AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-210
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.
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In this edition:
* OSCAR Number Administrator William “Bill” Tynan, W3XO Steps Down, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, named AMSAT OSCAR Number Administrator * Lee McLamb, KT4TZ, Senior Editor, AMSAT News Service Steps Down * 2018 36th AMSAT Symposium & Banquet Registration Now on AMSAT * Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution of 7-26-2018 * AMSAT Awards Update * AMSAT Web - Upcoming Satellite Operations Page has a New Manager * ARISS News Release No. 18-09 Announcing Russian Slow Scan TV Event * K8BL Roving Trip To AK BP64 * Upcoming Satellite Operations * CAMSAT CAS-6 Satellite Receives IARU Frequency Coordination * ExseedSat Cubesat Applies for IARU Frequency Coordination * South Africa Radio Amateurs Aiming to Link up with Scientists * Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-210.01 ANS-210 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 210.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. July 29, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-210.01
OSCAR Number Administrator William “Bill” Tynan, W3XO Steps Down, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, named AMSAT OSCAR Number Administrator
William “Bill” Tynan, W3XO has stepped down as the AMSAT OSCAR Number Administrator citing poor health. Bill has been granting applicants who qualify OSCAR numbers for over two decades since the late-1990’s. Even Bill cannot remember the first number he issued, but believes it was either TO-31 or SO-35. In any case, he has issued at least 57 OSCAR numbers. This is over 60%, or very close to two-thirds, of all the OSCAR numbers issued. I want to thank Bill for his many dedicated years of service to AMSAT.
I have named Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT Vice-President, Operations of New Port Richey, FL as the AMSAT OSCAR Number Administrator.
Ever since the launch of OSCAR 1 in 1961, it has been traditional for amateur radio satellites to carry the name OSCAR, for “Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio”. At the request of the original Project OSCAR organization, AMSAT-NA now administers the numbering of OSCAR satellites according to the following policy.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and AMSAT-NA have adopted the paper Information for Developers of Satellites Planned to Use Frequency Bands Allocated to the Amateur-Satellite Service, which can be found on the IARU satellite frequency coordination page.
The following requirements must be satisfied in order to obtain an OSCAR designation:
1) The spacecraft’s use of frequencies in the amateur bands must have been coordinated before launch through established IARU/AMSAT frequency coordination.
2) The spacecraft must have successfully achieved orbit and/or have been successfully deployed.
3) Once in orbit, one or more transmitters must have been successfully activated in the amateur satellite service.
4) After the above requirements have been met, the organization or organizations which are the builders/owners of the spacecraft must request that AMSAT-NA assign a consecutive OSCAR number to the space craft as follows:
a) The request must be in writing (e-mail or fax is acceptable also) and be signed by the chief executive officer of the organization making the request. If more than one organization was responsible for building/owning the spacecraft, all must participate in this request.
b) The request must certify that the above three requirements have been met.
c) In addition, it must certify that the organization or organizations making the request are familiar with the IARU paper referred to above, and that the spacecraft’s operation in the amateur satellite service is and will remain consistent with the intent of this IARU paper, and the laws of the responsible national administration.
d) The request must specify the country under whose laws the spacecraft is operating.
e) It is customary to refer to OSCAR satellites by a hyphenated name, of which the first part is typically selected by the owner/builder, e.g., UoSAT-OSCAR 11. For some purposes, such as Keplerian tracking bulletins, such names are commonly abbreviated to initials, e.g., UO-11. The request should indicate preferred name in this format; AMSAT-NA will assign the number.
f) The request should be addressed to the Board of Directors of AMSAT-NA at: Email: [email protected] or post at: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT-NA) 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895
5) In the case of multiple payloads sharing the same booster, the amateur radio satellite that is placed into orbit first (first off the launch stack) will normally receive the earlier OSCAR number.
Please note that there is no requirement for an OSCAR number to be assigned to a satellite in order for it to be legitimately recognized and used in the amateur satellite service. However OSCAR numbers are a proud tradition of amateur radio, one that we hope to keep going for many years to come.
[ANS thanks Joe Spier, K6WAO AMSAT-NA President for the above information]
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Lee McLamb, KT4TZ, Senior Editor, AMSAT News Service Steps Down
Lee McLamb, KT4TZ, Senior Editor, AMSAT News Service has resigned after many years producing and shepherding the weekly ANS. As I came from being an ANS weekly Rotating Editor, I know what dedication it takes to produce the ANS. I want to thank Lee for his over 15 of service to AMSAT, including his roles as AMSAT Executive Vice President, and BOD alternates.
If you would like to help AMSAT by becoming an ANS rotating editor, please contact me at: [email protected]
[ANS thanks Joe Spier, K6WAO AMSAT-NA President for the above information]
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2018 36th AMSAT Symposium & Banquet Registration Now on AMSAT
Registrations and Banquet tickets are available on the AMSAT Store for the 2018 36th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting and the Banquet. The Symposium and Banquet will be held in Huntsville, Alabama on November 2-4. The venue is the US Space and Rocket Center.
Registration for the Symposium is $60 through September 30th, $65 through October 26th, and $70 at the door. Banquet tickets are $50, please provide your callsign, name and name of your guest in the notes section of the AMSAT store checkout. The Banquet will be held under the rocket in the Saturn V hall.
For more information on the Symposium as well as information and a link to the hotel. Please see:
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/
[ANS thanks 2018 AMSAT Symposium Committee for the above information]
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Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution of 7-26-2018
The two cubesats from the ISS deployment of April 13,2018 have been identified and have been renamed as follows: Object NZ - NORAD CAT ID 43551 is now EnduroSat One Object PA - NORAD CAT ID 43552 is now EQUISat
Per Nico Janssen (PA0DLO): Detailed doppler measurements show that EnduroSat One (downlink 437.050 MHz) is object 43551 (1998-067NZ) and EQUiSat (downlink 435.550 MHz) is object 43552 (1998-067PA).
No signals received from MemSat (downlink 437.350 MHz) and RadSat-g (downlink 437.425 MHz).
[ANS thanks Ray, WA5QGD, AMSAT Keplerian Elements Manager for the above information]
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AMSAT Awards Update
Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards reports, "Since my last post and actually since the beginning of 2018, I have been posting all the Rover Awards on my Twitter account and tagging @AMSAT. I will include all the Rover Awards here for those that do not have Twitter."
AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO Thomas Hetland, DL8DXW Bernd Preusker, DO1UB German School Club Station DL0IKT German School Club Station DL0TSD Daivd Dean, AE7ID Adam Donahue, KE0JWQ Mitchell Ahrenstoff, AD0HJ Stephen Szabo, WB4OMM Michael Clark, N4WQH
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AMSAT Communications Achievement Award David Stanley, WI4L, #580 Randy Kohlwey, WI7P, #581 (This is Randy's Second go around after moving his QTH) Marissa Robledo 11-year old, W4AQT, #582 Paul Overn, KE0PBR, #583 Mitchell Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ, #584
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AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award David Stanley, WI4L, #US206 Marissa Robledo 11-year old, W4AQT, #US207 Paul Overn, KE0PBR, #US208
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AMSAT Sexagesimal Award Randy Kohlway, WI7P, #182 (This is Randy's Second go around after moving his QTH)
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AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award Adrian Liggins, VA3NNA, #95 Steve Nordahl, NS3L, #96
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AMSAT Rover Award (New for 2018)
Rover Call ===== ======== 001 AC0RA 002 WD9EWK 003 NJ4Y 004 M0IDA 005 KG5GJT 006 EB1AO 007 N7AGF 008 N4YHC 009 W0S 010 KE0PBR 011 K5IX 012 AK4WQ 013 WI7P 014 K5ND 015 N6UA 016 N9IP 017 N4UFO 018 K7TAB 019 K8BL 020 AD0DX 021 HB9WDF 022 KE4AL 023 KE9AJ 024 AA8CH 025 WY7AA 026 KE8FZT 027 KX9X
[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards for the above information]
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AMSAT Web - Upcoming Satellite Operations Page has a New Manager
Robert Bankston, KE4AL, is now managing the news on AMSAT-NA's Upcoming Satellite Operates webpage:
https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/
Robert has posted a handful of upcoming GridExpeditions, with more coming as stations finalize their operating plans.
If you are planning a roving trip, please email Robert a brief description at ke4al at yahoo.com, so he can make sure your announce- ment is publicized.
Check the Upcoming Satellite Operations page often for the latest satellite rover operating announcements.
[ANS thanks Robert, KE4AL for the above information]
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ARISS News Release No. 18-09 Announcing Russian Slow Scan TV Event
July 27, 2018:
ARISS Russia is planning another of their popular MAI Slow Scan Television (SSTV) experiment events. Transmissions are scheduled to begin at 16:00 UTC on July 30, then powered down at 19:30 UTC. The next day (July 31), the system will be active from 13:25-19:15 UTC. Downlink should be on the traditional 145.80 MHz frequency and the operating mode will likely be PD120.
When this event becomes active, SSTV images are downlinked from the International Space Station (ISS) at the frequency of 145.80 MHz and can be received using ham radio equipment as simple as a 2 meter handheld radio or a common scanner receiver the covers the 2 meter ham band. After connecting the audio output of the radio receiver into the audio input of a computer running free software such as MMSSTV, the SSTV images can be displayed.
Please note that the event is dependent on other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time.
Please check for news and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org websites, the [email protected], the ARISS facebook at Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and ARISS twitter @ARISS_status.
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 public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org.
Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status
Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR [email protected]
[ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR for the above information]
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K8BL Roving Trip To AK BP64
Bob, K8BL is heading to Alaska on a "Bucket Trip" starting August 2 to Fairbanks until August 8. Bob wrote, "I'll be taking my regular Rover Gear - IC820H & Arrow w/tripod. I plan to activate BP64 and a couple nearby Grids - holiday style. That means I'll pop up on various Satellites with no strict schedule other than a Twitter Message with a few hours notice. I log as K8BL/KL7 and will upload to LoTW upon my return."
Other destinations on Bob's trip include Alaska being his 43rd State visited; 2) Arctic Circle; 3) Denali Visit; 4) 112th Grid activated and hopefully more; 5) Northern Lights - KYFC; 6) Almost Midnight Sun
[ANS thanks Bob, K8TL for the above information]
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Kauai, Hawaii (BL01 and BL02) – July 25 through August 2, 2018 Justin, K5EM, is heading to Kauai for a vacation. While there he will focus on linear satellites from BL01, BL02, and the BL01/BL02 gridline. Justin has posted a few tips on his Twitter page, which is publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/k5em, to help him and you increase your chances of making a contact.
MN & ND (EN37, EN38/EN28, EN18/EN08, EN07/EN17, EN27) – July 27-30, 2018 KE4AL, will be visiting his in-laws in Hibbing, MN. While there, Robert will introduce his father-in-law, George KE0GXQ, to satellites and the art of roving. Plan is to practice in EN37, then head out Saturday to activate EN38/28, EN18/EN08 and EN07/EN17. After overnighting in Grand Forks, ND, they stop in EN27, before arriving back in EN37 on Sunday. Satellite passes will include both FM and linears, with specific pass announcements posted on Twitter, viewable publicly at https://twitter.com/KE4ALabama
Nova Scotia (FN65 and FN67) – August 2-5, 2018 Brent, VY2HF will be operating from FN65 August 2-3 and FN67 August 3-5. Pass announcements will be posted to Twitter, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/vy2hf
Bonneville Salt Flats, UT (DN30) – August 10-17, 2018 R.J., WY7AA, is heading to Speedweek at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Enroute and while there, he also plans to activate DN51, DN41, DN40, and DN20). Specific pass announcements will be posted to Twitter, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/WY7AA
Vancouver Island/Olympia National Park (CO60, CO70, CN79) – August 12-13, 2018. Ron, AD0DX, will be in the Vancouver / Vancouver Island area and at Olympia National Park. He will make a special trip to CO60 on Sunday Aug 12th evening and in Campbell River, BC for 24 hours over Aug 12 and 13 so there should be lots of opportunities for CO70 and CO79. More information is available on AD0DX’s QRZ page, to include planned grid activation for his return trip home. Updates will be posted on Twitter, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/ad0dx
Santa Rosa Island (CM93 and CM94) – August 20-22, 2018 Ron, AD0DX, using the call sign W6R, will be operating from Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands August 20-22 to activate grid square CM93, with a few passes from the CM93/CM94 grid line. Ron will be mainly active on the FM satellites AO-91, AO-92 and SO-50. Just learning to operate on the linear birds, he hopes to be active on FO-29, CAS-4A and CAS-4B. More information is available on AD0DX’s QRZ page, with updates while on the island will be posted on Twitter, publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/ad0dx
Please submit any additions or corrections to [email protected]
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information]
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CAMSAT CAS-6 Satellite Receives IARU Frequency Coordination
Alan Kung, BA1DU reported that CAMSAT plans to launch CAS-6, a 50 kg micro-satellite approx. 490 x 499 x 430 mm. A sea launch is planned for September, 2018 from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology into a 579 x 579 km 45 degree orbit.
The mission will include: + VHF CW Telemetry Beacon + U/V Mode 20 kHz Linear Transponder + AX.25 4.8k baud GMSK telemetry downlink + Deployable Antennas + Solar Panels, Lithium ion battery and power controller + Integrated Housekeeping Unit + Three-axis stabilization system + Atmospheric Wind detector + S-band TT&C system (non-amateur radio band) + X-band Data link system (non-amateur radio band)
The following frequencies have been coordinated by the IARU:
+ VHF/UHF linear transponder Uplink: 435.280 MHz Downlink: 145.925 MHz + CW telemetry beacon: 145.910 MHz, + Telemetry: 145.890 MHz
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=622
[ANS thanks CAMSAT, IARU, and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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ExseedSat Cubesat Applies for IARU Frequency Coordination
Ashar Farhan, VU2ESE, Exseed Space Innovations Pvt, Ltd. reported that ExseedSat, a 1U cubesat that will provide a multifunction UHF/VHF Narrow-Band FM (NBFM) amateur communication satellite is planned for a SpaceX launch from Vandenberg in October 2018.
