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ANS-104 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Paul Stoetzer 14 Apr '19

14 Apr '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-104 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: * TAPR/AMSAT Banquet Speaker Announced * Seats Still Available for AMSAT Academy * AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019 * N8HM to Appear on Ham Talk Live April 18th * Last Chance to Bid in ARISS Auction * ARISS SSTV Event Continues Through 18:00 UTC April 14th * Diwata-2 Designated Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101) * March/April 2019 Edition of Apogee View Posted * How to Support AMSAT * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-104.01 ANS-104 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 104.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. April 14, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-104.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT relies on your donations to Keep Amateur Radio in Space Please consider a one-time or recurring donation today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- TAPR/AMSAT Banquet Speaker Announced TAPR has announced that the after-dinner speaker at this year's TAPR/AMSAT Banquet on Friday, May 17th will be Dr. P. J. Erickson, W1PJE, from the MIT Haystack Observatory. Dr. Erickson will will give a presentation entitled “New Frontiers in Human Understanding of Geospace: Radio Explorations of Near-Earth Space from Top to Bottom Through Joint Amateur – Scientist Partnerships.” Tickets for the 2019 TAPR/AMSAT Banquet are $40 and can be purchased at https://www.amsat.org/p…/tapramsat-joint-hamvention-banquet/ Tickets must be purchased by 18:00 EDT / 22:00 UTC on May 14th. [ANS thanks TAPR for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Seats Still Available for AMSAT Academy Come join us the day before Hamvention for AMSAT Academy – a unique opportunity to learn all about amateur radio in space and working the FM, linear transponder, and digital satellites currently in orbit. AMSAT Academy will be held Thursday, May 16, 2019, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, at the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Clubhouse, located at 6619 Bellefontaine Rd, Dayton, Ohio. Registration Fee includes: +Full day of instruction, designed for both beginners and advanced amateur radio satellite operators, and taught by some of the most accomplished AMSAT operators. +Digital copy of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites, 2019 Edition ($15 value) +One-Year, AMSAT Basic Membership ($44 value) +Pizza Buffet Lunch +Invitation to the Thursday night AMSAT get together at Ticket Pub and Eatery in Fairborn AMSAT Academy 2019 Registration Fee: $85.00. Registration closes May 10, 2019. No sign ups at the door. No refunds, No cancellations. Registration may be purchased on the AMSAT Store. https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-academy-registration/ [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019 For a complete list of AMSAT activities at the 2019 Hamvention, see www.amsat.org/other-events/amsat-activities-at-hamvention-2019/ Below, two of these activities are highlighted: AMSAT Forum, Forum Room 2 Saturday, 18 May 2019, 12:10 – 13:40 EDT Moderated by Robert Bankston KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President–User Services AMSAT Status Report – Joseph Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT President, will high- light recent activities within AMSAT and discuss some of our challenges, accomplishments, projects, and any late breaking news. AMSAT Engineering – Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President– Engineering, will talk about the Fox-1 and Golf (Greater Orbit, Larger Footprint) Projects. AMSAT Education – Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President– Educational Relations will introduce the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator. AMSAT User Services – Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President– User Services, will discuss AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary Operating Event and the new AMSAT Ambassadors Program. Amateur Satellite Demonstrations Outside Main Entrance – Maxim Hall (Building 1) Friday, Saturday, Sunday 16 – 19 May 2019, 08:00 – 16:30 EDT Amateur Satellite operation demonstrations will be held outside the main Maxim Hall (Building 1 or E1) entrance. Every day, AMSAT will be demonstrating actual contacts with the operational amateur satellites. We especially want to invite youth to make a contact via an amateur satellite. All are invited to observe, participate and ask questions. Satellite pass times will be posted at the AMSAT booth (1007-1010 & 1107-1110) and in the demo area. [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- N8HM to Appear on Ham Talk Live April 18th It's almost time for the Dayton Hamvention! Be sure to tune in at HamTalkLive.com for a preview each week until Hamvention! On Thursday, April 18th, AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, will appear on the show to discuss the AMSAT Academy and the other exciting activities AMSAT has planned for the 2019 Hamvention. Ham Talk Live! is live every Thursday night at 9 pm EDT, and on your favorite podcast app or on demand at HamTalkLive.com. And, HTL! is rebroadcast on Saturdays on WTWW 5085 AM at about 6:30 pm EDT. [ANS thanks Ham Talk Live for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 2019 marks AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. To help celebrate, we are sponsoring the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program. Full details are available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Last Chance to Bid in ARISS Auction Bidding continues in the ARISS Auction! Bidders are moving fast hoping to garner a special astronaut signed brand new JVC Kenwood TS-890S! Visit http://www.ebay.com/itm/323770952171 to bid on the TS-890S. Bidding ends at 13:22 UTC on Monday, April 15th. A special astronaut signed 6-volume boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook is also up for bid. Visit http://www.ebay.com/itm/323770952890 to bid on the ARRL Hand- book. Bidding ends at 13:23 UTC on Monday, April 15th. Thanks to JVC Kenwood and ARRL, proceeds from the on-line auction will benefit ARISS in its quest to launch a new custom-built higher- power radio system in late 2019 with its voice repeater and improved packet APRS and SSTV capability that thousands of hams can enjoy. The new system will replace the aging, problematic units currently on the ISS. ARISS also needs funding to keep introducing ham radio to thousands of students, teachers, parents, and whole communities — and inspiring students about STEM and radio. Kenwood has been a super supporter of ARISS for years, and it was the company’s idea for this special radio to be an exclusive for one ham to own. The limited edition boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook sold out fast last fall but ARRL saved one set for ARISS's fundraiser. AMSAT, ARISS's sponsoring 501(c)(3) corporation, provided the auction infrastructure. If auctions aren't your thing, please consider a one-time or recurring donation to ARISS at https://www.amsat.org/donations/ariss-donations/ [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ CLOSEOUT 2018 Symposium Proceedings and Getting Started Guides, now $15 + Shipping on the AMSAT Store while supplies last. https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-books-and-dvds/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS SSTV Event Continues Through 18:00 UTC April 14th In commemoration of human spaceflight, the ISS is currently transmitting SSTV pictures in PD-120 format. The event is scheduled to continue until 18:00 UTC on April 14th. The downlink frequency is 145.800 MHz FM. Any standard SSTV program for computers or smartphones should be able to decode the PD-120 transmissions. Participants may share their received pictures at https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php Participants may also receive a special award for participating. See https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/ for details. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Diwata-2 Designated Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101) On October 29, 2018, the Diwata-2 microsatellite was launched on a H-IIA launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima, Japan. Diwata-2 was developed by the University of the Philippines Dillman (UPD) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI) under the PHL- Microsat program (now succeeded by the STAMINA4Space program), and in cooperation with Tohoku University and Hokkaido University. The project was funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and monitored by the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD). The satellite carries an amateur radio payload that has been tested and is now ready for service. At the request of the STAMINA4Space program, AMSAT hereby designates Diwata-2 as Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101). We congratulate the owners and operators of PO-101, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects. 73, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator PO-101 frequency information can be found at at https://www.amsat.org/fm-satellite-frequency-summary/ Stay tuned to ANS and the AMSAT-BB for operational information. [ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator 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 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- March/April 2019 Edition of Apogee View Posted The March/April 2019 edition of Apogee View, a comprehensive update on AMSAT's activities from AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, has been posted to the AMSAT website. https://www.amsat.org/apogeeview/ [ANS thanks AMSAT the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $24,045 raised or about 16% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Support AMSAT AMSAT relies on the support of our members and the amateur radio community to Keep Amateur Radio in Space. How can you help? *Join AMSAT Both you and AMSAT will benefit when you join. You get the AMSAT Journal bimonthly and support from AMSAT Ambassadors. Member dues and donations provide AMSAT’s primary support. Join today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ *Become a Life Member Becoming a Life Member has never been easier. Now you can become a Life Member with 12 monthly payments of $74 through our online store. See https://www.amsat.org/product/lifetime-membership/ for details. *Donate to AMSAT Make a one time or recurring donation to AMSAT today. Even as little as one dollar a month can make a difference! Donate today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ *Purchase AMSAT gear on our Zazzle storefront. AMSAT receives 25% of the price of each sale on AMSAT logo merchandise from our Zazzle storefront located at https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear *Volunteer for AMSAT AMSAT relies on volunteers for nearly all of our activities. If you have an idea for how to help, please let us know, Details on volunteering can be found at https://www.amsat.org/volunteer-for-amsat/ [ANS thanks the AMSAT office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations +Utah (DM48, DM58) – April 14-19, 2019 Bob, N6REK, will be roving in Utah from April 13 to the 19th. He plans to be on from DM58 from April 14-17, and then DM48 from April 17-19. Bob will be FM satellites only, using the call sign N6REK/7, and he will post the specific passes on the amsat-bb when we get closer to those dates. +Liechtenstein (JN47) – April 17-19, 2019 Phillippe, EA4NF, is off on another DXpedition. This time, he is heading to HB0/Lichtenstein. Phillippe will operate under the callsign HB0/EA4NF from Leichtenstein and HB9/EA4NF from Switzerland (JN47s, on both FM and SSB satellites. QSL via LoTW. Updated info & Pass announcements (Time+Frequencies) available on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT +Arizona to West Virginia – April 18-21, 2019 Chris. K7TAB, is heading towards WV April 18th to 21st, a 2200-mile sprint. The priority is to cover distance, but he’ll need to take some breaks to rotate coffee and work satellite passes. Grids along I-40 in AZ/NM/TX/OK, I-44 in OK/MO, I-70 in IL/IN/OH/PA are all fair game! FM + Linears. Chris has a nice grid map with his route posted on his Twitter feed and will post pass availability when he can. https://twitter.com/K7TABravo +Central and Northern Maine (FN53, FN54, FN55, FN56, FN57, FN65, FN66, FN67) – April 26-28, 2019 Join Matt, W1PY and Sean, KX9X as they team up for a weekend of ham radio through the Pine Tree State! Follow them as they activate the Potato Field grids of central and northern Maine for the satellite community, and hit some state parks on HF for the Parks on the Air and WWFF communities. There will also be spontaneous activations of curious roadside attractions as they roll through. Grids to be activated on satellite: FN53 – 54 – 55 – 56 – 57 – 65 – 66 – 67. A special effort will be made to activate the grid intersection of FN56-57-66-67 in the potato field north of Caribou. Detailed satellite operations schedule to be announced ASAP. For more information, check out https://t.co/2irvAUBvAu and keep an eye on Sean’s Twitter feed https://twitter.com/SeanKutzko. +California (DM15) – April 27, 2019 Dave, AD7DB, will be in DM15 in the high desert town of North Edwards, CA, just outside Edwards AFB. Planned passes are AO-91, AO-92 and SO-50. More exact details on Twitter https://twitter.com/ad7db as the time approaches. +Northern Border Security Check (Minnesota to Washington) – April 29 to May 4 or 5th, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is all set for his semiannual rover trip to activate rare and somewhat rare grids, from April 29th to May 4th or 5th (or longer depending on how things go). Alex will fly into Minneapolis and drive back to my home grid CN88, activating as many ENx8,ENx7,DNx8,and DNx7 grids as possible along the route. The hope is to hit many corners and lines. Alex will be on both linear and FM birds. As always, activations and route details will be posted to his Twitter @N7AGF at https://twitter.com/N7AGF . Alex will also be on APRS at https://aprs.fi/N7AGF-10. In areas of limited cell service, he’ll be using inReach. Email or hit Alex on twitter with grid requests, route suggestions, or hot tourist attractions in Minot. +Northeast North Dakota (EN06/EN07/EN08/EN16/EN17/EN18) – May 2-5, 2019 Mitch, AD0HJ, is heading out to the Grand Forks, ND Hamfest on May 4th , but also just goofing off for a few days in the general area. Mitch will be limited to working the FM Satellites only (SO-50, AO-91, AO-92). Plans are to work EN17/18 on May 2, EN07/08 on May 3, EN17/18 again on May 4 (day of hamfest), and then EN06/16 on May 5. A full pass schedule will be viewable on the Twitter announcement https://twitter.com/KE4ALabama/status/1116524856781230080, and up-to-date pass info on Mitch’s Twitter feed https://twitter.com/AD0HJ. +Southwest South Dakota (DN83++) – May 19-23, 2019 Clayton, W5PFG, will be operating from DN83 on all FM/SSB satellites holiday-style , May 19-23. Open to schedules with EU. In the days proceeding he’ll be on from DN91 and in the days following from DN74, DN71, potentially DN70, and lastly DM99. Twitter @w5pfg +Pacific Northwest (CN85, CN83/CN84, CN76/CN86) – May 31 to June 2, 2019 Casey, KI7UNJ, will be on in CN83/84 Friday, May 31st, CN85 Saturday, June 1st, and CN76/86 Sunday, June 2nd. Pass list to come in next few weeks. +Iceland (HP95 IP15 IP25 IP03 HP03) – July 13-19, 2019 Adam, K0FFY, is taking his family (and his radios) to Iceland. Tentative schedule is HP95 July 13, IP13 and IP15 July 14-15, IP25 July 16, IP03 or HP93 July 17-18, and HP94 July 19. There’s a lot to see, so passes will be best effort and announced on Twitter shortly prior. https://twitter.com/K0FFY_Radio [ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over + FUNcube on ESEO Payload Activated On April 12th, the FUNcube on ESEO 145.895 MHz 1k2 BPSK beacon was briefly activated, confirming the functionality of the payload. The FUNcube on ESEO payload consists of a 1k2/4k8 BPSK telemetry beacon and an L/v FM repeater with an uplink of 1263.500 MHz and a downlink of 145.895 MHz. Stay tuned for further information. (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information) + FO-99 (NEXUS) Twitter The Nihon University Ground Station twitter account (@GsNihonuniv) is now posting operational updates for FO-99 in English. Check https://twitter.com/GsNihonuniv for FO-99 operational information. + AO-85 Keplerian Elements No Longer Restricted 18 Space Control Squadron has removed the NEA status for an additional 43 objects, including AO-85. This means entities other than AMSAT, including Celestrak, may distribute the Keplerian elements for AO-85. They should appear in Celestrak's amateur.txt file shortly (ANS thanks T.S. Kelso of Celestrak for the above information) + Australian CubeSat to use 76 GHz Amateur Satellite Band An Australian CubeSat, CUAVA-1, is expcted to include a downlink on 76 GHz. Details at https://amsat-uk.org/2019/04/12/australian-cubesat-to-use-76-ghz/ (ANS thanks the IARU Satellite Coordination Panel and AMSAT-UK) + The Orbital Index The Orbital Index is a newsletter written by Andrew Cantino and Ben Lachman. We strive to keep it focused, technical, and enjoyable. Basically you should be able to read it over lunch and learn something you didn’t know before. Subscribe or check out the archives at http://orbitalindex.com/ (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information) + AD0DX Completes Satellite WAS Congratulations to AD0DX on receiving Satellite Worked All States #377. His last QSO for WAS was with N8HM in Washington, DC. For WAS, the District of Columbia counts as Maryland. (ANS thanks AD0DX and N8HM for the above information) (Editor's note - while DC is definitely not Maryland, I am happy to assist anyone who needs MD for WAS while this rule remains in place) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT 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, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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ANS-101 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - Diwata-2 Designated Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101)
by Paul Stoetzer 11 Apr '19

