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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-091
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* AO-92 Operations Schedule
* Russian SSTV Transmission Events Planned
* AMSAT at the 2018 Hamvention -- Call for volunteers
* AMSAT-UK Call for Speakers for Colloquium 2018
* Upcoming ARISS Contact and Event Schedule
* Athenoxat-1 QSL Card Challenge
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-091.01
ANS-091 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 091.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE April 1, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-091.01
AO-92 Operations Schedule
AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band
Downshifter,
Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa’s High Energy Radiation
CubeSat
Instrument (HERCI). Please keep the uplink clear during passes with
scheduled
mode changes.
For the week of 31Mar-6Apr 2018, the following mode changes are scheduled:
Approximately 0155UTC 1Apr we will enable the L band uplink for ~24 hours
Approximately 1650UTC 5Apr we will enable the VT camera and high-speed
data for
~40 minutes. Please be ready to copy high-speed data with FoxTelem, and
keep the
uplink clear at 1650UTC.
All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Russian SSTV Transmission Events Planned
ARISS Russia is planning Slow Scan Television (SSTV) transmissions from the
International Space Station. The transmissions are scheduled to occur over
Moscow on April 2, 2018 from 15:05 through 18:30 UTC and on April 3,
2018 from
14:15 through 18:40 UTC. The MAI-75 experiment uses a computer on the ISS
Russian Segment, which stores images that are then transmitted to Earth
using
the amateur radio, specifically the onboard Kenwood TM D710E
transceiver. Images
received can be posted and viewed at
http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php .The
transmissions will
be broadcast at 145.800 MHz using the PD-120 SSTV mode.
Please note that the event is dependent on other activities, schedules
and crew
responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time.
Please check for news and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and
ARISS.org websites, the AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org, the ARISS facebook at
Amateur Radio
On The International Space Station (ARISS) and ARISS twitter @ARISS_status.
For more information, see www.ariss.org.
Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS)
Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status
[ANS thanks Dave, AA4KN, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT at the 2018 Hamvention -- Call for volunteers
The 2018 Hamvention will be held on May 18-20, 2018 at Greene County
Fairground and Expo Center in Xenia Ohio. Planning is under way for
AMSAT's participation!
Phil, W1EME, AMSAT's Hamvention Team Leader is looking for team
leaders to assist him. If you can help please consider leading in
one of the unfilled positions atw1eme at amsat.org <
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans>
+ Volunteer Assistant
+ Publicity Assistant - JoAnne K9JKM
+ Forum Assistant - Keith KB1SF
+ Sales Assistant
+ Outdoor Demo Assistant - Paul N8HM
+ Facilities and Setup Assistant
We need as many volunteers as possible to help staff the AMSAT
booth during the Hamvention 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 2017 Hamvention a success for AMSAT.
1. May 17 - Booth setup on Thursday.
2. May 18, 19, 20 - Staff the booth during Hamvention hours to
answer questions, enroll members, indoor demos, merchandise
and book sales. (We will train you!)
3. May 20 - Booth teardown on Sunday
The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers,
and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun.
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.
Interested hams should contact Team Leader Phil Smith via email at:
w1eme at amsat.org <http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans> for
information.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Hamvention Publicity Assistant JoAnne Maenpaa,
K9JKM for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-UK Call for Speakers for Colloquium 2018
This is a call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK International Space
Colloquium 2018
which, will be held this year on 13-14 October, in conjunction with the RSGB
Convention at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ,
United
Kingdom .
AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about Amateur satellites,
CubeSats,
Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event.
They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on the
AMSAT-UK
web site or in Oscar News.
We appreciate that it is not always possible to give a firm indication of
attendance at this stage but expressions of interest would be appreciated.
Submissions should be sent via e-mail to: dave(a)g4dpz.me.uk
AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit
them as
soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on specific
subjects will
be included in the future call. Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker,
please send contact and other information to G4DPZ.
[ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARISS Contact and Event Schedule
Valday, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Artemyev
Contact is a go for 2018-04-04 TBD UTC
Vologda, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Artemyev
Contact is a go for 2018-04-10 13:37 UTC
Watch for SSTV
2018-04-02 15:05 UTC to 18:30 UTC
2018-04-03 14:15 UTC to 18:40 UTC
2018-04-12 to 2018-04-14
Additional information can be found at http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/
[ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Athenoxat-1 QSL Card Challenge
The Athenoxat-1 project team has implemented an interesting experiment
(puzzle)
where frames containing fragments of images of QSL cards are periodically
transmitted by the satellite. Amateurs can participate in the experiment by
receiving the fragments and sending KISS files via email to the Athenoxsat-1
project team. The frames will then be processed and the results will
posted in
their web site with acknowledgements to the participating stations.
AMSAT-BR would like to encourage amateurs to participate. Due to the
satellite
orbit inclination (15 degrees), only locations with latitudes below the
tropics
will be able to receive signals from the satellite on 437.485 MHz.
Signals can
be demodulated using UZ7HO’s high speed soundmodem software (using the
GOMX-1
4800 bps demodulator).
The project website is: http://www.micro-space.org/ham.html
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and Yesie, 9V1SQ, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KT4TZ
kt4tz at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-084
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* AO-92 Operation Schedule
* EQUiSat to launch into space May 9
* Pearl Technology STEM Camp, June 18-22, 2018 in Illinois
* Software-Defined Radio Using MATLAB & Simulink and the RTL-SDR
* AMSAT-LU Balloon Flight Carries RepSat-1 Cubesat Transponder
* AMSAT Rover Awards Issued
* New HackSpace Magazine Available For Download
* Introducing CATSync - The new CAT tool for WebSDRs
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-084.01
ANS-084 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 084.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
March 25, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-084.01
AO-92 Operation Schedule
AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band
Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa’s High
Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). Please keep the uplink
clear during passes with scheduled mode changes.
For the week of 25-31 Mar 2018, the following mode changes are
scheduled:
Approximately 0242UTC 25Mar we will enable the L band uplink for ~24
hours.
Approximately 1645UTC 27Mar we will enable the VT camera and high-
speed data for ~40 minutes. Please be ready to copy high-speed data
with FoxTelem, and keep the uplink clear at 1645UTC.
All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously.
The schedule can be viewed anytime at
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-schedules/
[ANS thanks Drew KO4MA for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
EQUiSat to launch into space May 9
NASA-funded student group constructs satellite, hopes to inspire
interest in space among youth.
Since its conception nearly seven years ago, a continuously
revolving group of University undergraduates has been diligently
working to send a satellite into space. Now, as May 9 draws closer,
the group of over 200 past and current students and faculty can find
catharsis as the EQUiSat will finally launch into orbit.
The project, funded by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, will send a
small cube satellite to the International Space Station to then
launch into orbit. The EQUiSat will test lithium iron phosphate
batteries, which are used in machines such as lawn mowers, but find
limited applications in spacecrafts. Due to its low cost and the fact
that its latitude will coincide with that of Providence, which allows
its LED flashes to be seen from the ground, the satellite will also
serve as a symbol for the accessibility of space.
“A big part of the goal is proving the accessibility of space. … We
kind of want to show people that space is right there,” said Hunter
Ray ’18, the project’s co-leader and team manager. The project could
have cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars, but the team has
kept its cost to just $3,776.61, Ray added. The project’s relatively
low cost and mantra to “build it from the ground up” speak to the
feasibility and accessibility of space.
The EQUiSat will be equipped with powerful LED lights, a small radio
and multiple sensors to keep track of its trajectory and control
steering. “Anyone with a hand radio can pick up its frequency. … We
will be relying on the community of amateur radio (groups) around the
world to help collect EQUiSat’s data,” Ray said. He described the
construction process as his favorite part of the project. “It’s like
a Lego set. You build it and you’re like ‘great, now what do I do,’ …
but the mission will keep going.”
Ray has been a part of the project since he arrived on campus. “I
started freshman year, first week … (I decided that) I want to build
a spacecraft,” he said. “I ended up taking over for the power system
development, … (and then) I was elected as part of the project’s
manager and co-leader of the team,” he added. He hopes to see similar
projections come together in the future following the EQUiSat’s
launch. “The fact that as undergraduates we have been able to build
an entire spacecraft from scratch … (it shows where) we are going
with the space program, as humanity is progressing into the final
frontier,” he said. Ray will be delivering the EQUiSat to Houston
this week in order to facilitate preparations for the launch.
Anand Lalwani ’18 leads the power team, the group of 17 team members
in charge of the EQUiSat’s solar power and battery construction. “We
are a group of incredibly motivated, but incredibly fun people. Yes,
we have had our arguments and fights, but we still work very well
with each other,” he said. The power team not only constructed solar
panels from scratch, but also ensured that they would survive a
launch. Eventually finding a coating and the means to apply it to
protect the delicate panels was a grueling process, Lalwani said. “We
tried (different protocols) for about 12 months, … and we failed
consistently,” he said. Finding a solution “was probably (Brown Space
Engineering’s) biggest achievement,” as no other satellite group in
the country had done this, he said.
The project also serves as an outreach symbol, Lalwani said. By
talking to both middle school and high school students and teaching
them about different aspects of engineering, the team hopes to show
children that space is not as far-fetched as it may seem. “What we
had pitched to NASA in our original mission was that ‘We are going to
make space cool again,’” Lalwani said. He hopes to see BSE continue
its work with new satellites being constructed in under two years.
“For BSE, our future is very bright. … All our future applications
for launches such as this will be very likely granted. … We expect
all the sophomores in our team to have a satellite they would have
designed and built and launched before they graduate from Brown,” he
added.
Max Monn GS, one of founders of the initial project, worked on the
project from its initial creation in 2011 to 2013. “Since the manned
space missions to the moon … (the public) had a declining interest
for space” due to the lack of human connection, Monn said. The origin
for the project began as a means for creating an idea in Adjunct
Associate Professor of Engineering Rick Fleeter’s class, which has
since evolved into ENGN1760: “Design of Space Systems,” Monn
described. While other projects leaned toward theoretical concepts or
plans such as the colonization of Mars, Monn and the other founders
decided to plan something which was “down to Earth” and did not need
a large corporation to complete, Monn said.
The EQUiSat’s LED lights flashing down toward Earth show the
accessibility of space, one of the project’s main purposes. This
element was inspired by Monn’s interest in photography. Following the
initial work, the project expanded from a four-person class project
to a student group. “We weren’t really sure how it would be
received,” he said. At the first information session, 15 to 20 people
showed up. Seeing the growth of the group has been one of Monn’s
favorite memories of the project. “It feels like a legacy,” he said.
Serving as founder, member and mentor, Monn has seen the project
evolve from “wires spread out on a table” to its eventual launch. “We
had these visions of what it could be and to have left the project in
such shambles … (and) having it become more and more real… (it’s) a
pleasant surprise,” he said.
“You don’t need to be a multi-millionaire, you do not have to be a
rocket scientist, and space is not that far,” Lalwani said. The
satellite will serve as a realization that the final frontier is
truly not as far as it seems, he added. “EQUiSat is reaching down to
everyone on the Earth and showing them that space is right there, and
I hope that, in a sense, it helps unite everyone together,” Ray said.
[ANS thanks Chris Schutte and The Brown Daily Herald for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pearl Technology STEM Camp, June 18-22, 2018 in Illinois
The STEM Academy is sponsored and put on by Pearl Technology, with
the assistance of the University of Illinois Extension, Richwoods
Township, Goodwill Industries of Central Illinois, Peoria Area Ama-
teur Radio Club, Peoria Heights High School, volunteer Caterpillar
engineers, and ISS Above Software.
Twenty-five middle school students will spend June 18-22 attending
the STEM Academy held at Goodwill Commons, where they will learn
about space and radio communications. The students will build Rasp-
berry Pi computers that stream live video from the ISS. Students
will also participate in a high-altitude balloon launch by building
the payload with student experiments and then, use radio telemetry
to track the balloon to near-space.
The highlight of the academy will be when students communicate
directly with astronauts on the International Space Station. The
ISS contact will be open to students of all ages in the local
area.
[ANS thanks Fritz Bock, WD9FMB for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Software-Defined Radio Using MATLAB & Simulink and the RTL-SDR
Learn how to receive and analyze wireless signals using RTL-SDR,
MATLAB, and Simulink. RTL-SDR is a popular, low-cost hardware
that can receive wireless signals. The RTL-SDR dongle features
the Realtek RTL2832U chip, which can be used to acquire and
sample RF signals transmitted in the frequency range 25MHz to
1.75GHz.
A FREE ebook that teaches users how to receive and analyze
wireless radio signals using MATLAB, Simulink, and RTL-SDR
Key features of this free ebook include:
+ Illustrating how to receive wireless RF signals using RTL-SDR
and analyze the signals in time and frequency domains
+ Showing how to use RTL-SDR in conjunction with SDR transmitters
to develop a complete communication system
+ Providing an extensive set of DSP-enabled SDR examples to help
you get started
Find out more or download from:
https://tinyurl.com/ANS084-Mathwoks
This news provided by http://www.nooelec.com/store/
[ANS thanks NooElec.com and mathworks.com for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-LU Balloon Flight Carries RepSat-1 Cubesat Transponder
AMSAT-LU reports they flew RepSat-1, a repeater designed for
cubesat operation, aboard a balloon launched from Victorica,
La Pampa, Argentina on March 24. The uplink was on 435.950 MHz
with a downlink on 145.950 MHz.
RepSat-1 is an 8 cm square board capable of being integrated
into a cubesat. The FM module transmits at 1 watt. It is also
capable of transmitting voice, SSTV in Robot 36, telemetry and
APRS location data identifying as LU7AA-11.
Telemetry and location were transmitted every 90 seconds via
1200 baud AX.25 APRS data.
A separate module on the flight transmitted tracker data for
balloon recovery on 145.930 MHz with the LU7AA-12 callsign.
It included a camera capable of filming with a 360 degree view.
The AMSAT Argentina web aite can be found at:
http://www.amsat.org.ar
[ANS thanks AMSAT-LU for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Rover Awards Issued
On January 1, 2018, Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests
and Awards announced the Rover Award. This award is granted to
stations who achieve a combined 25 points using any combination
of the defined criteria posted at:
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/
Points can be earned for each grid square activated outside of your
home grid square using the FM, linear, and digital satellites. While
FM contacts count for 1 point each multiplier points are available
for contacts via the linear and digital satellites.
Additional points are available for photographs, publicity, social
media promotion, and AMSAT Journal articles. The options are numerous
so please refer to the Rover Award Website for all of the details.
To date, 16 rovers have earned the award:
Rover Call Date Issued
===== ============ ===========
001 AC0RA 02 Jan 2018
002 WD9EWK 05 Jan 2018
003 NJ4Y 08 Jan 2018
004 M0IDA 09 Jan 2018
005 KG5GJT 12 Jan 2018
006 EB1AO 18 Jan 2018
007 N7AGF 22 Jan 2018
008 N4YHC 29 Jan 2018
009 W0S 07 Feb 2018
010 KE0PBR 08 Feb 2018
011 K5IX 18 Feb 2018
012 AK4WQ 23 Feb 2018
013 WI7P 25 Feb 2018
014 K5ND 09 Mar 2018
015 N6UA 12 Mar 2018
016 N9IP 16 Mar 2018
[ANS thanks AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO,
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
New HackSpace Magazine Available For Download
Issue 5 of the free magazine HackSpace has an article about Limor
Fried AC2SN (aka LadyAda) of electronics company Ada Fruit as well as
a Dr Lucy Rogers M6CME article "Share the knowledge"
Also in this issue
- Tutorial Slack-powered On-Air sign
- Direct from Shenzhen: Stirling engine buggy
- Can I Hack It? Every home needs a hacked wireless doorbell
- Raspberry Pi 3B+
Download the free PDF of issue 5 April 2018 from
https://hackspace.raspberrypi.org/issues
[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Introducing CATSync - The new CAT tool for WebSDRs
Oscar, DJ0MY, has developed a new software tool for radio amateurs
and SWLs.
