scientific satellites, called hs_soundmodem21.zip can also be downloaded from this site. High-Speed Soundmodem: + G3RUH 4800, 9600, 19200 bps + Manchester 1200, 2400, 3600, 7200 bps + HAPN 4800 bps + GOMX-1/3, Mobitex-NX (BeeSAT-2/4), AAUSAT-4, LilacSat-2 decoders [ANS thanks Andrei, UZ7HO, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations [Ed. note - Twitter URLs can be accessed with your web browser even if you do not have a personal Twitter account.] Operating Shorts: + Oct 24-28, KQ2RP/1: FN54 (and possibly the FN44/54 line); FM only + St. Lucia, October 19-28, 2019 Jay, AA4FL, will be in St. Lucia for the J68MD CQWW SSB Contest Team. He will be doing OSCAR satellite operation as J6/AA4FL, by schedule as he is visiting vacation style in varying locations. His schedule will depend on shifts as a team member of the CQWW J68MD team. E-mail per QRZ to coordinate both FM simple SATs and SSB linear transponder bird QSO schedules. Radios will be a FT-817ND and FT-818ND for full duplex operation using an Arrow II antenna. + Minnesota’s North Shore (EN36/EN46, EN47/EN48, EN57/EN58) October 30 to November 1, 2019. Mitch, ADØHJ, will be taking a tour of Minnesota’s North Shore before the BIG SNOW comes down. It all kicks off with the Oct 30 06:35z CAS-4B pass from EN57/58 grid line and ends on the Nov 1 11:27z SO-50 pass from EN36/46 line. In between, Mitch will hit the EN47/48 grid line. 24 FM and Linear passes in all. Definitely something for everyone. Keep and eye on Mitch’s Twitter feed for further updates: https://twitter.com/AD0HJ + South TX (EL0x and EL1x) November 2-9, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, will be vacationing in McAllen TX area the week of Nov 2 to 9. He will be roving to south Texas on the above dates. His cur- rent plan is as follows:Sat Nov 2nd: EL08/EL09 probably one pass per grid starting in the late afternoon local Sun Nov 3: EL17/EL18 holiday style, one or two passes per grid Mon Nov 4 through Fri Nov 8: EL06 / EL15 / EL16. He is staying in EL06 and will activate 15 and 16 a few times throughout the week. Will probably activate EL06 4 or 5 times. Sat Nov 9: EL07 / EL08 Probably one pass from each grid. He will be active on FM and linear satellites and will tweet passes from https://twitter.com/ad0dx + EM68/69 November 3-5, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Illinois, November 3–5. Key word is vacation, but he will jump over to activate the EM68/EM69 gridline on FM satellites. Watch Tanner’s Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 + Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 – December 6, 2019 Look for VY0ERC to once again be active from the Eureka Weather station (NA-008, Zone 2) between Nov. 11 to Dec. 6. This sta- tion is operated by the Eureka Amateur Radio Club [probably the most northerly located amateur radio club in the world] from Eureka, Nunavut. The suggested bands are 40 and 20 meters (possibly 80m), as well as FM satellites (from ER60, EQ79) using SSB, the Digital modes and very slow CW. Activity will be limited to their spare time. QSL via M0OXO, OQRS or direct. For updates, see: https://twitter.com/vy0erc + EA9 Melilla (IM85) November 18-21, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating from Melilla as EA9/EA4NF from November 18 to 21, 2019. This very small Spanish territory located in Northern Africa, which is a very rare GRID and is listed as one of the Most Wanted SAT DXCC. Updates and passes on Philippe’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT + Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3-6. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to activate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner’s Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 + Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special emphasis on the grid that got away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org Just because the year is winding down and Winter in knocking on the door doesn't mean the satellite operations are slowing down. Check out AMSAT's Upcoming Satellite Operations pages for all the latest happenings: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/ Announcements are posted as soon as they are received, so make sure you bookmark the page and check it often. If you have an activation in the works, please send me an email to make sure the word gets out. [ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions Web Page Updates Information about AMSAT activities at important events around the country is posted on the AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions web page: https://www.amsat.org/other-events/ Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT repre- sentatives give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence such as a table or booth with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with pre- sentations, forums, and/or demonstrations. A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from the page (above) - get the "AMSAT Intro Brochure", a color brochure that is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office if you need pre-printed