11 Apr '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-101.01 In this Special Bulletin: * Diwata-2 Designated Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101) SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-101.01 ANS-101 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin 101.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD DATE April 11, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-101.01 On October 29, 2018, the Diwata-2 microsatellite was launched on a H-2A launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima, Japan. Diwata-2 was developed by the PHL-Microsat program now succeeded by the STAMINA4Space program, and in cooperation with Tohoku University and Hokkaido University. The satellite carries an amateur radio payload that has been tested and is now ready for service. At the request of the STAMINA4Space program, AMSAT hereby designates Diwata-2 as Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101). We congratulate the owners and operators of PO-101, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects. 73, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator [ANS thanks AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, for the above information.] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers life memberships, and sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep Amateur Radio in space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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ANS-096 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Mark D. Johns 06 Apr '19

06 Apr '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-096 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT India AISAT APRS Payload Operational on 145.825 MHz * Upcoming Satellite Operations * UT1FG/MM QSL Procedure Announced * Hamvention Booth Announcement * AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019 * The Case of the Unknown Satellites * Upcoming ARISS Contacts * International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for March 2019 * Raspberry Pi magazine MagPi Features Ham Radio * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.01 ANS-096 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 096.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE YYY To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-096.01 AMSAT India AISAT APRS Payload Operational on 145.825 MHz An APRS payload from AMSAT INDIA was successfully launched on April 1, 2019 at 03:57 GMT on the PSLV-C45 mission. The payload was powered up on schedule over Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Moscow. AMSAT India requested stations at these locations to report the first signals on 145.825 MHz from the payload. The first beacon from AISAT-1 was received by R4UAB and DK3WN was able to digipeat through the satellite. Mike posted information on his blog at: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=94180 AMSAT India requests that the Amateur Radio fraternity worldwide use the payload and Satgates to feed the traffic. More details about this unique project as well as the pre-launch TLE are available at http://www.amsatindia.org/ Their twitter feed is at https://twitter.com/amsatindia AMSAT Argentina's web-based satellite pass page passes at http://amsat.org.ar/pass?satx=aisa1 provides use- ful tracking information based on the pre-launch TLE. The 4th stage of the PSLV rocket (PS4) will become an orbital plat- form in a 485 km orbit hosting three payloads: + Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) digipeater from AMSAT INDIA + Automatic Identification System (AIS) from ISRO + Advanced Retarding Potential Analyzer for Ionospheric Studies (ARIS) from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST). https://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/pslv-c45-emisat-mission [ANS thanks Nitin, VU3TYG, Secretary, AMSAT INDIA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT relies on your donations to Keep Amateur Radio in Space. Please consider a donation to the AMSAT General Fund, the GOLF Program, or ARISS today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations Defrosting Trip (EM90, EL99) – April 7-9, 2019 Paul, KE0PBR, has plans to escape the Land of the 10,000 Frozen Lakes and head down to Florida, to enjoy a little Global Warming. Will most likely be FM only, and holiday style. Paul will post announcements on his Twitter account: https://twitter.com/KE0PBR Utah (DM37, DM48, DM58) – April 13-19, 2019 Bob, N6REK, will be roving in Utah from April 13 to the 19th. He plans to be in DM37 April 13, DM58 from April 14-17, and then DM48 from April 17-19. Bob will be FM satellites only, and he will post the specific passes on the amsat-bb when we get closer to those dates. Liechtenstein (JN47) – April 17-19, 2019 Phillippe, EA4NF, is off on another DXpedition. This time, he is heading to HB0/Lichtenstein. Phillippe will operate under the call sign HB0/EA4NF from Leichtenstein and HB9/EA4NF from Switzerland (JN47s, on both FM and SSB satellites. QSL via LoTW. Updated info & Pass announcements (Time+Frequencies) available on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT Northern Border Security Check (Minnesota to Washington) – April 29 to May 4 or 5th, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is all set for his semiannual rover trip to activate rare and somewhat rare grids, from April 29th to May 4th or 5th (or longer depending on how things go). Alex will fly into Minneapolis and drive back to my home grid CN88, activating as many ENx8,ENx7,DNx8,and DNx7 grids as possible along the route. The hope is to hit many corners and lines. Alex will be on both linear and FM birds. As always, activations and route details will be posted to his Twitter @N7AGF at https://twitter.com/N7AGF Alex will also be on APRS at https://aprs.fi/N7AGF-10 In areas of limited cell service, he’ll be using inReach. Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks KE4AL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UT1FG/MM QSL Procedure Announced Yuri, UT1FG/mm, is headed to Kalningrad (UA2) and according to marinetraffic.com, he will be there around 16April. Yuri will leave the ship there and go on vacation until next season. Yuri would like those who want to confirm their contacts, to do so by following the procedure to create a .pdf file that he can print, confirm and mail out from Kaliningrad. Instructions for creating the .pdf file are on papays.com/sat Please do not forget to include your mailing address in the header per the example. He would like to receive the qsl logsheets about one week before he arrives in port. You can send them to me later than that, but he may not have time to process them as he approaches port. That decision is up to you. I will forward them to Yuri as long as he is still underway. Send your logsheets to my qrz.com email address. Yuri was in HL90 on the 1818z 04April pass of AO-7. [ANS thanks John Papay, K8YSE for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamvention Booth Announcement Join us as AMSAT celebrates our Golden Jubilee at the 2019 Hamvention with a 1969 theme and an "OSCAR Park" display. The satellite lineup includes appearances by OSCAR-1, AO-7, Phase-3A, ARISSat, Fox, and GOLF. Join up or renew your AMSAT membership. Updated for 2019, AMSAT's book, "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites" is available. Get one-on-one guidance on setting up your satellite station and making contacts at our "Beginner's Corner". Participate in live demon- strations of contacts through FM and linear satellites with station and operating tips from some of the best satellite operators in the country. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Hamvention Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019 For a complete list of AMSAT activities at the 2019 Hamvention, see www.amsat.org/other-events/amsat-activities-at-hamvention-2019/ Below, two of these activities are highlighted: AMSAT Forum, Forum Room 2 Saturday, 18 May 2019, 12:10 – 13:40 EDT Moderated by Robert Bankston KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President–User Services AMSAT Status Report – Joseph Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT President, will high- light recent activities within AMSAT and discuss some of our challenges, accomplishments, projects, and any late breaking news. AMSAT Engineering – Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President– Engineering, will talk about the Fox-1 and Golf (Greater Orbit, Larger Footprint) Projects. AMSAT Education – Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President–Education- al Relations will introduce the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator. AMSAT User Services – Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President– User Services, will discuss AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary Operating Event and the new AMSAT Ambassadors Program. Amateur Satellite Demonstrations Outside Main Entrance – Maxim Hall (Building 1) Friday, Saturday, Sunday 16 – 19 May 2019, 08:00 – 16:30 EDT Amateur Satellite operation demonstrations will be held outside the main Maxim Hall (Building 1 or E1) entrance. Every day, AMSAT will be demonstrating actual contacts with the operational amateur satellites. We especially want to invite youth to make a contact via an amateur satellite. All are invited to observe, participate and ask questions. Satellite pass times will be posted at the AMSAT booth (1007-1010 & 1107-1110) and in the demo area. [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Case of the Unknown Satellites On December 3, 2018, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from California, lofting the largest haul of individual satellites the vehicle had ever transported. All 64 satellites deployed into space as designed. But nearly four months later, more than a dozen satellites from the launch have yet to be identified in space. We know that they’re up there, and where they are, but it’s unclear which satellites belong to which satellite operator on the ground. They are, truly, unidentified flying objects. An article by Loren Grush details the difficulties presented to the Air Force in sorting out objects from multiple launches. To read the full article, see https://tinyurl.com/y6rgkfn6 [ANS thanks The Verge for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contacts 58th Hamilton Scout Group, Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, direct via VE3DC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Sat 2019-04-06 18:31:06 UTC 38 deg Shaftesbury High School, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, telebridge via VK6MJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Wed 2019-04-10 15:57:13 UTC 37 deg École des Charmilles, Thyez, France, telebridge via ON4ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Thu 2019-04-11 12:55:18 UTC 64 deg Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program is seeking proposals from April 1, through May 15, 2019, from US schools, museums, science centers and community youth organizations (working individually or together) to host radio contacts with an orbiting crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS) between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020. Each year, ARISS provides tens of thousands of students with learning opportunities about space technologies, communications, and much more through the exploration of Amateur Radio and space. The ARISS program connects students to astronauts on the ISS through a partnership between NASA, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, the American Radio Relay League, other Amateur Radio global organizations and the worldwide space agencies. The program's goal is to inspire students to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and in Amateur Radio. Educators report regularly that student participation in the ARISS program stimulates interest in STEM subjects and STEM careers. One educator wrote, "Many of the middle school students who took part in and attended the ARISS contact have selected science courses in high school as a result of that contact." Educators are setting up ham radio clubs in schools and learning centers because of students' interest. ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed, exciting education plan. Students can learn about satellite communications, wireless technology, science research conducted on the ISS, radio science, and other STEM subjects. Students learn to use Amateur Radio to talk directly to an astronaut and ask their STEM- related questions. ARISS will help educational organizations locate Amateur Radio groups who can assist with equipment for a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity for students. The proposal window opens April 1, 2019 and the proposal deadline is May 15, 2019. For proposal guidelines and forms and more details, go to: http://ariss-proposal-webinar-spring-2019.eventbrite.com Proposal webinars for guidance and getting questions answered will be offered April 11, 2019 at 7 pm Eastern Time and April 16, 2019 at 9 pm Eastern Time. Advance registration is necessary. To sign up, go to https://ariss-proposal-webinar-spring-2019.eventbrite.com [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for March 2019 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period March 1, 2019 through April 1, 2019. Congratula- tions to all those who made the list this month! CALL 01 Mar 01 Apr WI7P 835 858 N4UFO 729 730 AA8CH 451 500 N3GS 370 409 K9UO 225 265 N6RFM 201 226 WW8W 152 181 PU8RFL 151 157 PS8MT 150 156 K5CIS New 150 K4RGK 133 145 LW2DAF 115 120 KF0QS New 115 KJ4EU 100 101 PP2CC New 101 AD7DB New 100 N7AME New 100 [ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Raspberry Pi magazine MagPi Features Ham Radio The Raspberry Pi magazine MagPi issue 80 is an Amateur Radio Special that features articles by Dave Honess M6DNT and Rob Zwetsloot. The PDF is available free. The amateur radio articles appear on pages 62-75: . Pictures from Space via Ham Radio - Have you ever wanted to receive a radio signal from space? It's fun and a lot easier than you might think! . What is Ham Radio? . Using Ham Radio with Raspberry Pi . Amazing Ham Radio Projects - 7 projects Download the Free MagPi magazine issue 80 PDF at https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/issues/80/ The MagPi editorial team say - Got an amazing ham radio project of your own? Tweet us your photos! @TheMagPi Previous issues of MagPi are at https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/issues/ [ANS thanks raspberrypi.org for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + AMSAT has filed comments in the FCC Orbital Debris Mitigation Pro- ceeding. For details, see ANS special bulletin 095 or visit: https://tinyurl.com/yywq5jyt + From precision GPS to batteries for one of the world’s first com- mercial all-electric airplanes, NASA technology turns up in nearly every corner of modern life. The latest edition of NASA’s Spinoff publication features dozens of commercial technologies that were developed or improved by the agency’s space program and benefit people everywhere. The publication provides nearly 50 examples of how NASA benefits various industries and people around the world. Print and digital versions of the latest issue of Spinoff are avail- able at: https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2019/index.html (ANS thanks NASA HQ News for the above information) + XLGTa is a new Excel app which can calculate the antenna Gain/Temper- ature ratio, similar to the TANT program but with many more features. It can read 3D pattern data generated by EZNEC, AutoEZ, 4nec2, A.M. (Teri Software Antenna Model), or MMANA-GAL. In addition to G/Ta the app will calculate Average Gain, RDF (aka Directivity), and DMF (aka Rear Hemisphere Mean Sidelobe Level). XLGTa is free but requires Excel 2000 or later. For complete details and downloads see: https://ac6la.com/xlgta.html (ANS thanks Dan, AC6LA, for the above information) + Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle successfully lifted the R3D2 satellite for DARPA from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 23:27, March 28th UTC (12:27, 29 March NZDT). The mission launched a prototype reflect array antenna to orbit for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (ANS thanks satmagazine.com for the above information) + Lockheed Martin has announced a new generation of space technology that will launch this year that will allow satellites to change their missions in orbit. This new tech, called SmartSat, is a software-defined satellite architecture that will boost capability for payloads on several testbed satellites. (ANS thanks satmagazine.com for the above information) + The Northern Arizona DX Association will celebrate the 50th anniversary of landing men on the moon with the special callsign K7M from various locations including the the "Meteor Crater National Natural Landmark" where astronaut training took place. http://www.nadxa.com/ (ANS thanks DX Newsletter for the above information) + Congratulations to Mike, W8LID for completing his Worked All States Satellite with his AO-91 contact with RJ, WY7AA roving in South Dakota. (W8LID via Twitter) + Former NASA astronauts Jim Buchli and Janet Kavandi were inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Class of 2019 during a ceremony on April 6, 2019, inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. They unveiled their plaques, which will be placed in the Hall of Fame at the visitor complex. (ANS thanks NASA for the above information) + After a long process of testing and judging experiments, the Euro- pean Space Agency and Raspberry Pi Foundation are happy to announce that a record number of 135 teams have been granted ‘flight status’ for Mission Space Lab 2018/2019! Full release at: https://tinyurl.com/y3bdqwp3 (ANS thanks the European Space Agency 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

