AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-036
In this edition:
* AO-95 QRT * VUCC Satellite Standings as of February 1, 2023 * New Satellite Distance Records * ARISS News * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Satellite Shorts From All Over
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.
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ANS-036 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653 Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2023 Feb 05
AO-95 QRT
After a lingering illness of the battery, AO-95 passed away peacefully on December 23rd. While a miraculous return is always possible, it is not expected.
AO-95, known prior to launch as Fox-1Cliff to commemorate amateur satellite pioneer Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR, who became a silent key in 2007, launched on December 3, 2018 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenburg Air Force Base. Shortly after deployment, the AMSAT Engineering team received nominal telemetry data from the satellite, but upon the first attempts at commanding, it was discovered that the receiver had failed for unknown reasons. Still, the satellite provided an easy to receive beacon and telemetry data for over four years before the NiCd batteries failed.
[ANS thanks Alan Biddle, WA4SCA, AMSAT Fox Operations Team, and AMSAT for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The 2023 AMSAT President's Club coins are here now! To commemorate the 40th anniversary of its launch on June 16, 1983, this year's coin features an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 10. Join the AMSAT President's Club today and help Keep Amateur Radio in Space! https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
VUCC Satellite Standings as of February 1, 2023
VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for January 01, 2023 to February 01, 2023.
K8DP 1350 1425 WC7V 1256 1303 MI6GTY 579 970 KF7R 925 N3GS 796 873 NS3L 725 785 K9UO 750 777 KE8RJU 650 725 WD9EWK (DM43) 715 720 KN2K 654 701 F4BKV 600 700 VE6WK 564 700 W8LR 667 687 EA2AA 643 653 XE1L 639 KC1MMC 532 629 DL2GRC New 628 FG8OJ 513 531 VU2LBW 400 513 KB1HY 427 457 KC3KOP New 439 AC9DX 332 427 N8MR 377 425 WB7QXU 325 400 DL6KBG 250 331 XE1UYS 126 327 JH0BBE 226 314 LU3FCA 101 310 AA0MZ 263 276 LU4FTA 223 268 IK7FMQ 190 254 W7YED 163 254 PA7RA 224 242 JG6CDH New 235 DL8GAM 186 220 JH8FIH New 214 JA1GZK 150 205 AG7NR 101 200 IK3ITB 100 200 JL1SAM New 200 IK8YTA 106 162 JG2TSL New 157 JS2GGD 101 157 SP5ULN New 156 JE1TNL New 150 PY2YJ New 150 JO4JKL New 135 KE8RPJ 100 125 IK0WRB New 123 XE1EVP New 123 N6PAZ 100 110 JA1QJI New 109 KB9DAK New 108 N1QDQ New 107 JI5USJ New 104 JE3HCZ New 103 NY1V New 102 4Z1JJ New 100 DH1OK New 100 N9BX New 100 VA7TF New 100
Congratulations to the new VUCC holders. 4Z1JJ is first VUCC Satellite holder from Israel and KM71 JG6CDH is first VUCC Satellite holder from PM43 JI5USJ is first VUCC Satellite holder from PM64 JO4JKL is first VUCC Satellite holder from PM65 JG2TSL is first VUCC Satellite holder from PM94 JH8FIH is first VUCC Satellite holder from QN14
[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ, for the above information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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New Satellite Distance Records
A number of new distance records via satellite have been claimed over the past couple of months. First is the massively popular new MEO satellite IO-117. Burt DeMarcq, FG8OJ, worked Shigenori Nasu, JH8FIH, on November 25, 2022 at 08:22 UTC. The distance between FG8OJ in FK96hg63 in Guadeloupe and JH8FIH in QN14qi16 in Japan is 12,823 km.
Note that for future claims of IO-117, only live QSOs may be counted and not those completed over multiple orbits using the satellite's delayed messaging capabilities.
A new distance record was also claimed via the QO-100 geostationary satellite. PT9AL in GG27os in Brazil worked XW4KV in Laos OK27jj on December 10, 2022 at 14:41 UTC. The distance between the two stations is 17,834 km, eclipsing the previous record held by PR8KW and YC5YC of 17,378 km.
Finally, FO-118, launched in December is a LEO satellite carrying three transponders. Familiar faces for the AMSAT Satellite Distance Records have claimed the initial record on all three transponders - the V/u FM transponder, the V/u linear transponder, and the H/u linear transponder (15 meter uplink). F4DXV and VE1CWJ completed transatlantic QSOs on all three transponders. On January 6, 2023 at 04:15 UTC, they completed a QSO via the V/u FM transponder and then switched over to the V/u linear transponder to complete a QSO there one minute later. VE1CWJ was in FN85do83sg and F4DXV was in JN04js20pr. They completed the sweep of all three transponders on January 30, 2023, when they completed a QSO via the H/u linear transponder at 17:16 UTC. VE1CWJ was in the same location while F4DXV was in JN04it22nt for this QSO, for a distance of 4,908 km.
Anyone who wants to claim a distance record via an amateur satellite should check the current list at https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ and email n8hm at arrl.net if they complete a new record distance. Audio and/or video of the QSO is encouraged but not required.
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President, for the above information]
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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition? Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store! 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for February 2, 2023
Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated Thursday evenings around 2300 UTC, or more frequently if new high interest satellites are launched. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/
AMSAT IT, in conjunction with the New England Sci-Tech STEM Education Center assembled a tiger team of software experts from the Olin College of Engineering, Boston Latin School and the Wilson Middle School to investigate the recent disappearance of AO-7 from www.amsat.org/tle/current/dailytle.txt and the legacy naasbare.txt files.
The team determined that AMSAT's processing is not robust in the face of minor format differences in the source data received from the USSF's 18th Space Defense Squadron. Specifically, the TLE data provided does not always include the leading zero in AO-7's object number "07530". The official report from the team's leader : "My grandma would say that AMSAT's software is just a little too persnickety". A member of the tiger team agreed to adjust the update script to account for the vagaries of the 18th SDS data. A production quality fix is expected by March 1st, meanwhile manual monitoring and updates will keep AO-7 in the files.
There were no changes to the February 2, 2023 distribution.
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, and Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT IT, for the above information]
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ARISS News
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Dinskaya, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz The scheduled crewmember is Anna Kikina Contact is go for Sun 2023-02-05 14:25 UTC (***)
Cache County School District, Millville, UT, direct via W7IVM
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz The scheduled crewmember is Josh Cassada KI5CRH Contact is go for: Tue 2023-02-07 18:45:54 UTC 32 deg
Colegio Diocesano Santa María Nuestra Señora, Écija, Spain, telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz The scheduled crewmember is Josh Cassada KI5CRH Contact is go for: Wed 2023-02-08 10:13:59 UTC 74 deg
Starting about 15 minutes before AOS, watch for Livestream at http://www.ariotti.com/
Special thanks to our ARISS telebridge ground stations. Approximately 38% of the ARISS school contacts are handled by the ARISS telebridge stations. Thanks to following stations: AB1OC, IK1SLD, K6DUE, NA7V, ON4ISS, VK4ISS, VK4KHZ, VK5ZAI, VK6MJ, and ZS6JON.
The crossband repeater continues to be active. If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know.
Comments on making general contacts
I have been seeing a lot of traffic on Facebook and I suspect on other social media sites with people asking why they are not hearing the crew make general contacts. First off the crew is very busy on the ISS and they simply may not have the time to just pick up the microphone and talk. Also, one needs to be aware of their normal daily schedule. I have listed below the constraints that we at ARISS have to follow in order to schedule the school contacts. Hopefully this will help you better schedule your opportunities.
Typical daily schedule
Wakeup to Workday start= 1.5 hours Workday start to Workday end=12 hours Workday end to Sleep= 2 hours Sleep to wakeup= 8.5 hours
The crew's usual waking period is 0730 - 1930 UTC. The most common times to find a crew member making casual periods are about one hour after waking and before sleeping, when they have personal time. They're usually free most of the weekend, as well.
SSTV events are not that often. So please check out https://www.ariss.org/ for the latest information or watch for the ARISS announcements.
And don’t forget that the packet system is active.