copies. To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Ambassadors for the above information +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The Fox-In-A-Box Raspberry Pi SD card for setting up a Raspberry Pi-based telemetry station for the Fox-1 satellites now supports the Raspberry Pi 4. Get yours today on the AMSAT Store! https://amsat.org/product/fox-in-a-box-raspberry-pi-sd-card/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Satellite Shorts From All Over + NASA is inviting 50 social media users to witness the next SpaceX cargo launch to the Space_Station. All details, requirements, and restrictions are posted at: https://go.nasa.gov/2MGt27y Applications close Oct. 31. + To apply for a NASA Internship head over to http://intern.nasa.gov to see what's new! You can learn about about NASA Internships, Path- ways, Fellowships, and International Internship opportunities! The application deadline for spring 2020 is November 5, 2019. + The presentation by Alan B. Johnston, PhD, KU2Y, AMSAT VP Educational Relations, and Pat Kilroy, N8PK, at the 37th Space Symposium "A Year with the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: 12 Months in the Classroom and Lab" is available for download as a PDF file at https://t.co/8ytonDXW5v View Alan's announcement on Twitter https://t.co/0fiFiU56LM A PDF copy of Alan and Pat's PowerPoint slides for their present- ation, "Updates to the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: Fox Emulation Mode and Raspberry Pi Ground Station" can be downloaded from: https://t.co/N4bjCVVBym?amp=1 + AMSAT Colloquium Talk on QO-100 is posted at: https://amsat-uk.org/2019/10/21/video-eshail-2-qo-100-talk/ https://youtu.be/hxxlCx3W5Bg Videos of the presentations given at the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium, which was held as part of the RSGB Convention in Milton Keynes, October 12-13, 2019, are being made available on YouTube. A recent release is the talk on the geostationary satellite Es’hail-2 / QO-100 activities of AMSAT-DL given by Achim Vollhardt, DH2VA, this is followed by the awarding of the RSGB Louis Varney Cup to Peter Gülzow DB2OS. + The Microwave Update (MUD) 2019 Conference in the Dallas, TX area has wrapped up. Both the MUD proceedings and GNU Radio Workshop proceedings are available from Lulu. https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-MUD-GNU-Proceedings + AO-7 has been operating during a period of full illumination that will last until approximately Decenber 2nd. During this time, the satellite's onboard timer should switch it between Mode A (145 MHz uplink / 29 MHz downlink) and Mode B (432 MHz uplink / 145 MHz down- link) every 24 hours. To check or report the satellite's current mode, please see the AMSAT Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page at: https://www.amsat.org/status/ A description of AO-7 operation is posted at: https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ao-7/ + NASA article highlights the role of amateur radio in letting young people speak directly with astronauts and cosmonauts on the Inter- national Space Station is posted at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-NASA-Youth + NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson Perform the First Space-Earth Duet. NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman, circling Earth aboard the International Space Station, and musician Ian Anderson, founder of the rock band Jethro Tull, joined together for the first space-Earth duet. See: https://youtu.be/XeC4nqBB5BM + Enjoy NASA's specical video just in time for Halloween! Raining glass! Wicked wind! Radiation blasts from an undead star are all at play in our GALAXY OF HORRORS! A preview of the video is avail- able in tweet from NASA: https://twitter.com/NASAExoplanets/status/1187768977079992320 And it will be available for download Tuesday, Oct. 29, at: http://exoplanets.nasa.gov + West Point cadets using the USMA amateur radio club callsign W2KGY had a contact with Col. Drew Morgan, U.S. Military Academy Class of 1998, aboard the ISS. An article with links to a video of the contact is posted at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-ISS-WestPoint + A new groups.io announcement from the ARRL describes new on-line forums: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-ARRL-Forums You can join the Groups at: https://groups.arrl.org/g/ARRL-Groups/subgroups + The NFL inspires a satellite docking tool which teaches satellites to interact and dock in space, an Aerospace team found a possible solution on Sunday Night Football™: https://aerospace.org/article/nfl-inspires-satellite-docking-tool + The ESA web pages presented with a new look this week: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-ESA-New-Look and, now you can tune in to ESA’s latest digital channel: ESA Web TV! This is ESA’s one-stop- shop for all live events from launches to lectures: http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/Presenting_ESA_Web_TV + Will We Survive Mars? A video series from Vox gives us something to think about: https://youtu.be/x8fpeVICeGg + This video describes how to set up ham radio software on the Raspberry Pi: https://youtu.be/cGlfv-aPkU8 + Follow a project to use a RaspberryPi to sync your windshield wipers to music; this is apparently a work in progress: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-Wipers-With-A-Beat + AMSAT-SA Space Symposium 2020 in South Africa is planned for July 18, 2020. The theme will be: Amateur Radio in Space – explor- ing VHF, UHF and Microwaves. The latest information will be post- ed at: http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ Kletskous related PowerPoint pre- sentations can be accessed at the same web page include: - Kletskous - Kletskous Transponder - Kletskous Magnetic Stabilisation + Scientists and engineers from nearly a dozen Polish universities have teamed up with Poland-based satellite company SatRevolution and Sir Richard Branson’s small satellite launch company Virgin Orbit to establish a new consortium to design and carry out the world’s first dedicated commercial small satellite mission to Mars. See: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-300-SatRevolution + The nearest galaxy, Andromeda, is headed toward our Milky Way galaxy at 110 km per second (68 miles/sec). It'll look bigger & bigger in our skies before colliding with us in a few billion years, and when that happens, the two galaxies will be ripped across space by tidal forces. Have a nice day ... https://twitter.com/physicsJ/status/1182628766289297408?s=20 [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and remember to behave and to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM k9jkm at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-293 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Mark D. Johns 19 Oct '19

19 Oct '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-293 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * 2019 AMSAT Symposium Underway! Livestream Available * AMSAT Board of Directors Announces 2019 Officers * AMSAT-UK Colloquium Videos Available * Cubesat Simulators Launched * Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-293.01 ANS-293 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 293.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2019-Oct-19 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-293.01 2019 AMSAT Symposium Underway! Livestream Available The 37th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting has begun, and will continue through Sunday, October 20, 2019, at The Hilton Ar- lingtonin in Arlington, Virginia. Sessions are being live streamed at https://www.facebook.com/AMSATNA/ The AMSAT Board of Directors met just before the Symposium, Oct. 16-17, at the same hotel. The Symposium, which celebrates 50 years of AMSAT, features OSCAR Park –- a display of satellites from throughout the history of amateur rad- io in space. Paper presentations and the AMSAT Annual General Meeting will also be featured. The schedule of presentation is available at https://www.amsat.org/symposium-schedule/ [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Board of Directors Announces 2019 Officers These are the results of the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors meeting vote for Officers: * Joe Spier, K6WAO, of Reno, Nev., as President * Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, of Washington, DC, as Executive Vice President * Jerry Buxton, N0JY, of Granbury, Texas, as Vice-President Engineer- ing * Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, of New Port Richey, Fla., as Vice-President Operations * Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, of Silver Spring, Md., as Vice-President Human Spaceflight * Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, Ala. as Vice-President User Ser- vices * Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, of Burnsville, Minn. as Vice-President Devel- opment * Alan Johnston, KU2Y, of Philadelphia, PA as Vice-President Educa- tional Relations * Brennan Price, N4QX, of Vienna, Va., as Secretary * Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, Ala., as Treasurer * Martha Saragovitz of Silver Spring, Md., as Manager The Board of Directors appointed officers for the new year at its meeting in Arlington, Va. on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Officers are selected by the Board from among the AMSAT membership, based on expertise and experience. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, Executive Vice President for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Colloquium Videos Available Videos of the presentations given at the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium, which was held as part of the RSGB Convention in Milton Keynes, October 12-13, 2019, are being made available on YouTube. The first of the videos is the fascinating presentation on the WUSAT-3 CubeSat project given by Professor Julia Hunter-Anderson of the Uni- versity of Warwick which highlights the potential use of CubeSats for wildlife tracking. Other presentations are expected to be uploaded in the coming weeks. The AMSAT-UK videos are located on their YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/AMSATUK/videos AMSAT-UK wishes to thank the British Amateur Television Club and Wouter Weggelaar, PA3WEG, for