AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-230
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.
You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
In this edition:
* AMSAT Space Symposium Call for Papers * 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Reminder * FCC Dismisses ARRL, AMSAT Requests in Small Satellite Proceeding * Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution * 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced * Upcoming Satellite Operations * PSAT2 Downlink for DTMF Grids and Messages * Microwave Update Call for Submissions * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * Chinese Satellite Profiles RF Spectrum as Seen from Lunar Orbit * Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-230.01 ANS-230 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 230.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 18 August 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-230.01
AMSAT Space Symposium Call for Papers
AMSAT has issued a call for papers for the 50th Anniversary AMSAT An- nual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 18 – 20 at The Hilton Arlington, 950 North Stafford Street, Arlington, Virginia. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy to be submitted by September 23 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv(at)amsat.org
[ANS thanks Dan Schultz, N8FGV, for the above information]
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2019 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Reminder
Votes must be received no later than Sunday, September 15, 2019 in order to be counted in the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors Election. AMSAT members should have received ballots by mail. Members who have not yet received their ballot must contact ElectionBuddy via email to [email protected]
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
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FCC Dismisses ARRL, AMSAT Requests in Small Satellite Proceeding
An FCC Report and Order (R&O) released August 2 in the so-called “small satellite” rulemaking proceeding, IB Docket 18-86, failed to address concerns expressed by ARRL and AMSAT. Both organizations filed comments on the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the pro- ceeding last year, seeking changes in the FCCs interpretations and procedures affecting satellites operating on Amateur Satellite Service frequencies.
“These comments address topics outside the scope of this proceeding, and we decline to adopt any of the requested rule modifications or up- dates at this time,” the FCC said in the R&O. The FCC did mention amateur satellites in its 2018 NPRM, explaining what they are and describing the documentation and authorization process, but it did not solicit comments.
“The Commission did not seek comment in the NPRM on any modifications or updates to the rules governing Experimental or amateur satellite licensing. The streamlined Part 25 small satellite process adopted in the Order is an alternative to existing license processes and does not replace or modify the authorization procedures for satellites current- ly contained in Parts 5, 25, or 97 of the Commission’s rules,” the FCC explained. “Nevertheless, we received a number of comments in response to the NPRM, particularly regarding the rules applicable to amateur satellite operations, suggesting that aspects of those rules be im- proved or clarified.”
In its 2018 NPRM, the FCC had said, “Because the type of operations that qualify as amateur [is] narrowly defined, an amateur satellite authorization will not be appropriate for many small satellite opera- tions.”
In its 2018 comments, ARRL said it wanted the FCC to preclude exploi- tation of amateur spectrum by commercial small-satellite users author- ized under Part 5 Experimental rules and suggested that the FCC adopt a “a bright line test” to define and distinguish satellites that should be permitted to operate under Amateur Satellite rules.
ARRL’s position was to support and encourage college and university Amateur Radio experiments where the sponsor of the experiment is a licensed radio amateur and all operation in amateur spectrum is com- pliant with Part 97. Part 5 Experimental authorizations for satellites intended to operate in amateur allocations by non-amateur sponsors should be discouraged, absent a compelling show of need, ARRL told the FCC.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) announced in 2017 that it would no longer coordinate non-amateur satellite operations unless directed to do so by the national administration, and it adopted new satellite frequency coordination guidelines that require educational and university satellites to have an identified amateur component. AMSAT’s comments reflected many of the same concerns that ARRL had expressed.
[ANS thanks ARRL and Ray Soifer, W2RS, for the above information]
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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
SpaceTrack is not showing the correct NORAD CAT ID for Raavana-1, Uguisu, and NepaliSat-1. The NORAD CAT ID for the following Amateur Radio satellites has been corrected as follows:
Raavana-1 - NORAD CAT ID 44329 (per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO). Uguisu - NORAD CAT ID 44330 (per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO). NepaliSat-1 - NORAD CAT ID 44331 (per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO).