CATSync allows the user to control public WebSDR receivers with a
real rig connected via CAT. It supports the classical Web-SDR servers
as well as the newer Kiwi SDR servers publically available on the
internet.
This gives you access to dozens of web based receivers with the
comfort of tuning your rig at home. This software helps you to bring
you back into the fun of ham radio when you are suffering from local
temporary or permanent high noise levels in an urban QTH location.
The software has the following features:
- Syncronizes any public WebSDR server with your real RIG…
- Supports a wide number of RIG’s (it uses the popular OmniRig engine)
- Supports WebSDR and KiwiSDR browser based SDR receivers
- Tune the VFO of your radio and see the web SDR follow in realtime!
- Switch modes (SSB, CW, etc.) on your radio and see the web SDR
switch mode in realtime.
- Listen to the same frequency as your rig via web SDR
- Ideally suited e.g. for people suffering from local QRM
- Can track RX or TX VFO (e.g. to find that split of a DX station)
if radio CAT supports both simultanously
- Can be interfaced with popular logging software using OminRig or
via VSPE port splitter
For more information visit the author’s website:
https://catsyncsdr.wordpress.com/
See a YouTube video of CATSync under:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbSHfkjhx0c
[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
The following contacts were successful since February 18, 2018:
On The Gagarin from Space, "Galaxy - Children and Youth Center for
Space Education", Kaluga, Russia, direct via RK3X with Alexander
Misurkin on 2018-02-18 10:45 UTC
Agrupamento de Escolas do Fundão, Fundão, Portugal, direct via
CS5DBB with Scott Tingle KG5NZA on 2018-02-21 09:38 UTC
Museum of Science & Technology - Danforth Middle School, Syracuse,
NY, direct via K2MST with Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP on 2018-02-24 08:45
UTC
On The Gagarin from Space Federal State Budgetary Educational
Institution of Higher Education "Southwest State University", Kursk,
Russia, direct via RV3DR on 2018-02-26 17:59 UTC
Parkside Middle School, San Bruno, CA, direct via K6PVJ Scott Tingle
KG5NZA 2018-03-07 18:05 UTC
Gymnasium Räddningsgymnasiet Sando, Sandöverken, Sweden, telebridge
via K6DUE with Scott Tingle KG5NZA on 2018-03-15 11:12 UTC
Templestowe Valley Primary School, Templestowe, Victoria, Australia,
telebridge via VK4KHZ with Scott Tingle KG5NZA on 2018-03-19 08:43
UTC
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Templestowe Valley Primary School, Templestowe, Victoria, Australia,
telebridge via VK4KHZ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA
Contact was successful: Mon 2018-03-19 08:43:46 UTC
Watch for live stream on the EchoLink AMSAT conference server live.
Freeport Public Schools, Freeport, NY, telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA
Contact is a go for: Tue 2018-03-27 17:41:04 UTC
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ AO-91 Distance Record
The footprint on AO-91 has been stretched yet again to 6,123 km with
a QSO between @eb1ao and PU8MRS on 17-Mar-2018 at 14:51 UTC.
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ .
+ PicSat Goes Silent
PicSat @IamPicSat Tweeted:
I am feeling somewhat confused up here. My communication has
fallen silent (sorry faithful listeners, I did not see that
coming. My team is trying to find out what happened. More to
follow, when I pass over Paris @amsatf #amsat @AmsatUK
@amsat_sm @SatNOGS
PicSat @IamPicSat Tweeted:
Passed over Paris, couldn't not talk. Don't know why, neither
does my team. They tried! Fortunately, I have a so-called
watch-dog onboard, a piece of hardware that will kickstart me
if I have not received anything from nobody for 72h
PicSat team tweeted Friday morning: Nothing, nix. I still cannot
communicate. Hard for me to tell if my Watch Dog initiated the kick
start. If it did, and it did not work for some reason, it will try
again in 72h from now. In the mean time, pls stay tuned!
Monday March 26 will be the next time the 72 hour watchdog fires.
Now we wait: pic.twitter.com/OBdsOLiK67
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/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
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-077
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:
* Article Introduces AMSAT's GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 Satellites
* ARISS-US Program Education Proposal Deadline is April 30, 2018
* AO-92 Operating Schedule Posted for Week of March 18-24
* AMSAT at the 2018 Hamvention -- Call for volunteers
* Top 10 Reasons to Come to AMSAT at the Hamvention
* AMSAT Field Day on the Satellites
* HuskySat-1 Applies for IARU Coordination for Linear V/U Transponder
* Thousands of Kilometers Via Satellite and a WAS Award Too
* Phase 4 Weekly Update 9 March
* Early Bird Bookings for the AMSAT-SA Space Symposium Now Open
* Melbourne University Student Space Program Update
* AMSAT Member Perry F. Crabill, W3HQX Silent Key
* China's DSLWP-A1/A2 Satellites to Transmit Amateur Radio Data
from the Moon
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-077.01
ANS-077 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 077.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE March 18, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-077.01
Article Introduces AMSAT's GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 Satellites
As a follow-up to the announcement that GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 have
been selected for launches through NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative,
we've posted an article introducing the GOLF program on the AMSAT
website: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-077-AMSAT-GOLF
[ANS thanks Paul, N8HM for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS-US Program Education Proposal Deadline is April 30, 2018
ARISS News Release No. 18-03
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
aa4kn(a)amsat.org
International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students
ARISS-US program education proposal deadline is April 30, 2018.
March 15, 2018: The Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) program is seeking proposals 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 and June 30, 2019.
Each year, ARISS provides tens of thousands of students with
opportunities to learn about space technologies and communications
through the exploration of Amateur Radio. The program provides
learning opportunities by connecting students to astronauts
aboard the International Space Station (ISS) through a partner-
ship between NASA, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, the
American Radio Relay League, and other Amateur Radio organizations
and worldwide space agencies. The program’s goal is to inspire
students to pursue interests and careers in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) and Amateur Radio. A ham
recently said, “ARISS shows how Amateur Radio is the most unique
hobby/service there is.”
Educators overwhelmingly report that student participation in the
ARISS program stimulates interest in STEM subjects and in STEM
careers. One educator wrote, “It exceeded our expectations--it
created a great interest in both amateur radio and in space
exploration. Our kids are completely inspired!” Ninety-two percent
of educators who have participated in the program have indicated
that ARISS provided ideas for encouraging student exploration
and participation. An educator even joined the ham ranks, saying,
“This chance for our school’s ARISS contact helped me see the
great value of the ham world. I just passed my Technician License
this weekend and have already signed up to take a General class.”
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 any related STEM subject. 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 this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students.
The proposal deadline for 2019 contacts is April 30, 2018. Proposal
webinars for guidance and getting questions answers will be offered
March 29, 2018, at 7 p.m. EDT and April 16, 2018, at 4 p.m. EDT.
Advance registration is necessary. To sign up, go to
https://ariss-proposal-webinar-spring-2018.eventbrite.com
For more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and
the proposal form, visit:
http://www.ariss.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-us.html
About ARISS
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a
cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and
the space agencies that support the International Space Station
(ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur
Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League
(ARRL), 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, tech-
nology, 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, educators, parents, and
communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur
radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org.
Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS)
Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AO-92 Operating Schedule Posted for Week of March 18-24
Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations updated the AO-92 Operating Schedule
page for the coming week:
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-schedules/
AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band
Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa’s
High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). Please keep
the uplink clear during passes with scheduled mode changes.
For the week of 18-24 Mar 2018, the following mode changes are
scheduled:
+ 18 March at approximately 1500 UTC we will enable the L band
uplink for ~24 hours
+ 22 March at approximately 1345 we will enable the VT camera and
high-speed data for ~40 minutes. This is a Caribbean and South
America pass. Please be ready to copy high-speed data with FoxTelem,
and keep the uplink clear at 1345UTC.
+ All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT at the 2018 Hamvention -- Call for volunteers
The 2018 Hamvention will be held on May 18-20, 2018 at Greene County
Fairground and Expo Center in Xenia Ohio. Planning is under way for
AMSAT's participation!
Phil, W1EME, AMSAT's Hamvention Team Leader is looking for team
leaders to assist him. If you can help please consider leading in
one of the unfilled positions at w1eme(a)amsat.org
+ Volunteer Assistant
+ Publicity Assistant - JoAnne K9JKM
+ Forum Assistant - Keith KB1SF
+ Sales Assistant
+ Outdoor Demo Assistant - Paul N8HM
+ Facilities and Setup Assistant
We need as many volunteers as possible to help staff the AMSAT
booth during the Hamvention 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 2017 Hamvention a success for AMSAT.
1. May 17 - Booth setup on Thursday.
2. May 18, 19, 20 - Staff the booth during Hamvention hours to
answer questions, enroll members, indoor demos, merchandise
and book sales. (We will train you!)
3. May 20 - Booth teardown on Sunday
The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers,
and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun.
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.
Interested hams should contact Team Leader Phil Smith via email at:
w1eme(a)amsat.org for information.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Hamvention Publicity Assistant JoAnne Maenpaa,
K9JKM for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Top 10 Reasons to Come to AMSAT at the Hamvention
10. Rub shoulders with 25,000 of your best friends at the largest
hamfest in the United States, including all of the AMSAT
Directors and senior officers. See the latest equipment from
Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, Flex, Alinco, M2, Arrow, and many other
manufacturers of amateur radio equipment and accessories. Take
advantage of discounted pricing you won't find anywhere else.
9. Find out how to organize a contact with the astronauts on the
International Space Station for your local school or youth group
from our Education and ARISS experts.
8. Pickup the latest AMSAT golf shirts, T-shirts, and hats. Get
your copy of the updated "Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide"
(laminated frequency chart) and Gould Smith's just revised for
2018 "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" book. We'll also
have assembled wide-band preamps and antennas that are great
for portable operation.
7. See demonstrations of SatPC32 and MacDoppler satellite tracking
software, and get your operational questions answered. Assembled
LVB Trackers will be available.
6. Hear the latest presentation at the joint AMSAT/TAPR dinner.
5. Hear the latest on the Fox and Golf satellites, the International
Space Station, other current and future satellites, education news,
and an AMSAT update at the AMSAT Forum Saturday, from 11:15 to 1:30.
4. Get one-on-one guidance on setting up your satellite station and
making contacts at our "Beginner's Corner". Witness live demonstra-
tions of contacts through satellites.
3. Meet and interact with some of the Engineering Team members
working on the Fox and Golf satellites and our new Five and Dime
AMSAT ground terminal.
2. Get satellite station and operating tips from some of the best
satellite operators in the country.
1. Receive your 2018 laminated Satellite Frequency Chart when you
join or renew your AMSAT membership at Hamvention. New members
will receive the Frequency Chart and the latest edition of the
AMSAT Journal.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Hamvention Publicity Assistant JoAnne Maenpaa,
K9JKM for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Field Day on the Satellites
It’s that time of year again; summer and Field Day! Each year the
American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day as a “picnic,
a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most
of all, FUN!”
The event takes place during a 23-hour period on the fourth weekend
of June. For 2018 the event takes place during a 27-hour period from
1800 UTC on Saturday, June 23, 2018 through 2100 UTC on Sunday,
June 24, 2018.
Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 23 can operate only 24
hours. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes
its own version of Field Day for operation via the amateur sat-
ellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event.
This year should be easier than many years since we have more than
10 transponders and repeaters available. Users should check the
AMSAT status page at http://www.amsat.org/status/ and the pages
at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=177 for what is available in
the weeks leading up to field day.
To reduce the amount of time to research each satellite, see the
current FM satellite table at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=5012
and the current linear satellite table at
http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=5033
If you are considering ONLY the FM voice satellites, there are
SO-50, AO-85, AO-91, AO-92 and possibly PicSat. It might be easier
this year to make that one FM contact for the ARRL bonus points
with so many FM birds. The congestion on FM LEO satellites is
always so intense that we must continue to limit their use to
one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. This includes the International Space
Station. You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice.
The full set of rules are posted at:
https://www.amsat.org/field-day/
[ANS thanks AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO,
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
HuskySat-1 Applies for IARU Coordination for Linear V/U Transponder
The IARU Frequency Coordination pages show that the Husky Satellite
Lab at the University of Washington applied for frequencies on March 7
for HuskySat-1, a 3U CubeSat with propulsion capability.
Launch is planned for a high inclination LEO late 2018 on the ELaNA
XXIV mission. HuskySat-1 will become the first amateur satellite
from Washington state.
HuskySat-1 will demonstrate the capabilities of new technologies being
developed at the University of Washington and expand the capabilities
of CubeSats as a whole. In particular, a high-thrust pulsed plasma
thruster (PPT), and high-gain communications system will form the core
technology suite on board the satellite.
HuskySat-1 will carry AMSAT's 30 kHz wide V/u linear transponder for
amateur radio SSB/CW communications. The transponder is the same design
as the transponder being flown on RadFXSat-2/Fox-1E in 2018 including
the 1k2 BPSK telemetry channel. HuskySat-1 will also transmit BPSK
telemetry at 1 Mbps in the 24 GHz band.
In order to utilize the transponder and telemetry beacon, equipment
suitable for other linear transponder satellites such as FO-29 and AO-73
will be needed. Estimates are that a few watts into a small beam
should be adequate, with a small beam with a low noise preamp serving
for reception.
Additional details have been posted at:
https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/huskysatellitelab/huskysat-1
https://amsat-uk.org/2018/03/10/huskysat-1-cubesat/
IARU frequency coordination activities may be followed on-line at:
http://amsat.org.uk/iaru/
[ANS thanks the IARU, the Unviversity of Washington, and AMSAT-UK for
the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Thousands of Kilometers Via Satellite and a WAS Award Too
Listen to a recording of a 6005 KM contact with KE9AJ and
OA4/XQ3SA on March 11: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-077-AO7-QSO
Recording provided by NP4JV.
A 4100 KM contact via AO-92 between Kuthumabaka Ramesh, VU3FTP,
in Hyderabad City, India and Suryono P. Kebayoran Lama Selatan
YD0NXX, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 9 can viwed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uShVF6Y6MzM&feature=youtu.be
On March 10 K7TAB (DM43)worked VY0ERC (ER60) located at 80
degrees north via AO-91 for a 5250 KM QSO. Both stations used a
Kenwood TH-D72A HT running 5W.
MI6GTY (IO64) and N9EAT (EN41) enjoyed a 6010 KM QSO vis AO-91
on March 11. This is a new distance record for AO-91.
See: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/
Jose, EB1AO in Spain (IN52) and David, W0DHB (DN70) completed
a 7606 KM contact on March 12 via AO-7. They had a 2 minute
window with 0.4 degrees for EB1AO (contact was made at 0.1 degree
elevation) and 2 degrees for W0DHB. Jose operated portable on
a hilltop with an IC-910 and Arrow Antenna. To date he has 34
states via satellite.