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ANS-095 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Files Comments in FCC Orbital Debris Mitigation Proceeding
by Paul Stoetzer 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-095.01 In this Special Bulletin: * AMSAT Files Comments in FCC Orbital Debris Mitigation Proceeding SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-095.01 ANS-095 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin 333.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD DATE April 5, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-095.01 AMSAT Files Comments in FCC Orbital Debris Mitigation Proceeding The Federal Communications Commission has proposed several rules changes related to the amateur satellite service as part of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) related to the mitigation of orbital debris. AMSAT believes several of these rule changes would have an extremely detrimental affect on the amateur satellite service and AMSAT's ability to launch and operate new satellites, including AMSAT's upcoming GOLF satellites. Today, AMSAT filed comments on the proposed rulemaking. In the comments, AMSAT argues that amateur satellites often have longer mission lifespans than other small satellite missions and that the Commission should take a mission duration of 5 to 10 years into account when determining whether or not an amateur satellite will meet the orbital debris regulations by transferring to a parking orbit or re-entering the atmosphere within 25 years of mission completion. The current practice is to assume a "zero year" mission and to require that amateur satellites either transfer to a parking orbit or re-enter within 25 years following launch. AMSAT also urged the Commission to consider alternatives to a proposed rule that would restrict satellites in Low Earth Orbit that plan to meet the orbital debris mitigation guidelines through atmospheric re-entry to altitudes of 650 km or less. AMSAT noted that, had this rule been in place, AO-85 and AO-91 would not have been able to be deployed in their current ellipitcal orbits with apogees of approximately 800 km, despite the fact that both of these satellites will re-enter within 25 years due to their low perigees. Additionally, AMSAT noted that current plans for the GOLF-1 satellite are to meet orbital debris mitigation guidelines through atmospheric re-entry by deploying a drag device that will ensure re-entry within 25 years despite deployment at an altitude of above 1,000 km. This proposed rule would prohibit GOLF-1's deployment at that altitude. The Commission's proposed rules would also require that amateur satellite licensees indemnify the government against any claims made against the United States due to the operation of the satellite. AMSAT believes this proposal would end the ability of AMSAT, or any other entity in the United States, to launch and operate amateur satellites and urges the Commission to consider alternatives, such as establishing a fund to pay any such claims, noting that the likelihood of such a claim is low. For amateur satellites with propulsion, the Commission proposes a rule that would require any command links as well as satellite telemetry be encrypted. While AMSAT understands and agrees that a satellite carrying a propulsion system must have an encrypted command link, the proposal to require all satellite telemetry be encrypted is unnecessary and counter to the spirit of the amateur service. AMSAT notes that open access to telemetry is expected of amateur satellites and is critical to the educational component of amateur radio satellites. Finally, AMSAT proposes that the Commission exempt amateur space stations co-located on other spacecraft from the orbital debris mitigation regulations, including any indemnification rule. Noting that AMSAT has pursued opportunities to fly a payload as a rideshare aboard government or commercial satellites, AMSAT argues that, as the satellite's owner will need to meet orbital debris mitigation requirements to obtain the license in the primary mission's service, requiring the amateur licensee to meet the orbital debris mitigation requirements as well is redundant. AMSAT proposes that Part 97 be amended to state that amateur space stations co-located on spacecraft with space stations authorized under Part 25 of the Commission's regulations (for commercial spacecraft) or by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) (for government spacecraft) are exempt from these regulations. AMSAT's comments as filed may be downloaded at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-095-Comments The NPRM is International Bureau Docket #18-313 and is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-18-159A1.pdf Interested parties may file reply comments by May 5th at https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/ [ANS thanks AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers life memberships, and sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep Amateur Radio in space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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ANS-083 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 24 Mar '19