[ANS thanks Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, and Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, 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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50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced
Tickets are now available for the AMSAT Symposium Saturday Evening Banquet on Saturday, Oct. 19 will feature a panel of guest speakers presenting “The Foundations of AMSAT” followed by a question and answer period. Guest speakers will include:
Lance Ginner, K6GSJ (Project OSCAR) George Jacobs, W3ASK (Author, Diplomat) Dr. Perry Klein, W3PK (Founding President of AMSAT) Dr. Owen Mace (Australis-OSCAR 5 Builder, University of Melbourne) Richard Tonkin (Australis-OSCAR 5 Builder, University of Melbourne) Jan King, W3GEY (Founding member of AMSAT and Australis-OSCAR 5 Project Manager)
The 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting will be held on Friday through Sunday, Oct. 18-20, 2019, in Arlington, Va. at The Hilton Arlington. Symposium registration is available for $60 from now until September 15th. Banquet tickets are $55. Tickets are now available on the AMSAT Store at: https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-symposium/
Tickets are also available for the Sunday tour. On Sunday, Oct. 20, a bus tour will take attendees to the the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the National Air and Space Museum. Two large hangars dis- play thousands of aviation and space artifacts, including a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, and the Space Shuttle Discovery. Bus capacity is limited to 35 attendees. Tickets are $30 per person. Attendees who wish to drive may also join the tour group. Parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center is $15.
On Monday, Oct. 21, AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, will lead a walking tour of the National Mall. No reservations are required. Transportation to the National Mall will be via the Washington Metro.
Additional information, including hotel reservation information is available at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-symposium/
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President, for the above information]
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AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $33,480 raised or about 22% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!!
For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit:
https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
* W3ZM/7 will be operating on FM satellites, August 17-19 from Oregon, grids CN93 and CN94, operated by KI7UNJ. Remember to check out W3ZM On the Road for additional upcoming activations!
* 6Y Jamaica (FK18) AUGUST 12-19, 2019 Philippe, EA4NF will be operating from JAMAICA (IOTA NA-097 – Grid FK18) on both FM and linear satellites with the special call 6Y4NF from August 12 to 19, 2019. QSL via LoTW. Keep an eye on Philippe’s Twitter feed for further updates : https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT.
* Yosemite, California (DM06 and DM07) August 14-20, 2019 John, N7JY is on a vacation schedule and plans to get on various FM passes as time permits. No social media, but he may be tracked on aprs.fi/N7JY. Contacts will be logged on LOTW following trip.
* AM1SAT (All Grids in Spain) September 9-15 AMSAT-EA will be transmitting its special call AM1SAT via all active satellites from September 9th to September 15th as part of the V RadioHam Fair IberRadio 2019 activities. IberRadio is the biggest event for the ham community in southwest Europe and will open doors September 14th and 15th. AM1SAT call sign will be active from a min- imum of 14 different grids during that time to help satellite opera- tors to collect as much EA locators as possible. As part of this activity, and in order to promote the participation, AMSAT-EA is sponsoring the AM1SAT Special Award in two categories: SILVER and GOLD. More info available at https://www.amsat-ea.org/ Learn more about IberRadio at: http://www.iberradio.es.
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information]
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PSAT2 Downlink for DTMF Grids and Messages
Thanks to Robert, KE6BLR, amateurs can now capture the DTMF Grids and Messages data coming down from PSAT2. A DTMF page has been added to the list of links for PSAT2: http://aprs.org/sats.html
Summary: You encode your Grid and callsign into a 16 digit DTMF memory on your radio. Using narrow band FM, send it on 145.98 with doppler compensation or at the middle of a pass.
PSAT2 assigns a CQ number and acknowledges it by voice and then sends an APRS packet that contains the grid. Robert's web page will capture that packet.
A second station can send their DTMF grid and get the same process but with a new CQ number.
Now, either station can send a DTMF QSL Message for the other guy's CQ number which will also be spoken and recorded on the APRS downlink.
Details are on the psat2 page on the above web page.
PSAT2 is entering a phase of Apogee in the northern hemisphere for a week or so, and so is more workable in the USA and southern Europe.
[ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR for the above information]
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Microwave Update Call for Submissions
The ARRL will once again publish proceedings from this year's Micro- wave Update conference. At this time, The North Texas Microwave Socie- ty is soliciting additional papers for the proceedings. It is not necessary to be a presenter at the conference to have an article pub- lished in the proceedings. Papers must be emailed to Kent Britain, WA5VJB, at [email protected], by August 31 as they will be submitted to the League for printing the week of Sept 3. Please also copy Al Ward, W5LUA,at [email protected].
If you have an interesting project that you have been working on, please consider sharing it with the community by publishing your work in the proceedings.