PS8ET (GI84) worked CU2ZG (HM77) for a 5096 KM contact wia
AO-91 on March 12.
Mikey, K7ULS reported working FG8OJ and PJ2/HB9WDF via FO-29
on March 13.
Now, a report on quantity vs distance ... congratulations to
Michael, K9EI for his completion of Satellite Worked All States.
He commented on Twitter, "Please let me say thank you to everyone
who helped me finally achieve my first WAS. I became a ham in 1977,
but never was involved enough to accomplish WAS. I am even more
satisfied that I was able to do it first on satellites among so
many friends. You’ve all been fantastic."
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Phase 4 Weekly Update 9 March
Michelle Thompson, W5NYV has Phase 4 Weekly Report for 9 March 2018:
View it on-line to hear all the details at:
https://youtu.be/1GirCiB5XNg
A summary of the key points discussed this week include:
+ Exploration of the use of the Ettus Research E310 and X310
Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices.
+ GNU Radio Conference 2018 tickets are available:
https://www.gnuradio.org/grcon-2018/
The whole conference is packed with wonderful experiences and fun.
Come join Phase 4 Ground at our DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X workshop and
hackfest on Friday! Presented by Open Research Institute, Inc.
with a goal to produce an open source DVB-S2/X receiver in GNU
Radio primarily for AMSAT. Please share with whoever you think
would love to come! There will be a new user track as well as
advanced content, workshops, vendors, demonstrations, and multiple
social events.
Look for the Phase 4 articles coming in the March/April 2018 AMSAT
Journal.
[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NYV and the Phase 4 Team for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Early Bird Bookings for the AMSAT-SA Space Symposium Now Open
Bookings for the annual AMSATSA Space Symposium which will be held
on May 19, at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria is now open.
The symposium features interesting subjects including development
of a new SDR transponder, building a ground station to operate Ama-
teur Radio's first geostationary satellite Es'hail-2, a BACAR-ready
10 GHz beacon to exercise your Es'hail-2 receiver, a practical approach
to improving modular system reliability, FunCube Data and some of its
secrets and a progress report on Kletskous and its next generation
transponder and systems.
Get the booking form and details on www.amsatsa.org.za.
[ANS thanks AMSAT South Africa for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Melbourne University Student Space Program Update
Gabriel, VK3EXO, provided an update to the Wireless Institute of
Australia regarding the Melbourne University Student Space Program.
From the RF perspective project personnel have successfully trans-
mitted packets between the ground station and the satellite radio.
They have interfaced the satellite radio with the flight computer
and the satellite antenna has been deployed.
The ACMA recently approved the frequency allocation request and will
be taking the application to the ITU on behalf of the project team.
This is a huge achievement, particularly for an entirely student led
organization.
A major milestone has been passed with power-up test of everything
to be included in the satellite all laid out on a flat surface called
a FlatSat. The next step is to perform extensive software and hard-
ware testing. The testing will be performed over the next few weeks.
The Mission Operations website development is going well and the team
is on track for launch at the end of this year / early next year.
[ANS thanks the Wireless Institute of Australia VK1WIA news for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Member Perry F. Crabill, W3HQX Silent Key
This week Larry Wright, W8ANT, reported the sad news that Perry F.
Crabill, W3HQX, member of AMSAT, born in 1920, formerly of Washington,
DC and suburban Maryland and until his passing of Winchester Virginia,
is now a Silent Key at age 97.
Perry was first licensed as W3HQX in "19ought38" as he was wont to
say, worked for C&P telephone for many years, served in the US Navy
in World War Two as a radio technician (passing the difficult Eddy
test,) and was active for almost 70 years in a variety of amateur radio
activities. Known affectionately by the 147.300 repeater's "Question
Of the Day" group as "The Professor", Perry had a wide range of
on-the-air acquaintances.
A memorial service and celebration of his life was held on Saturday,
March 24 in Winchester, VA.
[ANS thanks Larry Wright, W8ANT for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
China's DSLWP-A1/A2 Satellites to Transmit Amateur Radio Data from the Moon
China is planning to launch the Chang’e 4 lander and rover which is
slated to land on the far side of the moon in December. The lander
configuration will use a relay satellite for a control and data
link with Earth.
Also aboard this flight will be a pair of microsatellites, DSLWP-A1
and DSLWP-A2, which will test low-frequency radio astronomy and
space-based interferometry. These two lunar orbiting satellites
developed by students at the Harbin Institute of Technology will
include educational and amateur radio payloads (but not a trans-
ponder).
The Amateur Radio payload on DSLWP-A1 will provide a telecommand
uplink and a telemetry and digital image downlink. Radio amateurs
will be able to transmit commands that allow them to send commands
to take and download an image. The IARU has coordinated downlinks
on 435.425 MHz and 436.425 MHz for A1.
Downlinks have been coordinated for A2 are 435.400 MHz and 436.400
MHz using 10K0F1DCN or 10K0F1DEN (10-kHz wide FM single-channel
data) 250 bps GMSK with concatenated codes or JT65B.
A1 and A2 will be deployed into a 200 × 9,000 kilometer lunar
orbit. The 50 × 50 × 40 centimeter spacecrafts each weigh about
45 kilograms and are three-axis stabilized. Two linear polarization
antennas are mounted along and normal to the flight direction.
The satellites will use the moon to shield them from radio emissions
from Earth for the long wavelength space-based interferometry experi-
ments.
The launch is anticipated for May or June on a CZ-4C vehicle, putting
the satellites’ deployment about 6 months ahead of the launch of the
Chang’e 4 lander and rover.
[ANS thanks the Harbin Institute of Technology, IARU, and ARRL for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ The AmazonSmile Triple Donation Promotion Now Under Way
Triple your impact! Until March 31, Amazon is tripling the
donation rate on your first AmazonSmile purchase. You can
name AMSAT to receive the donation from your purchase.
https://smile.amazon.com
+ The Station and Operating Hints page has been updated to
include WD9EWK's November/December 2017 AMSAT Journal article
Working the FalconSAT-3 Digipeater (with Kenwood TH-D72 and
TM-D710G radios) Read how to use the 9600bps AX.25 V/U digipeater.
https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ and scroll down
the page to the other digipeater articles.
+ Use the HA7WEN WebSDR at http://152.66.73.241:33333/ to listen to
FO-29 traffic over Europe. (via Michel F6HTJ)
+ Enjoy a video made by the University of Bristol team's entry to
the 2017 UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
(UKSEDS)Lunar Rover Competition: https://youtu.be/ouL-cg1U0MI
Visit http://ukseds.org/about/ to learn more about the UK’s national
student space society.
+ The March PDF of the weather satellite publication GEO Newsletter
produced by the Group for Earth Observation is now available for
free download: http://www.geo-web.org.uk/geoquarterly.php
+ Amateurs preparing for our microwave future in space may find
this information, relayed on the microwave(a)mailmanlists.us
e-mail reflector, useful. An Analog Devices RF Detector Surf
Board is $10 evaluation kit containing an RF Power detector
made up of three RF detector chips covering DC to 9 GHz,
one with 80 dB range. Search for part number ADL5XDETECTRKIT
at https://www.richardsonrfpd.com to figure out if you want one.
Even if you don't buy anything the page has links to useful
electronic design tools.
+ GM4VZY produces a weekly Weather Satellite Report listing
polar orbiting and geostationary satellites transmitting
on VHF and L-band:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/weather-satellite-reports/info
+ Space enthusiasts, make room on your calendars. The Smithsonian
Channel will premiere two sets of back-to-back space documentaries
in late March and early April:
https://www.space.com/39950-smithsonian-channel-space-specials.html
+ Not really satellite oriented but you guys are going to like this
one anyways ... HF Voyager is an ocean-going drone currently making
its way from Hawaii to California that can carry out amateur radio
contacts in several digital modes. On-board in a waterproof container
is an Elecraft KX3 and a Raspberry Pi computer enabling a variety of
digital modes to be used. The station uses FT8 and PSK-31 on the 20
meter band as its primary operating modes. You may also find it using
WSPR in times of poor propagation. Call sign to look for? KH6JF/MM.
More details and the current location of the drone are available at:
http://www.jrfarc.org/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/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 Happy New Year,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-070.01
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* Robertsville Middle School Students Will Send a CubeSat into Space
* Call for Volunteers - Dayton Hamvention
* Maidenhead Grid EL58hx Activation Memorial Day Weekend 2018
* FJ, St. Barthelemy Operations April 19-27
* AMSAT-OSCAR 92
* Send Your Name to the Sun Aboard the Parker Solar Probe
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-070.01
ANS-014.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 070.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
March 8, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-070.01
Robertsville Middle School Students Will Send a CubeSat into Space
In November of last year, a team of Robertsville middle students,
educators, and Oak Ridge scientists submitted a proposal to NASA for
their Cube Satellite Launch Initiative (CSLI) in hopes of sending a
student-designed nanosatellite named, "RamSat" into space. NASA's
CSLI provides opportunities for small satellite payloads built by
various schools and non-profit organizations to fly on upcoming
launches. NASA provides CubeSat developers a low-cost pathway to
conduct scientific investigations in space, enabling students,
teachers, and industry partners to obtain hands-on development
experiences.
In a letter received on March 2, 2018, we learned that our proposal
for RamSat was accepted for participation in the CSLI, an initiative
intended to provide launch opportunities during 2019, 2020, and 2021.
CubeSats are auxiliary payloads on planned NASA, other U.S.
Government, or commercial space flight missions, or deployments from
the International Space Station. We learned that our payload is one
of 21 satellites selected or prioritized for participation in the
ninth CSLI selection. Our acceptance was also announced on NASA's
website as RamSat, an education mission to develop and implement a
middle school STEM curriculum for building a CubeSat.
Peter Thornton, one of the RamSat team leaders from Oak Ridge
National Laboratory stated, "This is such an exciting opportunity for
the students! They will now have the chance to design, build, carry
out and own a satellite mission. They will be the mission scientists,
the communication specialists, and the logistics experts. They will
calculate orbits, learn to aim their satellite camera at selected
targets on the ground, radio their commands to RamSat, and receive
and interpret the digital data streams broadcast by RamSat,
containing imagery and all the other important data gathered on-
board. They'll be working as a team to identify and solve problems,
and they will be working with NASA professionals to integrate RamSat
into the launch and deployment missions. I can't think of a more
exciting project to ignite the students' curiosity and passion for
science and engineering."
The CSLI ride-share launch features spacecraft called
nanosatellites. CubeSats are sized in units, and one unit (1U) is 10
cm x 10 cm x 10 cm. To participate in the CSLI program, CubeSat
investigations must be in alignment with NASA's Strategic Plan. The
Robertsville Middle School proposal aimed to demonstrate alignment by
creating student-driven STEM-based lessons addressing educational
development needs relevant to NASA's strategic goals. The students'
targeted mission for their RamSat is to send a small camera and radio
encased in a 2U nanosatellite that will relay data and images from
space back to earth. With this information, students will study
reforestation patterns of vegetation lost in forest fires. The
student mission arose in response to a real-world connection they had
to the Gatlinburg fires last year.
[ANS Thanks OAK RIDGE SCHOOLS OAK RIDGE, TN for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Call for Volunteers - Dayton Hamvention
The 2018 Hamvention will be held on May 18-20 2018 at Green County
Fairground and Expo Center in Xenia Ohio. Planning is under way for
AMSAT's participation, and we are looking for volunteers in the
following areas: Volunteer Assistant, Publicity Assistant, Sales
Assistant, Outdoor Demo Assistant, Facilities and Setup Assistant.
Interested Hams should contact Team Leader Phil Smith via email at
w1eme(a)amsat.org for information.
[ANS Thanks Phil Smith, W1EME for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Maidenhead Grid EL58hx Activation Memorial Day Weekend 2018
(Venice, LA, USA) Wyatt Dirks, AC0RA, and Clayton Coleman, W5PFG will
travel to the mouth of the Mississippi River in far Southeast
Louisiana
to activate maidenhead gridsquare EL58hx on Memorial Day weekend,
2018.
The primary activities will be on the 6m band and OSCAR satellites.
This
will be Wyatt's first activation of EL58 in Louisiana and Clayton's
second. Both operators have conducted multiple, successful portable
activations over the years, with Wyatt activating over 200 grid
squares
and Clayton over 150. Dates, the operating location in the grid, and
transportation arrangements are confirmed.
The activation is scheduled to begin after 23:00 UTC on May 25 and
will
conclude by 20:00 UTC on May 27. All 6m operations will use the
callsign
AC0RA. All satellite operations will use the callsign W5PFG. HF
operation will occur during slower periods on 6m and when there are
no
satellites in view. Those wishing to confirm HF contacts must do so
via
ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW.) 6m and Satellite confirmations
will
be available following the expedition on LoTW in addition to paper
QSL's
accompanied with a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (SASE.)
Further information will be released prior to the expedition. For
general inquiries contact Clayton, W5PFG, at w5pfg(a)arrl.net. For 6m
operational questions contact Wyatt, AC0RA, at dirkswyatt10(a)gmail.com.
[ANS Thanks Clayton Coleman, W5PFG for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FJ, St. Barthelemy Operations April 19-27
AI5P, N0KV, W0ZA and WD0E plan to operate from Pointe Milou,
St. Barthelemy Island (IOTA NA-146/Grid Square FK87) from
April 19-27, 2018. Operation will be on 80-10 meters (SSB/CW/
RTTY) with satellite operation by WD0E. Conditions may largely
limit most activity to 20 meters and down. Operating 160 meters
is being considered; however, no antenna option is yet finalized.
Satellite operation will take place on several satellites. A
satellite and pass schedule will be announced on the AMSAT-bb
in advance.
Equipment includes three Elecraft K3's and two 500 watt Elecraft
amps. Antennas include a SteppIR crank IR vertical for 80-10
meters, a folding hexbeam by Folding Antennas (Germany) on 20-10
meters, LPDA's on 20 and 17 meters and verticals on 30 and 40
meters.
Operation will be as continuous as conditions warrant. The Colorado
operators have decided to use FJ/N0KV as their callsign while AI5P
will be active as FJ/AI5P.
FJ/N0KV logs will be updated to LOTW while Rick's logs (FJ/AI5P)
will not since he continues to be an analog guy with an actual
key and pen/paper log.
Paper QSLs will be available from both N0KV and AI5P direct and
via the bureau.
Further:
For satellite operation we plan to be on as many passes of as many
satellites as possible focusing on the evening hours. Equipment
will be an IC 910 and Arrow. On Montserrat in 2015 we were on
FO-29 only. For St. Barts we will also operate some FM satellites.
We will assemble a pass plan before we go and post it to this -bb.
We will stick to that plan as much as possible but of course condi-
tions may cause us adjust on the fly. The operating location has
good visibility to the horizon from about the NW through N and E
to the SE. Other directions are somewhat obscured. QSLs handled as
written above.
[ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-OSCAR 92
AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band
Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa's High
Energy
Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). Please keep the uplink clear
during
passes with scheduled mode changes.