24 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-083 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019 * NASA on the Air * Satellite Operating Demonstrations Planned for Tucson Hamfest * Three more 50th Anniversary Certtificates Earned * "Getting Started" Guide CLoseout * Canadian Artist To Use HAARP To Transmit SSTV * ESEO Satellite Commissioning Starts * FoxTelem Version 1.07 Released * Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp's 66th Mission Is Open For Registration * K6FW Gets 488 Grids * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-083.01 ANS-083 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 083.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 24, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-083.01 AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019 AMSAT Academy Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Clubhouse, Dayton, OH Thursday, 16 May 2019, 09:00 – 17:00 EDT Come joins us the day before Hamvention, for AMSAT Academy – a unique opportunity to learn all about amateur radio in space and working the FM, linear transponder, and digital satellites currently in orbit. AMSAT Academy will be held Thursday, May 16, 2019, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, at the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Clubhouse, located at 6619 Bellefontaine Rd, Dayton, Ohio. Registration Fee includes: Full day of instruction, designed for both beginners and advanced amateur radio satellite operators, and taught by some of the most accomplished AMSAT operators. Digital copy of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites, 2019 Edition ($15 value) One-Year, AMSAT Basic Membership ($44 value) Pizza Buffet Lunch. Invitation to the Thursday night AMSAT get together at Ticket Pub and Eatery in Fairborn. AMSAT Academy 2019 Registration Fee: $85.00. Registration closes May 10, 2019. No sign ups at the door. No refunds, No cancellations. Registration may be purchased on the AMSAT Store. AMSAT “Dinner at Tickets” Tickets Pub & Eatery, Fairborn, OH Thursday, 16 May 2019, 18:00 EDT The annual AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) “Dinner at Tickets” party will be held Thursday at 1800 EDT at Tickets Pub & Eatery at 7 W. Main St, Fairborn, OH. Great selection of Greek and American food and great company! No program or speaker, just good conversation. Food can be ordered from the menu, drinks (beer, wine, sodas and iced tea) are available at the bar. Leave room for dessert, there’s an in- house ice cream shop! Come as you are. Bring some friends and have a great time the night before Hamvention. ARISS Forum Forum Room 3 Friday, 17 May 2019, 13:15 – 14:15 EDT Out of this World Ham Radio via ARISS–Amateur Radio on the ISS Moderators: Rosalie White, K1STO, ARISS Secretary & USA Delegate, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT Vice President Human Space Flight ARISS is one of the most unique and fun facets of our hobby. We inspire generations of students and hams through our International Space Station crew and radio connections. In this eye-opening forum, learn about current and future lifelong learning opportunities for hams—via SSTV, APRS, voice repeaters, radio experiments and even robots! Hear how ARISS inspires, engages and educates tens of thousands of students each year in STEAM (science, technology, engineering arts and math) and radio science. See the next generation hardware systems we have in development. Discover how to maximize your opportunities to make ARISS connections and to hear the ISS crew directly from your ham shack. And learn about our visionary initiative to fly ham radio on the human space flight lunar Gateway. Come meet the team that have enabled millions, worldwide, to experience the fun of our amateur radio hobby. The ARISS team will present an overview and status of the program and then conduct a panel/Q&A session with ARISS panel experts in operations, education, hardware, experimentation and exploration. We also hope to have some surprise guests attending! TAPR/AMSAT Banquet Kohler Presidential Center , Kettering, OH Friday, 17 May 2019, 18:30 EDT The twelfth annual TAPR/AMSAT Banquet will be held at the Kohler Presidential Center on Friday at 18:30 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) and TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) activities during the Dayton Hamvention. Tickets ($40 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store. The banquet ticket purchase deadline is Tuesday, May 14th. Banquet tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the AMSAT booth. There will be no tickets to pick up at the AMSAT booth. Tickets purchased on-line will be maintained on a list with check-in at the door at the banquet center. Seating is limited to the number of meals reserved with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline. AMSAT Forum Forum Room 2 Saturday, 18 May 2019, 12:10 – 13:40 EDT Moderated by Robert Bankston KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services AMSAT Status Report – Joseph Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT President, will highlight recent activities within AMSAT and discuss some of our challenges, accomplishments, projects, and any late breaking news. AMSAT Engineering – Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President – Engineering, will talk about the Fox-1 and Golf (Greater Orbit Larger Footprint) Projects. AMSAT Education – Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President – Educational Relations will introduce the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator. AMSAT User Services – Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services, will discuss AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary Operating Event and the new AMSAT Ambassadors Program. Amateur Satellite Demonstrations Outside Main Entrance – Maxim Hall (Building 1) Friday, Saturday, Sunday 16 – 19 May 2019, 08:00 – 17:00 EDT Amateur Satellite operation demonstrations will be held outside the main Maxim Hall (Building 1 or E1) entrance. Every day, AMSAT will be demonstrating actual contacts with the operational amateur satellites. We especially want to invite youth to make a contact via an amateur satellite. All are invited to observe, participate and ask questions. Satellite pass times will be posted at the AMSAT booth (1007-1010 & 1107-1110) and in the demo area. [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA on the Air In a surprising and touching turnout, tens of thousands of people around the world turned on their ham (or amateur) radios to participate in several "NASA on the Air" events held over the past year. "This was a beautiful thing," said Kevin Zari, head of the amateur radio club at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Zari especially loved the event photos tweeted by people from different countries. Radio clubs from 10 NASA centers and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, all supported the yearlong event. Ham radio operators tuned in from all 50 U.S. states and 56 countries across six continents to chat with NASA personnel. "There were times in our log where we had 20 contacts a minute - it was that quick. And there were other more relaxed times, where we were able to just sit and talk," said Zari. "I don't know how many times people said, 'We thought NASA was gone. We thought NASA was dead.' So we educated people around the world." The NASA on the Air event wrapped up with three special opportunities for people to use their radios to download images from the International Space Station. This was done in coordination with Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), an international consortium of amateur radio organizations and space agencies. ARISS encourages young people to explore science, technology, engineering and math through the use of ham radios, and their program works to connect students worldwide with astronauts onboard the space station. For the final three events, cosmonauts on the station transmitted several NASA on the Air images from space. Participants could compete to collect images and upload them to a website for credit. Over 34,600 uploads were received from 18,619 participants. The reaction to NASA on the Air was so positive, NASA Radio Clubs plans to activate NASA on the Air for special anniversaries in 2019 and beyond (e.g. 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11). Follow @NASARadioClubs on Twitter or join the NASA on the Air (NOTA) group on Facebook for notifications of future activities. [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Operating Demonstrations Planned for Tucson Hamfest Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK will have an AMSAT booth at the Radio Society of Tucson's annual spring hamfest on Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Tucson AZ. WD9EWK will be on satellite passes demonstrating satellite oper- ating from the hamfest. If you hear WD9EWK on the air that morn- ing, please call him and be a part of the demonstrations. The hamfest site is in grid DM42. QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World after the hamfest. QSL cards are available on request (please e-mail him directly with QSO details if you would like a QSL card). Also the @WD9EWK Twitter account will send photos and updates during the hamfest. These tweets are viewable in a web browser, even if you do not use Twitter: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK Hamfest information is available at: https://rstclub.org/media/hamfest.pdf [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- More 50th Anniversary Certificates Earned AMSAT has issued 3 more 50th Anniversary certificates to KE8FZT 602, KM4LAO 603, K2MTS 604, VE3CWU 605, N3SL 606, K4WPX 607, KB4PML 608. As of last notice only a couple 50th Certificates were left and then they are gone. [ANS thanks Bruce KK5DO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Getting Started" Guide CLoseout We are clearing out the 2018 Getting Started with Amateur Satellites books to make room for the next version debuting at Dayton. Get one, or an extra to give to a friend, for just $15 plus shipping, while supplies last. This definitive reference is written for the new satellite operator by Gould Smith, WA4SXM, but includes discussions for the experienced operator who wishes to review the features of amateur satellite communications. The new operator will be introduced to the basic concepts and terminology unique to this mode. Additionally, there are many practical tips and tricks to ensure making contacts, and to sound like an experienced satellite operator in the process. Newly revised in May 2018 with new information on new satellites. It also include information on several satellites of interest to hams expected to be launched in the coming year. Revisions in May 2016 include spiral bound for easier browsing, more new satellites, many more pages and in color.More added in the May, 2017 revision. and More added in the May, 2018 revision. Buy now https://tinyurl.com/ANS083-GettingStarted [ANS thanks AMSAT office for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadian Artist To Use HAARP To Transmit SSTV Concordia transmission artist Amanda Dawn Christie will use the world’s most capable high-power, high-frequency transmitter HAARP in Alaska to send art around the world and into outer space using Slow Scan TV Concordia News reports: In the shadow of Mount Sanford, surrounded by Alaskan wilderness, you’ll find the most powerful radio transmitter on earth. On this remote site, scientists use a unique tool called the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI) to create radio-induced aurora, also known as airglow. But it’s never been used by a Canadian artist to transmit art — until now. The IRI’s human-made northern lights inspired interdisciplinary artist Amanda Dawn Christie to create Ghosts in the Air Glow: an upcoming transmission art project that will use the IRI to play with the liminal boundaries of outer space. “I was so fascinated by these airglow experiments — and the relationship between the ionosphere and radio communications — I felt compelled to create an artwork specific to the site and its history,” says Christie, assistant professor in Concordia’s Department of Studio Arts. She will be embedding her own encoded SSTV images, audio compositions and propagation tests into IRI experiments from March 25 to 28. Read the full story at https://www.concordia.ca/news/stories/2019/03/21/concordia- transmission-artist-launches-a-high-frequency-project-in-alaska.html Artist made a radio out of a kitchen sink http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/december/artist-made-a-radio- out-of-a-kitchen-sink.htm Amanda Dawn Christie http://www. amandadawnchristie.ca/ https://twitter.com/magnet_mountain For further info on HAARP HF experiments follow Chris Fallen KL3WX https://twitter.com/ctfallen [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ESEO Satellite Commissioning Starts On Monday, December 3, 2018, the 50 kg ESA Education Office satellite ESEO was launched by Space-X on the Spaceflight SSO-A SmallSat Express mission. Following the launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, ESEO separated from the launch vehicle and automatically activated the periodic transmission of its telemetry beacon. However, by the time out of a predefined period, having not received commands from the ground station, the spacecraft automatically entered into safe mode. Some initial communications issues were experienced by ESEO in receiving commands from the ground stations in Forli’ (Italy) and Vigo (Spain), but they were resolved when the ESEO team of the Observatory of Tartu offered the possibility to use a ground station in Estonia. This is capable of transmitting with higher power, for a temporary contingent use. The Estonian ground station has been configured to be operated remotely by the ESEO MCC team, which involves students of the University of Bologna. ESEO then started executing the commands transmitted from ground. ESEO has now completed the LEOPS (Launch and Early OPerationS) phase of its mission, reaching the platform nominal mode and has begun the process of commissioning the whole satellite: firstly the platform functions, with the payloads functions following. As part of this commissioning process, but subject to the successful completion of other preparatory tasks of the platform subsystems commissioning, it is anticipated that initial testing of the AMSAT communications payload will be carried out within the next few weeks. AMSAT-UK will endeavour to provide some advance notice of these tests being undertaken, but the first step will be activation of the 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.895 MHz. The telemetry format matches previous FUNcube missions and data from this beacon will be forwarded to the FUNcube Data Warehouse using any of the FUNcube dashboards. However, to see the decoded values and graphical displays, please download the dedicated ESEO mission dashboard which is available at https://download.funcube.org.uk/ESEO_Dashboard_v1177.msi The payload has, additionally, a high speed, 4800 bps BPSK data format downlink and also a Mode L/V FM transponder both of which will be tested. Further information about ESEO can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/ANS083-ESEO [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FoxTelem Version 1.07 Released Chris Thompson has officially released version 1.07 of FoxTelem. A test version has been out for a while, but it had several issues, including a lower decode rate than 1.06. That prevented release for a while. Those issues (and something like 65 other defects) are now all fixed and this decoder performs better than 1.06. Feel free to test them side by side and report back if that is not the case for you. We are always interested in any comparative results. In addition to defects in FoxTelem 1.06 and earlier versions of 1.07, this also introduces Doppler calculation with automatic adjustment of the decoder frequency. This is especially useful for decoding beacons and has been helpful in testing for Fox-1A / AO-85 and Fox-1Cliff / AO-95 which are both in SAFE mode. Decoding from Doppler takes a bit of configuration to get right. Have a read of the new sections in the manual or ask for help if you want to give it a try. There are pros and cons vs "Find Signal" for sure. Version 1.07 changes the core SDR within FoxTelem to use a Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO) rather than an FFT Filter for the conversion to base-band. This produces better decodes and will allow the support of wider bandwidth SDRs in the future. The old decoder is available still if needed from the settings screen. Read the manual for details. Version 1.07 also introduces two new BPSK decoders in advance of the Fox-1E launch. (Chris has no inside information about when that will be, but he has the decoder ready :) Chris also wrote some notes on the comparison between the two decoders, which you can read if you are interested in BPSK decoding performance, or just wonder what I do with my time in the evenings: http://www.g0kla.com/workbench/2019-03-09.php The releases are here: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/foxtelem_1.07y_windows.zip http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/foxtelem_1.07y_linux.tar.gz http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/foxtelem_1.07y_mac.tar.gz KEY CHANGES in 1.07 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Ability to add a new spacecraft from the menu. You can also remove them. * Doppler calculation and tracking as an option instead of "Find Signal" * A better SDR based on a Numerically Controlled Oscillator, ready for wider SDRs * Two new PSK decoders - Costas Loop and Dotproduct * RTL dongle implemented for testing, though more work to do * Stops downloading keps when position calc is off * Allows toggling of high speed / DUV display when in auto mode * Fixed plotting issues for Earth plots * Fixes several crashes and bugs * Fixes copy paste issues with tables * Respects left/right audio preference when processing wav files * Implements formats for later spacecraft - Fox-1E and HuskySat * Linux and Mac launch script updated to locate the JVM (especially on Mac). Please report if when this works/does not work * MEMS gyro calibration updated * Fixed a bug where AO-85 data from the server could not be stepped through And many other bug fixes. Full list of changes here: https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/milestone/12?closed=1 Let Chris know any feedback, chrisethompson (at) gmail (dot) com. [ANS thanks Chris G0KLA / AC2CZ for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp's 66th Mission Is Open For Registration This be will EarthKAM's 66th week-long mission and the second of 2019! Mission 66 runs April 9 through April 12. Mission sign up is available and code words and orbits will be published by 5 p.m. EST Wednesday, April 3. Educators can sign up and get their class involved up to the day of the orbit. Requested images should be available within 24 hours of the orbit. If you are looking for a project to do with the images, look at our activities page for some great ideas that incorporate the images. For more information on how to make an image request take a look at our User Guide. www.earthKAM.orgion] [ANS thanks Sally Ride EarthKAM for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- K6FW Gets 488 Grids Frank Westphal K6FW, announced, via twitter that he has now completed the 488 grid award. "Thanks to Don kb2ysi for FN51 which is the last grid I need for the 488 grid award. My first grid confirmed was KA5SMA, EM66 on 02-14-1992. 27+ years from start to finish. I am the tortoise not the hare! Thanks to all the other rovers over the years to make this happen." [ANS thanks Frank K6FW for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) – February 3, to March 29, 2019 Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008), February 3 until March 29, 2019. Time and weather permitting, they expect to be on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vy0erc. Key West, FL (EL94) – March 18-21, 2019 Adam, K0FFY, will be in Florida Keys on March 18 through 21, activating EL94 vacation-style. Adam’s taking his linear gear to see who he can hear East and South of that location If you still need EL94 please send direct message or email. Otherwise, he’ll be announcing on Twitter https://twitter.com/K0FFY_Radio Eastern Mass (FN51) – March 20, 2019 Don, KB2YSI, will be in FN51 on Wednesday, March 20th, starting with 1945z CAS-4A until 0233z SO-50. Will operate fixed 2m frequency on linears and still learning, so be patient. Keep an eye on Don’s Twitter feed for additional announcements https://twitter.com/kb2ysi. XE Mexico Special Event – March 21-24, 2019 Mexican amateurs will operate the following special event stations from the 21st to 24th to mark the Equinoccio Maya 2019: 4A3MAYA – Museo de Antropologia Regional, Tabasco 4B3MAYA – Merida, Yucatan 4C3MAYA – Champoton, Campeche 6E3MAYA – Quintana Roo 6F3MAYA – Chiapas. QRV on HF, 6m, and via satellite. QSL via bureau. Curaçao (FK52) – March 26-31, 2019 Nathan, K4NHW, will be operating as PJ2/KN4HW from Curaçao, March 26th to 31st. Primarily FM, but Nathan may try some SSB, as well. If you need a sked, let him know. He’s good on QRZ. Ontario (EN93,EN94,FN03, FN04) – March 28, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, with his tire still warm from his last roving trip, is heading to Ontario, March 28th for a one day, four grid, special. Ron will tweet passes the day of the rove, which will most likely be morning passes. Follow Ron on his journey at https://twitter.com/ad0dx Liechtenstein (JN47) – April 17-19, 2019 Phillippe, EA4NF, is off on another DXpedition. This time, he is heading to HB0/Lichtenstein. Phillippe will operate under the call sign HB0/EA4NF from Leichtenstein and HB9/EA4NF from Switzerland (JN47s, on both FM and SSB satellites. QSL via LoTW. Updated info & Pass announcements (Time+Frequencies) available on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT Northern Border Security Check (Minnesota to Washington) – April 29 to May 4 or 5th, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is all set for his semiannual rover trip to activate rare and somewhat rare grids, from April 29th to May 4th or 5th (or longer depending on how things go). Alex will fly into Minneapolis and drive back to my home grid CN88, activating as many ENx8,ENx7,DNx8,and DNx7 grids as possible along the route. The hope is to hit many corners and lines. Alex will be on both linear and FM birds. As always, activations and route details will be posted to his Twitter @N7AGF at https://twitter.com/N7AGF . Alex will also be on APRS at https://aprs.fi/N7AGF-10 . In areas of limited cell service, he’ll be using inReach. Email or hit Alex on twitter with grid requests, route suggestions, or hot tourist attractions in Minot. Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org See https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/ [ANS thanks Robert KE4AL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + ARISS contact between North Point School for Boys, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and astronaut David St-Jacques KG5FYI using ISS callsign OR4ISS, was successful. Contact began Wed 2019-03-20 20:16:09 UTC and lasted about 9 and a half minutes, Contact was telebridge via IK1SLD. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Khabarovsk University, Khabarovsk, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is TBD Contact is a go for 2019-03-26 UTC Ulluriaq School, Kangiqsualujjuaq, QC, Canada, via LU8YY The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Thu 2019-03-28 16:14:54 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Shorts From All Over + NY Times article about cubesats/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/science/cubesats-marco-mars.html [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for the above information] + ES’HAIL-2: HAMS GET THEIR FIRST GEOSYNCHRONOUS REPEATER https://tinyurl.com/ANS083-ESHAIL-Repaeter [ANS thanks Mark KØJM for the above information] + CubeSat] CubeSat Job Opening Please see below for a postdoctoral fellowship opening for a CubeSat project. Please forward to anyone you think may be interested. The job will be posted on the HR site (jobs.rhodes.edu) shortly. I will be at the workshop next month and can meet with any interested persons. [ANS thanks Ann M. Viano, Ph.D., Rhodes College for the above information] + New HackSpace magazine available for download Issue 17 of the free magazine HackSpace features Long-range radio communications made easy with LoRa This issue includes: • Long-range radio communications made easy with LoRa • Adafruit (Limor Fried AC2SN) Feather M0 RFM96 LoRa Radio 433 MHz • Jo Hinchliffe MW6CYK describes how to lay out a simple PCB in KiCad • Go further together by Dr Lucy Rogers M6CME Download the free PDF of HackSpace issue 17 April 2019 from https://hackspace.raspberrypi.org/issues [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM aa8em at amsat dot org