Guidelines for submission may be found at: http://www.microwaveupdate.org/proceedings.php
Questions may be directed to Bob Stricklin, N5BRG, at [email protected], Al Ward, W5LUA, at [email protected] or Kent Britain, WA5VJB, at [email protected]
The Microwave Update conference will be held in Dallas, Texas, on October 3-5. For conference information, see the website: www.microwaveupdate.org
[ANS thanks Bob Stricklin, N5BRG, for the above information]
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Purchase AMSAT gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
By popular demand, the AMSAT Fox-1 Assembly shirt design is now available on AMSAT's Zazzle store and fully customizable for dark or light colored t-shirts, sweatshirts, women's shirts etc. https://tinyurl.com/ANS-230-Zazzle1 https://tinyurl.com/ANS-230-Zazzle2
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-------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Loreto College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS. The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV. Contact is go for: Thursday 2019-08-15 09:17:06 UTC 53 degrees. Watch for live stream at www.ariotti.com starting about 15 min before AOS.
The Children’s Inn at NIH (National Institutes of Health), Bethesda, MD (CASIS#3), telebridge via VK4KHZ. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA. Contact is go for: Thursday 2019-08-22 17:16:22 UTC 38 deg
The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/
[ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, for the above information]
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Chinese Satellite Profiles RF Spectrum as Seen from Lunar Orbit
The Chinese DSLWP-B (LO-94) satellite that had been in lunar orbit provided a profile of Earth’s HF spectrum as seen from the moon. The microsatellite subsequently was crashed into the moon’s surface after having completed its mission. DSLWP stands for “Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder.” Among other things, DSLWP-B was de- signed to test low-frequency radio astronomy and space-based interfer- ometry, and it carried Amateur Radio and educational payloads.
The HF spectrum mission included mapping “RF interference” from Earth in the 1 – 30 MHz range by studying its occlusion by the moon during lunar orbit. According to Chinese media accounts, this was done to “verify the technology of ultra-long wave astronomical observation and solar radiation research.” The onboard detector sensed the spectrum of RF radiation at different positions of the lunar orbit.
The Harbin Institute of Technology (BY2HIT) developed and built the DSLWP spacecraft and oversaw the mission. The microsatellite also carried optical cameras from Saudi Arabia.
In July, a contact between radio amateurs in Germany and China took place on July 1 via LO-94. The two-way exchange was between Reinhard Kuehn, DK5LA, in Sörup, Germany, and Harbin Institute of Technology club station BY2HIT (operated by Wei Mingchuan, BG2BHC), in Harbin, China, via the onboard GMSK-to-JT4G repeater — the first such contact ever made.
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Members of the Radioaficionados Yucatecos will activate the Celarain Lighthouse (ILLW MX0011, XEFF-0004) during the Internation- al Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend (ILLW), August 17-18, from the island Cozumel (IOTA NA-090). They will be QRV as XF3LL on 40 to 10m on SSB, digital modes, and via satellites. QSL via EA5GL. (ANS thanks the DARC DX Newsletter for the above information)
+ CubeSats will make an appearance at next weekend's Robotstock #STEM education event in Philadelphia, August 24-25. (ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT VP-Educational Relations, for the above information)
+ AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, was in attendance at the 2019 Small Satellite Conference on the campus of Utah State University in Logan, Utah to promote AMSAT's mission of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. During the conference, AMSAT and the University of Colorado Boulder announced the signing of a Collaborative Agreement. ANS will publish details when available. (ANS thanks
+ The small satellite launch market has grown to account for “69% of the satellites launched last year in number of satellites but only 4% of the total mass launched (i.e 372 tons). … The smallsat market experienced a 23% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2018” with even greater growth expected in the future, dominated by the launch needs of constellations. (ANS thanks orbitalindex.com for the above information)
+ The countdown for the next Rocket Lab launch has started. The launch will come no earlier than 13:29 UTC on Friday, August 16, but as always with launches, may be delayed. For updates, see: https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1162206454910029830 Or view the live stream from here: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/ about 20 minutes before launch. This is scheduled to be a night time launch local New Zealand time. (ANS thanks Terry Osborne, ZL2BAC, for the above information)
+ Tamir Rosenberg, N6JJ, has released a video entitled "Ham Radio Sat- ellites! Everything you need to know from theory to tactics!" See it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSiOORDkkZ8
+ ANS wishes a speedy recovery to EMike McCardel, AA8EM, Senior Editor of AMSAT News Service and past AMSAT-NA VP Educational Relations. Mike was seriously injured in an accident while cleaning up tree damage on his property near Howard, Ohio following a severe storm which occurred on Tuesday, August 6. He is currently in a rehabili- tation facility following surgery for several broken bones, and faces many weeks of rehab and recovery.
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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, This week's ANS Editor,
K0JM at amsat dot org