For the week of 11-17 Mar 2018, the following mode changes are
scheduled:
Approximately 1420UTC 11Mar we will enable the L band uplink for ~24
hours
Approximately 1625UTC 14Mar we will enable the VT camera and high-
speed data
for ~40 minutes. This is a central US and Mexico pass. Please be
ready to
copy high-speed data with FoxTelem, and keep the uplink clear at
1625UTC.
All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously.
[ANS Thanks Drew KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Send Your Name to the Sun Aboard the Parker Solar Probe
NASA will send your name on a microchip to the Sun aboard the
Parker Solar Probe mission due to launch in the Summer of 2018.
The probe will fly through the Sun's atmosphere and you can go
along for the ride.
To survive in the 2500° F solar environment the spacecraft and
instruments will be protected by a 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite
shield. At its closest approach the probe will be flying at
approximately 430,000 mph.
To submit your name follow the instructions starting at:
http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/The-Mission/Name-to-Sun/
To learn more about the mission visit:
http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/
[ANS thanks NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Gridders, Bob K8BL be staying in grid EM32 for the next couple weeks
and operating "holiday style" while visiting family. He can probably
work out going to adjacent Grids upon request. Besides LA, TX and
AR and OK are possibilities. QSOs will be in LoTW when I return
home the end of March.
[ANS Thanks Bob K8BL, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ I just wanted to thank Doug N6UA for his dedication to the hobby
of Ham radio. Doug made an out of the way trip to nebraska to
confirm the state for several of us who needed it for WAS LOTW. Doug
fought 65 mph winds on the way and during the qso on Cas-4B . At
times the howling was so bad that the audio was distorted , however
Doug endured the elements and continued confirming the Grid/state for
many of us. On the return home Doug encountered several semi
accidents on I-25 . Thanks Doug for being so dedicated as to go out
of your in bad weather to give a new grid or state to your fellow
hams
[ANS Thanks Jack KC7MG and Alex Weimer, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ N8FQ Satalite Sked page available for amateur use.
http://n8fq.org/sked/mobile.php?board=sat
[ANS Thanks Joe, N3XLS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Watch the development of a homebrew VHF mast head preamp design
by VU2POP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTDkRRtWTk8
[ANS Thanks VU2POP for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Information about China ham radio satellite to the moon
https://amsat-uk.org/2016/11/18/lunar-amateur-radio-satellites-dslwp-
a1a2/
[ANS Thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ The schedule page at https://www.amsat.org/satellite-schedules/
has been
updated for the coming week for AO-92 operations. We could use more
stations feeding telemetry in auto or high-speed mode for the camera
run on Wednesday!
[ANS Thanks Andrew Glasbrenner for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ All telemetry (image frames) received by anyone with FoxTelem are
sent
to the AMSAT server (if you have selected "upload to server") and used
to construct a full image, in the same fashion that collecting many
diverse telemetry frames provides a more complete record of satellite
health and science data. So you may not see a whole image on your own
FoxTelem, but you are helping everyone see the full image because you
may capture a frame that no one else did. The more stations
receiving,
the better the chances for full images.
Set your FoxTelem for "auto" source on the Input Tab and pitch in.
Thank you for being part of the fun and learning!
[ANS Thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ AYMAN ISLANDS, ZF. Operators K0NR and KB9DPF will be QRV as ZF2NR
and ZF2PF, respectively, from Grand Cayman Island from March 10 to
17. Activity will be holiday style on 40 to 10 meters using SSB and
FT8. This includes some FM Satellite activity from grid square
EK99. QSL to home calls.
[ANS Thanks ARLD011 DX news bulletin 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,
Chris Bradley, AA5EM
aa5em at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official
views of AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…>
Virus-free.
www.avg.com
<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-070.01
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* Robertsville Middle School Students Will Send a CubeSat into Space
* Call for Volunteers - Dayton Hamvention
* Maidenhead Grid EL58hx Activation Memorial Day Weekend 2018
* FJ, St. Barthelemy Operations April 19-27
* AMSAT-OSCAR 92
* Send Your Name to the Sun Aboard the Parker Solar Probe
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-070.01
ANS-014.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 070.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
March 8, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-070.01
Robertsville Middle School Students Will Send a CubeSat into Space
In November of last year, a team of Robertsville middle students,
educators, and Oak Ridge scientists submitted a proposal to NASA for
their Cube Satellite Launch Initiative (CSLI) in hopes of sending a
student-designed nanosatellite named, "RamSat" into space. NASA's
CSLI provides opportunities for small satellite payloads built by
various schools and non-profit organizations to fly on upcoming
launches. NASA provides CubeSat developers a low-cost pathway to
conduct scientific investigations in space, enabling students,
teachers, and industry partners to obtain hands-on development
experiences.
In a letter received on March 2, 2018, we learned that our proposal
for RamSat was accepted for participation in the CSLI, an initiative
intended to provide launch opportunities during 2019, 2020, and 2021.
CubeSats are auxiliary payloads on planned NASA, other U.S.
Government, or commercial space flight missions, or deployments from
the International Space Station. We learned that our payload is one
of 21 satellites selected or prioritized for participation in the
ninth CSLI selection. Our acceptance was also announced on NASA's
website as RamSat, an education mission to develop and implement a
middle school STEM curriculum for building a CubeSat.
Peter Thornton, one of the RamSat team leaders from Oak Ridge
National Laboratory stated, "This is such an exciting opportunity for
the students! They will now have the chance to design, build, carry
out and own a satellite mission. They will be the mission scientists,
the communication specialists, and the logistics experts. They will
calculate orbits, learn to aim their satellite camera at selected
targets on the ground, radio their commands to RamSat, and receive
and interpret the digital data streams broadcast by RamSat,
containing imagery and all the other important data gathered on-
board. They'll be working as a team to identify and solve problems,
and they will be working with NASA professionals to integrate RamSat
into the launch and deployment missions. I can't think of a more
exciting project to ignite the students' curiosity and passion for
science and engineering."
The CSLI ride-share launch features spacecraft called
nanosatellites. CubeSats are sized in units, and one unit (1U) is 10
cm x 10 cm x 10 cm. To participate in the CSLI program, CubeSat
investigations must be in alignment with NASA's Strategic Plan. The
Robertsville Middle School proposal aimed to demonstrate alignment by
creating student-driven STEM-based lessons addressing educational
development needs relevant to NASA's strategic goals. The students'
targeted mission for their RamSat is to send a small camera and radio
encased in a 2U nanosatellite that will relay data and images from
space back to earth. With this information, students will study
reforestation patterns of vegetation lost in forest fires. The
student mission arose in response to a real-world connection they had
to the Gatlinburg fires last year.
[ANS Thanks OAK RIDGE SCHOOLS OAK RIDGE, TN for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Call for Volunteers - Dayton Hamvention
The 2018 Hamvention will be held on May 18-20 2018 at Green County
Fairground and Expo Center in Xenia Ohio. Planning is under way for
AMSAT's participation, and we are looking for volunteers in the
following areas: Volunteer Assistant, Publicity Assistant, Sales
Assistant, Outdoor Demo Assistant, Facilities and Setup Assistant.
Interested Hams should contact Team Leader Phil Smith via email at
w1eme(a)amsat.org for information.
[ANS Thanks Phil Smith, W1EME for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Maidenhead Grid EL58hx Activation Memorial Day Weekend 2018
(Venice, LA, USA) Wyatt Dirks, AC0RA, and Clayton Coleman, W5PFG will
travel to the mouth of the Mississippi River in far Southeast
Louisiana
to activate maidenhead gridsquare EL58hx on Memorial Day weekend,
2018.
The primary activities will be on the 6m band and OSCAR satellites.
This
will be Wyatt's first activation of EL58 in Louisiana and Clayton's
second. Both operators have conducted multiple, successful portable
activations over the years, with Wyatt activating over 200 grid
squares
and Clayton over 150. Dates, the operating location in the grid, and
transportation arrangements are confirmed.
The activation is scheduled to begin after 23:00 UTC on May 25 and
will
conclude by 20:00 UTC on May 27. All 6m operations will use the
callsign
AC0RA. All satellite operations will use the callsign W5PFG. HF
operation will occur during slower periods on 6m and when there are
no
satellites in view. Those wishing to confirm HF contacts must do so
via
ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW.) 6m and Satellite confirmations
will
be available following the expedition on LoTW in addition to paper
QSL's
accompanied with a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (SASE.)
Further information will be released prior to the expedition. For
general inquiries contact Clayton, W5PFG, at w5pfg(a)arrl.net. For 6m
operational questions contact Wyatt, AC0RA, at dirkswyatt10(a)gmail.com.
[ANS Thanks Clayton Coleman, W5PFG for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FJ, St. Barthelemy Operations April 19-27
AI5P, N0KV, W0ZA and WD0E plan to operate from Pointe Milou,
St. Barthelemy Island (IOTA NA-146/Grid Square FK87) from
April 19-27, 2018. Operation will be on 80-10 meters (SSB/CW/
RTTY) with satellite operation by WD0E. Conditions may largely
limit most activity to 20 meters and down. Operating 160 meters
is being considered; however, no antenna option is yet finalized.
Satellite operation will take place on several satellites. A
satellite and pass schedule will be announced on the AMSAT-bb
in advance.
Equipment includes three Elecraft K3's and two 500 watt Elecraft
amps. Antennas include a SteppIR crank IR vertical for 80-10
meters, a folding hexbeam by Folding Antennas (Germany) on 20-10
meters, LPDA's on 20 and 17 meters and verticals on 30 and 40
meters.
Operation will be as continuous as conditions warrant. The Colorado
operators have decided to use FJ/N0KV as their callsign while AI5P
will be active as FJ/AI5P.
FJ/N0KV logs will be updated to LOTW while Rick's logs (FJ/AI5P)
will not since he continues to be an analog guy with an actual
key and pen/paper log.
Paper QSLs will be available from both N0KV and AI5P direct and
via the bureau.
Further:
For satellite operation we plan to be on as many passes of as many
satellites as possible focusing on the evening hours. Equipment
will be an IC 910 and Arrow. On Montserrat in 2015 we were on
FO-29 only. For St. Barts we will also operate some FM satellites.
We will assemble a pass plan before we go and post it to this -bb.
We will stick to that plan as much as possible but of course condi-
tions may cause us adjust on the fly. The operating location has
good visibility to the horizon from about the NW through N and E
to the SE. Other directions are somewhat obscured. QSLs handled as
written above.
[ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-OSCAR 92
AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band
Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa's High
Energy
Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). Please keep the uplink clear
during
passes with scheduled mode changes.
For the week of 11-17 Mar 2018, the following mode changes are
scheduled:
Approximately 1420UTC 11Mar we will enable the L band uplink for ~24
hours
Approximately 1625UTC 14Mar we will enable the VT camera and high-
speed data
for ~40 minutes. This is a central US and Mexico pass. Please be
ready to
copy high-speed data with FoxTelem, and keep the uplink clear at
1625UTC.
All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously.
[ANS Thanks Drew KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Send Your Name to the Sun Aboard the Parker Solar Probe
NASA will send your name on a microchip to the Sun aboard the
Parker Solar Probe mission due to launch in the Summer of 2018.
The probe will fly through the Sun's atmosphere and you can go
along for the ride.
To survive in the 2500° F solar environment the spacecraft and
instruments will be protected by a 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite
shield. At its closest approach the probe will be flying at
approximately 430,000 mph.
To submit your name follow the instructions starting at:
http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/The-Mission/Name-to-Sun/
To learn more about the mission visit:
http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/
[ANS thanks NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Gridders, Bob K8BL be staying in grid EM32 for the next couple weeks
and operating "holiday style" while visiting family. He can probably
work out going to adjacent Grids upon request. Besides LA, TX and
AR and OK are possibilities. QSOs will be in LoTW when I return
home the end of March.
[ANS Thanks Bob K8BL, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ I just wanted to thank Doug N6UA for his dedication to the hobby
of Ham radio. Doug made an out of the way trip to nebraska to
confirm the state for several of us who needed it for WAS LOTW. Doug
fought 65 mph winds on the way and during the qso on Cas-4B . At
times the howling was so bad that the audio was distorted , however
Doug endured the elements and continued confirming the Grid/state for
many of us. On the return home Doug encountered several semi
accidents on I-25 . Thanks Doug for being so dedicated as to go out
of your in bad weather to give a new grid or state to your fellow
hams
[ANS Thanks Jack KC7MG and Alex Weimer, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ N8FQ Satalite Sked page available for amateur use.
http://n8fq.org/sked/mobile.php?board=sat
[ANS Thanks Joe, N3XLS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Watch the development of a homebrew VHF mast head preamp design
by VU2POP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTDkRRtWTk8
[ANS Thanks VU2POP for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Information about China ham radio satellite to the moon
https://amsat-uk.org/2016/11/18/lunar-amateur-radio-satellites-dslwp-
a1a2/
[ANS Thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ The schedule page at https://www.amsat.org/satellite-schedules/
has been
updated for the coming week for AO-92 operations. We could use more
stations feeding telemetry in auto or high-speed mode for the camera
run on Wednesday!
[ANS Thanks Andrew Glasbrenner for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ All telemetry (image frames) received by anyone with FoxTelem are
sent
to the AMSAT server (if you have selected "upload to server") and used
to construct a full image, in the same fashion that collecting many
diverse telemetry frames provides a more complete record of satellite
health and science data. So you may not see a whole image on your own
FoxTelem, but you are helping everyone see the full image because you
may capture a frame that no one else did. The more stations
receiving,
the better the chances for full images.
Set your FoxTelem for "auto" source on the Input Tab and pitch in.
Thank you for being part of the fun and learning!
[ANS Thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ AYMAN ISLANDS, ZF. Operators K0NR and KB9DPF will be QRV as ZF2NR
and ZF2PF, respectively, from Grand Cayman Island from March 10 to
17. Activity will be holiday style on 40 to 10 meters using SSB and
FT8. This includes some FM Satellite activity from grid square
EK99. QSL to home calls.
[ANS Thanks ARLD011 DX news bulletin 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,
Chris Bradley, AA5EM
aa5em at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official
views of AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…>
Virus-free.
www.avg.com
<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-063
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:
* VP9, BERMUDA on Satellites
* GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 Selected for NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative
* Rare Grid Rover Activation Planned on Pacific Coast
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 2018
* Satellite 101 Wiki Released by IIT Bombay Student Satellite Project
* Rules for AMSAT Awards updated
* BIRDS-2 CubeSat Constellation Includes 145.825 MHz Digipeater
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-063.01
ANS-063 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 063.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE MARCH 4, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-063.01
VP9, BERMUDA on Satellites
VP9, BERMUDA. Chris, KG6CIH, will be active as KG6CIH/VP9 from Bermuda
(NA-005) between March 8-12th. Activity will be holiday style in addition
to also checking out the island. He will be splitting radio time with a
friend (David/WH6DSN was mentioned by another source). They will be focused
on SSB operations on the main bands (80/40/20 meters, 15 meters if pro-
pagation is good, 160m if antenna works), and maybe some satellite contacts
too. QSL will primarily be via LoTW, but if they get enough contacts, they
will consider printing up special cards.
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1353 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 Selected for NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative
On March 2, 2018, NASA announced the ninth round of selections for the
CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). The first two AMSAT GOLF CubeSats,
GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1, were among the 21 missions recommended for
selection.
