AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-206
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-UK Colloquium 29-31 July * AMSAT-NA 2016 Symposium at Sea * IARU President's Award to Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV * 70cm Satellite WebSDR Operational in the Netherlands * LibreCube CubeSat Open Standard Draft Open for Review and Comment * Satellite Operations From the Grand Canyon National Park * Radio Amateurs Invited to 10 Downing Street
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-206.01 ANS-185 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 206.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. July 24, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-206.01
AMSAT-UK Colloquium 29-31 July
This year’s Colloquium is less than a week away. The event, taking place as usual at the Holiday Inn in Guildford, will be held over the weekend of the 29/31st July.
A full programme of presentations, covering all aspects of the amateur satellite world, has been developed for the Saturday and Sunday and a “Beginners Session” is scheduled for the Friday afternoon.
As well as the presentations during the day, Libby Jackson, from the UK Space Agency, with whom the ARISS UK team worked closely during the Tim Peake mission, will be speaking during the Gala Dinner on the Saturday evening.
Other highlights will include visits to the SSTL facilities (Friday evening and Saturday morning) and the opportunity to see the special ground station equipment that was used for all the ARISS contacts. This will be available for use for contacts during passes of all the available satellite transponders.
Visitors can either turn up on the day, book day passes on the website. The URL for the AMSAT-UK shop to book day passes is http://shop.amsat-uk.org.
Day passes cost £10 per day (incl tea/coffee, etc) , please pay at the AMSAT-UK shop (not hotel reception). If you wish to attend the Gala dinner on Saturday, please book at least 7 days in advance, either with the hotel (by booking dinner, bed, and breakfast), or at the AMSAT-UK shop.
As well at the AMSAT-UK shop, there will be a number of specialist suppliers present, and we are hoping that the RSGB bookshop will also be present
Members and non-members will be made very welcome and booking info can be found here https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/
The Colloquium team are looking forward to meeting many old friends and making many new acquaintances during the event.
[ANS thanks Jim, G3WGM, Hon Sec AMSAT-UK, for the above information]
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AMSAT-NA 2016 Symposium at Sea
Get ready to set sail for the 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting – at sea! With only a few months between now and our sailing date of November 10, cabins are starting to fill up quickly. If you have not made reservations, please consider doing so to ensure your cabin preference may be accommodated. While our AMSAT group reservation has a negotiated rate for category 4B inside cabins, many group members have opted to reserve ocean view and balcony cabins.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Booking your Carnival Cruise does not register you for the AMSAT Symposium. There is a charge for each Symposium attendee of $40. This fee applies to those who will attend the technical presentations only and includes a copy of the printed Proceedings. Additional guests are entitled to attend all other events. The registration form is available from the AMSAT office or store website.
- The AMSAT 2016 Space Symposium Cruise flyer included in the 2016 Board of Directors ballot mailing lists an incorrect group booking code. The correct AMSAT group code is 8Z0FR5.
- Ground transportation options have been added to the FAQ page on the AMSAT Symposium web page. Carnival offers round-trip transportation from HOU airport to the cruise terminal at approximately $74 per person, IAH airport $94 per person.
CONTACT INFORMATION AND LINKS:
- Symposium registration: http://store.amsat.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=130
- Cruise registration: 1-800-438-6744 extension number 70005. Our group name is AMSAT and the group code is 8Z0FR5. Outside of the USA, the number to call is +1 305-599-2600 extension number 70005 (not available on weekends.)
DATES AND LOCATION:
- 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting November 10-14 aboard the Carnival Liberty departing from Galveston, Texas.
- 2016 AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting November 9-10 at the DoubleTree Galveston Beach Hotel, Galveston, Texas.
[ANS thanks Clayton, W5PFG, for the above information]
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IARU President's Award to Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV
On Thursday 21 July, Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, was informed by the IARU Secretariat that the IARU President's Award has been awarded to him for his many years of service to the IARU and the contributions he has made to the IARU especially in the area of satellite frequency coordination. The award will be presented to Hans during an upcoming League function.
Congratulations Hans.
[ANS thanks the South African Radio League News for July 23, 2016 for the above information]
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70cm Satellite WebSDR Operational in the Netherlands
Fontys University Eindhoven, Netherlands, has opened their PI5FTS WebSDR to the amateur radio community. This site will receive the 70cm amateur satellite band:
You need both Java and JavaScript enabled for this page to work properly. If you don't hear anything, probably Java is disabled or its version is too old (i.e., pre-1.4.2). A web chat feature for the SDR users is also included on the site.
It is operated by Harry and Martin, e-mail pa3dsc-at-veron.nl.
[ANS thanks the Fontys University Eindhoven for the above information]
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LibreCube CubeSat Open Standard Draft Open for Review and Comment
The LibreCube standard project is engaged in the endeavor to write on a handbook that surveys openly available space standards (mostly ECSS and CCSDS) for potential application in CubeSat missions.
In a message posted to the cubesat.org list, Artur Scholz announced that the draft of this handbook is now ready for review. It mainly consists of two parts:
1. Processes (i.e. Management, Quality, and Engineering)
2. Systems(i.e. the Space System, composed of Space Segment and Ground Segment).
The reasoning for standardizing Processes is to improve quality and reliability, and to allow for cross support in testing.
The benefit of standardizing Systems is improved reliability, collaboration, and cross support during development and operations.
The table of contents is here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_-jwG2gLchfa19KeHBsc1B6cWM
End of the year this handbook will be published as freely available open book. Before that, it would be extremely useful to get extensive feedback and review of the draft.
If you would be willing to contribute as a reviewer and receive the draft, please provide the editor, Artur Scholz ([email protected]) the following details of you:
- full name - email - short background about yourself and experience with CubeSats/SmallSats
Your feedback on the draft will be duly acknowledge in the final book!
[ANS thanks Artur Scholz and the LibreCube Project for the above information]
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Satellite Operations From the Grand Canyon National Park
Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, reported that the ARRL just released the July issue of their National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) newsletter for National Park Service staff and volunteers.
On the last page of this month's newsletter is a short mention of one way to deal with an "uncooperative ionosphere" - work satellites. It shows Fernando Ramirez, NP4JV, working a satellite from the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona.
These newsletters are at: http://www.arrl.org/npota-for-nps and the July issue is available at: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/NPOTA-News/NPOTA-July2016.pdf
Fernando commented, "It was a nice surprise to find our picture on this month's ARRL National Park on the Air newsletter! I am humbled by the mention.
"I'm also happy to see that some of our trips and portable operations are helping to promote AMSAT and their goal of 'advancing the state of the art in space science, space education, and space technology.'"
Fernando frequently posts reports of his satellite operating activities via Twitter where his ID is @NP4JV. You may also visit: http://twitter.com/NP4JV to see his activities, including the photo that got his name in the news.
Sean Kutzko, KX9X, at the ARRL wrote via the AMSAT-BB, "It was an easy choice; that photo is amazing!"
Congratulations, Fernando!
[ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, Fernando Ramirez, NP4JV, and Sean Kutzko, KX9X, at the ARRL for the above information]
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Radio Amateurs Invited to 10 Downing Street
Radio amateurs were invited to a reception at the UK Prime Minister’s residence to celebrate the successful mission of UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI / GB1SS.
Sandringham school student Jessica Leigh M6LPJ and her head teacher Alan Gray G4DJX attended the event with Tim Peake GB1SS. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF and the UK’s first astronaut Helen Sharman GB1MIR also attended.
Jessica was the first UK school student to establish amateur radio communications with Tim Peake during his six month mission on the International Space Station. The contact took place on January 8, 2016 and was featured on national TV and in the press.
Year 10 pupil Jessica M6LPJ, along with two other students Polly M6POG and Emma M6GJQ, passed her amateur radio Foundation exam just before Christmas 2015 after training with the Verulam Amateur Radio Club.
Sandringham school caters for 1300 students aged 11-19 with 100 teachers including specialist teachers of computing science and three female physics teachers all of whom have a specialist interest in space and astronomy. In addition, the head teacher Alan Gray G4DJX is a very active radio amateur who was extremely supportive of the ISS contact.
Sandringham School presentation by ML&S https://amsat-uk.org/2016/01/28/sandringham-school-presentation/
Video of Tim Peake amateur radio contact with Sandringham School https://amsat-uk.org/2016/01/09/video-tim-peake-sandringham/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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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, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org