AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-114
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.
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
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In this edition:
* AMSAT Hamvention Update * MIR-SAT 1 (MO112) has de-orbited * Ron Parsons, W5RKN SK April 19, 2022 * * ARISS News * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-114 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653 Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2022 Apr 24
AMSAT Hamvention Update:
The Dayton Hamvention is four weeks away! It is time to be creating your shopping list and making your travel plans. AMSAT's presence will be felt in with eight adjoining booths in Building 1. Highlighting the exhibit will be:
- CubeSat Simulator hardware and software demonstrations - SatPC software demonstrations - AMSAT Engineering staff question and answer table - AMSAT Youth Initiative (KidzSat) introduction - OSCAR ground station for live satellite operations - Annual Membership sign-up and renewals - AMSAT President's Club recognition - AMSAT Board of Directors and Senior Officers Meet and Greet - AMSAT Store offering AMSAT trinkets, books and Arrow Antennas
In past years, we had 30 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 2022 Hamvention is May 20-22 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 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 Phil, (w1eme[at]amsat[dot]org if you can help. Thank you!
AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will honor the life of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR The 13th annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center on Friday, May 20th at 18:30 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) and TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) activities during the Dayton Hamvention. This year's banquet will honor the life and accomplishments of long time amateur satellite and amateur packet pioneer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, who passed away in February.
The Kohler Presidential Banquet Center is located at 4548 Presidential Way, Kettering, Ohio. That is about 20 minutes away from the Greene County Fairgrounds.
Tickets ($57 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store. The banquet ticket purchase deadline is Friday, May 13th. Banquet tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the AMSAT booth. There will be no tickets to pick up at the AMSAT booth. Tickets purchased on-line will be maintained on a list with check-in at the door at the banquet center. Seating is limited to the number of meals reserved with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline. Register today at https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-tapr-joint-hamvention-banquet-registrati on/
[ANS thanks Phil Smith, W1EME, AMSAT Hamvention Exhibit organizer, AMSAT News & TAPR for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The 2022 AMSAT President's Club coins have arrived! To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its launch on October 15, 1972, this year's coin features an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 6. Join the AMSAT President's Club today and help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
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MIR-SAT 1 (MO112) has de-orbited
Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU reports: "It seems to be confirmed that MIR-SAT 1 re-entered. The last valid telemetry signals of MIR-SAT 1 (worldwide) was received in Mauritius with the UoM ground station by YOG-3B8 (Dr Yogesh Beeharry, Lecturer of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering of the University of Mauritius). Yogesh, member of this forum led a team of UoM students who build their own ground station. This was at 01:36 Hrs local time this morning and JA0CAW (Tetsu, an experience Satellite HAM) confirmed to me by mail that no signals was received from MIR-SAT 1 at 05:03 (MRU time). More many other regular reporting HAMs confirmed to me that no signals received from our bird today. This confirms that MIR-SAT 1 re-entered between 01:36 and 05:03 Hrs and probably burned up around 110Km in a blast of flame, unfortunately the location is not known as mainly over oceans during the time window. I also confirm that a few minutes before last observation from Yogesh that I received the TLM of MIR-SAT 1 and also made successful Digipeats through it (see attached screenshot), the bird was at about 160km altitude at that time, this was my farewell to MO-112. Congratulations to Yogesh to be the last recorded person on this planet to have successfully decoded our 3B8 bird. RIP MIR-SAT 1, you have been a great tool for educational and HAM experiments. One page turned and the next (better) opens, MIR-SAT 2 ??? why not?, just a question of vision, willingness, motivation and hard work. 73, Jean Marc, 3B8DU"
[ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU 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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Ron Parsons, W5RKN SK April 19, 2022
From Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT President: "Ron has been an important part of amateur radio in space and his passion for implementing Flex Radio Systems. If you are not familiar with his work, please take time to visit his website, http://www.w5rkn.com/. A memorial service will be held at 3pm on Saturday, April 23rd at the Remembrance Gardens at Riverbend (4214 Capital of TX Hwy, N, Austin, TX 78746). For those unable to attend in person, you may attend via Zoom (https://austinisd-org.zoom.us/j/83862240962?pwd=NS80SWJTaUFCNGpVdWRteU1MUml .). Obituary will be posted here: https://www.centraltexascremation.com/obituaries/ Biography: https://web2.ph.utexas.edu/utphysicshistory/RonGParsons.html"
From Rick Lawn K2JAZ: "I regret to inform the satellite community that our good friend, who many of us relied on for advice, or a new grid square, passed away on Tuesday, April 19th at the age of 84. Not long ago I recall he earned the distinction of Grid Master and had been an active member of AMSAT for decades. He was instrumental in arranging for at least two ARISS contacts with Austin, TX schools and wrote an important paper on Doppler shift that has been referenced on countless occasions. Ron also was a strong advocate for the use of SDR equipment for satellite communications and had recently contributed, along with co-authors, a number of articles on related subjects to the AMSAT Journal. I am sure that he will be greatly missed by many of us. Donations in his name and memory can be made to any charity."
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT President and Rick Lawn, W2JAZ for the above information]
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[ANS thanks 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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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.