AMSAT must negotiate and execute a Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement (CRADA) with NASA for each project to finalize
selection. NASA anticipates a sufficient number of launch
opportunities but does not guarantee that all recommended payloads
will be launched.
GOLF-TEE (Technology Evaluation Environment) will serve as a rapidly
deployable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) testbed for technologies necessary
for a successful CubeSat mission to a wide variety of orbits.
AMSAT Vice-President Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, said “The
GOLF-TEE project tees off the next phase of our CubeSat program.
GOLF-TEE provides AMSAT hardware and knowledge for Attitude
Determination and Control (ADAC) capability and the opportunity to
develop a 3U spaceframe with deployable solar panels that can be used
in LEO or HEO missions, two of the major systems required in future
GOLF and HEO missions.” Ragnarok Industries developed the attitude
control system for the Lunar Heimdallr 6U CubeSat, a NASA Cube Quest
Challenge finalist.
GOLF-TEE provides the opportunity for rapid deployment and on orbit
testing of the AMSAT’s Advanced Satellite Communications and
Exploration of New Technology (ASCENT) program’s technology, including
radiation tolerant transponder and Integrated Housekeeping Unit (IHU)
technologies that will lead the way for low cost commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) systems that can function in the MEO and HEO
radiation environments. GOLF-TEE will also carry a Fox-1E design V/u
linear transponder and RadFx (Radiation Effects) experiment for
Vanderbilt University.
GOLF-TEE and the GOLF program will provide for the development of
“Five and Dime” Field-Programmable Gate Array Software Defined Radio
(FPGA SDR) transponders for use on a variety of missions and orbits.
The target date for launch of GOLF-TEE is 4Q 2019.
GOLF-1 will serve as a follow-on mission, also to LEO. Launch is
targeted for 2020-2021.
GOLF-1 will require a de-orbiting plan that is in compliance with
NASA's NPR 8715.6 NASA Procedural Requirements for Limiting Orbital
Debris in order to be manifested on a launch, due to the high altitude
AMSAT has requested.
Please consider a donation to the AMSAT GOLF program for development,
construction, and testing of the GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 CubeSats. Donate
at https://goo.gl/GJ2Utb
Checks may be mailed to AMSAT, 10605 Concord St. #304, Kensington, MD
20895-2526.
[ANS thanks Paul, N8HM, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Rare Grid Rover Activation Planned on Pacific Coast
Heads up AMSAT enthusiasts. Billy Blue, KM6NJL, plans to head to
Humboldt County, California March 16-19. Billy says, "Depending
on schedule and terrain and activities I'm going to try to work
from CM89, CN70, CN80, CN71 and CN81 or the borders of these
grids. Unfortunately I won't be heading further east."
[ANS thanks Billy Blue, KM6NJL, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 2018
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite
Awards issued by the ARRL for the period February 1, 2018
through February 28, 2018.
Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
February: Short Month -- Fewer endorsements
CALL 1Feb18 1Mar18
WA4NVM 1450 1488
WC7V 1158 1159
AA5PK 996 1012
K4FEG 841 878
N4UFO 700 715
K6FW 661 703
K0FFY 173 260
VE6SWC 173 173
K5IX 100 125
G0ABI 115 116
AB1OC 115 (NEW VUCC)
PU8RFL 101 (NEW VUCC)
If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list
at <mycall>@<mycall>.com
and I'll revise the announcement.
This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf
listings for February 1, 2018. and March 1, 2018. 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]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite 101 Wiki Released by IIT Bombay Student Satellite Project
Members of the Pratham satellite team, the first student satellite
of IIT Bombay Student Satellite Project (IITBSSP), have created the
Satellite 101 Wiki as a part of a social goal of spreading knowledge
and enthusiasm related to satellite and space technology among
various aspiring students and universities across the globe.
The Wiki discusses:
+ Starting a Student Satellite Project
- Building the Team
- Planning the mission and finalizing the Payload
- Obtaining the required Infrastructure
+ Subsystems within a Satellite
- Payload Subsystem
- Communications Subsystem
- Electrical Subsystem
- Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem
- Mechanical Subsystem
Access the Satellite 101 Wiki at:
http://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/satelliteWiki/index.php/Satellite_101
[ANS thanks the IIT Bombay Student Satellite Project for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules for AMSAT Awards updated
A few months ago we added Washington, DC counting the same as a state.
Today, we continued to align our awards with the ARRL. Our rules stated
contacts had to be made within 25 miles or 40 kilometers from your home
location. We have now amended the rules to read within 50 miles or 80
kilometers. This should be more beneficial for those that have moved to
a new QTH.
[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BIRDS-2 CubeSat Constellation Includes 145.825 MHz Digipeater
The BIRDS-2 CubeSat constellation developed at Japan's Kyushu
Institute of Technology includes three 1U CubeSats:
+ BHUTAN-1
+ MAYA-1
+ UiTMSAT-1
All CubeSats in BIRDS-2 constellation have identical designs and
utilize the same radio frequencies. They are planned for release
from the ISS together in 2018.
The primary mission of BIRDS-2 CubeSat constellation is to provide
digital message relay service to the amateur radio community by means
of an APRS digipeater onboard. The APRS digipeater onboard BIRDS-2
CubeSats will use 145.825 MHz for both receive and transmit.
145.825MHz is a standard frequency used by other satellites such
as ARISS and LAPAN-A2.
Another mission of the BIRDS-2 CubeSat constellation is to demon-
strate a store-and-forward (S&F) system. In this mission, a goal
is to investigate technical challenges through experiments on
appropriate data format, multiple access scheme, file-handling
protocol while complying with limited operational time and power
constraints.
Another interesting application of BIRDS-2 CubeSat S&F system is
for the satellites to collect data from remote ground sensors,
store them onboard and download them to the different BIRDS-2
ground stations network.
Further, students of Kyushu Institute of Technology will use BIRDS-2
CubeSat constellation to enhance research and experiment in the
fields of single latch-up event detection, magnetic field measurements
using a COTS anisotropic magnetometer, and flight testing of a COTS GPS
chip which can be used for future CubeSat missions if proven effective.
Students will also explore a passive attitude stabilization mechanism
consisting of magnets and hysteresis dampers for proper orientation of
camera on a CubeSat. All measurements and image data will be shared
with the public on BIRDS-2 project website.
Moveover, BIRDS-2 CubeSat constellation will expand amateur radio
communication experiment on the operation of CubeSat constellation
via a network of UHF/VHF amateur radio ground stations (started in
BIRDS-1 CubeSat constellation project). All the above missions are
envisioned to promote awareness of amateur radio communication and
amateur satellites among the general public and students, especially
in the participating nations of BIRDS-2 Project: Bhutan, Malaysia,
Philippines, and Japan. Planning a deployment from the ISS in 2018.
The IARU has coordinated a downlink frequency of 437.375 MHz and
for APRS uplink/downlink 145.825 MHz. The IARU detailed pages are
as noted:
BHUTAN-1
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=562
MAYA-1
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=563
UiTMSAT-1
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=564
An article in the Bhutan press is posted at:
http://www.kuenselonline.com/bhutan-1-expected-to-be-in-space-by-may/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK, kuenselonline.com, and the IARU for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Congratulations on achieving a distance of 7649 km via AO-7
QSO by F6HTJ (JN12) and K4FEG (EM55) near Memphis, Tennessee.
The frequency was 145930.0. (Via F6HJT)
+ The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, is located at 79 degrees 59 min
North, 85 degrees 56 min West on Ellesmere Island (IOTA NA-008).
M0NPT recorded a video of G0ABI and G7SVF working VY0ERC via AO-91:
https://youtu.be/oOiV-iEZhX4 (AMSAT-UK on Twitter)
+ 2017 Space Symposium - Corey Shields KB9JHU - Intro to SATNOGS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsKJX4WgCn0
(via AMSAT Twitter)
+ Congratulations on achieving a distance of 5,479 km via AO-91
QSO by Sam, N3ROY (FM29) and Jose, EB1AO (IN52) in Spain at
1530 Z on March 1. (via N3ROY)
+ A group of Ham Radio operators from Southern Mexico will be
operating the special event "Spring Equinox" with the call
6E3MAYA from March 17th. to 21th. The activity will be 80 to
6 meters in SSB, CW, Satellite and Digital Modes. QSL via
XE3N. (Twitter via Daily DX and XE3N)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KT4TZ
kt4tz at amsat dot org
1
0
ANS-061 ANS Special Bulletin GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 Selected for NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative
by Lee McLamb 02 Mar '18
by Lee McLamb 02 Mar '18
02 Mar '18
AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-061.01
ANS-061 GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 Selected for NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 061.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE MAARCH 2, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-061.01
On March 2, 2018, NASA announced the ninth round of selections for the
CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). The first two AMSAT GOLF CubeSats,
GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1, were among the 21 missions recommended for
selection.
AMSAT must negotiate and execute a Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement (CRADA) with NASA for each project to finalize
selection. NASA anticipates a sufficient number of launch
opportunities but does not guarantee that all recommended payloads
will be launched.
GOLF-TEE (Technology Evaluation Environment) will serve as a rapidly
deployable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) testbed for technologies necessary
for a successful CubeSat mission to a wide variety of orbits.
AMSAT Vice-President Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, said “The
GOLF-TEE project tees off the next phase of our CubeSat program.
GOLF-TEE provides AMSAT hardware and knowledge for Attitude
Determination and Control (ADAC) capability and the opportunity to
develop a 3U spaceframe with deployable solar panels that can be used
in LEO or HEO missions, two of the major systems required in future
GOLF and HEO missions.” Ragnarok Industries developed the attitude
control system for the Lunar Heimdallr 6U CubeSat, a NASA Cube Quest
Challenge finalist.
GOLF-TEE provides the opportunity for rapid deployment and on orbit
testing of the AMSAT’s Advanced Satellite Communications and
Exploration of New Technology (ASCENT) program’s technology, including
radiation tolerant transponder and Integrated Housekeeping Unit (IHU)
technologies that will lead the way for low cost commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) systems that can function in the MEO and HEO
radiation environments. GOLF-TEE will also carry a Fox-1E design V/u
linear transponder and RadFx (Radiation Effects) experiment for
Vanderbilt University.
GOLF-TEE and the GOLF program will provide for the development of
“Five and Dime” Field-Programmable Gate Array Software Defined Radio
(FPGA SDR) transponders for use on a variety of missions and orbits.
The target date for launch of GOLF-TEE is 4Q 2019.
GOLF-1 will serve as a follow-on mission, also to LEO. Launch is
targeted for 2020-2021.
GOLF-1 will require a de-orbiting plan that is in compliance with
NASA's NPR 8715.6 NASA Procedural Requirements for Limiting Orbital
Debris in order to be manifested on a launch, due to the high altitude
AMSAT has requested.
Please consider a donation to the AMSAT GOLF program for development,
construction, and testing of the GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 CubeSats. Donate
at
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=
STK27W4G9RMLC.
Checks may be mailed to AMSAT, 10605 Concord St. #304, Kensington, MD
20895-2526.
[ANS thanks Paul, N8HM, for the above information]
/EX
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-056
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:
* AO-92 Operating Schedule Posted for Week of 25 Feb to 3 Mar 2018
* PicSat Status - Commissioning Continues, FM Transponder Test Success
* Falconsat-3 Software Reload
* Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for 2-22-2018
* Why is there so much TLE confusion when new Cubesats are launched?
* JAMSAT Symposium 2018 at Miraikan in Tokyo March 10 - 11
* AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation
* CabreuvaDX Team Announces ZV1C Activation on Satellite March 17-18
* ESTCube-2 Applies for IARU Frequency Coordination
* Shanghai Tech University Proposing Amateur Radio Digipeater Microsat
* Canadian University Design Challenge for “Selfie-Sat”
* 15th Annual CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly April 30
* First Citizen Science Workshop Measuring Effects of the Solar Eclipse
* Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor
* Bittern DX Educational Outreach Project in the UK
* Microwave Compendium "Backscatter" available as free PDF
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-056.01
ANS-056 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 056.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE February 25, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-056.01
AO-92 Operating Schedule Posted for Week of 25 Feb to 3 Mar 2018
Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations updated the AO-92 Operating Schedule
page for the coming week:
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-schedules/
AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band
Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa’s
High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI). Please keep
the uplink clear during passes with scheduled mode changes.
For the week of 25 Feb to 3 Mar 2018, the following mode changes
are scheduled:
+ Approximately 1420UTC 25Feb we will enable the L band
uplink for ~24 hours
+ Approximately 1515UTC 27Feb we will enable high speed
data in order to download from the HERCI experiment for
40 minutes
+ Approximately 1545UTC 2Mar we will enable high speed data
in order to download from the VT camera for 40 minutes
in support of a demonstration at a Virginia high school
+ All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PicSat Status - Commissioning Continues, FM Transponder Test Success
PicSat was successfully launched on 12 January 2018 on the PSLV-C40
mission. It is orbiting Earth at 505km altitude on a Sun synchronous
orbit. PicSat, a 3U CubeSat, was developed in a record time of 3
years by a small team of astrophysicists lead by Sylvestre Lacour
(CNRS) at the LESIA laboratory / Paris Observatory / PSL in France.
The main goal is to observe the southern hemisphere star Beta Pictoris
continuously in order to capture any transit phenomena related to its
planet that has been predicted to pass in front of the star by the
summer of 2018. The commissioning phase is making good progress and
the PicSat team is learning how to operate the satellite. The main
next step is to fully take control of the attitude and point in the
desired direction.
Thanks to the involvement and efforts of Sylvain Azarian (F4GKR)
and the IARU, PicSat uses amateur bands to communicate:
Uplink: 145.910 MHz FM (when transponder is enabled)
Downlink: 435.525 MHz FM voice, see web for data format
When not in science mode, PicSat has a transponder that will be made
available for the amateur community: the timings will be announced.
A first transponder surprise test was done on 15 February from the
Paris Observatory ground station in Meudon, France:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQd0WEcoFgE&t=18s)
It was received by amateurs in Europe
https://twitter.com/supertrack_it/status/964267817095835648
During past weekend (17-18 February) the PicSat team had programmed
downloads of House Keeping data from the payload over targeted areas
across the planet. Many amateurs received and send the data to the
PicSat data base. This has allowed for the first time to create a 24h
monitoring of the temperature sensor readings, which are helpful
diagnostics for the team showing the importance of this community
effort: https://twitter.com/IamPicSat/status/965982775718436864
Radio amateurs can register on the PicSat website to become involved
and upload their data to the PicSat data base, where it will be visible
for anyone to see and serve the PicSat team. This will be even more
important once observations of Beta Pictoris will start and a large
stream of photometric data will be produced to monitor the brightness
of the star and create the real time light curve.
The PicSat team is most grateful for all the positive collaboration,
feedback and help to date and looks forward to continue and strengthen
this connection.
Please see https://picsat.obspm.fr/ for all details.
[ANS thanks Maaten Roos and the PicSat Team at the Paris Observatory
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Falconsat-3 Software Reload
AMSAT Vice-President Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA reported
that Falconsat-3 has had a software crash after ~850 days uptime.
The Operations Team will need to reload the softeare.