their work in recording, editing and uploading these videos. [ANS thanks Trevor Essex, M5AKA, and AMSAT-UK for the above informa- tion] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cubesat Simulators Launched Dr. Alan Johnston, KU2Y, Vice President - Educational Affairs has announced the general availability of the AMSAT Cubesat Simulators. Speaking at the 37th Annual Space Symposium, Alan reports that since the prototype Cubesat Simulators were introduced at Hamvention in May, 2019, the simulators have undergone testing and final release. Among the schools testing the simulators was Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia. Science and Engineering teacher Melissa Pore presented to the symposium audience her experience with using a simulator in one of her engineering clubs and how her student benefitted from their use. A Cubesat Simulator is a self-contained satellite model that reports solar cell performance via standard AFSK 1200 BPS AX.25 telemetry. The telemetry can be decoded with a simple SDR ground station. A Cubesat Simulator package consists of the 1U simulator, a halogen work light to simulate sunshine, and a motorized rotating turntable that mimics the satellite tumbling through space. The four loaner packages are packed and shipped in a hard case. The simulator is shipped prepaid while the user pays return shipping. Persons interested in borrowing a CubeSat Simulator for a local presentation is encouraged to contact Alan at KU2Y at amsat dot org. [ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President - Educational Affairs.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution The following Amateur Radio satellite has decayed from orbit and has been removed from this week's TLE distribution: TNS 0-2 - NORAD CAT ID 42914 - Decayed 10/15/2019 (per Space-Track). Last week a number of "N"s were present in a few TLEs which caused some programs to reject those TLEs. Note: Some (but not all) of the raw TLEs from SpaceTrack have plus signs (+) which are not necessary. All plus signs (+) in the TLEs are routinely changed to a blank space. Last week all plus signs were incorrectly changed to the letter "N". This was due to a change in the formatting program and a typing error that substituted a "N" instead of a single blank space everytime a plus sign was present. That problem has been corrected and should not be an issue in the future. [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The Fox-In-A-Box Raspberry Pi SD card for setting up a Raspberry Pi-based telemetry station for the Fox-1 satellites now supports the Raspberry Pi 4. Get yours today on the AMSAT Store! https://amsat.org/product/fox-in-a-box-raspberry-pi-sd-card/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule An International Space Station school contact was completed with par- ticipants at Science & Technologie e.V. event: Science Days, Teningen, Germany on Thursday, Oct. 17. The event lasted approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds, direct between OR4ISS and DN1EME. The contact was audible over Germany and adjacent areas on the 145.80 MHz downlink. ARISS has received word that the EVA that took place on Friday, Oct. 18 has caused changes to the schedule. Thus, some contacts now have new times. Istituto Comprensivo Statale “Diego Valeri”, Campolongo Maggiore, Italy, direct via IQ3RW and Istituto Comprensivo Ladispoli1, Ladispoli, Italy, direct via IKØWGF, the ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS and the scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. The contact is go for: Saturday, Oct. 19 at 10:27:13 UTC (26 degrees) Watch for live stream from IQ3RW side of the contact at: https://tinyurl.com/y5pcyr9m Watch for live stream from IKØWGF side of the contact directly on the AMSAT Italia youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJ8IFmfTO-pUkVFNrUXIcg Liceo Scientifico Teresa Gullace, Rome, Italy,direct via IZØDIB and I.S.I.S. “ Zaccagna - Galilei” sede “G. Galilei”, Carrara. Italy, di- rect via IQ5VR, the ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS and the scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. Contact is go for: Thursday, Oct. 24 at 11:13:40 UTC (79 degrees) I.I.S. “Ciampini-Boccardo”, Novi Ligure, Italy, direct via I1LJV and I.T.I.S. "Magistri Cumacini", Como, Italy, direct via IZ2MCC, the ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS. The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. Contact is go for: Friday, Oct. 25 at 10:24:39 UTC (83 degrees) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, of the ARISS operation team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations St. Lucia, October 19-28, 2019 Jay, AA4FL, will be in St. Lucia for the J68MD CQWW SSB Contest Team. Jay will be doing OSCAR satellite operation as J6/AA4FL, by schedule as he is visiting vacation style in varying locations. His schedule will depend on shifts as a team member of the CQWW J68MD team. E-mail per QRZ to coordinate both FM simple SATs and SSB linear transponder bird QSO schedules. Radios will be a FT-817ND and FT-818ND for full duplex operation using an Arrow II antenna. Oregon, DN04, October 21, 2019 KI7UNJ will be QRV on Oct. 21, from 1653z to 1910z, FM only. Colombia, through October, 2019 The special event stations J500LDV, 5J500D, 5J500L, and 5J500V will commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death on the air until the end of October. QRV on 80 to 10m on CW, SSB, digital modes, and via satellite. An award program will be available as well. QSL via HK3VHZ, LoTW, eQSL. Texas, EL06, EL16 and adjacent grids, November 2-9, 2019 Ron Bondy, AD0DX, reports on Twitter that he will be flying to San Antonio and hopes to activate as many as 10 south Texas grids. Watch Twitter @ad0dx for details. Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announce- ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice-President of User Ser- vices for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + The AMSAT Office will be closed on Monday, October 21 as the AMSAT Symposium wraps up. (ANS thanks Martha Saragovitz, AMSAT Manager, for the above informa- tion -- you deserve a day off, Martha!) + Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir carried out history’s first all-female spacewalk Friday, floating outside the Internation- al Space Station and successfully installing a 230-pound replacement battery charger in the lab’s solar power system. The historic excur- sion was carried out in a blaze of public interest that rose all the way to the White House. (ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information) + NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has named Douglas Loverro as the agency’s new associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Loverro succeeds former astronaut Kenneth Bowersox, who has been acting associate administrator since July. Previously, Loverro spent three decades in the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office developing, managing, and establishing national policy for the full range of national security space activities. (ANS thanks spaceref.com for the above information) + SpaceX is seeking approval to add up to 30,000 more satellites to its Starlink broadband network, on top of 12,000 spacecraft already authorized by U.S. government regulators, according to filings sub- mitted to the International Telecommunication Union. (ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information) + Possibly related to the previous news item, LeoLabs announced that they plan to build four additional radar installations for tracking space debris. Their current installations can track objects down to about a 10 cm diameter, but with their new installations they’ll theoretically be able to track objects as small as 2 cm. In general, current radar systems tend to be limited on the lower end to objects in the 5-10 cm range. Systems like LeoLabs’ and the U.S. Air Force’s upcoming Marshall Islands-based Space Fence will improve coverage, but still won’t see the 128 million objects from 1 mm to 1 cm, which have the potential to disable or completely destroy a satellite. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information) + Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who became the first person in his- tory to spacewalk in 1965, has died aged 85. He went on to become the commander of Soyuz-Apollo, the first ever joint US-Soviet mis- sion in 1975. Leonov died at Moscow's Burdenko hospital on Friday, Oct. 11 after a long illness. (ANS thanks BBC.com for the above information) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-289 AMSAT Special Bulletin - AMSAT Board of Directors Announce 2019 Officers
by JoAnne K9JKM 16 Oct '19

16 Oct '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-289.01 In this edition: * AMSAT Board of Directors Announce 2019 Officers SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-289.01 ANS-289 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 289.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE October 16, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-289.01 AMSAT Board of Directors Announce 2019 Officers These are the results of the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors meeting vote for Officers: * Joe Spier, K6WAO, of Reno, NV, as President * Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, of Washington, DC, as Executive Vice President * Jerry Buxton, N0JY, of Granbury, TX, as Vice-President Engineering * Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, of New Port Richey, FL, as Vice-President Operations * Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, of Silver Spring, MD, as Vice-President Human Spaceflight * Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, AL as Vice-President User Services * Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, of Burnsville, MN as Vice-President Development * Brennan Price, N4QX, of Vienna, VA, as Secretary * Robert Bankston, KE4AL, of Dothan, AL, as Treasurer * Martha Saragovitz of Silver Spring, MD, as Manager The Board of Directors is meeting in Arlington, Virginia on Wednesday - Thursday, October 16 - 17. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, Executive Vice President for the above information] /EX

1 0

Jump to page: