- ANS - mailman.amsat.org

ANS-169 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 18 Jun '17

18 Jun '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-169 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: * 2017 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced * 2017 AMSAT Field Day Rules * Iceland/Greenland/Faroe Islands on Satellite July 4-19 * CAS-4A and CAS-4B Satellites from CAMSAT Launched Thursday * Updates to AMSAT-NA KEP Distribution for 06-15-2017 * Frank Bauer KA3HDO Among Distinguished Public Service Medal Honorees * Wireless Institute of Australia Reports Amateur Radio Rescue of Satellite * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-169.01 ANS-169 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 169.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. June 18, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-169.01 2017 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced The 2017 candidates, in alphabetical order by last name are: Jerry Buxton, N0JY Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA Peter Portanova, W2JV Paul Stoetzer, N8HM This year AMSAT-NA will be electing four voting members of the Board of Directors. These will go to the four candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be one alternate chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT-NA membership by July 15, 2017 and must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15, 2017 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America will go by air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your location, please contact the AMSAT office. Completed ballots should be returned as promptly as possible, and those from outside North America preferably by air mail. Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that will accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. You have the option to vote for up to four candidates. [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 AMSAT Field Day Rules 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 24-hour period on the fourth weekend of June. For 2017 the event takes place during a 27- hour period from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 24, 2017 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 25, 2017. Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 24 can operate only 24 hours. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event. This year should be easier than many years since we have about 10 transponders and repeaters available, with more possible before Field Day. 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 like SO-50 for your AMSAT Field Day focus, do not, unless you are simply hoping to make one contact for the ARRL rules bonus points. 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. It was suggested during past field days that a control station be allowed to coordinate contacts on the FM satellites. There is nothing in the rules that would prohibit this. This is nothing more than a single station working multiple QSO's. If a station were to act as a control station and give QSO's to every other field day station, the control station would still only be allowed to turn in one QSO per FM satellite while the other station would be able to submit one QSO. The format for the message exchange on the ISS or other digital packet satellite is an unproto packet to the other station (3-way exchange required) with all the same information as normally exchanged for ARRL Field Day, e.g.: W6NWG de KK5DO 2A STX KK5DO de W6NWG QSL 5A SDG W6NWG de KK5DO QSL If you have worked the satellites on Field Day in recent years, you may have noticed a lot of good contacts can be made on some of the less-populated, low-earth-orbit satellites like FO-29, AO-7, AO-73, NAYIF-1 or the XW satellites. During Field Day the transponders come alive like 20 meters on a weekend. The good news is that the transponders on these satellites will support multiple simultaneous contacts. The bad news is that you can't use FM, just low duty-cycle modes like SSB and CW. THE 2017 AMSAT FIELD DAY RULES The AMSAT Field Day 2017 event is open to all Amateur Radio operators. Amateurs are to use the exchange as specified in ARRL rules for Field Day. The AMSAT competition is to encourage the use of all amateur satellites, both analog and digital. Note that no points will be credited for any contacts beyond the ONE allowed via each single-channel FM satellite. Operators are encouraged not to make any extra contacts via theses satellites (Ex: SO-50). CW contacts and digital contacts are worth three points as outlined below. 1. Analog Transponders ARRL rules apply, except: - Each phone, CW, and digital segment ON EACH SATELLITE TRANSPONDER is considered to be a separate band. - CW and digital (RTTY, PSK-31, etc.) contacts count THREE points each. - Stations may only count one (1) completed QSO on any single channel FM satellite. If a satellite has multiple modes such as V/u and L/s modes both turned on, one contact each is allowed. If the PBBS is on - see Pacsats below, ISS (1 phone and 1 digital), Contacts with the ISS crew will count for one contact if they are active. PCSat (I, II, etc.) (1 digital), - The use of more than one transmitter at the same time on a single satellite transponder is prohibited. 2. Digital Transponders We have only APRS digipeaters and 10m to 70cm PSK transponders (see Bob Bruninga's article in the March/April, 2016 issue of the AMSAT Journal). Satellite digipeat QSO's and APRS short-message contacts are worth three points each, but must be complete verified two-way exchanges. The one contact per FM satellite is not applied to digital transponders. The use of terrestrial gateway stations or internet gateways (i.e. EchoLink, IRLP, etc.) to uplink/downlink is not allowed. Sample Satellite Field Day Greetings File: Greetings from W5MSQ Field Day Satellite station near Katy, Texas, EL-29, with 20 participants, operating class 2A, in the AMSAT-Houston group with the Houston Amateur Television Society and the Houston QRP club. All the best and 73! Note that the message stated the call, name of the group, operating class, where they were located (the grid square would be helpful) and how many operators were in attendance. 3. Operating Class Stations operating portable and using emergency power (as per ARRL Field Day rules) are in a separate operating class from those at home connected to commercial power. On the report form simply check off Emergency or Commercial for the Power Source and be sure to specify your ARRL operating class (2A, 1C, etc.). AND FINALLY... The Satellite Summary Sheet should be used for submission of the AMSAT Field Day competition and be received by KK5DO (email or postal mail) by 11:59 P.M. CDT, Monday, July 10, 2017. This is earlier than the due date for the ARRL submissions. The preferred method for submitting your log is via e-mail to kk5do at amsat dot org or kk5do at arrl dot net. You may also use the postal service but give plenty of time for your results to arrive by the submission date. Add photographs or other interesting information that can be used in an article for the Journal. You will receive an email back (within one or two days) from me when I receive your email submission. If you do not receive a confirmation message, then I have not received your submission. Try sending it again or send it to my other email address. If mailing your submission, the address is: Bruce Paige, KK5DO Director of Awards and Contests PO Box 1598 Porter, TX 77365-1598. Certificates will be awarded for the first-place emergency power/portable station at the AMSAT General Meeting and Space Symposium in the fall of 2017. Certificates will also be awarded to the second and third place portable/emergency operation in addition to the first-place home station running on emergency power. A station submitting high, award-winning scores will be requested to send in dupe sheets for analog contacts and message listings for digital downloads. You may have multiple rig difficulties, antenna failures, computer glitches, generator disasters, tropical storms, and there may even be satellite problems, but the goal is to test your ability to operate in an emergency situation. Try different gear. Demonstrate satellite operations to hams that don't even know the HAMSATS exist. Test your equipment. Avoid making more than ONE contact via the FM- only voice HAMSATS or the ISS, and enjoy the event! Please follow the following form when submitting results: AMSAT Satellite Summary Sheet - 2017 Satellite and number of Voice QSO's (example AO-27 1 ) Satellite and number of CW/RTTY/PSK31 etc QSO's (example AO-07 5 ) Satellite and Up/Downloads (example UO-11 3 ) Score Calculation Total Voice QSO's x 1 = Total CW/RTTY/PSK31 QSO's x 3 = Total Up/Downloads x 3 = Grand Total = Please provide the following information Your Field Day Callsign Your Group Name ARRL Field Day Classification ARRL Section Power Source (Select 1) Emergency Commercial Your name and home call Home address Any Comments [ANS thanks Bruce KK5DO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Iceland/Greenland/Faroe Islands on Satellite July 4-19 Gabe Zeifman NJ7H/VE6NJH has finalized plans for an upcoming trip to Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Once again, this is a trip with family so radio is not his priority. However, he will put forth my best effort to give these rare entities and associated grids to everyone in range. Gabe will be arriving in Iceland at about 0000Z on July 5 and spend one night at the hotel on the airport (access to HP83/84 line). Gabe reports, "We will be in Iceland until July 10 with numerous grids in the HP and IP fields possible, no strict plan yet. "We will continue on to the Faroe Islands July 10-14. I will make an effort to operate from both IP61 and IP62 while in the Faroes. "Finally, we will head to Greenland on July 14th staying until the 18th. The destination in Greenland is Ilulissat in GP49. I do not anticipate any other grids to be activated in Greenland, although if there is an opportunity I will, but I don't expect any opportunities. >From GP49 all of North/Central America and Europe should be in range, along with portions of South America, Asia, and Africa, much of it even possible on SO-50. I anticipate a nearly perfect horizon to the west. "On the 19th we travel back to the US with a several hour connection in Iceland. I will also have two nights on the beginning and end in New York City, and July 21-25 in Florida (anyone who needs EM90, hit me up). "In exciting news, this very well may be the last DX use of NJ7H. Don't worry, I am not retired from roving. I am beginning my training at the FAA as an air traffic controller on July 26th and will be very busy with that. I expect facility placement in late October, and I am requesting Alaska. Although I cannot yet be certain, I have been told that I should expect to receive my request. "QSLing for this trip will be via LoTW. I still need to get some new generic cards printed, but if you need paper I'll get cards printed eventually, just don't expect rush service (I have some from other trips in the backlog, don't worry I havn't forgotten)." Calls to be used: Iceland: TF/NJ7H Greenland: OX/NJ7H Faroe Islands: OY/NJ7H [ANS thanks Gabe NJ7H/VE6NJH for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CAS-4A and CAS-4B Satellites from CAMSAT Launched Thursday Two CAMSAT’s armature radio payloads piggybacked on the optical remote sensing micro-satellites OVS-1A and OVS-1B have been launched at 11:00BJT on June 15, 2017 at The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of China, using CZ-4B launch vehicle. The primary of this launch is a hard X-ray modulation telescope satellite (HXMT). Satellite Name: CAS-4A/OVS-1A Architecture: Micro-satellite Dimensions: 494Lx499Wx630H mm Mass: 55kg Stabilization: three-axis stabilization system with its +Y surface facing the earth Primary Payload: optical Camera with 1.98m resolution Orbit: Orbit type : Sun synchronization orbit Apogee : 524km Inclination : 43º Period : 95.1min Amateur Radio Payload: Call sign: BJ1SK VHF Antenna: one 1/4? monopole antenna with max.0dBi gain is located at +Z side UHF Antenna: one 1/4? monopole antenna with max.0dBi gain is located at -Z side CW Telemetry Beacon: 145.855MHz 17dBm AX.25 4.8k Baud GMSK Telemetry: 145.835MHz 20dBm U/V Linear Transponder Downlink: 145.870MHz 20dBm, 20kHz, Inverted U/V Linear Transponder Uplink: 435.220MHz Satellite Name: CAS-4B/OVS-1B Architecture: Micro-satellite Dimensions: 494Lx499Wx630H mm Mass: 55kg Stabilization: three-axis stabilization system with its +Y surface facing the earth Primary Payload: optical Camera with 1.98m resolution Orbit: Orbit type: Sun synchronization orbit Apogee: 524km Inclination: 43º Period: 95.1min Amateur Radio Payload: Call sign: BJ1SL VHF Antenna: one 1/4? monopole antenna with max.0dBi gain is located at +Z side UHF Antenna: one 1/4? monopole antenna with max.0dBi gain is located at -Z side CW Telemetry Beacon: 145.910MHz 17dBm AX.25 4.8k Baud GMSK Telemetry: 145.890MHz 20dBm U/V Linear Transponder Downlink: 145.925MHz 20dBm, 20kHz, Inverted