ExseedSat is a 1U cubesat that will provide a multifunction UHF/VHF NBFM amateur communication satellite with various configurable modes, including: + UHF to VHF, single channel, narrow band FM transponder with CTCSS, 67 Hz squelch + VHF to UHF, single channel, narrow band FM transponder with CTCSS, 67 Hz squelch + Power output selectable between 1 watt and 0.5 watt + Digipeat feature with APRS on UHF uplink and VHF downlink + Melody mode : It will play a simple melody of a few notes on special occasions or events.
Planned orbital life of two years, depending upon how long the battery lasts and when the satellite de-orbits naturally.
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=636
[ANS thanks Ashar Farhan, VU2ESE, IARU, and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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South Africa Radio Amateurs Aiming to Link up with Scientists
July 26th, 2018, Published in Articles: EngineerIT by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, features editor, EngineerIT
Two South African amateur radio associations, the South African Radio League (SARL) and AMSAT SA, are planning to launch an umbrella associ- ation that will link up with scientists in various electronic and physics disciplines to enhance research opportunities. The two organ- isations are currently involved in propagation research on 5 MHz, and a study of the rapid increases in the radio frequency noise floor, its causes and possible mitigation, and the possible slowing down of the noise pollution which will ultimately render the radio spectrum useless for communication, particularly for weak signal communication.
The new organisation will be known as Amateur Radio Science Citizen Investigation, or HamSCI SA. It is based on the successful HamSCI which has been operating in the US and the UK for several years. The concept of HamSCI was started by US scientists who study upper atmospheric and space physics and who are also licensed radio amateurs. HamSCI SA will be a platform for the publicity and promotion of citizen science projects.
The SARL and AMSAT SA invite interested persons to join the HamSCI SA initiative and offer their expertise. “It will work two ways”, says SARL president, Nico van Rensburg. “It will create interesting activities for radio amateurs, in particularly for the new generation of young people who have been bitten by the ‘radio bug’ but need more challenges than just communications. For the scientific community it means that they can involve many more people in their projects and make a contribution to make science popular.”
Access the entire article and graphics at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-210-SouthAfricaScience (http://www.ee.co.za)
[ANS thanks AMSAT SA and Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ The Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has been showing a short feature (10 min.) about amateur radio entitled "Radio Hams". The feature is from 1939. If you missed it on TCM, it is also viewable on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BPcpQMbUPE
+ ExoMars Rover Naming Competition! The UK Space Agency has launched a competition to name a rover that is going to Mars to search for signs of life. ESA's 2020 ExoMars rover is due to land on Mars in the spring of 2021 after launch on a Roscosmos Proton launcher. The ExoMars rover will carry a drill and a suite of instruments dedicated to exobiology and geochemistry research. The ExoMars rover competition is being run by the UK Space Agency. Complete your entry form on-line at: https://events.airbus.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=200179103& (via ESA amd UK Space Agency)
+ AMSAT EA will be on air on all available satellites with the callsign AM1SAT from September 10 to 17 to celebrate IberRadio 2018 - IV Radiocommunications Fair, the biggest HAM party event in Spain and Portugal (http://www.iberradio.es/en/), that will open its doors during the 15-16 weekend. Main grid will be IN70 but other ones will be activated as well. Our operators will work transatlantic QSOs too. QSLs by LOTW and eqsl. Any questions, please write to contacto (at) amsat-ea.org (via Félix Páez EA4GQS - AMSAT EA)
+ WI9LL has designed clips for use with the Arrow II Portable hand held satellite antenna that can be fabricated on your 3D printer. The .stl files can be found on Thingiverse at the following links: RG58 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2838880 RG8X and LMR240 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2839035 http://wi9ll.com/arrow-ii-portable-satellite-antenna-clips/
+ "Crazy Danish Hacker" has posted a new video on his YouTube channel that shows how to pick up amateur radio voice signals from the International Space Station (ISS). In his video he uses a telescopic whip attached directly to his RTL-SDR which is placed outside with a view of the sky. See: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-210-RTL-SDR
+ An article "Send APRS data/telemetry via Xastir command line" may be of interest to Linux packet users: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-210-XASTR-PacketCommand
+ Although the HAMTV DVB-S video transmission system aboard the ISS is temporarily out of service this article will show you how to receive the signal with an RTL-SDR (and other equipment) when the video transmissions resume: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-210-HamTV-SDR
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In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information.
73 and remember to help keep amateur radio in space, and behave.
This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM k9jkm at amsat dot org