No school contacts are on the immediate schedule.
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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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an Amateur Radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Quick Hits: + WL7T: 4/30, DM02 Check twitter for passes.
+ Hawaii!: K5ZM is heading to HI on May 16-26.
+ WL7T: EL84, June 24-27.
+ W3IPA: DM42 vacation planned for Jul 30- Aug 6th will be on FM passes vacation style. I will be close to DM41 so might be able to work a gridline. Will post more updates closer to that week!
+ N8MR: EN 57,67,56 8/6 through 8/13. More to come as date gets closer.
Major Roves: + Eastern Nevada: AD7DB to visit Eastern Nevada, DM25, DM26, DM27, DM28, DM29, DM36, and maybe DM37 and DM38. April 25 through April 30th 2022. List of passes at https://bit.ly/3OG3jdt
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager for the above information]
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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for April 21, 2022
The following satellites have decayed from orbit and has been removed from this week's AMSAT-NA TLE distribution.
STARS-EC NORAD Cat ID 47928 (decayed form orbit on 4/15/2022 per Space-Track). OPUSAT-II NORAD Cat ID 47930 (decayed form orbit on 4/15/2022 per Space-Track). MO-112 (MIR-SAT 1) NORAD Cat ID 48868 (decayed form orbit on 4/18/2022 per Space-Track).
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements 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 Schedules
Scheduled Events with AMSAT involvement:
+ CubeSat Developers Workshop April 26-28, 2022 San Luis Obispo, CA
+ Hamvention 2022 May 20, 2022 to May 22, 2022 Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center 210 Fairground Road Xenia, Ohio 45385 https://www.hamvention.org
+ 2022 Rocky Mountain ARRL Division Convention October 7, 2022 - October 9, 2022 Event Center at Archer 3921 Archer Pkwy Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007 https://wyhamcon.org/site.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events Page Manager, for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Ax-1. Commanded by Spanish-American Michael Lopez-Alegria on his fifth trip to the ISS, and accompanied by pilot Larry Connor (US) and mission specialists Eytan Stibbe (Israel) and Mark Pathy (Canada), Ax-1 has conducted the first all-commercial crewed mission to the station. Delayed by weather, the team will soon depart the ISS and will splash down off the coast of Florida after spending about 10 days in space and a bit more than a week on the ISS. More at https://bit.ly/3v37PdT [ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information]
+ SLS Wet Dress Rehearsal update. After three attempts, each ending in an abort, unexpectedly high lox temperatures, a helium check valve failure on the SLS's second stage, and a hydrogen leak on the mobile platform's service mast umbilical. NASA is now rolling the fully stacked SLS back to the VAB to fix some of these issues and upgrade the mobile launcher's gaseous nitrogen (GN2) supply. What was optimistically supposed to be a two-day test took three weeks, and Artemis I is probably not launching before the end of the summer (although NASA said Monday that they are currently hoping to make a beginning of July launch window). We definitely want to see Artemis I go well (especially for those 10 plucky little rideshare science missions), and these growing pains are better worked out now than on a future crewed mission, but the whole thing just feels kind of arduous. More at https://bit.ly/3v37PdT [ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information]
+ The Great Solar Eclipse of 2024. Perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves, but it pays to start planning early. Where will you be in approximately two years? Andrew had the chance to watch 2017's total solar eclipse from Idaho and was blown away by how visceral the experience was, complete with a storm of moths that materialized out of nowhere as if through transient solar abiogenesis. For those of us in North America, the next (and last until 2044) opportunity for a total solar eclipse is on April 8th, 2024. You don't want to miss this! More at https://bit.ly/3v37PdT [ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information]
+ ULA begins stacking Atlas 5 rocket for Boeing's Starliner test flight. Final assembly of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket began Wednesday with the hoisting of a first stage booster onto a mobile launch platform at Cape Canaveral, kicking off a campaign to prepare for liftoff May 19 on a delayed unpiloted test flight of Boeing's Starliner crew capsule. ULA's ground team raised the Atlas first stage off its trailer transporter, and a crane lifted the rocket into the Vertical Integration Facility Wednesday morning. The 107-foot-tall (33-meter) rocket stage was then lowered onto the Atlas 5's mobile launch platform inside the integration building just south of ULA's launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41. The milestone event Wednesday, known as Launch Vehicle On Stand, will be followed in the coming days by the addition of two strap-on AJ-60A solid rocket boosters made by Aerojet Rocketdyne. Then a dual-engine Centaur upper stage will be raised on top of the Atlas first stage to complete the initial build-up of the launcher. In early May, Boeing and ULA will move the Starliner spacecraft from its hangar at the Kennedy Space Center to the VIF for stacking atop the Atlas 5. The launch preparations will culminate in rollout of the Atlas 5 rocket and Starliner spacecraft to pad 41 on May 18. Liftoff to begin Boeing's Orbital Flight Test 2 mission to the International Space Station is scheduled for 6:54 p.m. EDT (2254 GMT). More at https://bit.ly/3vCZkpe [ANS thanks Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now for the above information]
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Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:
* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization). * Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. * Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. * Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.
Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week's ANS Editor, Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ kd4iz at arrl dot org