U/V Linear Transponder Uplink: 435.280MHz [ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Updates to AMSAT-NA KEP Distribution for 06-15-2017 ITF-2 is now Tsukuba-OSCAR 89 or TO-89 per Bill Tynan, W3XO, OSCAR Number Administrator. CAS-4A/OVS-1A and CAS-4B/OVS-1B where launched today (06-15-2017) at 03:00 GMT from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of China using a CZ-4B launch vehicle. See amsat-bb email below from Alan Kung, BA1DU. Nico Janssen, PA0DLO notes that these two new satellites are two of the four NORAD ID CAT 42578-42761. For now the 06-15-2017 AMSAT-NA KEP Distribution list them as follows: Name NORAD CAT ID Object A 42758 Object B 42759 Object C 42760 Object D 42761 CAS-4A and CAS-4B Satellites from CAMSAT Launched today Two CAMSAT's armature radio payloads piggybacked on the optical remote sensing micro-satellites OVS-1A and OVS-1B have been launched at 11:00 BJT on June 15, 2017 at The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of China, using CZ-4B launch vehicle. The primary of this launch is a hard X-ray modulation telescope satellite (HXMT). [ANS thanks Ray Hoad WA5QGD for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Bauer KA3HDO Among Distinguished Public Service Medal Honorees AMSAT's VP of Human Spaceflight Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs, and ARISS International Chair was among 14 honorees for NASA's 2017 Distinguished Public Service Medal. NASA Agency Honor Awards Ceremony for 2017 Distinguished Service Medal and Distinguished Public Service Medal Honorees was held Thursday, June 15, 11 a.m. EDT, and broadcast on NASA TV. During the Agency Honor Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Acting NASA Administrator Lightfoot presented NASA’s most prestigious honors to NASA’s 2017 Distinguished Service Medal Honorees and Distinguished Public Service Medal Honorees. These NASA Agency Honor Awards recognize individual employees who have made an extraordinary and indelible impact on the agency’s mission success. All of these individuals help enable missions to explore and discover both our world and the universe. The 2017 Distinguished Service Medal Honorees are: Stephen Cash, Jeffrey Davis, Mike French, Peter Gnoffo, Kelly Hayhurst, Robin Henderson, Michael Hesse, Steven Kempler, Brenda Manuel, Carol Mosier, Ronald Mueller, Dava Newman, Paul Newman, David Radzanowski, Albert Sofge, Ellen Stofan, Patrick Troutman, Tereasa Washington, David Weaver, and Richard Williams. The 2017 Distinguished Public Service Medal Honorees are: Terry Abel, Frank Bauer, Eric De Jong, Edward Devine, Michael Dorsch, Alan Hargens, Kauser Imtiaz, Roger Launius, Edward Nace, Christopher Russell, John Salisbury, John Sterritt, Forman Williams, and Roberta Wyrick. For more information on the Agency Honor Award Program, please visit: https://www.nssc.nasa.gov/awards [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wireless Institute of Australia reports amateur radio rescue of satellite I-Inspire-2 is a 20 x 10 x 10cm CubeSat built by the University of Sydney in collaboration with the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales (Sydney). On board the tiny spacecraft is an experiment, part of the European QB50 project, designed to “explore the lower thermosphere, for re-entry research and in-orbit demonstration of technologies and miniaturised sensors”, as reported in earlier editions of the WIA broadcast. Its operational frequency was coordinated by IARU to be in the satellite segment of the 70cm amateur band. It was placed in orbit from the International Space Station in late May. The deployment was successful; however there were no signs of life when the ground stations started looking for it. The engineering group quickly tested various scenarios on the engineering model only to come to the conclusion that, due to the extended delay in the deployment, the satellite's battery was likely to be depleted and the satellite was trapped in an endless loop, trying to deploy its antenna. The engineering group suggested that the satellite is still listening albeit with its antennas in the stowed position. This meant that the satellite command receiver might have difficulty receiving any signals from ground control stations. A set of commands were devised which, if received, would instruct the satellite to wait until the battery is charged before attempting to deploy its antenna. Both UNSW and ANU ground stations transmitted the recovery command to the satellite; however after a week or so of no success it was decided that more transmitter power was required to overcome the lack of receiver sensitivity caused by the still stowed antenna. A request for assistance was passed to EME operators around the world and many responses were received. The greatest hope for a successful recovery was thought to be PI 9 CAM using high power and a 25 m dish, normally used for radio astronomy but also EME. They were scheduled to transmit on the weekend of the 10th and 11th of June. On Sunday the 11th of June, during the morning pass, Rob VK1KW reported a strong signal every 30 seconds on I-Inspire-2's frequency. Dimitris VK1SV who is part of the ANU team, verified reception from home around midnight. The following morning Dimitris drove to the ANU ground station and was able to send commands to the satellite for the first time since it was deployed. Many other radio amateurs around the world also reported reception of the beacon. The satellite had come back to life! This is a wonderful example of successful collaboration between radio amateurs and the academic community. If a frequency outside the radio amateur band had been used, it is doubtful that the satellite would have been brought back to life. The crew of I-Inspire-2 wishes to thank all radio amateurs involved and is looking forward to a successful collection of data for the scientific experiment! I-Inspire-2 official web site: http://sydney.edu.au/inspire-cubesat/project/index.shtml ( Dimitris Tsifakis VK1SV/VK2COW ) [ANS thanks the VK1WIA news for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Space Center Houston, Houston, TX, USA and Astronaut Jack Fischer K2FSH using Callsign OR4ISS. The contact began 2017-06-13 15:19 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was Telebridge via ON4ISS. ARISS Mentor was Gene K5YFL. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Sochi, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Contact is a go for Sat 2017-06-17 15:10 UTC Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Contact is a go for Fri 2017-06-23 08:25 UTC SCaN/Glenn Research Center, Brook Park, OH, and the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio direct via NA8SA The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jack Fischer K2FSH Contact is a go for: Fri 2017-06-23 14:25:09 UTC Note that this contact should be audible direct over parts of the Eastern USA. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Satellite DX operation in the BELIZE BELIZE, V3. Look for David, KG5CCI to be active as V31CI from Ambergris Caye (NA-073), from June 21 to 27, including Field Day. Listen for him on Satellites, 6 Meters (digital and SSB) and possibly on the HF bands. QSL direct to KG5CCI. --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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

ANS-162 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joe Spier 11 Jun '17

11 Jun '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-162 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: * ITF-2 is now Tsukuba-OSCAR 89 (TO-89) * AMSAT Strategic Planning Member Poll * May/June Issue of The AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer * May/June 2017 Edition of Apogee View Posted on AMSAT.org * AMSAT Member is Author of July 2017 "This Month in QST" Free Article * 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice * DXCC Needs List for Satellites * AMSAT Events SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-162.01 ANS-162 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 162.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 11, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-162.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ITF-2 is now Tsukuba-OSCAR 89 (TO-89) In accordance with your request sent to the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors for an OSCAR number for ITF-2, and evidence that all of the conditions for an OSCAR number have been met, I hereby by the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, do convey on ITF-2 the designation Tsukuba-OSCAR 89 or TO-89. Along with the rest of the Amateur Radio satellite community, I see that TO-89 has been meeting its objectives since its deployment from ISS and trust that it will continue to do so for the remainder of its mission. I wish you and your group at the University of Tsukuba YUT Satellite Project Team the best of luck in this and future endeavors to keep Amateur Radio in space. 73, William A. (Bill) Tynan, W3XO OSCAR Number Administrator [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Strategic Planning Member Poll A key part of the strategic planning process, as President Barry Baines explains in his article (http://www.amsat.org/?p=6058), is “member engagement.” The reason is that, in a non-profit membership organization like AMSAT, the members quite simply are the lifeblood, the key stakeholders, or what a commercial enterprise would call “customers.” Member engagement can take many forms. In the strategic planning process, however, member engagement means helping AMSAT figure out how and where to find new and realistic opportunities to move the organization forward. To that end, AMSAT is asking for your help by “engaging” the AMSAT leadership with YOUR desires, needs and vision about the future direction of AMSAT by providing your best answers to the five questions below: 1. What are 3-5 new products, services or activities that AMSAT should START offering or doing (in order of priority, 1 being highest)? 2. What 3-5 current offerings or activities should AMSAT STOP offering or doing (in order of priority, 1 being highest)? 3. What are the top 3 ways that you would prefer AMSAT to communicate with you as a member (in order of priority) [e.g., email, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, other), website, text, HF radio nets, etc.]? 4. If you were going to recruit another amateur radio operator as an AMSAT member, what pitch do you think would be most successful in making that ham want to join? 5. From your perspective, what would AMSAT ideally look like in 3 years? What would it be doing? What products and services would it offer? We will share your answers with the AMSAT Board of Directors and members of the strategic planning team. PLEASE EMAIL RESPONSES TO: journal(a)amsat.org SUBJECT: Reader Poll [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- May/June Issue of The AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer The May/June 2017 issue of The AMSAT Journal has been sent to the printer and should begin arriving in members’ mailboxes shortly. In this issue: *AMSAT Announcement *Apogee View Barry Baines, WD4ASW *AMSAT Strategic Planning Update Barry Baines, WD4ASW Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Jerry Buxton, N0JY *AMSAT Journal Strategic Planning Poll *Hamvention 2017 Joe Kornowski, KB6IGK *Setting the ISS UHF Distance Record Jerry L. Rogers, W8LR *Going Portable with the Amateur Radio Satellites Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF *AMSAT Goes to the Moon with the Cube Quest Challenge Howie DeFelice, AB2S [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- May/June 2017 Edition of Apogee View Posted on AMSAT.org The May/June 2017 edition of Apogee View, a comprehensive bimonthly update of AMSAT's activities written by AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, is now available on the AMSAT website at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=5850 Topics covered in this edition include: -Hamvention -Board of Directors Election & Leadership Changes [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Member is Author of July 2017 "This Month in QST" Free Article AMSAT member Gabriel Zeifman, NJ7H/VE6NJH, is the author of the ARRL's "This Month in QST" Free Article for July 2017. The article, "Satellite Roving in the Northwest Territories", chronicles his trip north of the 60th parallel this past winter. A copy of the article is available at http://www.arrl.org/this-month-in-qst [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Four directors' terms expire this year: Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, and Bob McGwier, N4HY. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to martha(a)amsat.org or faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- DXCC Needs List for Satellites DXCC (NEEDS) ON THE BIRDS. The Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin notes that OPDX's Webmaster, John, K8YSE, is getting close to DXCC on the current Low Earth Orbit Satellites. His want list includes 3A, 3C, CN, CP, EA9, HB0, HC8, HK0, JW, JX, OH0, P4,U, A2, V44,P2E and ZB2, plus DXpedition entities like 5T, 6W, C5, OJ0, TI9 and XF4. If you want to try working him, contact John at his QRZ.com address. And if you are planning a DXpedition to a place that is within 6000km of a population center, please consider adding satellites to your operation. You can receive assistance from John and AMSAT. More info at <papays.com/sat> and amsat.org. [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1317 for the above information --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Tuesday, 20 June 2017 – presentation for Superstition Amateur Radio Club in Mesa AZ [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-155 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 04 Jun '17