Drew mentioned, "Even though you might hear telemetry, the BBS and
digipeater will be off until we are complete. Please attempt no
transmissions until AMSAT's Operations Team releases Falconsat-3
back to general use. Your cooperation is appreciated.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for 2-22-2018
Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, noted that 18th Space Control Squadron has
swapped the satellite names associated with object 41845 (was CAS-2T)
and another object 41847. Therefore CAS-2T is now object 41847. Nico's
detailed doppler measurements confirm that CAS-2T is in fact object
41847. (Note: the payloads CAS-2T and KS-1Q still remain attached to
the CZ 11 fourth stage.) Thanks Nico, good catch!
The PICSAT team and Albert Van Duersen indicate that a better set of
TLEs for PICSAT is now object 43132. Nico Janssen has also noted that
the best TLE set for PICSAT has been unstable since November 14th of
last year. Nico says that now object 43132 and even object 43133
are better matches for PICSAT than object 43131. Therefore, we will
use object 43132 for PICSAT for now. The problem is the closeness
of objects 43131, 43132 and 43133. Nico says he will continue to
monitor these objects as they slowly separate over time. More later.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Why is there so much TLE confusion when new Cubesats are launched?
AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD provided some
answers to frequently asked questions regarding every time a CubeSat
gets launched, there is some confusion on what TLEs should be used.
This is the result of the process of launching a new amateur CubeSat
with other CubeSats, often several dozen at a time. We then start
the process of determining which object in a “flock” of CubeSats
is associated with a particular spacecraft.
Pre-launch TLEs, that is calculation based on the expected orbit,
are usually supplied by the launch provider. Pre-launch TLEs are
used until post-launch TLEs (for the group of objects that your
satellite is in) are released from the US Department of Defense
Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) based on observations made
with cameras and radars.
There is a a 5 to 10 day period of tracking a group of CubeSats
until they separate enough to isolate the one of interest. By
observing the Doppler shift on transmissions from a particular
satellite against the calculated Doppler shift from all candi-
date object TLEs, we can positively associate an object with a
particular satellite. In the case of AMSAT satellites, we then
advise JSpOC which object number is “ours”.
Finally, an individual satellite and its associated TLEs are
determined and we settle down to an single, accurate, reliable
set of TLEs … and all the other “best guesses” go away, although
they may be still floating around on the Internet. But, there are
so many variables – did you launch on time, did you get released
on time, has the group your CubeSat is in separated enough to
identify your satellite, etc. that the process that can be both
confusing and annoying at the same time.
AMSAT strives to minimize confusion when distributing TLEs. Dummy
object numbers are used for pre-launch TLEs since final object
numbers cannot be assigned yet. Immediately post launch we may
post candidate objects with generic names like “OBJECT C”.
Finally, when positive association between an object number
and a spacecraft is made, we will use the common name of the
satellite. We always recommend using TLEs from the Keps mail-
ing list or the current bulletin or bare elements from the
AMSAT web site.
Join the AMSAT Keps Mailing list:
https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/keps
AMSAT Current Keps bulletin:
https://www.amsat.org/tle/current/nasa.all
AMSAT current bare elements:
https://www.amsat.org/tle/current/nasabare.txt
[ANS thanks AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
JAMSAT Symposium 2018 at Miraikan in Tokyo March 10 - 11
JAMSAT President Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP announced that the JAMSAT Annual
General Meeting and Symposium will be held in Tokyo March 10- 11.
(Note: all times are noted in Japan Standard Time JST)
Annual General Meeting: March 10 (Sat) 11:00~12:30
Symposium 2018 Day 1: March 10 (Sat) 13:25~18:00
Day 2: March 11 (Sun) 9:30~13:00
Dinner: March 10 (Sat) 18:00
Miraikan - The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
2-3-6 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan / Tel: +81-3-3570-9151 (main)
http://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/en/aboutus/
Contact JA3GEP - ja3gep at jamsat dot or dot jp to register
Check JAMSAT's web page for the latest information:
https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p=659
March 10 Saturday
Time (JST)
13:25 - 13:30 Greetings Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP
13:30 - 14:10 Receiving Satellite Signals in Amateur Radio Bands Naomi
Kurahara, JE6EXN
14:10 - 15:10 NEXUS Progress(1) Kiyoshi Yamaguchi Nihon University
MEXUS Progress(2) Hozumi Ueda, JA0FKM
15:10 - 15:20 Coffee Break
15:20 - 16:00 Receiving Signal from OMOTENSHI Moon Probe Wataru Torii
JAXA Radio Amateur Club
16:00 ~ 16:40 Introduction to Ryman Sat Project Takafumi Shimamura
JI1SYC
16:40 - 17:10 Es'hail-2 (P4-A) and other news from AMSAT-DL (Skype)
Peter Guelzow, DB2OS
17:10 - 18:00 Group Photo
18:00 - 20:00 Dinner at the Canteen Restaurant
March 11 Sunday
09:30 - 10:20 AMSAT-NA's FOX-1 and GOLF Program (Skype)
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
10:20 - 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 - 11:10 ISS HamTV receiving Project at Wakaytama University
Katsumi Morita, JA3RVS
11:10 - 11:50 New Generation SDR Satellite ground station with
5,000JPY Noritsuna Imamura, JI1SZP
11:50 - 12:00 Coffee Break
12:00 - 12:40 Enjoy Satellite Communication with Dipole Antennna!
Eiji Nakamura, JA1CPA
12:40 - Other Topics
[ANS thanks JAMSAT President Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation
ZF2, CAYMAN ISLAND (Satellites, Grids, HF). Adrian, AA5UK, will once
again be operating as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman (between March 1-4th)
and ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman (between March 5-10).
Activity will be holiday style (usually) on 40-10 meters using a IC-
7300 and vertical antenna.
Operations will be focused on the Digital modes (FT8, RTTY,
PSK and other digital modes upon request)with possibly some SSB, and
the satellites using 2x FT-817s and Arrow Antenna for satellite. Most
of his activity will be in the afternoons and evenings. For the
latest operational updates, watch his Twitter links <@AA5UK and
@ZF2AE>. QSL direct to AA5UK with a SAE/SASE, LoTW or eQSL.
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1351 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
CabreuvaDX Team Announces ZV1C Activation on Satellite March 17-18
Members of the CabreuvaDX Team will be active as ZV1C from
Cedro Island between March 17-18th. Activity will be on 80/
40/20/15/10 meters using CW, SSB and FT8. There will also be
activity on 2 meters satellite. QSL via PU2VCP. For more
details, see ZV1C on QRZ.com.
[ANS thanks the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1349 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ESTCube-2 Applies for IARU Frequency Coordination
The IARU Coordination Requests page shows that the Institute of
Physics at the University of Tartu in Estonia is planning a 3U
cubesat named ESTCube-2 is a 3U Cubesat.
The primary transceiver proposes to use the 70 cm amateur radio band
for uplink and downlink purposes:
+ Beacon reporting satellite status once per minute in AX.25
data packet format with 9600 baud data-rate FSK/GFSK modulated
signal with experimental changing frequency up-to 38600 baud
using 2GFSK (or 4GFSK for testing) modulation schemes.
+ Digital file and/or analog NBFM signal including low resolution
image thumbnail images will be transmitted.
+ The digipeater mode will be used to allow amateur radio operates to
use the satellite for two-way digital communication. 9600 bps GFSK
AX.25 data uplink will be in 2m amateur band and transmission of
digipeated packet in 70 cm radio amateur band.
+ A Doppler ranging experiment will be used to determine satellite
distance to Earth in order to improve accuracy of satellite orbit
determination. 2m amateur band as uplink and 70 cm amateur band as
downlink is used for Doppler ranging method.
+ High-speed communications system data downlink in the 5 GHz amateur
radio band, where possible data will be satellite status packets,
experiment data and full resolution images from Earth observation
camera. Data will be downlinked starting with BPSK modulated 9600 bps
data-rate up-to 32APSK modulated 25 Mbps data-rate signal.
+ An on-board corner reflector is planned for possible optical ranging.
More info here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-TI7NbeuNSuUjcwSUhBTEg5UGc/view
No launch opportunity has been identified but planning a 2019
deployment into a SSO.
[ANS thanks the the Institute of Physics at the University of Tartu
and the IARU for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Shanghai Tech University Proposing Amateur Radio Digipeater Microsat
The Amateur Radio Interest Group of Shanghai Tech University has
submitted a frequency coordination request to the IARU for a microsat
50k kg, 25 x 25 50 cms with deployable solar panels including an
amateur radio mission.
+ An amateur radio digipeater payload available for all radio amateurs.
Digipeater uplink on 2m amateur band and down link on 70cm amateur
band using 4k8 FSK.
+ TT&C uplink on 2m amateur band and down link on 70cm amateur band
for amateur payload using 4k8 FSK.
+ A non-amateur experimental mission will use a laser link and S-band
data links in the Spacecraft Operation Service.
Planning a launch from Jiuquan Space Center on June 30, 2018 into a
700km SSO.
[ANS thanks the Amateur Radio Interest Group of Shanghai Tech University
and the IARU for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Canadian University Design Challenge for “Selfie-Sat”
On February 19, 2018 the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge announced
a competition for a 3U Cubesat “Selfie-Sat” to be designed and built
by Canadian university students.
A snapshot of the Selfie-Sat mission:
1) amateur radio stations contact the university-built cubesat and
send a command for it to take a photo from space. The photo is
then down-linked to the station, along with photos and stories
from Canada.
2) The Selfie-Sat mission will be designed so that amateur radio
operators will be able to contact it as it passes overhead.
During the contact, the radio operator will be able to send a
command for the satellite to take a “Space-Selfie” photo over
the region.
3) The photo will be immediately transmitted to the ground, along
with Canadian stories for students of all ages, as well as other
scenic photos and descriptions of Canada.
“We envision radio amateur operators setting up their equipment at
science centres or even schools,” said Larry Reeves, Canadian Satel-
lite Design Challenge Management Society President, “and having a
public or school event for the pass. We believe this mission will
have outstanding educational benefits for students, and for promoting
Canadian science, technology, and culture.”
Competition details are posted at: http://www.csdcms.ca/
[ANS thanks the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge Management Society
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
15th Annual CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly April 30
The CubeSat Developers Workshop at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo
will be held April 30 to May 2, 2018.
Registration is now open and can be completed at:
http://www.cubesat.org/workshop-information
A schedule of presentations can also be found on this link.
Early Bird Registration Ends on March 30, 2018 and regular
registration begins. Online Registration closes April 27, 2018.
Those who wish to purchase passes after this date must buy them
at the door.
[ANS thanks the CubeSat Developers Workshop for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
First Citizen Science Workshop Measuring Effects of the Solar Eclipse
This past August, the United States was witness to one of the most
beautiful and significant astronomical events in human history – a
total solar eclipse that travelled across the country from Oregon
to South Carolina.
In addition to its visual beauty, this eclipse also had profound
effects on the ionosphere, an electrically charged portion of the
upper atmosphere that affects radio communications and navigation
systems. These ionospheric effects piqued the interest of scientists
and amateur radio operators across the country. They conducted one
of the largest citizen science experiments in space science, an
international ham radio operating event specifically for studying
the eclipse. Many of these scientists and hams will be gathering
for the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation
(HamSCI, http://hamsci.org) workshop.
The event will be held at the New Jersey Institute of Technology
in Newark, NJ this Friday and Saturday (February 23-24, 2018) to
share their observations and findings. The program begins each
day at 9AM at the Campus Center.
Presentations by scientists and ham radio operators from the New
Jersey Institute of Technology, the Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center,
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory
will highlight the program.
All interested are welcome to attend the workshop. For more
information and registration, please visit
http://hamsci.org/hamsci2018.
This HamSCI 2018 workshop is organized by Dr. Nathaniel Frissell
and is hosted by the New Jersey Institute of Technology Center
for Solar-Terrestrial Research.
Originally posted at:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-Southgate-NJIT (Southgatearc.org)
[ANS thanks Southgate for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor
If you're open to volunteering to help AMSAT this is your chance!
We have openings for a few volunteers willing to help as an AMSAT
News Service editor.
Our editors work on a rotating schedule with each taking turns as
the current week's news editor. Using input received from members,
the amateur radio community, officers, plus our other editors your
job is to assemble the AMSAT News Service bulletin for your week.
(Template is provided to help you format the message.)
If you can help contact our Senior News Service Editor, Lee McLamb,
KT4TZ via his e-mail: kt4tz(a)amsat.org
(Ed. note: the need for at least one, hopefully many volunteer
editors, is immediate. K9JKM will be retiring at the end of March
with extensive travel plans, often out of reach of the internet.)
[ANS thanks the AMSAT News Service for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bittern DX Educational Outreach Project in the UK
AMSAT-UK shared a link from an article posted on England's
North Norfolk news reporting on the success of Bittern DX’s
educational outreach project with the Girl Guides.
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-GirlGuides
Eight members of a north Norfolk-based amateur radio group have
been teaching girl guides how to contact colleagues around the
world as part of Thinking on The Air Day.
The team from Bittern DX’s educational outreach project made
the journey to the village hall in Saham Toney, near Swaffham,
to speak to about 60 rainbows, brownies, guides and their
adult leaders.
Thinking on the Air Day is an opportunity for the members
of girlguiding from the youngest rainbow to the oldest
trefoil guild member to talk to other members of the World
Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts via amateur radio.
On this day each year members remember the founders of the
movement and take part in various activities to think about
their sisters throughout the world.
The girl guides were given the chance to find a transmitter
50 yards away, shown how the Morse code works, and they all
keyed their name correctly, earning a certificate.
They were then allowed to talk on air to each other using
handsets before being introduced to VHF working with each
participant correctly conducting a meaningful conservation
with a club member outside on a handheld.
One brownie had a short conversation with an amateur in Germany.
Next they were shown the principles and techniques behind
satellite working with three conversations conducted.
Peter Stainton, publicity officer for the Bittern DX, said:
“Club members found it very rewarding to see the young people
take part in our hobby.
“One brownie said it had blown her mind away to see what we
could do. But as a counterbalance, when being told how we
could talk around the world and beyond, one commented ‘I
just use Skype’.”
The group’s outreach project is aimed at bringing an amateur
radio experience to the general public and was given a boost
last year with a grant of almost £10,000 from the National
Lottery’s Awards for All fund for new club equipment.
The group also received money from the Radio Society of
Great Britain Legacy Fund (RSGB) to help buy a trailer
and new generator.
For more information visit www.bittern-dxers.org.uk/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and North Norfolk News for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Microwave Compendium "Backscatter" available as free PDF
Backscatter is a compendium of the best technical articles that
have been in Scatterpoint, the UK Microwave Group newsletter (and
its predecessor) over the period 1999 to 2006
The original publication in 2008 was an A5 size book of 445 pages
and is an excellent reference with many articles on all aspects
of microwaves. Download from
http://www.microwavers.org/?backscatter.htm
Membership of UKuG is free to those under 21. Details of UKuG
membership can be found at: http://www.microwavers.org/
[ANS thanks Southgate ARC News for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Bruce Paige, KK5DO, Director of AMSAT Awards congratulates Soren,
AK4WQ, for earning AMSAT Rover Award #012. See:
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/
+ NASA TV plans coverage of the ISS Expedition 54 return to Earth:
Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2 p.m. EST: Expedition 54 crew farewell and
hatch closure. NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei
and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency
Roscosmos bid farewell to the International Space Station crew
and close the hatch of their Soyuz spacecraft in preparation
for undocking.
Tuesday, Feb. 27, 5:30 p.m. EST: Expedition 54 Soyuz undocking.
Tuesday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. EST: Expedition 54 Soyuz deorbit burn
and landing in Kazakhstan. Landing is scheduled at 9:31 p.m EST.
+ At 5:02 p.m. EST, March 1, a two-hour launch window will open,
during which GOES-S will launch on a United Launch Alliance
Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. Launch coverage will begin
at 4:30 p.m EST all on NASA TV.
+ Photos needed for 2018 edition of AMSAT Getting Started With
Amateur Satellites. Steve Belter, N9IP, recently tweeted that
the editors of the 2018 edition of "AMSAT Getting Started With
Amateur Satellites" are looking for action photos of people
in the act of operating the satellites. Submissions with credits
should be emailed to Steve n9ip at amsat dot org.
+ Satellite presentation in Surrey BC - The Surrey (BC) Amateur Radio
Club announces that there will be will be an amateur radio satellite
presentation during their March 14, 2018 meeting. All are welcome
to attend. The meeting will be held at the Emergency Management Center
BC South West PREOC, 14292 Green Timbers Way, Surrey BC, at 7:00 PM.
For more information visit their Web site at:
http://ve7sar.net/index.html
The City of Surrey has posted the news on their events page:
https://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/26128.aspx
[ANS thanks Surrey ARC for the above information]
+ A blog discussing frequently asked questions about visual and radio
satellite tracking resources can be read at:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-SatTrackerFAQ
+ In order to understand many of the subtleties regarding launch
vehicle design it is useful to understand many of the terms used
in the engineering analysis and evaluation of these systems.
Follow ths link to read about a few of the most important
definitions.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Launch_Vehicle_Lingo_999.html
+ Scott Tilley made headlines after finding a NASA satellite
that had been lost for over a decade. The IMAGE satellite,
which was meant to study the magnetosphere, was launched in
2000, and lost contact with Earth back in 2005. Tilley, who
uses radio equipment to track objects whose orbits are undis-
closed, rediscovered it on January 20. Ever since the first
satellites were launched, amateur astronomers have played a
vital role in keeping tabs on them. In fact, when the Soviet
satellite Sputnik I took the United States by surprise in
October of 1957, legions of practiced volunteers were ready
to track it, armed only with enthusiasm, low-power telescopes,
and a good sense of timing. These volunteers were part of
Operation Moonwatch, a massive citizen science project. Find
more at:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-056-MoonwatchHistory (www.atlasobscura.com)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/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,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-049
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* Upcoming AO-92 Operations Schedule
* SatPC32 12.8d is released
* ARRL 2018 Teacher Institute to Include Amateur Satellites, Telemetry
* Kettering University Student Brings Ham Radio Hobby, Expertise to
Campus
* AMSAT Argentina Balloon Flight Completes 2nd Trip Around the World
* AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Station Update: FPGA, RFNoC, SDSoC
* AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation
* Phase 4 Ground Weekly Report!
* Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-049.01
ANS-049 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 049.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
February 18, 2018
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-049.01
Upcoming AO-92 Operations Schedule
AO-92 operations are scheduled among the U/v FM repeater, L-Band
Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa's High
Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI).
For the week of 18 - 24 Feb 2018, the following mode changes are
scheduled:
Approximately 0200UTC 18Feb we will enable the L band uplink for ~24
hours
Approximately 0255UTC 20Feb we will enable high speed data in order
to download from the HERCI experiment for 40 minutes
Approximately 1540UTC 21Feb we will enable high speed data in order
to download from the VT camera for 40 minutes
Approximately 0215UTC 22Feb we will enable high speed data in order
to download from the HERCI experiment for 40 minutes
All other times the U/v repeater will be open continuously.
[ANS thanks Drew KO4MA for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SatPC32 12.8d is released
The English version of SatPC32 12.8d is now available for download on
the author's web page.
http://www.dk1tb.de/downloadeng.htm
Here's What's New in the 12.8d version:
1. The CAT commands of the IC-9100 have been extended again. The
program now also controls the DV mode (DV for 'Digital Voice') of the
radio. The operating mode must be entered as DV in the file
Doppler.SQF. With the FT-817 the program now additionally supports
the CWR mode.
2. All SatPC32 programs now process significantly larger Keplerian
element source files. Especially because of the numerous new
Cubesats, the number of data sets contained in the source files has
increased significantly. For example the file Cubesat.txt currently
contains data for nearly 400 satellites. The previous version of the
SatPC32 programs could only read up to 320 data sets (only SatPC32
itself up to 500). All SatPC32 programs have been expanded to handle
sets of up to 1500 satellites.
3. In all programs (SatPC32, SatPC32ISS, Wisat32, WinAOS and
WinListen), the list of satellites contained in the source file
('Available' list in menu Satellites) is now displayed in
alphabetical order to facilitate locating individual satellites.
4. The program SatPC32ISS now also allows the creation of up to 12
satellite groups. The new Cubesats have also increased the number of
'in-band' satellites. Originally, in-band operation in amateur radio
was only available at the ISS.
5. In order to accelerate a change between the individual satellite
groups, the 'Groups' window can now be called up by clicking on
vacant areas of the main window, except in the Satellite menu. Such
free positions are located on the right and left of the frequency
window. Editing the groups (create or delete a group, add or remove
satellites) can only be done in the Satellites menu.
6. In the Satellites menu the data sets of the satellites contained
in the active source file can now be displayed. When called, the data
set of the currently selected satellite is displayed. The feature
helps you to immediately know the identifier of the satellite. This
allows you to add an entry to the file 'AmsatNames.txt' (menu '?'
'Auxiliary files'), so that the satellite can be displayed in the
entire program with its AMSAT name or with a user defined name.
7. The program has improved control of the sub-audible tone required
by some satellites. For many years SO-50 was the only such satellite.
Switching sub tone was no issue. Now we have several (AO-85, AO-91,
AO-92) The program can now automatically switch the sub tone on/off
when switching between PL tone satellites and others, changing
between u/v and v/u satellites, changing the group, closing the
program etc.
8. In addition, numerous minor changes and error corrections have
been made some people have complained about the difficulty of
manually adding a new satellite and its corresponding tuning
information. The Programs menu can now launch the W9KE
DopplerSqfEditor to aid this process.
Please read the instructions before installing or updating the
program. You probably want to run the DataBackup program before
updating an existing version. Existing registration codes work with
the new version.
Thanks to Erich Eichmann DK1TB for donating this software to AMSAT.
Sale of registration codes and CDs is a major fund raiser for AMSAT.
And thanks to Erich for providing user support on amsat-bb and
updating the program for 20 years. No other satellite tracking
program provides such comprehensive radio Doppler tuning.
[ANS thanks Wayne W9AE for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL 2018 Teacher Institute to Include Amateur Satellites, Telemetry
As part of its educational outreach through the Education &
Technology Program (ETP), ARRL will offer three sessions of the
Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology this July. The week-long
workshops will be held at ARRL Headquarters in Newington,
Connecticut, and in Dayton, Ohio — hosted by the Dayton Amateur Radio
Association (DARA). The Teachers Institute (TI) is an expenses-paid,
professional development seminar that provides teachers at all grade
levels with tools and strategies to introduce basic electronics,
radio science, space technology, and satellite communication, as well
as weather science, introduction to micro-controllers, and basic
robotics in their classrooms.
The Teachers Institute curriculum is designed for motivated teachers
and other school staff who want to learn more about wireless
technology and bring that knowledge to their students. The goal of
the TI program is to equip educators with necessary foundational
knowledge and — through hands-on learning — generate the inspiration
for teachers to continue exploring wireless technology and adapt what
they learn to their classroom curricula.
Interested educators can apply online. The $100 enrollment fee is
refunded for applicants who are not selected. A qualified applicant
must be an active teacher at an elementary, middle, high school, or
community college/university, or in a leadership or enrichment
instruction role in an after-school program.
Session Location Dates Instructor
TI – 2 Newington, CT July 9 – July 12 Matt Severin N8MS
TI – 1 Dayton, OH July 16 – July 20 Larry Kendall K6NDL
TI – 1 Newington, CT July 23 – July 27 Tommy Gober N5DUX
Topics covered in the TI-1 “Introduction to Wireless Technology”
workshop include basic electronics, radio science, microcontroller
programming, and basic robotics. Among other activities, participants
will learn how to solder and practice by building a small project.
They’ll also learn basic circuit concepts and learn how to use basic
test equipment. In addition, TI-1 attendees will learn about Amateur
Radio, take part in a hidden transmitter hunt, see demonstrations of
Amateur Radio satellite communication, and build and program their
own simple robots.
The TI-2 “Remote Sensing and Data Gathering” workshop will
concentrate on analog-to-digital conversion and data sampling.
Participants will receive telemetry from Amateur Radio satellites and
apply it to math and science topics. TI-2 participants will also
construct a marine research buoy equipped with environmental sensors,
build 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.
Holding an Amateur Radio license is not required for the
“Introduction to Wireless Technology” workshop (TI-1), but one is
required by those planning to attend the advanced “Remote Sensing and
Data Gathering” workshop (TI-2), and applicants to the advanced
workshop must have completed TI-1.
The grant to attend a TI covers transportation, hotel, and a modest
per diem allowance to cover meals, instructional resources, and a
resource library of relevant ARRL publications.
Graduate credit is available through Fresno Pacific University,
which may be applied to satisfy professional growth requirements to
maintain teaching credentials. The class is self-contained, and
participants are expected to be able to complete all requirements
during the class time. Graduate credit forms may be requested at the
end of the Teachers Institute.
For more information, contact Ally Riedel ariedel at arrl.org at
ARRL Headquarters.
[ANS thanks ARRL Headquarters for the above information.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Kettering University Student Brings Ham Radio Hobby, Expertise to
Campus
Ruth Willet ‘21 has always been fascinated with Morse code,
especially when researching World War II. That fascination grew into
a hobby, and she soon found herself engrained in the amateur radio -
more commonly known as ham radio - community.
Willet, who is double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and
Engineering Physics, first got licensed in June 2015 as a ham radio
operator because of her interest in Morse code. She soon upgraded her
license in order to explore more aspects of the hobby.
Other hams know Willet as KM4LAO (Kilo Mike Four Lima Alpha Oscar),
the call letters of her government-issued ham radio license.
“It’s such a special hobby because there’s so many people that want
to get to know you and want to help you learn and grow. It really has
enabled me to mature into who I am today. I have gained incredible
friends from across the globe,” said Willet, a Georgia native. “This
hobby supplements very well what I’m doing at Kettering because it
has application in a lot of different subjects. I love seeing the
practical application of electronics, solar weather and the way radio
signals propagate around the globe. I am thrilled by the fact that I
can talk to someone who’s driving down the interstate 10 miles away,
bounce signals off of satellites to have conversations hundreds of
miles away, or talk around the world to someone in Africa. It’s
fascinating. You really learn a lot.”
Willet had to pass an exam given by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in order to receive her call sign and be allowed to
operate on the air. The three levels of Amateur radio licenses from
entry-level to most advanced are Technician, General, and Amateur
Extra. Willet upgraded to the Amateur Extra level license before she
graduated from high school.
Willet can use a hand-held radio to talk with someone across town,
or she can use a more robust radio that enables her to talk around
the world by reflecting her transmitted signal off the ionosphere.
There are fast-paced competitive events she participates in where she
is supposed to talk to as many people as possible within 24 hours.
She can operate in multiple ways, including Morse code, voice
communication or digital (which is similar to texting through ham
radio).
“The fun thing is that’s only the start. Amateur radio satellites
are orbiting the earth. You can bounce off the satellites and talk to
people halfway around the world,” Willet said. “We can also use our
skills to assist in emergency situations. For example, when Hurricane
Irma recently hit in Puerto Rico, amateur radio operators were some
of the only people who could communicate from the island to the
outside world.”
In 2016, Willet also participated in National Parks on the Air, a
worldwide event organized by the American Radio Relay League. Since
2016 was the centennial of the National Park Service (NPS), hams
wanted to help celebrate history by getting people to national parks,
seashores, monuments, and more. Ham radio operators went out and set
up portable radio stations, got on the air, and helped other hams
around the world conduct “virtual visits” to parks across the country.
When Willet came to Kettering University, she knew she wanted to
continue her ham radio activities. Kettering was appealing to her for
the small classes and the close-knit campus feel, on top of the co-op
experience.
“After coming for the LITE (Lives Improved Through Engineering)
summer program and seeing how personal everybody was at Kettering I
just really felt like it was a great fit. And I can’t turn down the
co-op experience,” Willet said. “I was first interested in Mechanical
Engineering because my grandfather had a book about basic machines
and how they work. I was fascinated with levers to complicated gears.
Then senior year of high school I took Physics and I loved it. Being
able to see the effects of basic physics on daily life was very
interesting to me. I’m learning as much as I can at school and
exploring opportunities both inside and outside the classroom so that
I can make the most of my time here.”
She has found that the skills she learns in classes go hand in hand
with her amateur radio hobby. Willet plans to start up an Amateur
Radio Club on campus in the spring 2018 term to get more students
interested.
“It’s a stress relief for me. I really enjoy sharing this hobby with
other students,” she said. “I would encourage people to consider
exploring amateur radio because it’s a hobby that allows you to
explore anything from technical electronics to international
friendships. Amateur radio is open to anyone. It will help develop
your professional and personal skills, participate in and learn from
fascinating activities, and connect with an incredible community.”
[ANS thanks Sarah Schuch and Kettering University for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Argentina Balloon Flight Completes 2nd Trip Around the World
AMSAT Argentina reports that their earth circling El PicoGlobo
WSPR beacon balloon has now completed its 2nd lap around the
world.
After its 2nd crossing of the Pacific Ocean the balloon flew
over Patagonia, then headed north at 12,000 meters altitude to
Buenos Aires during the night of February 11. On February 12
it flew over Uruguay then turned east out over the Atlantic
Ocean to begin its 3rd circle of the Earth.
PicoGlobo transmits a WSPR beacon on 14.0956 MHz.
Flight progress can be followed at:
http://lu7aa.org.ar/wspr.asp
https://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FLU1ESY-3&timerange=604800&tail=604800
[ANS thanks AMSAT Argentina for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Station Update: FPGA, RFNoC, SDSoC
Michelle, W5NYV says the latest Phase 4 Ground Station Report
is available for viewing at: https://youtu.be/moKFVagY_Ro
This week you'll see a video demo of the Voltera V-one system
available for circuit printing, solder paste and reflow to
enable prototype development.
Work has been progressing on the FPGA or field programmable
gate array which is at the heart of many modern software defined
radios. Having powerful reconfigurable digital logic realizes a
lot of the promise of SDRs. Balancing the workload between the
general purpose processor and the FPGA is a big challenge.
The RFNoC, or Radio Frequency Network on a Chip from Ettus Research
for the 300 series USRPs before. RFNoC lets you place blocks that
run on the FPGA in GNU Radio as if they were being run by the host
computer. This lets you use the FPGA to full advantage within GNU
Radio Companion.
A comparison is made with the SDSoC, the Software Defined System
on a Chip ,a tool from Xilinx.