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ANS-076 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne K9JKM 16 Mar '19

16 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-076 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers * Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS * 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award * Lilacsat-1 LO-90 Re-entry Commemorative Competition * ARRL TI-2 Teachers Institute Includes Amateur Satellite Telemetry * ARRL Supports No Change to Table of Allocations for 45.5 - 47 and 47 - 47.2 GHz Bands * Upcoming Satellite Operations * AMSAT-DL QO-100 Up- and Downconverter Kit Modifications Announcement * Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution This Week * Satellite/AMSAT Presentation at Phoenix AZ - March 21, 2019 * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 2019 * GPS Network May Experience Errors in "Week Number" Rollover * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-076.01 ANS-076 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 076.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 17, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-076.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT relies on your donations to Keep Amateur Radio in Space Please consider a one-time or recurring donation today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers Last year, we had about 40 people assist with the AMSAT booth at the Hamvention. It was the efforts of those volunteers that made the 2018 Dayton Hamvention a success for AMSAT. The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. The 2019 Hamvention is May 17-19 at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio. Would you consider helping AMSAT at the Hamvention this year? Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Phil, w1eme(a)amsat.org if you can help. [ANS Thanks W1EME for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio, ensure reliable packet operations and to keep the immensely popular SSTV operations running. We have reached a great milestone with $17,255 raised or about 12% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! ARISS has a lot of exciting upgrades to the ISS Radio system coming up. And we are in the expensive fabrication and testing phase right now. So every dollar counts!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS March 6, 2019 — The ARISS-US team (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will auction two very unusual items in its first-ever auction! Picture yourself as the winning bidder and proud owner of a unique JVC Kenwood TS-890S signed by astronauts! Or, you could be top bidder on a special astronaut-signed 6-volume boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook! Bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. You could own this one-of-a-kind beautiful Kenwood TS-890S; your ham station would boast the only Kenwood in the world showcasing astronaut signatures. Your top bid on the limited edition boxed-set 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications would mean your bookshelf includes astronaut signatures among your book collection. JVC Kenwood, a proud supporter of ARISS, generously gave a brand new TS-890S for ARISS to auction. They first offered the radio for sale in the US in the last half of 2018. Kenwood has been a super support- er of ARISS for years, and it was the company’s idea for this radio, with astronaut signatures, to be an exclusive that just one ham opera- tor could own! The company hopes you’ll be a bidder who wants to sup- port ARISS. The limited edition 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications sold out fast once ARRL posted their ad. It was the first time that ARRL divided the Handbook into volumes, which nestle in a hard slipcase. ARRL, an ARISS sponsor along with AMSAT and NASA, saved back one boxed set to give ARISS for the fund-raiser auction. When you bid in this auction you could be the crucial person who helps ARISS launch its new custom-built higher-power radio system in 2019 with its voice repeater and improved packet APRS and SSTV capability that thousands of hams enjoy. The new system will replace the aging, problematic units currently on the ISS. You may be the winning bidder who helps ARISS continue introducing ham radio to thousands of students, teachers, parents, and whole communities—and inspiring students about science, technology, engineering, math, and radio! Don't forget; set yourself a reminder: bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. Be the winning bidder for one or both of these two exclusive offerings and you’ll own a rare article that makes your ham station a classic! More auction details will soon be posted at www.ariss.org including that winning bidders will be responsible for shipping costs and for handling any required customs paperwork. ARISS thanked JVC Kenwood and ARRL for their generous support. And if you don’t do auctions, please contribute a donation to help ARISS launch its new radio system into space—look for the Donate but- ton near the top right corner of the www.ariss.org page. Thank you! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coopera- tive venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation ( AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Center for the Advancement of Science in space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educa- tors, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn at amsat.org [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 2019 marks AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. To help celebrate, we are sponsoring the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program. Full details are available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards says the 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award is now online: https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ Unlike the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award, the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award will be issued on one of the original goldenrod paper stock certi- ficates and signed by AMSAT’s founding President, Perry Klein, K3JTE (now W3PK). With only 20 original certificates available, this award will certainly become a collector’s item. The first 20 applicants to successfully submit 20 confirmed, qual- ifying contacts on any satellite will receive this award. A qualifying contact is defined as the establishment of two-way communication on any amateur radio satellite, with another station in a U.S. state, Canadian call area, or DXCC entity, no two of which may be the same. A U.S. state shall mean any state of the United States and the District of Columbia. All contacts must be made between March 03, 2019 00:00 UTC and December 31, 2019 23:59 UTC. Refer to the 50th Anniversary Awards program page (above) for the complete set of requirements and sub- mission instructions. As of March 15 Bruce says he issued 50th Anniversary Satellite Communication Achievement Awards to these satellite operators: Award # Callsign ------- -------- 590 W5RKN 591 K7TAB 592 KG5GJT 593 KB6LTY 594 KC9VGG 595 K6FW 596 N1RCN 597 K5IX 598 WD9EWK 599 KI7UNJ 601 VA3NNA (Award #600 was not a 50th certificate and went to W5RTX.) There are 9 more 50th Anniversary Anniversary Satellite Communication Achievement Awards still available. [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Lilacsat-1 LO-90 Re-entry Commemorative Competition Wei Mingchuan, BG2BHC, at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China says LO-90 (Lilacsat-1) is about to re-enter so the LO-90 team has announced the Lilacsat-1 Commemorative Competition (LOCC). Use Google translate to learn more of Lilacsat-1 at: http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/wp/ The contest period begins on March 16, 2019 at 00:00 UTC and con- tinues until Lilacsat-1 re-enters. The competition consists of two operating categories: + Amateur Radio Telemetry Group - Receive and upload as many telemetry packets as possible within the competition period. + Amateur Radio Communication Group - Make as many bidirectional QSO as possible in as many grid locator as possible within the competition period. For the telemetry competition each successfully uploaded telemetry packet to the Harbin Institute of Technology server counts as one point. BG2BHC advises there is a change to the Lilacsat-1 telemetry upload proxy address. Those using http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn should change it to http://data.lilacsat.online in proxy window of the dashboard. For the amateur radio communication competition a bidirectional contact consists on exchange of callsign and grid locator. Each QSO will count as one point. Each different grid counts as one multiplier. Duplicate QSOs with the same callsign do not count. Scoring and Awards ------------------ In the Amateur Radio Telemetry Group: final score = basic point which is the total number of telemetry packets uploaded. All telemetry data uploaded qualifies for a LilacSat-1 QSL card. In the Amateur Radio Communication Group: final score = basic point * multiplier + China: top 3 certificates issued. + World: Top 10 certificates issued. + The ham who receives the last downlink signal in the world and successfully uploads it to the server will receive a special gift. + Honor stickers - portable stations set up and operated in the field for this contest will receive a "Fiel " sticker affixed to the certificate. (Include a photo of the portable station.) The LO-90 team will publish the telemetry package list received from March 16, 2019 00:00 UTC to LilacSat-1 re-entry. Telemetry participants should send an e-mail with your callsign and address to: locc(a)lilacsat.online. (no later than April 30, 2019 00:00 UTC) Communication category participants should submit logs in Cabrillo or Excel XLS format containing your e-mail address, sent/received exchange information, UTC time of QSO. Send logs and information to locc(a)lilacsat.online no later than April 30, 2019 00:00 UTC. Include your photo of portable operation if applicable. LO-90 (LilacSat-1) operates on an FM uplink with a Codec2 digital voice downlink. A Linux Live ISO image with the decoder can be downloaded from: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-074-LO90-LiveCD (This will also work on Windows systems by booting off of the Linux Live CD. Then you reboot back into Windows when the pass is completed.) LO-90 Lilacsat-1 (http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/wp/?page_id=594) Uplink: 145.985 MHz FM Downlink: 436.510 MHz Codec2 digital voice Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, has documented his LO-90 operating setup in his article, "Digital Voice on Amateur Satellites: Experiences With Lilacsat-OSCAR 90", published in the January/February 2019 issue of the AMSAT Journal. A PDF copy of this article can also be accessed on AMSAT's Station and Operating Hints page: to https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ AMSAT-UK has posted an article about Lilacsat-1 at: https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/lilacsat-1/ Orbital evolution estimates for Lilacsat-1 posted on DK3WN's page indicate re-entry around March 31: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=93929 [ANS thanks the LO-90 team and the Harbin Institue of Technolgy 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 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ ARRL TI-2 Teachers Institute Includes Amateur Satellite Telemetry The ARRL announced 2019 Teachers Institutes on Wireless Technology sessions. As part of its educational outreach through the Education & Technology Program (ETP), ARRL will offer week-long sessions of the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology in July at ARRL Head- quarters in Newington, Connecticut. Applicants to the advanced TI-2 “Remote Sensing and Data Gathering” workshop are required to have completed TI-1 and be licensed Amateur Radio operators. Interested educators can find all the details and apply online at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-ARRL-TI2 The TI-2 “Remote Sensing and Data Gathering” workshop will concen- trate on analog-to-digital conversion and data sampling. Partici- pants will receive telemetry from Amateur Radio satellites and apply it to math and science topics. TI-2 participants are also introduced to a marine research buoy equipped with environmental sensors and taught how to create a similar design with a microcontroller to sample the data, configure it for Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) transmission, and receive and upload data to a spreadsheet for analysis. For more information, contact ARRL Lifelong Learning Manager Kris Bickell, K1BIC, at ARRL Headquarters. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Supports No Change to Table of Allocations for 45.5 - 47 and 47 - 47.2 GHz Bands The FCC has opened a brief window for public comment on recommendations approved by the World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee (WAC). Comments are due March 18 on International Bureau Docket 16-185. The FCC said the short comment period was necessary to allow time to finalize the US position for submission to the upcoming meeting of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). The Public Notice can be found in PDF format at, https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-172A1.pdf . Addressing WRC-19 Agenda Item 1.13, which serves to identify spectrum above 24.25 GHz that may be designated for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), ARRL has recommended no change in the 45.5 - 47 and 47 - 47.2 GHz bands, with hopes that commenters will agree. The 47 - 47.2 GHz band is allocated to the Amateur and Amateur Satellite services. ARRL and other no-change proponents point out that no sharing and compatibility studies were performed between IMT-2020 systems and the relevant incumbent services in the 45.5 - 47 GHz and 47 - 47.2 GHz bands, although sharing and compatibility studies for a number of incumbent services were required under Resolution 238 of World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15). "In the absence of ITU Radiocommunication Sector studies, the only sustainable conclusion is that it has not been demonstrated that the incumbent services in either band - the Mobile-Satellite Service, the Radionavigation Service, and the Radionavigation-Satellite Service in the 45.5 - 47 GHz band, and the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services in the 47 - 47.2 GHz band - can be protected, as required by Resolution 238," asserts the proponents of View B, which sides with no change to the current allocations. "In this regard, the View A proposal to identify mobile spectrum in the 45.5 - 47 GHz band for the terrestrial component of IMT, and to allocate spectrum in the 47 - 47.2 GHz band to the mobile service and identify the same for the terrestrial component of IMT, is fatally flawed. The absence of studies in the responsible ITU-R task group leaves the proposals unsubstantiated and incapable of adoption." View B proponents, including ARRL, are urging the FCC to accept the proposals of the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) for no change to the Table of Allocations in the 45.5 - 47 GHz and 47 - 47.2 GHz bands. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations + Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) – February 3, to March 29, 2019 Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008). Time and weather permitting, they expect to be on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/vy0erc. + Radio Club de Heredia (EK70/EJ79) – March 17, 2019 Vic (TI2VLM), Octavio (TI3ATS), and Minor (TI2YO) will activate the EK70,EJ79 gridline at the Radio Club de Heredia, TI0RHU 30th Anniver- sary Field Day. Planned satellite passes are: AO-92 @ 13:27z, SO-50 at 16:37z, and AO-91 @ 17:47z. Watch for further announcements on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ti2vlm and https://twitter.com/OctavioAraya. + Key West, FL (EL94) – March 18-21, 2019 Adam, K0FFY, will be in Florida Keys on March 18 through 21, activating EL94 vacation-style. Adam’s taking his linear gear to see who he can hear East and South of that location If you still need EL94 please send direct message or email. Otherwise, he’ll be announcing on Twitter https://twitter.com/K0FFY_Radio + Ontario (EN93,EN94,FN03, FN04) – March 18-21, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, with his tire still warm from his last roving trip, is heading to Ontario, March 28th for a one day, four grid, special. Ron will tweet passes the day of the rove, which will most likely be morning passes. Follow Ron on his journey at https://twitter.com/ad0dx Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert, KE4AL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-DL QO-100 Up- and Downconverter Kit Modifications Announcement AMSAT-DL has recommended a modification to their QO-100 Upconvert- er and Downconverter kits which were shipped prior to March 1 to improve performance of the uplink SSB transmit signal and address reduced gain of the downlink wide-band DATV reception. Refer to AMSAT-DL's post at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-AMSAT-DL-Converter Kits being shipped currently will already have the modification. The changes primarily affect the wide-band DATV signal so the users of the narrow-band CW/SSB only operations are less affected. Users able to perform the modification themselves will find the instructions posted at: https://amsat-dl.org/en/fix-fuer-qo-100-downconverter For users unable to make the modification themselves AMSAT-DL says instructions for exchange of the old kits will be published soon. [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution This Week Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, noted changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE distribution this week. Exseed, Irvine 2 and VisionCube cubesats are not transmitting. They are part of the SpaceX SSO-A 12-03-2019 mission. Since they are not transmitting, the remaining objects listed by Space-Track are either one of these three non-transmitting amateur satellites or they are non-amateur satellites. Therefore, the remaining unidentified satel- lites on the SpaceX AAO-A mission can be removed from the AMSAT-NA TLE distribution. The following satellites have been removed from this week's AMSAT TLE distribution: OBJECT D - CAT ID 43761 OBJECT P - CAT ID 43771 OBJECT T - CAT ID 43775 OBJECT U - CAT ID 43776 OBJECT W - CAT ID 43778 OBJECT X - CAT ID 43779 OBJECT AH - CAT ID 43789 OBJECT AV - CAT ID 43801 OBJECT BA - CAT ID 43806 OBJECT BD - CAT ID 43809 OBJECT BE - CAT ID 43810 OBJECT BS - CAT ID 43822 [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite/AMSAT Presentation at Phoenix AZ - March 21, 2019 Patrick, WD9EWK, will give a how-to presentation on working amateur satellites and AMSAT at the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club's monthly meeting on Thursday, March 21, 2019. The meeting site is room 147 at the North Valley campus of Northern Arizona University, 15451 N. 28th Drive in Phoenix AZ (northwest corner of I-17 and Greenway Road). More information is available at: http://www.w7tbc.org/content.php?128-general Patrick plans to demonstrate satellite operating depending on how the meeting goes. Possible passes that evening include SO-50 around 7:55pm (0255 UTC), a low AO-92 pass at 8:42pm (0342 UTC), and another SO-50 pass at 9:35pm (0435 UTC). If WD9EWK is on any of those passes, please feel free to give him a call and be a part of the demonstrations. The meeting site is in grid DM33. QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, and QSL cards are available on request (please e-mail WD9EWK directly with QSO details if you would like a QSL card). [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 2019 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period February 1, 2019 through March 1, 2019. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! There were lots of new Not-in-my-home-grid awards this month. CALL 01Feb 01Mar ------- ----- ----- WC7V 1199 1200 AA5PK 1049 1055 WD9EWK 525 537 NS3L 375 400 AF5CC 351 381 AE5B 342 368 KE8FZT 275 301 W7JSD 257 279 K9UO 202 225 WB7VUF 107 206 N2NL New 179 N1PEB 125 138 WD9EWK(DM22) 108 131 W5PFG(DM80) New 125 WD9EWK(DM31) New 110 W5PFG(DM95) 100 109 TI2VLM New 106 W5PFG(DM93) New 105 KS1G New 102 PU4JOE New 101 W1OH New 101 If you find errors or omissions please contact Ron off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and he'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, W5RKN, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- GPS Network May Experience Errors in "Week Number" Rollover The GPS network will encounter a small millennium bug of its own in April when the network's "week number" rolls back to zero. This known issue especially could affect those who use GPS to obtain accurate Coordinated Universal Time. In the GPS network, the number of the current week is encoded into the message the GPS receives using a 10-bit field. This allows for weeks ranging from zero to 1023. The current period began on August 1, 1999. On April 6, 2019, the week number rolls over to zero and starts counting back up to 1023. This should not affect later-model GPS receivers that conform to IS-GPS-200 and provide UTC, but testing carried out by the US Department for Homeland Security raised the possibility that some units may misinterpret the rollover, shifting the date back to January 6, 1980, or possibly to another incorrect date. An affected GPS not only may report the incorrect date, but time accuracy that is critical to precise location data could be compromised. A nanosecond error in GPS time can equate to 1 foot of position or ranging error, according to DHS-published guidelines that explain the issue and suggest how to address it. View the offi- cial release at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-DHS-GPSRollover [ANS thanks the Department of Homeland Security, National Cyber- security & Communications Integration Center for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members will receive a free digital copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Satellite Shorts From All Over + Congratulations to these stations for establishing a new distance record via satellite: > FalconSAT-3 (V/U Digipeater) – 3,157 km. KE8AKW in EN80xv with KB6LTY in DM14jl. 15-Mar-2019 at 00:41 UTC. > AO-92 (L/V) – 3,626 km. WD9EWK in DM43bl with N1JEZ in FN44ar. 15-Apr-2018 at 16:36 UTC. Visit the distance records page at: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ + The engineering beacon on Es'Hail QO-100 is active. Legacy software that decoded the AO-40 beacon will also work on QO-100: http://www.moetronix.com/ae4jy/ao40rcv.htm If QO-100 is out of range for your station use the WebSDR at: https://eshail.batc.org/.uk/nb/ and tune the receiver to the Upper Beacon. + AMSAT's Fox Operating Guide hamfest and demo handout sheet has been updated to reflect the current operational status of AO-85 and AO-95. The high and low resolution PDF files are available on their links at: https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ + It is possible to search AMSAT's archives (amsat-bb and ANS) by using the "site:" command in Google. For example, to find all mentions of the word "Diplexer" in amsat-bb, type this line into a browser opened to the Google front page: Diplexer site:http://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb To restrict the search to a particular year, type Diplexer site:http://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2014 The AMSAT News Service (ANS) archives are searchable in a similar manner (for example hamvention in 2016): hamvention site:http://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2016 (Thanks to Dan Schultz N8FGV) + On-line tweets indicate that the Philippine Diwata-2 satellite carrying an amateur radio FM transponder and APRS digipeater may be activated around March 29. The IARU has coordinated an FM downlink for voice, APRS and telemetry on 145.900 MHz and an FM voice uplink on 437.500 MHz. Additional Diwata-2 information is posted at: http://phl-microsat.upd.edu.ph/diwata2 https://www.facebook.com/PHLMicrosat + If you have lost you authorisation code for the AMSAT-UK FUNcube dashboards, there is a page on which you can request this code to be sent to your registered email address. See: http://data.badgersoft.com/recover-authcode (via G4DPZ) + Check out IZ5RZR's Two SatNOGS Satellite Rotators video posted at: https://youtu.be/tcdItBsMnC0 + The Internet Archive site makes all issues of 73 Magazine available: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-074-InternetArchive-73 Tools at https://mikeyancey.com/73mag/index.php offer indexed searches of the archive. + The March PDF of the weather satellite publication 'GEO News- letter' produced by the Group for Earth Observation is now available for free download. The Group for Earth Observation's aim is to enable amateur reception of weather and earth imaging satellites that are in orbit or planned for launch in the near future. Membership in GEO is free. Among the articles in this newsletter is How to "Receive X-Band Weather Satellites" by Jean-Luc Milette. Download the March 2019 GEO Newsletter from http://www.geo-web.org.uk/geoquarterly.php + Papers for IARU-R1 Vienna meeting can be accessed at: https://vienna.iaru-r1.org/conference-documents/c4/ > C4-002 bandplanning 15m satellites https://vienna.iaru-r1.org/conference-documents/c5/ > C5-011 @G3VZV Satellite Coordinator’s Report > C5-011 Annex to SCR > C5-012 2400 MHz satellite bandplanning > C5-029 Amateur Satellites + On March 14 NASA announced the projects selected in the 10th round of candidates for CubeSat space missions: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-076-NASA-10th-Round None of these satellites were found on the IARU Coordination pages at this time. + A free PDF of the current Raspberry Pi focused magazine, MagPi, issue 79, for March, 2019 is available now at: https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/issues/79/ The next issue of MagPi will feature articles on Amateur Radio Projects in issue 80, available for free download starting on March 28. + The March 2019 Edition of SatMagazine is provided free by Satnews Publishers and is available to read online or download at: http://www.satmagazine.com/ + The March 2019 issue of CQ DATV magazine is available for download at: https://cq-datv.mobi/69.php + The 2019 Cubesat Developers Workshop will be held April 23-25, 2019 at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center, San Luis Obispo, CA The schedule and additional information is posted at: http://www.cubesat.org/workshop-information [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