04 Jun '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-155 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: * 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Due June 15 * Assistance Needed Recovering UNSW-ECO0 and i-INSPIRE 2 Cubesats * Flight Qualified Digipeater and DTMF Transponder Available * VUCC Awards/Endorsements for May 2017 * Amateur Radio BIRDS-1 CubeSat Constellation * AMSATSA Reports Significant Progress with the Kletskous Cubesat * MacDoppler Version 2.25 released SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-155.01 ANS-155 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 155.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 4, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-155.01 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Due June 15 It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Four directors' terms expire this year: Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, and Bob McGwier, N4HY. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to martha(a)amsat.org or faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. [ANS thanks Paul, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Assistance Needed Recovering UNSW-ECO0 and i-INSPIRE 2 Cubesats Joon Wayn, part of the AU02 (UNSW-EC0) and AU03 (i-INSPIRE 2) Australian team of QB50 cubesats, requests assistance from experienced and well-equipped foreign HAM amateurs experts. Joon reports, our satellite was deployed last week and we have been unable to hear any beacons coming from it. We had several brainstorm sessions to identify possible configurations that could be changed to optimize the occurrence antenna redeployment sequence. Based on this, we devised a set of commands that reflect these changes in configurations that needs to be uplinked to the satellite. We have attempted to uplink these commands at 50W transmit power, but there's no response so far. We strongly believe the satellite is still alive but has an undeployed antenna. As such, we require sufficient transmit gain in both transmit power and antenna gain to achieve positive uplink margin. Our problem is that we do not have the equipment to achieve the required transmit power to overcome the losses due to an unstowed configuration. We have a recorded *.wav file that you can play through radio in FM mode to perform the uplink. Relevant technical info: - The sat uses Nanocom ANT430 antenna that is still stowed. The stowed antenna is exposed on the outside of the spacecraft. - The sat uses Nanocom U482C transceiver. - The OBC might be trickling between on and off states and hence a daytime or dusk zenith pass is optimal for the uplink. Our ground station: - 21 el H and 21el V yagi configured in RHCP - Kenwood TS-2000 in FM mode with 50W transmit power. Hope you have a good weekend, and do not hesitate to contact me at cjwayn(a)unsw.edu.au if you would be willing to help. Your attention has been much appreciated. [ANS thanks Joon Wayn for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Flight Qualified Digipeater and DTMF Transponder Available If anyone has access to a ride to space on a HOST, remember there is a fully qualified flight unit DIGIPEATER and DTMF transponder module ready to fly as an attached payload to any HOST spacecraft. Lets call it QIKCOM-3. The mission of the identical QIKCOM-2 is described here: http://aprs.org/qikcom-2.html QIKCOM-2 flight Unit #1 was delivered back in 2015, and it might finally fly this fall. So, the backup FLIGHT unit is also ready to fly (attached to a suitable host). Unfortunately, the Air Force (responsible for all DoD satellite launches) has unilaterally declared that they will not accept any more Amateur Radio student satellites from the Naval Academy for flight on DoD launches, and so this unit is available to anyone that can get it attached to a payload and get it launched. [ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VUCC Awards/Endorsements for May 2017 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period May 1, 2017 through June 1, 2017. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL GRIDS KO4MA 1539 KB1RVT 1524 AC0RA 1143 W5PFG 1046 N8RO 959 N8HM 951 K8TL 901 XE1AO 584 KK4FEM 404 N6UK 400 WD9EWK 350 K5ND 301 AI6GS 230 K8BL 220 N1AIA 216 PV8DX 201 N9EAT 135 (NEW VUCC) VR2XMT 111 (NEW VUCC) K7TAB 100 (NEW VUCC) KA9P 100 (NEW VUCC) This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for May 1st and June 1st, 2017. 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 John, K8YSE, for the above information} --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio BIRDS-1 CubeSat Constellation The BIRDS-1 constellation consists of five 1U CubeSats (BIRD-B, BIRD-J, BIRD-G, BIRD-M and BIRD-N). They are planned to launch the ISS on a SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-11 on June 3, 2017. The satellites are made of the exactly same design including the radio frequencies to be used and will be deployed from the ISS later in the year. The main mission of the constellation is to do experiments on radio communication with a CubeSat constellation via a network of UHF/VHF amateur radio ground stations all over the world. The challenge is to distinguish each satellite from the four satellites transmitting with the same frequency, hand over operation of a satellite from one ground station to another and assemble the satellite data, such as housekeeping telemetry, music and the Earth images, obtained at different ground stations. Amateur radio enthusiasts are asked to join the network to assist in the data downlink and reconstruction of the patchy satellite data into one meaningful data. Orbit information and operational plan of each satellite will be made available to the amateur radio community in the world. Software to decode the satellite data will be also made available. The respective amateur ground stations that can successfully decode the telemetry data, music and the Earth images, shall receive a QSL card from the BIRDS team. The data reconstructed by the effort of the amateur ground station network will be made public to share the sense of satisfaction and achievement. A particularly interesting mission of BIRDS project is the SNG mission that exchanges music via a digi-singer. It is an outreach-oriented mission. First, music in MIDI format is uploaded from ground. Then the MIDI file is processed on-board using a vocal synthesizer. Finally, the processed music is sent back to Earth using UHF antenna as voice FM data. During organized events on space utilization with schools or general public, music could be heard using a common hand-held receiver and hand-made Yagi antenna positioned to track the satellite at each given pass over the region. This has a tremendous effect on awareness of radio communication among school children and general public, especially in the countries participating in the BIRDS project, Japan, Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria and Bangladesh. Proposing to use CW, 1k2 AFSK FM, audio FM and 9k6 GMSK downlinks. The IARU has coordinated a downlink frequency of 437.375 MHz. BIRDS project information: http://birds.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/ http://birds.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/amateur.html http://birds.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/newsletter.html https://www.facebook.com/Joint-Global-Multi-Nation-Birds-BIRDS- project-171403156542445/ Download the Paper – IAA-CU-15-01-16 Five-nations CubeSat constellation; An inexpensive test case for learning and capacity building https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289868265_IAA-CU-15-01-16_Five- nations_CubeSat_constellation_An_inexpensive_test_case_for_learning_and_capaci-_ ty_building The IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination pages are hosted by AMSAT-UK at http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSATSA Reports Significant Progress with the Kletskous Cubesat At the annual AMSATSA space symposium, significant progress with the Kletskous CubeSat was reported by the development team. A new design space frame was released, which is constructed on a locked-in basis and now requires assembly screws. Although based on the original design by Deon Coetzee, ZR6DE, it is much lighter and fully machine produced with the advantage that its manufacture is repeatable exactly as the original. The Electronic Power System is in its final stages and offers advanced controls over the powering of the satellite even should the battery failed. The Symposium itself was a great success and as delegates said is the highlight on the annual amateur radio technology calendar. Planning for the 2018 is already underway. For more, visit www.amsatsa.org.za [ANS thanks the SARL weekly news in English 2017-6-3 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- MacDoppler Version 2.25 released Dog Park Software is pleased to announce that MacDoppler Version 2.25 has been released and can be downloaded from: http://www.dogparksoftware.com/MacDoppler.html What's New in this release ? * Added Yaesu FT-991 driver. * Added Prosistel Combo azel driver. * Added Tuning Dial Tracking to IC-910. * Show Tuning Dial Tracking capability. * Added Rotator Stop button. * Display offsets in VFO panel Uplink and Downlink. * Fixed FT-847, FT-817 in-band doppler. * Fixed GS232B ERC Rotor Readback. [ANS thanks Dog Park Software and Southgate for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-148 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 28 May '17

28 May '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-148 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: * 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice * Spring 2017 CubeSat Workshop Presentations and Video Posted * LilacSat-1 Deployed From ISS and Is Operational * February launch for Jordanian CubeSat * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-148.01 ANS-148 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 148.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. May 28, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-148.01 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Four directors' terms expire this year: Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, and Bob McGwier, N4HY. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to martha(a)amsat.org or faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Spring 2017 CubeSat Workshop Presentations and Video Posted This year was the biggest CubeSat Workshop yet, with almost 550 attendees from 19 different countries The 2017 CubeSat Developers Workshop has posted all presentations at: http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~workshop/archive/ (2017 & Spring folders) You can also find all video footage from the workshop on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCENz0fNHsDR8Kz3jM6C_VWw [ANS thanks the CubeSat Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- LilacSat-1 Deployed From ISS and Is Operational LilacSat-1 has improved their documentation correcting their links. The satellite was deployed from ISS and is operational. https://amsat-uk.org/2017/05/19/lilacsat-1-cubesat-iss/ http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/?page_id=594 FM to Codec2 digital audio repeater of LilacSat-1 is now switched on. 145.985 PL 67 UP, 436.510 DOWN It seems a few folks keep posting LilacSat-1 information in the Twitter format and toss in a few links. Here is another link if it helps any ... http://destevez.net/2016/10/lilacsat-1-codec-2-downlink/ Built by students at the Harbin Institute of Technology the new LilacSat CubeSat has a 145/436 MHz FM / Codec2-BPSK Digital Voice transponder. It will deploy from the ISS at 0815 GMT Tuesday, May 23. The Lilac 2 satellite multi-mode transponder can work as an APRS digipeater and FM repeater. The science goals of the mission include building flight software development for an on-orbit test platform, which is used to analyze the effect of space single particle effects on FPGA software function and performance. The satellite also includes equipment for global flight ADS-B and monitoring and tracking of large wildlife traces and other tasks. The satellite also carries an industrial infrared camera to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of using satellite satellites to monitor the environment. The FM transponder is expected to be a popular mode using amateur radio FM walkie-talkies or mobile radios. The voice filter passband is in the range of 300~3500 Hz. Below 300Hz below the sub-audio in the form of baseband data emplying a CCSDS mode of 300 bps telemetry data transmission. The BJ1SI-1 APRS digipeater will immediately forward the received UI frame in real-time. The BJ1SI-2 APRS digipeater will allow delayed forwarding with a user specified forwarding path and an ASCII coded time delay. Uplink ------- + Frequency 145.985 MHz PL 67 + Antenna 1/4 wavelength monopole, linear polarization + FM repeater Analog voice, no PL + APRS Digi AX.25 UI 1200 bps AFSK Downlink -------- + Frequency 436.510 MHz + Callsign BJ1SI + Antenna Turnstile LHCP (Forward, main lobe) RHCP (Backward) + Telemetry CSP/CSP + AX.25 UI (Cube Satellite Space Protocol) was originally developed by the AAUSAT3 team at the University of Aalborg in Denmark and is an open source, lightweight network layer protocol) + FM repeater Analog voice + CSP + APRS Digi AX.25 UI 1200 bps AFSK + Power 23/27 dBm [ANS thanks the Harbin Institute of Technology for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- February launch for Jordanian CubeSat Fourth year electrical engineering student Aya Jaafari is a member of the JY1-SAT team. She says working on the CubeSat has allowed her to practically implement a lot of what she learns theoretically at university The Jordan Times reports on the country's first CubeSat JY1-SAT which was built under the Masar initiative of the Crown Prince Foundation (CPF), by 16 young Jordanian men and women. The satellite is scheduled to be launched on a mission in February 2018, a date on which the team pins great hopes and ambitions. These young Jordanians were supervised by a group of experts and academics through their weekly meetings held at the Royal Jordanian Radio Amateurs Society (RJRAS). JY1-SAT was chosen as a tribute to His Majesty the Late King Hussein of Jordan whose amateur radio call sign was JY1. The CubeSat will carry an Amateur Radio FUNcube 435/145 MHz SSB/CW transponder and a Slow Scan Digital Video (SSDV) system to transmit stored images reflecting the Jordanian culture and its historical heritage. Read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/ANS148-Jordanian-Nanosat Royal Jordanian Radio Amateurs Society https://www.facebook.com/jy6zz/ JY6JY is a dedicated ground station to be used for communication with JY1-SAT. The call sign JY6JY is registered to the Office of Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II of Jordan https://www.qrz.com/db/JY6JY JY1SAT applies for frequency coordination https://amsat-uk.org/2017/05/16/jy1sat-frequency-coordination/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Saint Joseph School, Ronkonkoma, NY and Astronaut Jack Fisher K2FSH using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2017-05-22 12:35 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridge via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentors were Dave AA4KN and Bob WB4SON. Special Congratulations ANS would like to congratulate the Santa Rosa Jr College Amateur Radio Club W6SRJ and trustee Tim Bosma W6MU for their 100th successful ARISS contact during the telebridge with Saint Joseph School, Ronkonkoma, NY on May 22 Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Australian Air League South Australia Wing, Elizabeth, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go: Wed 2017-05-31 09:35:31 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + CubeSat Workshop presentations available The 2017 CubeSat Developers Workshop, held in San Luis Obispo CA April 26-28, was the biggest event yet, with almost 550 attendees from 19 different countries! All 2017 presentation slides are now available online at http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/%7Eworkshop/archive/ You can also find all video footage from the workshop at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCENz0fNHsDR8Kz3jM6C_VWw Stay tuned for the announcement of the dates for the 15th Annual Developers Workshop next year http://www.cubesat.org/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM aa8em at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-141 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joe Spier 21 May '17

21 May '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-141 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT Forum Streamed Live at Hamvention 2017 * AMSAT-NA to Assume Control of FalconSat-3 Soon * CQ Hall of Fame List - ARISS and AMSAT * AMSAT-DL Announces Launch Date for Es’hail-2 With the P4-A GEO Rideshare * AMSAT-SA Space Symposium 27 May * Work the AMSAT Hamvention Demo Station! * QB50 ISS CubeSat Deployments May 23-25 * AMSAT Events SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-141.01 ANS-141 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 141.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE May 21, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-141.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Forum Streamed Live at Hamvention 2017 The DARA/Hamvention went totally digital and Live Streamed the AMSAT Forum. A copy of the forum may be viewed here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/k8ud-coy-ameritech-net Search either DARALIVE or AMSAT. "AMSAT Status Report" Barry Baines, WD4ASW, AMSAT-NA President, highlighted recent activities within AMSAT and discussed some of the challenges, accomplishments, projects, and late breaking news. "AMSAT Engineering Program" Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT-NA Vice President Engineering , spoke about the exciting new engineering developments that the ASCENT Program is working on as well as the latest updates on the Fox-1 project CubeSats. "AMSAT Satellite Operations" Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT-NA Vice President Operations , surveyed the current operational amateur satellites, as well as what's planned for launch in the next year. "NxtGen Crystal Radio” Joe Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT-NA Vice President Educational Relations , discussed the development of the NxtGen Crystal Radio, an educational ground station for classrooms to be used to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). "ARISS Report 2017" Tim Bosma, W6MU, standing in for Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Human Spaceflight, discussed the 20th Anniversary of ARISS, ARISS engineering developments & operation on the International Space Station. Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Human Spaceflight has been awarded Amateur of the Year. [ANS thanks 2017 AMSAT Hamvention Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-NA to Assume Control of FalconSat-3 Soon US Air Force Academy satellite was launched in 2007 on Atlas 5 to 560 km, 35.4 degrees orbit, and now is at 468-481km orbit, which is several years before decay. The Satellite operates as an amateur V/u store and forward Pacsat at 9k6 (or faster) and will sustain 1w operation. The AMSAT command team is preparing to assume control once the final agreements are completed. FalconSat-3 is in a low inclination orbit presenting opportunities for equatorial and tropical stations. More details soon. [ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT-NA Vice-President, Operations for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CQ Hall of Fame List - ARISS and AMSAT CQ NEWS RELEASE (Announcing: 2017 Inductees, CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame) (Xenia, Ohio - May 19, 2017) - The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame has 18 new members for 2017, CQ magazine announced today. This brings to 310 the total number of members inducted since the hall's establishment in 2001. The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honors those individuals, whether licensed hams or not, who have made significant contributions to amateur radio; and those amateurs who have made significant contributions either to amateur radio, to their professional careers or to some other aspect of life on our planet. The 2017 inductees (listed alphabetically) are: * King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, HS1A (SK) * John Brosnahan, W0UN (SK) - President of Alpha Power, NOAA physicist and instrumental in design and construction of the HAARP facility in Alaska. * Garrett Brown, W3AFF - Inventor of the Steadicam, which earned him both Oscar and Emmy awards for filmmaking technology * Britton Chance, W2IBK (SK) - Pioneer in magnetic imaging; MIT professor, team leader in MIT Radiation Lab developing WWII radar; * John Crockett, W3KH - Repeater coordination pioneer; developed Southeastern Repeater Assn (SERA) Universal Coordination System; managed SCHEART system of linked repeaters in hospitals; VP Engineering for SC Educational TV network * Julius T. Freeman, KB2OFY (SK) - Tuskegee Airman and Congressional Gold Medal recipient; frequent speaker at schools and civic organizations * Limor Fried, AC2SN - Founder of Adafruit Industries, major supplier of open-source electronics to the Maker community; honored by President Obama in 2016 as a "Champion of Change" and by the Internet of Things Institute as one of the 25 most influential women in the IoT industry * Robin Haighton, VE3FRH (SK) - Founding member of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), former president of AMSAT-NA * David Honess, M6DNT - Developed AstroPi project, which sent two Raspberry Pi computers to the International Space Station as plat- forms for students on Earth to write and run their own computer code in space; honored for this work with the Sir Arthur Clarke Award, presented by the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and the British Interplanetary Society * Pete Kemp, KZ1Z (SK) - Author and educator, directly responsible for licensing over 700 new hams * Kristen McIntyre, K6WX - Apple software engineer and inventor (her name is on 22 granted or pending patents), promoter of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects for girls through various talks and YouTube presentations * Pat McPherson, WW9E (SK) - Founder and longtime coordinator of SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) * Andy Nguyen, VK3YT - Pico-ballooner, pioneered round-the-world microballoon flights carrying amateur radio * Tim Peake, KG5BVI - UK astronaut very active in ARISS program during time on International Space Station; coordinated ISS end of the AstroPi project (see David Honess, above) * Mike Santana, WB6TEB (SK) - Two-way radio engineer, designed Clegg FM-76 220-MHz transceiver and President line of CB rigs, favorites for conversion to 10 meters * Allan Steinfeld, W2TN, ex-KL7HIR (SK) - Longtime Race Director of the New York City Marathon, considered one of the fathers of the modern running movement * Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR - Pioneer of software defined radio (SDR) and founder of FlexRadio Two new members each are also being inducted into the CQ DX and Contest Halls of Fame at the respective Dayton DX and Contest dinners. Their names will be announced separately. [ANS thanks CQ Hall of Fame for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-DL Announces Launch Date for Es’hail-2 With the P4-A GEO Rideshare According to the Es'hailSat corporate website, the launch of P4-A / Es'hail-2 is now scheduled for 2018. Further information will be announced when available. Meanwhile AMSAT-DL is preparation the ground-station equipment which will be installed at the Es'hailSat Satellite Control Center in Qatar, at QARS HQ in Doha and at AMSAT-DL HQ in Bochum. Es’hail-2 details are published on their web page: https://eshailsat.qa/en/satellites/index/#tab-16 Es’hail-2 will also provide the first Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) geostationary communication capability that connects users across the visible globe in one single hop and in real-time. It will allow also the AMSAT community to validate and demonstrate their DVB standard. [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL and Es’hail-2 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-SA Space Symposium 27 May The AMSAT-SA Space symposium on 27 May 2017 promises to be one of the most exciting events on this year's calendar. Learn how you can operate on the new geostationary satellite to be launched later this year giving South Africans 24-hour communication with a simple put together ground station. Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, has done the work and will share it with you. Denel Spaceteq will share details about their work on the EO-Sat1 satellite being built for SANSA to become part of the African earth observation satellite network. Anton Janovsky will show you and demonstrate how to build a SDR with a Raspberry Pi. Find out how the Kletskous project has progressed including a demonstration of the transponder and other sub-systems plus many more interesting discussions and demonstrations. There are awesome attendance prizes to be won including two Pi Top laptops, 2 Raspberry Pi starter kits and 2 Raspberry Pi dummy kits, a MFJ artificial ground and a MFJ world receiver. Full program and registration details are available on www.amsatsa.org.za or request details by sending an e-mail to admin(a)amsatsa.org.za [ANS thanks the SARL weekly news in English for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Work the AMSAT Hamvention Demo Station! As previously announced, AMSAT will have it's traditional presence at Hamvention this year, including a satellite demo station. This year, the demo station will operate under the AMSAT club callsign W3ZM/8. We intend to be on all passes of voice satellites between 12:00 UTC and 21:00 UTC on Friday, May 19th and Saturday, May 20th and between 12:00 UTC and 16:00 UTC on Sunday, May 21st. We may also try the NO-84 and ISS packet digipeaters using a Kenwood TH-D7A(G) HT. The callsign for packet will be just W3ZM. Please call us using APRS messages on packet. Hamvention is located in the six digit gridsquare is EM89aq. As a reward for working the AMSAT demo station during the first Hamvention at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio, individuals working us will receive a digital certificate upon request. Please email n8hm(a)amsat.org with your QSO details to receive a certificate. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT-NA Secretary for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- QB50 ISS CubeSat Deployments May 23-25 The second phase of QB50 CubeSats should be deployed from the International Space Station over three days from May 23-25, 2017. Built by university students and research organisations from 23 c ountries around the world, the QB50 constellation aims to study the lower thermosphere 200-380 km above the Earth. 11 QB50 CubeSats were deployed in the first phase and a further 17 will be deployed in the second phase. The beacons should be activated about 30 minutes after deployment. The QB50 CubeSats have downlinks between 435.7 and 438 MHz and reports from radio amateurs are most welcome. Beacon data received can be uploaded to a dedicated QB50 webpage at https://upload.qb50.eu/ LilacSat-2 (ON02CN), which deploys at 0815 GMT on Tuesday, May 23, is carrying a FM to Codec2-BPSK Digital Voice transponder, an APRS digipeater and camera. Further information at https://amsat-uk.org/2017/05/19/lilacsat-1-cubesat-iss/ Two of the ISS QB50 CubeSats deployed in the first phase, ON01FR 437.020 MHz and ON05FR 436.880 MHz, carry V/U FM transponders. The uplink frequency for both is 145.860 MHz with 210.7 Hz CTCSS, see http://site.amsat-f.org/2017/05/12/qb50-document-de-description-des- telemesures-des-satellites-on01fr-on05fr/ List of QB50 CubeSats with Beacon format and frequency information https://upload.qb50.eu/listCubeSat/ Keplerian Two Line Elements (TLEs) ‘Keps’ for new satellites launched in past 30 days http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt QB50 project https://www.qb50.eu/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/QB50Mission On the deployment days radio amateurs and QB50 teams will be on the #CubeSat IRC channel. Join the deployment chat at http://irc.lc/freenode/cubesat Don’t have a suitable 435-438 MHz receiver? Try listening online with the SUWS WebSDR located near London http://websdr.suws.org.uk/ On June 19, 2014 two precursor QB50 CubeSats were launched, QB50p1 and QB50p2, which carried amateur radio transponders https://amsat-uk.org/2014/06/19/successful-launch-of-amateur-radio-satellit… [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *21 May 2017, HamVention in the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, Dayton, Ohio *Friday and Saturday, 9-10 June 2017, HAM-COM in Irving TX *Saturday, 10 June 2017 – Prescott Hamfest in Prescott AZ *Tuesday, 20 June 2017 – presentation for Superstition Amateur Radio Club in Mesa AZ [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA 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 at Hamvention 2017, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-134 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 14 May '17

14 May '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-134 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: * Top 10 Reasons to Come to Dayton * Canadian Grid Expedition Announcement * Asia Islands on the Air Satellite Activation * South Korea Air Force Academy Proposes FM Repeater K2Sat to IARU * Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internships * Vector Space Completes First Test Flight SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-134.01 ANS-134 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 134.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE May 14, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-134.01 Top 10 Reasons to Come to Dayton 10. Rub shoulders with 25,000 of your best friends at the largest hamfest in the United States, including most 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 "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" (book printed in color). 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. Meet Don Agro, author of MacDoppler (Friday & Saturday, 2-3 p.m.). See a demonstration of the LVB Tracker, a computer interface to the Yaesu azimuth-elevation rotors. Talk with Mike Young, who has built more LVB Trackers than anyone else. Assembled LVB Trackers will be available. 6. Hear Carl Laufer talk about “The World of Low Cost Software Defined Radio” at the AMSAT Banquet on Friday evening. Carl is the creator and author of the extremely popular RTL-SDR Blog, author of the book, “The Hobbyist Guide to RTL-SDR,” and supplier of the RTL-SDR dongle. 5. Hear the latest on the *five* Fox satellites, Phase 5, the International Space Station, other current and future satellites, education news, and an AMSAT update at the AMSAT Forum Saturday, from 10:45 to 12:15. 4. Get one-on-one guidance on setting up your satellite station and making contacts at our "Beginner's Corner". Witness live demonstrations of contacts through satellites AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, FO-29, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2B, XW-2C, XW-2D and XW-2F using handheld antennas. 3. Meet and interact with some of the Engineering Team members working on the Fox-1 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, including John Papay K8YSE (1,591 grids confirmed), Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA (1,510 grids), Doug Papay KD8CAO (1,200 grids), and Paul Stoetzer (904 grids). 1. Receive an updated "Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide" (laminated frequency chart) when you join or renew your AMSAT membership at Dayton, and take advantage of special pricing on the SatPC32 satellite tracking software. [ANS thanks Steve, N9IP, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadian Grid Expedition Announcement Ken, VE3HLS reports he plans for the activation of four never-activated on satellites grids (as far as he can tell) grids are coming together. The expedition takes place next weekend, May 20th and 21st 2017; a long weekend up here in Canada. He will be driving up from his home QTH in FN03 and will arrive in Chibougamau QC on the afternoon of Saturday May 20th. There are several favorable passes on Saturday evening and hw hopes to spend a few hours handing out FN29 to get warmed up. Sunday the 21st looks like a bonanza of great passes! The trouble will be deciding when to break so he can move to a different location. The plan at this time is to set up on the FN29/39 boundary in the morning and operate there for a few hours. Then he will move to FO20/30 and then FO20/FN29. More information about operating schedules will be posted on amsat-bb as he gets closer to departure date. He will also post information on his QRZ page at https://qrz.com/db/VE3HLS [ANS thanks Ken, VE3HLS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Asia Islands on the Air Satellite Activation Operators Makoto/JI5RPT and Toru/JI5USJ will be active as homecall/1 from Shikine Island (North Izu Island) between 0000z, May 20th and 0000z, May 21st. Activity will be on 160/80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters using CW, RTTY and PSK31. There will also be satellite operations. Please note: In case of heavy rain or other conditions, the operation schedule may vary. For QSL info, please check QRZ.com for details. [ANS thanks the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1314 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- South Korea Air Force Academy Proposes FM Repeater K2Sat to IARU The Republic of Korea Air Force Academy has submitted a coordination request to the IARU for the K2Sat satellite, a 3U CubeSat Mission. The K2Sat's primary mission is to demonstrate satellite imaging and transfer, to also test voice repeating capability. The followings are the payloads: 1. On-board camera 2. On-board voice repeater proposing a V/U FM voice transceiver 3. 9k6 BSPK AX25 downlink for data and telemetry and planning a 2 Mbit QPSK downlink on S Band. The launch is planned for a 500/600km SSO orbit in 2018. [ANS thanks the IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internships The Space Studies Board is seeking applicants for the Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internships for autumn 2017. The goal of the program is to provide promising undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to work in the area of civil space research policy in the nation's capital. Established in 1958, the Space Studies Board is the principal advisory group providing independent scientific and programmatic advice to NASA and other government agencies on all aspects of civil space research and associated ground-based activities. Interns typically undertake one or more short-term research projects designed to assist with or to enhance ongoing study projects. Applicants must be registered students (undergraduate or graduate) at a U.S. university or college who have completed their junior year. Applicants should have long-term career goals in space science research, applications or policy. Applications are due June 2, 2017. For more information and a full list of eligibility requirements, visit http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/SSB_052239. Please direct questions about this internship to Dr. David H. Smith at dhsmith(a)nas.edu. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Vector Space Completes First Test Flight Vector Space has conducted a crucial test of their Vector-R rocket that the company hopes will expand the small satellite launch market via small-scale launchers. As SpaceX has disrupted the large scale market, so does Vector Space hope their new rocket system can disrupt the small scale market by eliminating the need for ride-share requirements small satellites currently face while significantly lowering the cost to small satellite customers. The first test flight, conducted on 3 May from the Mojave Desert in California, used a single-engine scaled-down model of the three-engine Vector-R rocket and allowed the company to test aspects of launch operations – including its infrastructure-lite launch architecture approach – for their rocket as well as portions of its 3D-printed components and pressure-fed engine design. The suborbital test flight launched from the Friends of Amateur Rocketry site in California’s Mojave Desert at 12:00 PDT (19:00 GMT) on 3 May and reached a maximum altitude of 1,370 m (4,500 ft). The second test flight, expected in July, will radically shift launch operations to a never-before-used location – the U.S. state of Georgia – and will highlight what Vector Space says is an innovative solution to various launch market needs with an ability to launch from locations outside the standard U.S. Ranges. This Georgia test will occur from Camden County – the state’s southern-most county, which borders Florida’s north-eastern most boundary. Following completion of the Vector-R test flight series, Vector Space plans to introduce the Vector-R rocket for commercial launch operations in 2018. From there, the company currently has 12 commercial launches for the Vector-R planned in 2019, with an eventual eye toward ramping up operations to 100 launches of the Vector-R later in its operational life. [ANS thanks NASASpaceFlight.com for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-127 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 07 May '17