As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol.
ARISS Radio Status
Columbus Module radios: IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS - Configured. Default mode is for cross band repeater (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). *Powering off for Progress 81 undock on February 7. OFF Feb 6 about 14:30 UTC. ON Feb 7 about 08:35 UTC. *Powering off for Progress 83 docking on February 11. OFF Feb 10 about 18:55 UTC. ON Feb 12 about 14:00. *Powering off for Progress 82 undock on February 18. OFF Feb 17 about 18:25UTC. ON Feb 18 about 11:45 UTC. *Powering off for Soyuz 69 docking on February 22. OFF Feb 21 about TBD . ON Feb 13 about TBD. *Capable of supporting USOS scheduled voice contacts, packet and voice repeater ops.
Service Module radios: IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS - Configured. Default mode is fo packet operations (145.825 MHz up & down) *Powering off for Progress 81 undock on February 7. OFF Feb 6 about 14:30 UTC. ON Feb 7 about 08:35 UTC. *Powering off for Progress 83 docking on February 11. OFF Feb 10 about 18:55 UTC. ON Feb 12 about 14:00. *Powering off for Progress 82 undock on February 18. OFF Feb 17 about 18:25UTC. ON Feb 18 about 11:45 UTC. *Powering off for Soyuz 69 docking on February 22. OFF Feb 21 about TBD . ON Feb 13 about TBD. *Capable of supporting ROS scheduled voice contacts, packet, SSTV and voice repeater ops.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
JD1YCC ( G-G HAM Club ) is planning to activate EME operation on 2m/70cm/23cm band at Ogasawara chichi island(JD1/O) from Feb.07 to Feb.13 2023. They plan to QRV on GREENCUBE/IO-117 also (EME) at Moon time. Op will be JJ3JHP/JD1BQD Hiro.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]
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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.
AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford K6LCS has a few satellite presentations scheduled, most notable is Thames Valley, England (5/11/23) Clint can be reached at: (909) 999-7287 or an email link at https://www.work-sat.com/contact.html.
2023 HamCation(r)Hosting ARRL Southeastern Division Convention. Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT President, will present "Shaping the Amateur Radio Satellite World of Tomorrow" at 2:00PM - 3:00PM EST Saturday, February 11 in the OS Pavillion. HamCation will be held at Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park, Orlando, FL, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 10-12, 2023
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ The FO-99 operation schedule for February is available at https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p=2079 (Thanks to JAMSAT for this information)
+ A volunteer is being sought to take over the Gridmaster Heat Map on Twitter. Paul Overn, KE0PBR, has announced his intent to “retire” from the project that he has moderated there for the past three years. Paul has assisted many grid chasers by relaying information about rovers, and keeping tabs of which grids are in greatest need. Unless someone steps forward, Gridmaster Heat Map will disappear next month. Thanks to Paul for your valuable contribution to satellite operations! (ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, for this information)
+ A while ago, perhaps almost two years ago, I modified the LVBTracker firmware in my Fox Delta ST2-USB so that it would allow for more calibration points than just the min and max for azimuth. I had added a remote-control option to an old Yaesu G-450XL, but the output voltage was very non-linear, which led to terrible aiming of the antennas. With the mods I made to the firmware it now allows me to calibrate the controller at 0, 90, 180, 270, and 360 degrees and aiming is now rather accurate. I wrote about it here:
https://thehamlab.com/2023/02/02/fox-delta-st2-lvbtracker-calibration-mods/
If you feel this could be useful for you, the source code for the project can be found on GitHub:
https://github.com/TheHamLab/LVBTracker.KR1ST
(Thanks KR1ST for this information)
+ SuitSat-1 (AMSAT-OSCAR 54) deployed from the ISS 17 years ago February 3rd. It played voice messages in languages recorded by the ARISS partners and students from around the globe. It also sent telemetry data. It was lost 15 days later. SuitSat came back to life in a 2021 short horror film! If you'd like to watch the Sci-Fi Horror short film "Decommissioned" based on the ARISS SuitSat, it can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNtpdvfbTjA (Thanks ARISS for this information)
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73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week's ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm [at] amsat.org