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ANS-069 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Paul Stoetzer 10 Mar '19

10 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-069 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: * Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS * AMSAT-F Space Meeting is First Live DATV Conference via QO-100 * GNU Licensed KLog Logbook Software v.0.9.7 Released * How to Support AMSAT * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-069.01 ANS-069 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 034.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 10, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-069.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT relies on your donations to Keep Amateur Radio in Space Please consider a one-time or recurring donation today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS March 6, 2019 — The ARISS-US team (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will auction two very unusual items in its first-ever auction! Picture yourself as the winning bidder and proud owner of a unique JVC Kenwood TS-890S signed by astronauts! Or, you could be top bidder on a special astronaut-signed 6-volume boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook! Bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. You could own this one-of-a-kind beautiful Kenwood TS-890S; your ham station would boast the only Kenwood in the world showcasing astronaut signatures. Your top bid on the limited edition boxed-set 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications would mean your bookshelf includes astronaut signatures among your book collection. JVC Kenwood, a proud supporter of ARISS, generously gave a brand new TS-890S for ARISS to auction. They first offered the radio for sale in the US in the last half of 2018. Kenwood has been a super support- er of ARISS for years, and it was the company’s idea for this radio, with astronaut signatures, to be an exclusive that just one ham opera- tor could own! The company hopes you’ll be a bidder who wants to sup- port ARISS. The limited edition 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications sold out fast once ARRL posted their ad. It was the first time that ARRL divided the Handbook into volumes, which nestle in a hard slipcase. ARRL, an ARISS sponsor along with AMSAT and NASA, saved back one boxed set to give ARISS for the fund-raiser auction. When you bid in this auction you could be the crucial person who helps ARISS launch its new custom-built higher-power radio system in 2019 with its voice repeater and improved packet APRS and SSTV capability that thousands of hams enjoy. The new system will replace the aging, problematic units currently on the ISS. You may be the winning bidder who helps ARISS continue introducing ham radio to thousands of students, teachers, parents, and whole communities—and inspiring students about science, technology, engineering, math, and radio! Don't forget; set yourself a reminder: bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. Be the winning bidder for one or both of these two exclusive offerings and you’ll own a rare article that makes your ham station a classic! More auction details will soon be posted at www.ariss.org including that winning bidders will be responsible for shipping costs and for handling any required customs paperwork. ARISS thanked JVC Kenwood and ARRL for their generous support. And if you don’t do auctions, please contribute a donation to help ARISS launch its new radio system into space—look for the Donate but- ton near the top right corner of the www.ariss.org page. Thank you! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coopera- tive venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation ( AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Center for the Advancement of Science in space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educa- tors, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn at amsat.org [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-F Space Meeting is First Live DATV Conference via QO-100 AMSAT-Francophone offered live DATV video of their 2nd Space Meeting on March 9-10, 2019. AMSAT-F (http://site.amsat-f.org/) and Electrolab (https://www.electrolab.fr/) have deployed a DATV ground station to operate via the QO-100 transponder. The DATV team led by Yannick Avelino and with the support of Evariste, F5OEO developed the station that will transmit live the conference. The team was in contact with AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK for permission to operate the satellite during these days. They thank AMSAT-DL for allowing these transmissions. [ANS thanks AMSAT-Francophone for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 2019 marks AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. To help celebrate, we are sponsoring the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program. Full details are available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ GNU Licensed KLog Logbook Software v.0.9.7 Released Jaime, EA4TV, released KLog v.0.9.7, a multiplatform free hamradio logging program which is able to run in Linux, Windows and macOS. The latest release allows the user to add, remove or edit satel- lites to the KLog DB allowing import or export of satellites data. KLog supports ADIF as a default file format. Additional features of KLog include QSO management, QSL management, a DX-Cluster client, DXCC management, ClubLog integration, WSJT-X, and DX-Marathon support. Several languages are supported including Catalan, Croatian, Danish, English, Finish, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. Additional information and access to downloads can be found at: https://www.klog.xyz/ [ANS thanks Jaime, EA4TV 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 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ How to Support AMSAT AMSAT relies on the support of our members and the amateur radio community to Keep Amateur Radio in Space. How can you help? *Join AMSAT Both you and AMSAT will benefit when you join. You get the AMSAT Journal bimonthly and support from AMSAT Ambassadors. Member dues and donations provide AMSAT’s primary support. Join today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ *Become a Life Member Becoming a Life Member has never been easier. Now you can become a Life Member with 12 monthly payments of $74 through our online store. See https://www.amsat.org/product/lifetime-membership/ for details. *Donate to AMSAT Make a one time or recurring donation to AMSAT today. Even as little as one dollar a month can make a difference! Donate today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ *Purchase AMSAT gear on our Zazzle storefront. AMSAT receives 25% of the price of each sale on AMSAT logo merchandise from our Zazzle storefront located at https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear *Volunteer for AMSAT AMSAT relies on volunteers for nearly all of our activities. If you have an idea for how to help, please let us know, Details on volunteering can be found at https://www.amsat.org/volunteer-for-amsat/ [ANS thanks AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $17,255 raised or about 12% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations +Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) February 3, to March 29, 2019 Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008), February 3 until March 29, 2019. Time and weather permitting, they expect to be on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vy0erc. +Poland, Lithuania, Kaliningrad, St Petersburg, Aland Island, and Finland February 24 to March 13, 2019 I am on the first of four flights now on the way for another one of my signature trips. This voyage will take me to Poland (Feb 24-28), Lithuania (Feb 28-Mar 4), Kaliningrad (Mar 4-7), Saint Petersburg (Mar 7-11), Åland Islands (Mar 11-13), and Helsinki (Mar 13-14). I think the most desired entities are going to be UA2 and OH0 (unfortunately OH0 is gonna be quick, get in in the evening and leave in a morning, so two nights and one full day). I’m hoping to make US contacts from every entity and will try to hit as many grids as feasible (I’ll have a car in Vilnius and Kaliningrad), but good transatlantic locations will take precedence over grids. Don’t expect me on every pass, I’m traveling with family and we’ll be doing touristy stuff, but I’ll make my best effort to be on the great AO-7 and FO-29 passes across the ocean, updates will be on Twitter @AL6D_Alaska. I’m operating ninja portable like the good ole days, QRP with two FT-817NDs and an arrow, hopefully that doesn’t attract too much negative attention from customs in Russia. 73, Gabe “Harambe” Zeifman AL6D/VE6NJH/Harambe1 +France (JN07) March 10, 2019 Jérôme, F4DXV, will be in JN07 on Sunday with his family. Due to the rarity of this grid on amateur satellites, Jérôme hopes to be on the 16:55 utc AO-7 pass for South American and North American grid chasers. Being part of a family trip, keep an eye on Jérôme’s Twitter feed for updates: https://twitter.com/F4DXV [ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members will receive a free digital copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Satellite Shorts from All Over + AMSAT has secured permission to redistribute orbital data provided by the US Department of Defense Joint Force Space Component Commander for another year. Thanks to the work of Ray Hoad, WA5QGD and Perry Klein, W3PK, the world's best source of orbital elements for amateur radio satellites will continue via the KEPS mailing list and www.amsat.org/tle/ + Eduardo, PY2RN, in Brazil reports working RAST club station HS0AJ in Bangkok, Thailand via QO-100. The distance between PY2RN in GG66lw and HS0AJ in OK03fp is 16,445.3 km. (Via PY2RN on the AMSAT Facebook page) + A new distance record was claimed on IO-86's FM transponder: 5,157 km. PU4JOE in GH91ac <> @hp2vx in FJ09ga. 02-Mar-2019 at 17:25 UTC https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ (Via N8HM) + Radio World has published an article about amateur radio and ARISS by Brian Clark, KF6FES. Read it at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-069-RW + K5EM has added a zoomable grid map on his satmatch.com site: https://www.satmatch.com/maiden It works like the other google maps - the more you zoom in the more detail you get. (Via K5EM) + JAMSAT has posted a video demonstrating the FO-99(NEXUS) Digitalker. View it at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-069-FO99 (via JAMSAT) + In ANS-061, it was reported that the University of Virginia's CubeSat constellation due for launch next month will carry UHF packet repeaters. However, due to licensing issues, the satellites will operate in non-amateur spectrum at 401 MHz. KQ9P, from the UVA team reports that they are hopeful that their next CubeSat project will carry an amateur payload. (via KQ9P) --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT 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, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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ANS-065 Special Bulletin - ARISS Auction
by Mark D. Johns 06 Mar '19

06 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE Special Bulletin - ARISS Auction ANS-065 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.01 ANS-065 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin 037.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE March 6, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-065.01 Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS March 6, 2019 — The ARISS-US team (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will auction two very unusual items in its first-ever auction! Picture yourself as the winning bidder and proud owner of a unique JVC Kenwood TS-890S signed by astronauts! Or, you could be top bidder on a special astronaut-signed 6-volume boxed set 2019 ARRL Handbook! Bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. You could own this one-of-a-kind beautiful Kenwood TS-890S; your ham station would boast the only Kenwood in the world showcasing astronaut signatures. Your top bid on the limited edition boxed-set 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications would mean your bookshelf includes astronaut signatures among your book collection. JVC Kenwood, a proud supporter of ARISS, generously gave a brand new TS-890S for ARISS to auction. They first offered the radio for sale in the US in the last half of 2018. Kenwood has been a super support- er of ARISS for years, and it was the company’s idea for this radio, with astronaut signatures, to be an exclusive that just one ham opera- tor could own! The company hopes you’ll be a bidder who wants to sup- port ARISS. The limited edition 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications sold out fast once ARRL posted their ad. It was the first time that ARRL divided the Handbook into volumes, which nestle in a hard slipcase. ARRL, an ARISS sponsor along with AMSAT and NASA, saved back one boxed set to give ARISS for the fund-raiser auction. When you bid in this auction you could be the crucial person who helps ARISS launch its new custom-built higher-power radio system in 2019 with its voice repeater and improved packet APRS and SSTV capability that thousands of hams enjoy. The new system will replace the aging, problematic units currently on the ISS. You may be the winning bidder who helps ARISS continue introducing ham radio to thousands of students, teachers, parents, and whole communities—and inspiring students about science, technology, engineering, math, and radio! Don't forget; set yourself a reminder: bidding starts April 8th at 12:00 UTC and ends April 14th at 22:00 UTC. Be the winning bidder for one or both of these two exclusive offerings and you’ll own a rare article that makes your ham station a classic! More auction details will soon be posted at www.ariss.org including that winning bidders will be responsible for shipping costs and for handling any required customs paperwork. ARISS thanked JVC Kenwood and ARRL for their generous support. And if you don’t do auctions, please contribute a donation to help ARISS launch its new radio system into space—look for the Donate but- ton near the top right corner of the www.ariss.org page. Thank you! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coopera- tive venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation ( AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Center for the Advancement of Science in space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educa- tors, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org