07 May '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-127 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers * Hamvention Instructor's Forum to Feature Space Weather and AMSAT-NA * 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice * RadFxSat/Fox-1B Launch Moves Left * UBSEDS24 Balloon with SSDV – 2nd Launch Attempt, 8 May * AMSAT Sweden Celebrates 35 Years * Ciaran Morgan, M0XTD, and ARISS-UK Team Awarded the Louis Varney Cup SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-127.01 ANS-127 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 127.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE May 7, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-127.01 AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers The Dayton Hamvention is less than two weeks away, May 19-21! If you’ve been waiting to volunteer until you’d firmed up your plans, we need to hear from you ASAP! If you're an experienced satellite operator, we can use you and your experience. If you've never operated a satellite before, we can use your help too. Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Steve, n9ip(a)amsat.org if you can help. Thank you! [ANS thanks Steve, N9IP, Dayton Team Leader, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamvention Instructor's Forum to Feature Space Weather and AMSAT-NA Carole Perry, WB2MGP, who may be Amateur Radio's premier supporter of youth, will moderate her 30th Hamvention Youth Forum later this month, when Hamvention® convenes for the first time at its new venue in Xenia, Ohio, May 19-21. The Youth Forum is set for Saturday, May 20, 9:15 AM until noon, in Room 2. She's lined up nine young presenters who will speak on a variety of topics of interest to radio amateurs of all ages. The Youth Forum is open to all. AMSAT-NA will donate Gould Smith's just revised "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" (book printed in color) to the Youth Forum presenters. Carole will also conduct her Hamvention Instructors' Forum on Friday, May 19, 10:30-11:30 AM, in Room 3. "Space Weather Woman" Dr. Tamitha Skov will speak on "Teaching Space Weather" and AMSAT-NA Vice President, Educational Relations, Joe Spier, K6WAO, will present "NxtGen Crystal Radio". Joe will have 10 kits consisting of RTL-SDRs, pre-amps, connectors, cables, 2M EZ-Lindenblad antennas, FoxTelem software, and instructions to create a FOX Telemetry Ground Station for educators at the Instructors' Forum on Friday. [ANS thanks the Hamvention 2017 Team, the ARRL Letter for May 4th, and Carole Perry, WB2MGP for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Four directors' terms expire this year: Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, and Bob McGwier, N4HY. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to martha(a)amsat.org or faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. [ANS thanks Paul, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- RadFxSat/Fox-1B Launch Moves Left In the world of secondary payloads we're all used to launches moving to the right as issues with the primary payload and launch vehicles or their schedules often occur. But what is a move to the left? The RadFxSat/Fox-1B launch had been recently announced as NET September 23, 2017. Today, the primary payload JPSS-1 moved to the left and we can now announce a new launch date of NET September 21, 2017 for RadFxSat and all of the other ELaNa XIV mission payloads. That's "only" two whole days earlier, true, but with all of our Fox-1 launches having been on a steady march to the right since (and including, at the time) AO-85/Fox-1A was launched, we'll take what we can get! [ANS Jerry, N0JY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UBSEDS24 Balloon with SSDV – 2nd Launch Attempt, 8 May Richard Meadows M0SBU reports there will be a second attempt to launch the Raspberry Pi Zero equipped 434 MHz balloon UBSEDS24 early Monday morning. On the UKHAS Google Group Richard writes: There’s going to be another attempt to launch this flight from Bristol this Monday, May 8 between 0500 and 0530 BST [0400-0430 GMT]. This is weather permitting, but the forecast looks okay at the moment. This launch is using a 1.9m envelope and longer payload train, and so there’s a NOTAM in place. This tracker has a Raspberry Pi Zero V1.3 attached, which transmits images when solar power is available. It’s a different design to our launch last August; in this case the tracker will continue to operate even if the pi fails. For the curious the ‘pi status’ telemetry values are: 0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = PITS started, 3 = SSDV started). There will hopefully be a cutdown mounted between the balloon and the tracker. We’ll be testing the 434 MHz uplink to this whilst it’s still in range of Bristol; if it returns over the UK at a convenient time and place we will attempt to trigger the cutdown. The tracker has several transmissions: – 434.635 MHz USB Telemetry – Contestia 16/1000 with pips and RSID, transmitting telemetry. Once per minute below 8km altitude and every two minutes otherwise. – 434.637.5 MHz SSDV – Two modes: (1) While balloon over UK and English channel GMSK at 12 ksymbol/s. 4×4 interleaved, R=1/2 convolutional K=5, HDLC framing, whitened etc. as per the AX5043 manual. Concatenated with RS(255,223) to mop up some burst errors. (2) Outside UK 300 baud RTTY, 850 Hz shift, 8N2. If you are listening to the RTTY, remember to turn off the ‘RxID’ button on the top right of dl-fldigi. Rather than the usual JPEG SSDV, this is transmitting Better Portable Graphics (BPG) images. This is experimental, and ssdv.habhub.org doesn’t support it just yet. Hence receivers should upload to http://ssdv.bristol-seds.co.uk instead, please read the instructions on this site. You’ll need dl-fldigi release 3.2, as explained on the site. James Coxon M6JCX has made the dl-fldigi release available at: https://github.com/jamescoxon/dl-fldigi/releases/tag/3.2 The flight is expected to head south towards France. Many thanks to everyone who attempts to track this. Track the balloon online at https://tracker.habhub.org/ Listen to the balloon online with the SUWS WebSDR link at https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/balloons/ UBSEDS http://www.bristol-seds.co.uk/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Sweden Celebrates 35 Years AMSAT-SM (Sweden) has been active in 35 years 2017. AMSAT-SM was founded April 24:th 1982 by a group of swedish hams. The first AMSAT-SM president was SM5IXE Thomas Johansson. One AMSAT-SM's objectives is to inform Swedish hams about the fun with amateur satellites! Not many SM hams are active via satellite at the moment. With the help of their Swedish webpage and HF-net it is hoped that more Swedish hams should be using amateur satellites. The AMSAT-SM annual meeting is held every spring. Some weeks on Sundays we have a HF-net on 80 meters with lots of news about satellites and space. Today AMSAT-SM has aprox. 200 members and we have an active news feed via web, Twitter and Youtube. So, we are still alive and kicking! http://www.amsat.se/english-info/ https://twitter.com/amsat_sm https://www.youtube.com/AMSATSM [ANS thanks Lars, SM0TGU, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ciaran Morgan, M0XTD, and ARISS-UK Team Awarded the Louis Varney Cup Ciaran Morgan, M0XTD, and the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) UK Team were awarded the Louis Varney Cup on April 22 at the RSGB 90th Annual General Meeting in Cardiff, Wales. RSGB recognized Morgan and the ARISS- UK team for advances in space communications. Accepting the trophy were Graham Shirville, G3VZV; Noel Matthews, G8GTZ, and John Cariss, G7ACD. The award’s namesake, Louis Varney, G5RV, was the inventor of the world-famous G5RV antenna and an RSGB member for 74 years. Varney died in 2000. Morgan and the ARISS-UK team have also been fundraising on behalf of ARISS. [ANS thanks ARRL for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-120 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joe Spier 30 Apr '17

30 Apr '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-120 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: * RadFxSat(Fox-1B) Passes Mission Readiness Review * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers * HamRadioNow: Look! Up in the Sky! * AMSAT-UK test ESEO payload command uplink * ARSATC Satellite Special Events Station From Brazil * ISS Commander Peggy Whitson, ex-KC5ZTD, Sets New US Record for Time in Space * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-120.01 ANS-120 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 120.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE April 30, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-120.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- RadFxSat(Fox-1B) Passes Mission Readiness Review The RadFxSat (Fox-1B) Mission Readiness Review was held Saturday morning, April 29th, at the Cal Poly campus in front of a board representing Tyvak, Cal Poly, and NASA. The purpose of the review is to verify that all requirements are met for a safe and successful launch and deployment. I presented 81 powerpoint slides covering all of the ICD (Interface Control Document) requirements, mission, operations, and deorbit. At the conclusion of the presentation including questions answers, the panel unanimously approved RadFxSat as ready for flight. The next milestone will be integration into the P-POD with launch scheduled NET (No Earlier than) September 23, 2017 aboard a Delta II at Vandenberg AFB. [ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice-President Engineering for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers The Dayton Hamvention is less than three weeks away! It is time to be creating your shopping list and making your travel plans. Last year, we had 45 people assist with the AMSAT booth at Dayton. We've had a good response so far to our call for volunteers, but we could really use another 10-15 people. The 2017 Hamvention is May 19-21 in Xenia, Ohio. Would you consider helping AMSAT at the Hamvention this year? The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. Meet or renew acquaintances, exchange operating tips, and find out what antennas, software and equipment other AMSAT members use. We currently expect most of the AMSAT senior officers and board members to be there too. If you're an experienced operator, great! We can use you and your experience. If you've never operated a satellite before, but want to learn more, that's OK. We can use your help too. Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Steve, n9ip(a)amsat.org if you can help. Thank you! [ANS thanks Steve Belter, N9IP, Hamvention 2017 Team Leader for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- HamRadioNow: Look! Up in the Sky! The bulk of this episode is an on-location interview with two Raleigh NC area hams who gave a couple of live demonstrations of operating through satellites at the Raleigh Hamfest, April 15, 2017. There’s some banter between hosts David Goldenberg W0DHG and Gary Pearce KN4AQ back in the studio. And toward the end Gary announces a Viewer Challenge that we’ll detail down below. The satellite hams are John Brier KG4AKV and Tucker McGuire W4FS. At 18 years old, Tucker is a relatively new ham who first started operating satellites last summer, and quickly jumped into the deep end. John’s been around longer, but ham radio satellites and space operation captured his focus, too. He produces videos about it on his YouTube channel, Space Comms. Gary talked to John and Tucker after they completed their second demo, and he edited a little of each demo into the interview. There’s video of all of both demonstrations on YouTube. John shot himself operating through ‘Saudi-Sat’ SO-50, a “Mode J” FM crossband repeater (145.850 MHz uplink and 436.795 MHz downlink). John used three cameras (including a GoPro on a headband for a unique view). Gary edited the video and put it on the HamRadioNow YouTube channel as an extra bit if video. Gary added two more cameras to the mix to shoot Tucker operating through FO-29, a Japanese satellite that uses a 100 kHz wide ‘linear transponder’ for mostly SSB and CW (and NO FM, please) between two meters and 70 cm. There’s a few minutes of that demo in this episode, and the whole thing is on John’s Space Comms channel. Watch HRN 316: Look! Up in the Sky! Ham Radio Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKZ73sRdAAw Space Comms http://youtube.com/SpaceComms1 KG4AKV’s SO-50 FM operation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dhJsfh6fYA W4FS’s FO-29 SSB operation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEvsKN9ZSyw John KG4AKV https://twitter.com/johnbrier Tucker W4FS https://twitter.com/Whiskey4FoSho [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and HamRadio Now for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK test ESEO payload command uplink AMSAT-UK are providing an amateur radio 1260/145 MHz FM transponder and a 145 MHz BPSK telemetry beacon for the European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO) satellite. Over the weekend of April 22-23, 2017, AMSAT-UK members met at the Surrey Space Center to conduct some final testing of the command uplink on the Engineering Model of their payload which will launch on the European Space Agency ESEO mission. The payload, which will transmit 1k2 and 4k8 BPSK telemetry on 145.895 MHz, was set up in the Arthur C Clarke building, with the AMSAT-UK team sending commands on L-band (1260 MHz) from some distance away in the university grounds. A large string of attenuators simulated the path loss to low Earth orbit, while the VHF telemetry confirmed the level of signal received at the ‘spacecraft antenna’ and that the commands had been executed correctly. With the lab and range testing declared a success, work now begins on constructing the Flight Model hardware. This is due for delivery by the middle of the summer so that it can be integrated into the 50 kg