The team is looking for your help! If you can help ease the process
of learning this environment, please let Michelle know:
W5nyv(a)amsat.org
[ANS thanks Michelle, W5NYV and the AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Station
team for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AA5UK Announces March 1 Cayman Island Satellite Activation
ZF2, CAYMAN ISLAND (Satellites, Grids, HF). Adrian, AA5UK, will once
again be operating as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman (between March 1-4th)
and ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman (between March 5-10).
Activity will be holiday style (usually) on 40-10 meters using a IC-
7300 and vertical antenna.
Operations will be focused on the Digital modes (FT8, RTTY,
PSK and other digital modes upon request)with possibly some SSB, and
the satellites using 2x FT-817s and Arrow Antenna for satellite. Most
of his activity will be in the afternoons and evenings. For the
latest operational updates, watch his Twitter links <@AA5UK and @
ZF2AE>. QSL direct to AA5UK with a SAE/SASE, LoTW or eQSL.
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1351 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Phase 4 Ground Weekly Report!
Voltera Circuit printer for prototyping is up and running the Hello
World circuit.
Video of this report at https://youtu.be/rdjKZCc9g74
There will be plenty more reports and feedback about the badge
design over coming week as the JoCo Cruise embarks. Several of our
team members are on the cruise and we can't wait to hear all about
it. Everything that we've learned on this effort will be applied to
the Hamvention badge, and to the Phase 4 Ground radios.
We have some Software Defined System on a Chip progress. We have
received our Xilinx specific JTAG Cable. Here it is!
Charles Brain has been battling Petalinux and linux builds for his
environment. Plenty of learning going on there. Some of us have
received additional hardware from LimeSDR and there is more on the
way.
We have received very positive news from from Critical, the makers
of Snickerdoodle, that official board definition files are in
progress and will be available very soon. This means that those of us
that are ordinary tool users, and not necessarily advanced tool
makers, will be able to experiment and make progress with the
Snickerdoodle, Xilinx Vivado, and the Xilinx SDK, more easily.
SDSoC allows you to take functions written in C and C++, evaluate
whether they would be better run on either the general purpose
processor or the FPGA, and then assign them to the proper hardware.
The 5GHz RF team is learning a lot about the impact of connectors on
performance, and are evaluating some higher quality solutions.
Several sets of team members are working on transverter designs.
This is a very active and interesting area of investigation. There's
a large number of tradeoffs and design patterns involved. We have a
10GHz specific effort, a high-performance multi band effort, the 5GHz
RF team previously featured, and more. If you are interested in RF
designs, then we are here to help.
Ed Friesma at UNLV is taking on more of the correlator design. Our
next report will be all about the progress on the DVB-S2 correlator,
the GNU Radio block, what we can leverage from the GPU
implementation, and next steps.
On the 28th of February, we will have two guest speakers at our
regular ASCENT conference call. Nate and Neal from Ettus Research
will be addressing questions about the Careful COTS design of a USRP
300 series board for use in space. Having a powerful SDR at the heart
of an amateur radio payload would put us in excellent position to
deploy any modulation scheme we want. The Careful COTS version of a
USRP is why Phase 4 Space was founded, and we've had a very good week
in terms of outreach and evangelism.
There's good news in an update to the Phase 4B mission on the Wide
Field Of View satellite, with a launch scheduled for 2020. You can
read about it in the article linked in the notes, from this past June.
Our job on Phase 4 Ground is to make sure that you have a radio that
can use this or any other payload that uses the Five and Dime air
interface. And of course we want to fill up terrestrial microwave
with the same fun and easy to use broadband digital microwave
signals. If you're interested in learning more, then get in touch.
http://www.losangeles.af.mil/…/final-rfp-released-for-laun…/
Plenty going on and lots of fun to be had. We will have a booth at
Dayton as soon as possible, and we will be asking for time to talk at
the Hamvention SDR forum about the Careful COTS effort, open source
successes, and the impact of SDR advances on licensed and unlicensed
services.
After Hamvention is DEFCON. And we might have something up our
sleeves this year.
I'm working very hard on setting up a workshop and hackfest at GNU
Radio Conference 2018, which will be held September 17-21 in
Henderson, Nevada. This hackfest will focus on developing GNU Radio
receiver blocks for DVB-S2 and S2X. If you are on the team or a
supporter or find yourself interested in all of this, then please
consider coming to the conference and participating in this effort.
Tickets will be available very soon. It's a volunteer run event made
possible by people just like you.
And, there's an open space initiative from Lockheed Martin that we
need to take a serious look at, and some new products on the market
that might make our GSE and DVB-S2X manufactured solutions a bit
easier. Howie DeFelice is on that trail and will report back. See you
next week!
[ANS thanks Michelle W5NYV for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Volunteer Opportunity - Openings for News Service Rotating Editor
If you're open to volunteering to help AMSAT this is your chance!
We have openings for a few volunteers willing to help as an AMSAT
News Service editor.
Our editors work on a rotating schedule with each taking turns as
the current week's news editor. Using input received from members,
the amateur radio community, officers, plus our other editors your
job is to assemble the AMSAT News Service bulletin for your week.
(Template is provided to help you format the message.)
If you can help contact our Senior News Service Editor, Lee McLamb,
KT4TZ via his e-mail: kt4tz at amsat.org
(Ed. note: the need for at least one, hopefully many volunteer
editors, is immediate. K9JKM will be retiring at the end of March
with extensive travel plans, often out of reach of the internet.)
[ANS thanks the AMSAT News Service for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
+ A Successful contact was made between Naka Junior High School,
Kakamigahara City, Japan and Astronaut Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP using
Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2018-01-22 10:23 UTC and lasted
about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via 8J25D.
ARISS Mentor was Satoshi 7M3TJZ.
+ A Successful contact was made between The English School, Nicosia,
Cyprus and Astronaut Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP using Callsign NA1SS. The
contact began 2018-01-24 10:35 UTC and lasted about nine and a half
minutes. Contact was Telebridge via W6SRJ.
ARISS Mentor was Armand SP3QFE.
+ A Successful contact was made between Central Magnet Math &
Science ES/Batesville School District, Batesville, AR and Astronaut
Joe Acaba KE5DAR using Callsign OR4ISS. The contact began 2018-01-31
16:42 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was
Telebridged via IK1SLD.
ARISS Mentors was Keith W5IU.
+ A Successful contact was made between Moore Square AIG/GT Magnet
School, Raleigh, NC and Astronaut Scott Tingle KG5NZA using Callsign
NA1SS. The contact began 2018-02-05 18:32 UTC and lasted about nine
and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via KG4AKV
ARISS Mentors were Steve W1HQL and Ryan W4NTR.
+ A Successful contact was made between Vilniaus Jono Basanaviciaus
Gymnasium together with Vilniaus Jono Basanaviciaus Progymnasium,
Vilnius, Lithuania and Astronaut Joe Acaba KE5DAR using Callsign
OR4ISS. The contact began 2018-02-14 12:37 UTC and lasted about nine
and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via LY1BWB
ARISS Mentor was Eskil SM5SRR.
+ A Successful contact was made between Los Angeles Academy Middle
School, Los Angeles, CA and Astronaut Joe Acaba KE5DAR using
Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2018-02-15 17:45 UTC and lasted
about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Direct via W6RVD
ARISS Mentor was Charlie AJ9N.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
"Galaxy - Children and Youth Center for Space Education", Kaluga,
Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Misurkin
Contact is a go for 2018-02-18 10:45 UTC
Agrupamento de Escolas do Fundão, Fundão, Portugal, direct via CS5DBB
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA
Contact is a go for: Wed 2018-02-21 09:38:11 UTC 33 deg
Museum of Science & Technology - Danforth Middle School, Syracuse,
NY, direct via K2MST
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP
Contact is a go for: Fri 2018-02-23 14:08:52 UTC 28 deg
School in Kursk, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is TBD
Contact is a go for Sat 2018-02-24 08:45 UTC
Watch for possible time update
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ European FOSDEM Talks Playlist
The Free and Open source Software Developers' European Meeting
(FOSDEM) is a two-day event organized by volunteers to promote
the widespread use of Free and Open Source software. A playlist
of the talks is posted at:
https://tinyurl.com/ANS49-FOSDEM
[ANS thanks FOSDEM for the above information]
+ Congratulations to Mikey White, K7ULS for completing his Worked
All States - Satellite on February 13. Mikey says state #50 was
Rhode Island. Bob Mattaliano, N6RFM provided the connection at
the Rhode Island end. Mikey posted a video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaMBERls6Ww&feature=youtu.be
[ANS thanks Mike K7ULS via AMSAT North America Facebook]
+ Photos needed for 2018 edition of AMSAT Getting Started With
Amateur Satellites.
Steve Belter, N9IP, recently tweeted that the editors of the 2018
edition of "AMSAT Getting Started With Amateur Satellites" are
looking for action photos of people in the act of operating the
satellites. Submissions with credits should be emailed to Steve
n9ip at amsat dot org.
[ANS thanks Steve N9IP for the above information]
+ The AMSAT Office will be closed on Monday, February 19th in
observance of Presidents' Day.
[ANS thanks Martha for the above information.]
+ On February 16 Jeff, WB8RJY worked Jose, EB1AO in Spain via AO91.
The satellite was at 0.8 degrees for Jose and at 0.6 degrees for
Jeff for this QSO. Jeff commented, "Thats stretching the old
string pretty tight! Once again, amazing bird!" (via Twitter)
[ANS thanks Jeff WB8RJY 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
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-042.01
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* Satellite/AMSAT Presentation for Pasadena Radio Club
* Wind satellite survives vacuum
* All-in-one Service for Space Station
* Sally Ride EarthKAM Space Camp's 60th Mission is open for
registration
* Estimated March 2018 Launch Date for Es'hail 2 Satellite
* Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-042.01
ANS-042.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 042.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
November 5, 2017
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-042.01
Satellite/AMSAT presentation for the Pasadena Radio Club on Tuesday,
23 January 2018. (part 1 of 3, links for parts 2 and 3 on the
top/right of the page)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-fFpxg1kM&feature=youtu.be
An updated version of the slideshow projected on the screen is
available for download. Go to http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ and find it
in the folder "WA0POD".
[ANS would like to thank Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wind satellite survives vacuum
ESA's Aeolus satellite has been particularly tricky to build. One of
the main stumbling blocks has been getting its lasers to work in a
vacuum, but recent tests on the satellite show that the vacuum or
temperature of space won't get in the way of Aeolus measuring Earth's
winds.
[ANS would like to thank the European Space Agency for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
All-in-one Service for the Space Station
Quick access to space, high-speed data feed and a unique vantage
point are the selling points of a new commercial venture on the
International Space Station. Its name is Bartolomeo, and its
versatile design allows for many mission types at competitive prices
from next year.
[ANS would like to thank the European Space Agency for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sally Ride EarthKAM Space Camp's 60th Mission is open for
registration.
This be will EarthKAM's 60th week-long mission and the first of
2018! Mission 60 runs February 20 through February 26. Mission sign
up is available and orbits will be published by Thursday, February
15. 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.org
[ANS would like to thank E.Mike Cardel, AMSAT ANS Rotating Editor
for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated March 2018 Launch Date for Es'hail 2 Satellite
The SatBeams website says they have a estimated launch date of
28-Mar-2018 for the Es'hail 2 satellite carrying the world's first
geostationary amateur radio service in S-band/X-band ranges via its
AMSAT-DL hosted payload.
Launch site: Cape Canaveral
Launch vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2
Commercial payloads on Es'hail 2 include 24 Ku-band and 11-Ka-band
transponders to provide direct broadcasting services throughout the
Middle East and North Africa as well as government communication
services.
Posted at: https://www.satbeams.com/satellites?id=2683
[ANS thanks SatBeams.com for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Vilniaus Jono Basanaviciaus Gymnasium together with Vilniaus Jono
Basanaviciaus Progymnasium, Vilnius, Lithuania, direct via LY1BWB The
ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled
astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA (***) Contact is a go for: Mon 2018-
02-12 12:45:49 UTC 46 deg (***)
Los Angeles Academy Middle School, Los Angeles, CA, direct via W6RVD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled
astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA (***) Contact is a go for: Fri 2018-
02-16 16:53:20 UTC 34 deg (***)
University of the Philippines Integrated School, Quezon City,
Philippines, direct via DX1ISS (***) The ISS callsign is presently
scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Mark Vande Hei
KG5GNP (***) Contact is a go for: Sat 2018-02-17 10:23:00 UTC 70 deg
(***)
*********************************************************************
*********
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.
Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz.
*********************************************************************
**********
All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise
noted.
*********************************************************************
**********
Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS
website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to
http://www.ariss.org/
Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site.
*********************************************************************
*******
Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the
ISS? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for
complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video.
http://www.ariss-eu.org/
If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able
to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net
*********************************************************************
*******
ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored
over 100
schools:
Francesco IKØWGF with 132
Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 128
Gaston ON4WF with 123
Sergey RV3DR with 100
*********************************************************************
*******
The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of
date webpages were removed and new ones have been added. If there
are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me
know.
Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your
own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the
listed time.
All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601
date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2018-02-06 05:00
UTC. (***)
Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and
questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites,
and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt
Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1206. (***) Each
school counts as 1 event.
Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1155. (***)
Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot.
Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47.
A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in
the file.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf
Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++
The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact:
Arkansas, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam,
Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++
QSL information may be found at:
http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html
ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS
*********************************************************************
*******
The successful school list has been updated as of 2018-02-06 05:00
UTC. (***)
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf
Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes
showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_corr
ection
.rtf
Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf
Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts
https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415
*********************************************************************
*******
Exp. 53 on orbit
Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP
Alexander Misurkin
Joe Acaba KE5DAR
Exp. 54 on orbit
Scott Tingle KG5NZA
Norishige Kanai
Alexander Skvortsov
*********************************************************************
*******
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Object 43199 has apparently been identified as Shaonian Xing
(Youth Sat)
+ A video from the RSGB 2017 Convention
+ LibreSpaceFoundation Talk
Object 43199 has apparently been identified as Shaonian Xing (Youth
Sat).
So the unknown satellite that identifies itself as MXSAT-1 is
actually the student satellite Shaonian Xing. It also means this
satellite does not transmit on its coordinated frequencies. Let's
wait and see if its FM repeater will be activated and on which
frequencies it will operate.
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=547
[ANS would like to thank Nico, PA0DLO for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A video from the RSGB 2017 Convention, "Amateur deep space
reception", by Paul Marsh, M0EYT can found at:
http://rsgb.org/main/publications-archives/video/rsgb-convention-
lectures/rsgb-2017-convention-lectures/
Paul Marsh, M0EYT gives an introduction into deep space mega-DX, the
equipment needed and the techniques used to identify extremely weak
signals coming from man-made space probes in various parts of our
solar system. X-Band (8.4GHz) is the primary band of discussion but
Paul also talks briefly about S and Ka reception equipment and
antennas.
You can receive signals from spacecraft in excess of 1 billion Km
with
a modest size dish in your garden. If you have an interest in EME or
microwave weak signal reception, Amateur DSR can help you push the
limits
of what is possible with home-built equipment.
[ANS would like to thank JoAnne, K9JKM for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
LibreSpaceFoundation Talk
Watch the LibreSpaceFoundation FOSDEM talk on UPSat_gr the 1st open
source hardware and software satellite https://youtu.be/D8QtZ9IRLto
[ANS would like to thank JoAnne, K9JKM 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,
Chris Bradley, AA5EM
aa5em at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official
views of AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
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