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ANS-061 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
by Mark D. Johns 03 Mar '19

03 Mar '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-061 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Call for Volunteers - AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention * JAMSAT Announces 2019 Symposium, March 16-17 * SatNOGS Client and gr-satnogs Updates * ARISS News -- Reports Requested * "Off to the Motherland" Rove * Activating Northern Maine Grids - March 2-3 * Summer Internship Positions Open in the SpaceSTEM Program * Virginia Cubesat Constellation Moves Forward * New ‘NASA Science Live’ Program Premiers This Week * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-061.01 ANS-061 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 061.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. March 2, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-061.01 Call for Volunteers - AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention The 2019 Hamvention will be held on May 17-19 2019 at Greene County Fairground and Expo Center in Xenia Ohio. If you're available we can also use your help for setup operations on May 16. Planning is under way for AMSAT's participation. We are looking for volunteers in the following areas: + Volunteer Assistant + Sales Assistant + Outdoor Demo Assistant + Facilities and Setup Assistant. Interested Hams should contact Team Leader Phil Smith via email at w1eme at amsat.org for information. [ANS Thanks W1EME for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMSAT Announces 2019 Symposium to be Held March 16-17 The 2019 JAMSAT Symposium will be held on March 16-17 at the Hotel Binario Saga Arashiyama in Kyoto, Japan. JAMSAT invites anyone inter- ested in the satellite communication to participate in the symposium and social gathering. The Symposium will offer a lot of content about the NEXUS satellite jointly developed with Nihon University. The entire program has been posted at: https://tinyurl.com/y6n7pcf9 Activities planned for Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17: Saturday: 12:30 - 13:15 General Assembly for JAMSAT members only 13:30 - 18:30 Symposium Activities 18:00 - Banquet and Reception Sunday: 08:45 - 13:15 Symposium Activities 14:15 - 16:45 GNU Radio Exercise (advance registration required) Participation in the Symposium is free. The cost of the banquet and reception is 5000 yen with a registration deadline of March 2. The contact for more information is jh3bum(a)gmail.com [ANS thanks JAMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SatNOGS Client and gr-satnogs Updates SatNOGs has announced new releases for satnogs-client 3 and gr-satnogs 4 for Raspbery Pi 3 and Debian operating systems. Notable changes on satnogs-client: * Support demodulator for Reaktor Hello World 2 satellite * Sent observation frequency in metadata * Add option for manual power level range in waterfall (there is an issue with this one, there will be an update in satnogs-client- ansible 2 later that will fix this.) Notable changes on gr-satnogs: * Golay (24, 12) decoder * Demodulating flowgraph for the Reacktor Hello World Satellite * Fix of the baud rate issue in BPSK gr-script For installation or upgrade information, see the wiki at: https://tinyurl.com/yytxwge5 [ANS thanks https://satnogs.org/news/ for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) News Reports requested: An ARISS contact with Huntington High School, Huntington, TX, direct via KI5AJL on Monday 2019-02-25 at 19:39 UTC was unsuccessful. ARISS is attempting to determine what happened and welcomes SWL reports. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Ceip Nuestra Señora Del Carmen, Torre De La Reina, Spain on 05 Mar. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:50 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and EG7NSC. The contact should be audible over Spain and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The con- tact is expected to be conducted in English. ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.80 MHz. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Please send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. ARISS Contact Application window for the United States open in the spring of 2019. See the ARISS webpage at http://www.ariss.org/ for details. ARISS would be particularly interested in applications from the following US states and entities that have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mari- anas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. [ANS thanks AJ9N and AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Off to the Motherland" Rove Gabe Zeifman, AL6D/VE6NJH wrote to AMSAT-BB on February 23: "I am on the first of four flights now on the way for another one of my signature trips. This voyage will take me to Poland (Feb 24-28), Lithuania(Feb 28-Mar 4), Kaliningrad (Mar 4-7), Saint Petersburg (Mar 7-11), Åland Islands (Mar 11-13), and Helsinki (Mar 13-14). I think the most desired entities are going to be UA2 and OH0 (unfortunately OH0 is gonna be quick, get in in the evening and leave in a morning, so two nights and one full day). I’m hoping to make US contacts from every entity and will try to hit as many grids as feasible (I’ll have a car in Vilnius and Kaliningrad), but good transatlantic locations will take precedence over grids. Don’t expect me on every pass, I’m traveling with family and we’ll be doing touristy stuff, but I’ll make my best effort to be on the great AO-7 and FO-29 passes across the ocean, updates will be on Twitter @AL6D_Alaska. I’m operating ninja portable like the good ole days, QRP with two FT-817NDs and an arrow, hopefully that doesn’t attract too much negative attention from customs in Russia." [ANS thanks AL6D for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Activating Northern Maine Grids - March 2-3 Clayton, W5PFG writes, "Between ~03:00 UTC March 2 thru ~17:00 UTC March 3, I will operate satellites /TM (Tobaggan Mobile) thru grids FN54, FN55, FN56, FN57, FN66, and FN67. I plan to activate the FN54/55, FN56/66, and FN57/67 grid lines I've used on previous Maine expedi- tions. This will be a fast-paced trip and I don't anticipate working every bird or every pass. I will stop to sleep, drink, and eat. Weather will be a huge factor. Like many of my activations, it's recommended you monitor my @w5pfg Twitter feed for the latest information." [ANS thanks W5PFG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer Internship Positions Open in the SpaceSTEM Program ESTCube is calling all space enthusiasts! The SpaceTEM application period for internships in Estonian and Latvian space technology entities for the summer of 2019 has begun! Challenge yourself and enjoy this summer by being a part of an amazing space adventure - SpaceTEM '19! SpaceTEM is a new EstLat project which aims to initiate the development of NewSpace industry in Estonia and Latvia through a series of mutual activities. If you are interested in space technologies, innovation, and entrepreneurship, this intern- ship is a great opportunity for you! There are over 50 topics to choose from - from building 3D printers to developing soft- ware for ESTCube-2. More information can be found at this link: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-062-SpaceSTEM To apply, fill in the internship form and send your CV and moti- vational letter (for additional bonus points you can also add a link to any project you have been a part of so far) to: spacetem_internship(a)venta.lv The application deadline is March 31, 2019. Chosen interns will be announced from the middle of April until the beginning of May, 2019. [ANS thanks ESTCube for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Virginia CubeSat Constellation Moves Forward A project built by a team of University of Virginia engineering students took step toward outer space this week when they and student colleagues from Old Dominion University and Virginia Tech delivered three CubeSats to NanoRacks, an aerospace company in Houston. NanoRocks will integrate the CubeSats into a deployer aboard a rocket set for launch next month to the International Space Station. The satellites are part of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation mission, a collaborative project of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and its four member universities (which also includes Hampton University). The three nano-satellites, each carrying a UHF packet repeater for amateur use, were developed by engineering students to obtain measurements of the properties of the Earth’s atmosphere to quantify atmospheric den- sity. Full article available at: https://tinyurl.com/y3u7skkl [ANS thanks news.virginia.edu for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SpaceCube near the end, request to receive the last telemetry Jean Guérard, from the Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (France), ONERA, asks all those who have the opportunity to record the latest SpaceCube telemetry frames. Launched in May 2017, SpaceCube is expected to disintegrate sometime around March 1, 2019. The frequency is 436,880 MHz, AFSK modulation 1k2, AX25 mode. Note: The frames are not decodable, it is therefore requested to re- cord the audio signal of the satellite and to send it to Jean Guérard ( jean.guerard(a)saf-astronomie.fr ) For large files, you can use the service: https://www.grosfichiers.com/fr/ [ANS thanks Christophe Mercier for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- New ‘NASA Science Live’ Program Premiers This Week NASA invites you to take a behind-the-scenes look at how the agency explores Earth and outer space with a new monthly television series that premiers this week. The inaugural episode of “NASA Science Live” will air at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 27, on NASA Television, the agency’s website, Facebook Watch, YouTube, and Ustream. Viewers will be able to submit questions on social media using the hashtag #askNASA or by leaving a comment in the chat section on Facebook. >From remote locations on Earth to the depths of outer space, join the conversation live each month to interact with NASA experts and watch as they reveal the mysteries of our solar system and beyond. “I am personally very excited about how this new show will highlight the interconnected nature of science from across the agency,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “The series will find new ways to talk about science from various disciplines, missions and centers to show how each works together in order to achieve our exploration goals.” This first episode - entitled “To the Moon, and Beyond” - will explore the how science conducted on the lunar surface in the past informs current missions studying the Moon and future plans to send science, robots and humans to our nearest celestial neighbor. For more information about the show, visit: https://go.nasa.gov/NASAScienceLive [ANS thanks NASA HQ News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + RTL-SDR.com tells of a new SDR radio PodCast that calls itself "Signals Everywhere". Episode 1 was just released. More information at: https://tinyurl.com/y5khc5hl (via RTL-SDR.com) + A recent ARISS contact between the International Space Station and Faith Christian Academy middle school in Orlando, Florida received good press coverage from WUSF public radio in Tampa. See the story at https://tinyurl.com/y4b2p4ro (via http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu) + SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for a test flight to the International Space Station on Saturday, March 2. Liftoff of the human-rated capsule — flying without astronauts this time — is scheduled for 2:49 a.m. EST (07:49Z). Assuming an on-time launch and docking this weekend, the spacecraft will depart the space station March 8 and return to a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Atlan- tic Ocean. More details at https://tinyurl.com/y4o2n5u9 (via spaceflightnow.com) + Scott, K4KDR, reports that The JY1SAT (JO-97) satellite started transmitting digital media files on 145.840 USB. Decoding is accom- plished with the “Funcube” type dashboard which can be downloaded at: https://tinyurl.com/y5uutqct (via K4KDR) + The TAPR PSR Digital Journal, Winter 2019 Edition is now available online at: https://www.tapr.org/psr/psr140.pdf (via tapr.org on facebook) + The Central States VHF Society offers a Reverse VUCC for rovers. Only a few have actually applied for the award on satellite. See: https://www.csvhfs.org/index.php/awards-and-programs/reverse-vucc (via Martin A Schuette on AMSAT-BB) + AMSAT-DL has agreed to a proposal by the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) for the use of the bottom 100 kHz of the wideband trans- ponder on QO-100 (10491 – 10491.1 MHz) for ATV co-ordination pur- poses. Details at: https://tinyurl.com/y6tzwsuz (via AMSAT-UK) + Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, writes: "One of the really cool things about receiving an AMSAT award in the mail is the certificate inside. However, what is even cooler is the envelope. Yes, the envelope. My wife has purchased stamps for years and years. I use those stamps on the envelopes I mail. None of those little white labels from the post office. Is it time for you to apply for an AMSAT award or to add to your stamp collection?" (via KK5DO) [See https://www.amsat.org/awards-2/ ] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, K0JM at amsat dot org