microsat. ESEO is expected to be launched late this year or in the first quarter of 2018. ESEO satellite https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/eseo/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARSATC Satellite Special Events Station From Brazil In celebration of its two-year anniversary, the ARSATC group will activate the ZV8AR, ZZ3SA, and ZZ9TC stations. Radio amateurs from Brazil and other countries who confirm contact with ARSATC special stations, in which the suffixes of each special call will form the word ARSATC, will be entitled to a commemorative certificate alluding to the event. Between May 1 and 30, 2017, the special calls will be activated on the SO-50, AO-85, FO-29, AO-73, AO-7 and Lapan -02 satellites. The confirmation will be through the Eqsl, Lotw or QRZ and sent to the email: qsl(a)arsatc.org Prepare your antennas for good contacts. http://arsatc.org/ (in Portuguese, use google translate) [ANS thanks Valdir Lima and arsatc.org for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISS Commander Peggy Whitson, ex-KC5ZTD, Sets New US Record for Time in Space Current International Space Station (ISS) Commander Peggy Whitson, ex-KC5ZTD, this week broke the record for cumulative time spent in space by a US astronaut. President Donald Trump -- with daughter Ivanka Trump and astronaut Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, joining him in the Oval Office -- called Whitson on April 24 to congratulate her on her accomplishment. With Whitson for the call on board the ISS was astronaut Jack Fischer, KG5FYH, who arrived on April 20 for his first mission aboard ISS. "Peggy is a phenomenal role model for young women, and all Americans, who are exploring or participating in STEM education programs and careers," President Trump said. "When I signed the INSPIRE Women Act in February, I did so to ensure more women have access to STEM education and careers, and to ensure America continues to benefit from the contributions of trailblazers like Peggy." Whitson tweeted back, "Thank you, Mr. President, for the great opportunity to highlight the research we are doing up here aboard the space station and beyond!" Last November, Whitson, 57, launched to the ISS on her current mission, with 377 days in space already under her belt, and broke the 534 cumulative-day record in space held by Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ. Whitson became the first woman to command the space station in 2008, and on April 9, she became the first woman to command it twice. She also holds the record for most spacewalks by a female astronaut. "This is an inspirational record Peggy is setting today, and she would be the first to tell you this is a record that's absolutely made to be broken as we advance our knowledge and existence as both Americans and humans," said NASA acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot. This is Whitson's third long-duration stay on board the space station, and her mission was recently extended for another 3 months. Instead of returning to Earth in June as originally planned, Whitson will remain on the ISS until September, returning home with Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI. Whitson first served aboard the ISS in 2002 as part of the Expedition 5 crew, was the Expedition 16 commander some 5 years later, and has conducted numerous Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts with students on Earth. Whitson has since let her Amateur Radio license lapse. [ANS thanks the ARRL and NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Saturday, 6 May 2017 – Cochise Amateur Radio Association hamfest in Sierra Vista AZ *Saturday, 6 May 2017 – Matanuska Amateur Radio Association hamfest in Wasilla AK *19-21 May 2017, HamVention in the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, Dayton, Ohio *Friday and Saturday, 9-10 June 2017, HAM-COM in Irving TX *Saturday, 10 June 2017 – Prescott Hamfest in Prescott AZ *Tuesday, 20 June 2017 – presentation for Superstition Amateur Radio Club in Mesa AZ [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Successful Contacts * A direct contact via SX2ISS with 14th Elementary School Katerini, Greece The ISS callsign was scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut wais Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Contact was successful: Sat 2017-04-29 12:02:10 UTC 69 deg * A direct contact with Orel, Russia The ISS callsign was scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut was Oleg Novitskiy Contact was successful: Sat 2017-04-29 06:05 UTC * Lycée Hélène Boucher, Thionville, France, direct via F8KGY The ISS callsign was scheduled to be FXØISS The scheduled astronaut was Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact was successful: Thu 2017-04-27 08:52:17 UTC 83 deg * A direct contact via W6SRJ with students at Brook Haven School in Sebastipol, CA, USA was successful Wed 2017-04-19 18:40:43 UTC 82 deg. Astronaut Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG, answered 19 prepared questions for students. Video of Contact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOY45DnmT8M * A direct contact via F6KCO with students from College Roger Martin Du Gard, Bellême, France was successful Fri 2017-04-14 15:20:44 UTC Students in grades 7-10 took part in an ARISS contact with Thomas Pesquet who answered 20 questions from the physics class. An audience of 200 watched. Academic regional representatives were also present. Video of Contact (In French): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuY0bE8unU8&feature=em-upload_owner ********************************************************************** 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. ********************************************************************** 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 123 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Francesco IKØWGF with 119 ********************************************************************** 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 2017-04-06 07:00 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 1129. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1090. 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 2017-04-04 06:00 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_correctio… 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. 50 on orbit Peggy Whitson Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Oleg Novitskiy Exp. 51 on orbit Fyodor Yurchikhin Jack Fisher, K2FSH ********************************************************************** Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over Saint Barts satellite operation AI5P, N0KV, W0ZA and WD0E plan to operate from Pointe Milou, St. Barthelemy Island (IOTA NA-146/Grid Square FK87) from October 17 - 26. 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. US addressees send SASE; addressees outside the US should send SAE plus $2 for return postage. Use of Club Log is not anticipated. Further information will be published as the trip approaches. [ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-113 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 23 Apr '17

23 Apr '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-113 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: * Guatemala Satellite Operation Planned 24-27 April * GS3PYE/P Camb-Hams on Islay Island Includes Satellite Operation * 2017 CSVHFS Conference -- Call for Papers, Presentations & Posters * Satellite Operation Planned for Armed Forces Day - W2GSB SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-113.01 ANS-113 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 113.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE April 23, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-113.01 Guatemala Satellite Operation Planned 24-27 April David Maciel, XE3DX, announced that from 24-27 April he will make a trip to Guatemala which will include grids EK43,EK45, EK54, EK55 and EK56. David will be using the following calls: TG4/XE3DX EK43 TG5/XE3DX EK45 TG6/XE3DX EK54 TG7/XE3DX EK55 TG7/XE3DX EK56 You can also follow David's activity or details in his twitter account @ xe3dx [ANS thanks David, XE3DX, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- GS3PYE/P Camb-Hams on Islay Island Includes Satellite Operation Members of the Camb-Hams will once again be active as GS3PYE/P, but this time from Islay Island between May 6-12th. The Camb- Hams have been activating the Scottish Isles each year since 2008. As in the past, ten or more operators will be active on all bands and many modes from 4m to 80m, 2m & 70cm for Satellites and 2m & 23cm for EME. The HF bands will be covered by four simultaneous stations while the 6m & 4m stations will have a great take-off towards the UK and Europe. All stations will be able to run at the full UK power limit. EME operations will use 150W to 55 elements on 23cm and 400W to 17 elements on 2m, primarily on JT65, but also available for CW skeds - if your station is big enough. Satellite operations on 2m & 70cm will use X-Quad antennas and a fully automatic Az/El tracking system. Activity is planned on AO-7 (mode B), FO-29, SO-50, AO-85 & AO-73. All the up-to-date plans and progress will be on-line at http://dx.camb-hams.com. Most importantly, this is a group of good friends doing what they enjoy, so please give them a call and enjoy the trip with them. Active on the major social networks before, during and after the trip, you can check on progress and interact with the operators via their blog on http://dx.camb-hams.com or through the Twitter, Facebook and YouTube links below: + dx.camb-hams.com + facebook.com/CambHams + twitter.com/g3pye + youtube.com/CambHams Please check on http://dx.camb-hams.com for details on how to arrange skeds on the more challenging bands, modes, VHF and EME. QSL via OQRS (info on QRZ.com) or M0VFC direct or via bureau. [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1312 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 CSVHFS Conference -- Call for Papers, Presentations & Posters The Central States VHF Society is soliciting papers, presentations, and posters/tabletop displays for the 51st annual Central States VHF Society Conference, to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 27–30 July, 2017 at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel. Papers, presentations, and posters on all weak-signal VHF and above amateur radio topics are being sought. TOPIC AREAS SOLICITED Antennas including Modeling, Design, Arrays, and Control; Test Equipment including Homebrew, Commercial, and Measurement Techniques & Tips Construction of equipment such as Transmitters, Receivers, and Transporters Operating including Contesting, Roving, and DXpeditions RF power amps including Single and Multi-band Vacuum Tube, Solid-state, and TWTAs Propagation including Ducting, Sporadic E, Tropospheric, Meteor Scatter, etc Pre-amplifiers (low noise) Digital Modes WSJT, JT65, etc. Regulatory topics Moon Bounce Software-defined Radio (SDR) Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Topics such as FM, repeater, packet radio, etc., are generally considered outside of the scope of papers, presentations, and posters being sought. However, there are always exceptions. Please contact the point of contact below if you have any questions about the suitability of a particular topic. You do not need to attend the conference nor present your paper to have it published in the Proceedings. Posters will be displayed during the Conference. KEY DEADLINES: For papers to be included in the Proceedings: Monday, 12 June 2017 For Presentations to be given at the Conference: Friday, 30 June 2017 For Posters and Tabletops to be displayed at the Conference: Abstracts due by: Friday, 30 June 2017. Completed poster should be brought for setup at the Conference on 27 July. POINT OF CONTACT FOR QUESTIONS, ABSTRACTS, DELIVERY: Ed James KA8JMW email: ka8jmw(a)arrl.net Snail mail: 10 Trade Ct., Edgewood, NM 87105 FORMATTING AND DELIVERY: See Conference website (http://2017.csvhfs.org) for Proceedings, Presentation, and Posterboard formatting guidelines Submissions accepted via email, Dropbox, Google Drive, CD/DVD, USB stick/thumb drive, etc. CONFERENCE DETAILS: Visit the Conference website at http://2017.csvhfs.org, which is being populated with event details throughout the month of April. Online registration will open on or shortly after May 1. Additional conference details will be announced as opening of registration nears! In the meantime, please rally all of the VHF/UHF/Microwave hams you know in your area and across the country, mark your calendars for July 27-30, and plan to join us at the 2017 Central States VHF Society Conference in sunny Albuquerque, New Mexico. [ANS thanks Brian, N5ZGT, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Operation Planned for Armed Forces Day - W2GSB The Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club will operate a special event station W2GSB/APM at the American Airpower Museum located at the historic Republic Airport, Farmingdale, NY, May 20-21, 2017. This event commemorates Armed Forces weekend to honor our service men and women of the armed forces who have given so much. + SSB - 14.280 and 7.280 + CW - 14.055 and 7.055 + Satellite operation on available passes QSL - Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club P.O. Box 1356 West Babylon, NY 11704 Web page: http://www.gsbarc.org/events.htm [ANS thanks the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

1 0

ANS-106 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 16 Apr '17

16 Apr '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-106 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: * Friday TAPR/AMSAT Banquet at Hamvention * Packet From The International Space Station Is Back On 145.825 MHz * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers * Eldorado Space Program: The League of Extraordinary Space Cowboys * N7S Special Event Station Commemorates First Shuttle Launch * Live HAMTV France April 25-28 * IARU Frequency Coordination Announcement for PicSat * Australian university students to launch satellite in 2018 * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-106.01 ANS-106 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 106.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. April 16, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-106.01 Friday TAPR/AMSAT Banquet at Hamvention The eleventh annual joint TAPR/AMSAT Banquet will be held on Friday evening, May 19th. This dinner is one of the main AMSAT activities during the Hamvention. Tickets ($35 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store at http://tinyurl.com/ANS106-TAPR-AMSAT-Tickets. The banquet ticket purchase deadline is Tuesday, May 16th. Banquet tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the AMSAT booth. Different from previous years, this year there will be no tickets to pick up at the AMSAT booth. Tickets purchased on-line will be maintained on a list with check-in at the door at the banquet center. The Banquet will take place at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way, Kettering, OH 45429 (just south of Dayton). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a cash bar with the buffet dinner served at 7:00 p.m. AMSAT and TAPR alternate the task of providing a speaker for the banquet. It is TAPR’s responsibility this year. Carl Laufer will discuss “The World of Low Cost Software Defined Radio.” Carl is the creator and author of the extremely popular RTL- SDR Blog, author of the book, “The Hobbyist Guide to RTL-SDR,” and supplier of the RTL-SDR dongle. The RTL-SDR dongle is a low-cost, receive-only SDR receiver that hobbyists around the world are using for a variety of radio receiver projects, and Carl blogs about them at http://www.rtl-sdr.com/. Seating is limited to the number of meals we reserve with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline. [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Packet From The International Space Station Is Back On 145.825 MHz The ARISS Team (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) is pleased to announce that packet from the International Space Station (ISS) is once again on 145.825 MHz! ARISS did the foot work and paperwork a few months ago to launch the last back-up Ericsson VHF handheld radio to the ISS. This work was begun in October after the failure of the Ericsson unit that had been used on the ISS. The Ericssons have been operating on the ARISS for 16 years. In the last days of February, the SpaceX 10 launch vehicle, Dragon, flew to the ISS with the HT onboard. After the docking, ISS crew members had the odious job of unloading and unpacking 5,500 pounds of cargo, including the Ericsson HT. ARISS got word Friday morning that we now have VHF capability back in the Columbus module. Followers of ISS Fan Club have already posted that they've heard and used VHF packet, and are thrilled and happy to have it again! In 2015, ARISS began its first fundraising campaigns. ARISS relies on NASA, ARRL, AMSAT and many fine individual donors, along with ARISS volunteers, to maintain the day-to-day operations and cover those expenses along with all costs and work related to the hardware, and building a new radio system, including the expensive space certification tests. Donors can go to www.amsat.org and www.ariss.org to support the program that excites hams and young people and educators who are inspired by amateur radio on the ISS. 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, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl. 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Call for volunteers Last year, we had about 50 people assist with the AMSAT booth at the Hamvention. It was the efforts of those volunteers that made the 2016 Dayton Hamvention a success for AMSAT. The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders makes the whole experience a lot of fun. The 2016 Hamvention is May 19-21 in a new venue: the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio. Would you consider helping AMSAT at the Hamvention this year? Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Steve, n9ip at amsat.org if you can help. [ANS thanks Steve N9IP for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Eldorado Space Program: The League of Extraordinary Space Cowboys The Eldorado High School with a total of 156 students in grades 9-12 has an Engineering Class with about 10 students. This STEM activity is mentored by Danny Ray Boyer, W5AHN. You can read about their activities at the following web sites: http://eldorado-space-cowboys.com/ and they are also on facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ANS106-SpaceCowboys The class is in the running for a $5,000 grant for their work in their Space Program. The grant will be awarded by popular vote by the San Angelo Area Foundation, Solar Cen Tex, and KIDY FOX San Angelo who are committed to funding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) innovation in the Concho Valley, Texas. Vote at the link below for your favorite video, and the 1st place winner will win $5000! 2nd place - $3000! 3rd place - $2000! http://www.myfoxzone.com/formula4thefuture Please share the link with your Ham friends and business & family acquaintances to see if you can get them some more votes? [ANS thanks Danny Ray Boyer, W5AHN, and the Eldorado Space Cowboys for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- N7S Special Event Station Commemorates First Shuttle Launch The KB7QPS Air, Space, and Technology special event station will operate from the Boeing Employees Amateur Radio Society club station located at Seattle's Boeing Field. Additional operators around the country may be utilizing their home station. N7S commemorates the first launch of the Space Shuttle. QRV between April 13 and 17. This is one in a series of activities for marking historic milestones in air and spacecraft technology. For a schedule of remaining Special Event Station operations and QSL information see: http://airspacetechnology.webs.com/ [ANS thanks the KB7QPS Special Event Station and the DXNL Newsletter #2036 Apr 12, 2017 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Live HAMTV France April 25-28 Daniel Cussen reported on the HamTV@yahoogroups list that there may be live HAMTV over France and Europe during the time period of April 25-28. The date of a school contact is not yet set but it will be a daytime pass. Audio may be on new VHF handheld not UHF. ARISS expects have more definite news late next week. HamVideo operational status aboard the ISS can be found at: http://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ Ham Video downlink frequencies: + 2369 MHz + 2395 MHz + 2422 MHz + 2437 MHz DVB-S modulation; Symbol rates: 1.3 Ms/s and 2.0 Ms/s FEC : 1/2; NTSC format (SIF: 352×240 or D1:720×480) [ANS thanks ARISS and Daniel Cussen for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- IARU Frequency Coordination Announcement for PicSat http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=536 PicSat from CNRS/LESIA - Observatoire de Paris has received IARU frequency coordination for their 3U CubeSat - Science mission: do a photometric survey of Beta Pic star to detect light variation, demonstrate feasibility of light injection in single mode fiber in space. A UHF 9k6 BPSK downlink using AX25. Amateur mission with FM transponder (VHF up, UHF down) Launch not yet finalised but may be a PSLV into a 520km SSO in Q2 2017. More info at http://tinyurl.com/ANS106-CoordinationPDF ** 435.525 MHZ has been coordinated for the downlink** ** Now planning a launch on PSLV C39 in September 2017** [ANS thanks the IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Australian university students to launch satellite in 2018 Students at the University of Melbourne are well advanced on a program to build a nano-satellite, with the Wireless Institute of Australia assisting in the IARU frequency and other coordination processes. Through the Melbourne Space Program (MSP) affiliated with the University of Melbourne, all is moving ahead for a hand-over of the nano-satellite in November and a launch as early as January 2018. Funding comes from the University of Melbourne, while the Melbourne Space Program is an organisation that holds the licensing, and other matters related to the launch. In a media release, the MSP revealed that plans are well under way with rideshare provider SpaceFlight with a contract signed for a November hand-off and its launch as early as January 2018. It has involved a group of ambitious students, seeking to understand and help redefine the Australian space sector through innovation in education, economics and policy, as well as engineering. Australia is the only Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nation without a space agency. In 1966, University of Melbourne students built Australia's first satellite that was launched in 1970 as Australis Oscar 5 to be tracked by 200 radio amateurs in 27 different countries. The Melbourne Space Program has about 70 active members who are students ranging from 1st year university to masters level and post- graduate. The key objectives include being the first students to launch an Australian nano-satellite, create education, research in space, collaborate with academia and industry, and promote gender parity in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and Arts disciplines. Work was continuing to launch Australia's first nano-satellite and more news is expected in coming months. (Fred Swainston VK3DAC/VK4FE, WIA STEM Coordinator) Aussies tracking satellite Students of the FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences in Germany will launch the COMPASS 2 cube-sat in May and are at looking for a possible ground station partner in Australia. WIA Director Fred Swainston VK3DAC/VK4FE, WIA STEM Coordinator says the International Space Station Crew Fund Scholarship winner for 2017, Ian Benecken has asked the Wireless Institute of Australia for help to track it. COMPASS 2 is to be launched from a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by the Indian Space Research Organisation carrying other commercial satellites. >From a polar 600 kilometre high orbit the cube-sat will beacon once a minute the callsign of ON04DL (ON zero four DL) on 437.300 MHz. The unique location of Australia makes it ideal for partner ground stations, and already it has piqued an interest from the ARISS telebridge centres on VK4, VK5 and VK6. Soon to be published is software that anyone can use to decode the beacon signal and the launch is likely to be on the 1st or 2nd week of May. If you wish to contact Ian Benecken, their email address is: ian.benecken at alumni.fh-aachen.de [ANS thanks the VK1WIA News for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between College Roger Martin Du Gard, Bellême, France and Astronaut Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG using Callsign FXØISS. The contact began Fri 2017-04-14 15:20:44 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via F6KCO. ARISS Mentor was Joseph F6ICS. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule + Brook Haven School, Sebastopol, CA, direct via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-04-19 18:40:43 UTC 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 at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz 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 2017-04-04 06:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 ******* Exp. 49 on orbit Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Andrei Borisenko Sergey Ryzhikov Exp. 50 on orbit Peggy Whitson Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Oleg Novitskiy [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Apollo 11 Capsule Going On Road Trip To accommodate the Smithsonian renovation of its gallery at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, the Cpsule will vidit four US cities. The four city tour will include Houston, St. Louis, Pittsburg and Seattle as part of the a new exhibit: "Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission". For more information visit: https://apnews.com/b04812315fd44be79b1d7c85f76b0d0b [ANS thanks Associated Press 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