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ANS-048 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 17 Feb '19

17 Feb '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-048 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * QO-100 released by QARS * ARRL Adds JO-97, FO-99, QO-100 to LoTW Configuration File * New Distance Record on AO-91 * Call for Papers - Digital Communications Conference * KickSat 2 Is Alive And Kicking * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-048.01 ANS-048 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 048.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. February 17, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-048.01 QO-100 released by QARS Following the successful launch of Es'hail-2, the new Es'hailSat teleport was inaugurated on February 14, 2019. Prior to its official inauguration and opening the QO-100 NB Tran- sponder was opened for experimental use on February 12. The Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) invited radio amateurs worldwide to make good use of the NB transponder and make contacts with each other. In parallel to the experimental operation, Es'hailSat, QARS and AMSAT-DL monitored transponder performance and optimized trans- ponder parameters. Access the full article with photos on the AMSAT-DL website: https://amsat-dl.org/en/eshail-2-qo-100-teleport-inauguration Stations finding themselves out of the footprint of QO-100 or those who have not had the opportunity to acquire 10 GHz down- link receiving capability can join in the action using on-line WebSDR resources: + In co-operation with AMSAT Deutschland, the British Amateur Television Club will be operating a WebSDR for the narrowband segment, and a Spectrum Viewer for the wideband (DATV) segment. The Goonhilly Earth Station is supporting the project, providing hosting for the Ground Station facility at their world-famous site in Cornwall, UK: https://eshail.batc.org.uk/ + The IS0GRB Es'Hail2 (QO-100) SAT 26E WebSDR receiver, located in Dolianova, South Sardinia island, Italy, JM49OJ, operated by Roberto, IS0GRB, using a 100cm parabolic dish can be accessed at: http://websdr.is0grb.it:8901/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Adds JO-97, FO-99, QO-100 to LoTW Configuration File On February 14, 2019, the ARRL released version 11.7 of the Logbook of the World configuration file adding the ability to confirm QSOs made through JO-97, FO-99, and QO-100 via LoTW. LoTW users should receive a prompt to update their configuration file when opening recent versions of TQSL. The file can also be downloaded at https://lotw.arrl.org/lotwuser/config.tq6 [ANS thanks ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- New Distance Record on AO-91 PR8KW GI77 - Gustavo ?Tks @eb1ao for new record on AO91 2019-02-13 14:23z 6133km. PR8KW GI77um73sc <> EB1AO IN52pf89tw. 73 de PR8KW GI77um [ANS thanks PR8KW via Twitter for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members will receive a free digital copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Call for Papers - Digital Communications Conference Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC), to be held September 20-22 at the Marriott Detroit Metro Airport Hotel. Papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings. Authors do not need to attend the conference to have their papers included in the Proceedings. The submission deadline is August 5, 2019. Submit papers to via e-mail to maty(a)arrl.org, or via post to Maty Weinberg, KB1EIB, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Papers will be published exactly as submitted, and authors will retain all rights. [ANS thanks Steve Ford, WB8IMY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- KickSat 2 Is Alive And Kicking The first couple of days after KickSat 2 was deployed from Cygnus NG 10 no downlink signals were received from the satellite. But today I received several short and weak transmissions from KickSat 2. So it appears to be alive and transmitting short telemetry bursts on 437.5077 MHz. KickSat 2, object 44046, is to deploy up to 104 small Sprite satellites into its low orbit. All these Sprites will then transmit on 437.240 MHz with 10 mW and are expected to reenter within weeks. [ANS thanks Nico PA0DLO via Amsat-bb 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 Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) – February 3, to March 29, 2019 Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008), February 3 until March 29, 2019. Time and weather permitting, they expect to be on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vy0erc. 3A, MONACO (JN33) – February 15-18, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF, will be active as 3A/EA4NF from Monaco, between February 15-18th. Priority will be given to FM and SSB Satellites to get confirmed as much as possible this rare DXCC country to the amateur radio satellite community. HF activity will be on 20 meters SSB, but on the QRP mode (5w). QSL via LoTW. Yuma Hamfest (DM22) – February 15-16, 2019 Patrick, WD9EWK, will have an AMSAT booth at the Yuma Hamfest in southwestern Arizona on Friday and Saturday, 15-16 February 2019. This year’s hamfest also serves as the 2019 ARRL Southwestern Division Convention. The hamfest will be at the Yuma County Fairgrounds, along 32nd Street between Pacific Avenue and Avenue 3E, and south of I-8 exit 3, in Yuma. The fairgrounds is across the street from Yuma International Airport and Marine Corps Air Station. More information about the hamfest is available from: http://www.yumahamfest.org/ During the hamfest, Patrick will have demonstrations of satellite operating from outside the main hall on the fairgrounds. If you hear WD9EWK on passes during those two days, please feel free to call and be a part of the demonstrations. Patrick may not be able to work every possible pass from the hamfest, but hopes to work a variety of passes in FM, SSB, and even packet. The hamfest site is in grid DM22. Contacts made with WD9EWK will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, and QSL cards for contacts made with WD9EWK will be available on request after the hamfest (please e-mail me directly with the QSO details). During the hamfest, he will use his @WD9EWK Twitter account to post updates from the hamfest. If you do not use Twitter, you can still see these updates in a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK Imperial Valley (DM12, DM22) – February 17, 2019 After the end of the upcoming Yuma Hamfest, Patrick, WD9EWK, plans to make a drive west to the DM12/DM22 grid boundary along I-8 near the west end of California’s Imperial Valley on Sunday, 17 February 2019. He hopes to work passes for a few hours out there, with much cooler weather than what he experienced last July when he was previously out there. ?? The DM12/DM22 grid boundary, at the town of Ocotillo, is in Imperial County. Patrick will use his @WD9EWK Twitter account to send updates. Even without a Twitter account, these updates will be visible in a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK His travel out to the DM12/DM22 line should be visible on APRS as WD9EWK-9: http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 Isla del Culebra, Puerto Rico (FK78) – February 22-24, 2019 Radio Opordores del Este, KP3RE, is preparing for their Culebra IOTA (NA-249) Expedition 2019. Satellite operations are planned for AO- 91, AO-92, SO-50, and IO-86. Turks and Caicos Islands (FL31) – February 28 – March 9, 2019 Adrian, AA5UK, will be heading to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands from Feb 28th through March 9th, 2019. He will be operating holiday style on HF and Satellites as VP5/AA5UK from grid FL31UU14. Focus will be on the linear satellites, with some FM activity depending on pile-up civility. Hope to work some European stations as location favors the East. Pass announcements will be made via Twitter: https://twitter.com/AA5UK and periodically via amsat-bb. Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org Updated February 15, 2019 For most recent updates visit: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/ [ANS thanks Robert KE4AL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + 2019-02-13 20:10 UTC between David St-Jacques KG5FYI using ISS callsign NA1SS and College Park School, Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada Contact was direct via VA5ISS. ARISS Mentor was Brian VE6JBJ. + 2019-02-14 14:30 UTC between David St-Jacques KG5FYI using ISS callsign NA1SS and Faith Christian Academy, Orlando, FL, USA. Contact was direct via W9DWJ. ARISS Mentor was Dave AA4KN. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule There are no scheduled contacts this week. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $16,895 raised or about 11% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! Donations have recently stalled. We ask that you help us get back on track by donating today? For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ 2019 is AMSAT's 50th Anniversary! Watch this space for announcements of special events coming in 2019 Get ready to help celebrate with us at the Hamvention Symposium 2019 promises to be a special event Stand by for 50th anniversary operating events and awards +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Shorts From All Over + Videos from the 2018 TAPR Digital Communications Conference are available at: http://tinyurl.com/TAPR-2018-DCC-Videos [ANS thanks TAPR for the above information] + Information for a Raspberry Pi - based SSTV receiver can be found at: https://github.com/davidhoness/sstv_decoder/blob/master/README.md [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for providing the above information] + Humorous Anecdote John, C6ATS, reports that while working an SO-50 pass from his boat in FL22 on February 12th, a wind gust caused his Elk antenna to fall off its handle and blow overboard. Luckily, it was still attached to the coax and he was able to haul it back on board and work a few more stations before LOS. [ANS thanks @ItinerantHam via Twitter for the above information] + Congratulations to Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX. who was the Keynote Speaker at the 'Students Involved with Technology(SIT) Conference-2019' on February 9th at Heartland Community College. His inspirational speech was addressed to the SIT Conference, 'For Students By Students', which was filled with workshops to showcase technology, tools and skills. Dhruv organized an ARISS contact with his school last year and he was a speaker at the AMSAT Space Symposium in Huntsville, AL in October, 2018. [ANS thanks Hari Rebba via AMSAT facebook + Read this and past releases of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins at: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM aa8em at amsat dot org

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