AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-013
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 50th Anniversary Awards Program * Fox-1 CubeSat Model Kits Available * CubeSat Airborne Science Payload Standard * UWE-4 CubeSat frequency change request approved * HamSCI 2019 Workshop Set for March in Cleveland, Call for Papers Issued * Nominations Solicited for Six ARRL Awards * AMSAT Argentina Special Event * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-013.01 ANS-013 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 013.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
January 13, 2019 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-013.01
AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program
The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (as AMSAT is officially known) was formed March 3, 1969 as a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered in the District of Columbia. Since its founding, AMSAT has designed, constructed, and, with the added assistance of international government and commercial agencies, successfully launched, 20 Amateur Radio satellites into Earth orbit.
To help celebrate 50 years of Keeping Amateur Radio in Space, AMSAT is proud to announce the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Awards Program. Throughout 2019, your satellite and HF QSOs can help you achieve one of these special awards:
+ 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award
+ 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Friends of 50 Award
+ AMSAT on HF 50th Anniversary Award
50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award (Limited Edition)
Unlike the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award, the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award will be issued on one of the original goldenrod paper stock certificates and signed by AMSAT's founding President, Perry Klein, K3TJE (now W3PK). With only 20 original certificates available, this award will certainly become a collector's item.
The first 20 applicants to successfully submit 20 confirmed, qualifying contacts on any satellite will receive this award. A qualifying contact is defined as the establishment of two-way communication on any amateur radio satellite, with another station in a U.S. state, Canadian call area, or DXCC entity, no two of which may be the same.
+ All contacts must be made between March 03, 2019 00:00 UTC and December 31, 2019 23:59 UTC.
+ A U.S. state shall mean any state of the United States and the District of Columbia.
+ The 14 Canadian call areas are VE1 - Nova Scotia, VE2 - Quebec, VE3 - Ontario, VE4 - Manitoba, VE5 - Saskatchewan, VE6 - Alberta, VE7 - British Columbia, VE8 - Northwest Territories, VE9 - New Brunswick, VO1 - Newfoundland, VO2 - Labrador, VY0 - Nunavut, VY1 - Yukon, VY2 - Prince Edward Island.
+ Only one qualifying contact is allowed for each U.S. state, Canadian call area, and DXCC entity.
+ Qualifying contacts may not be counted for multiple types of entities. As an example, a QSO with Alaska counts as an additional state or DXCC entity, not both.
+ Contacts must be made from same location, or from locations, no two of which are more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) apart.
+ Previous recipients of the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award, may apply for the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award.
The cost for this award is $25, plus postage. Certificates will be mailed upon receipt of payment. Certificates will be sequentially numbered.
To apply for an 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award, you must email the AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards [kk5do (at) amsat (dot) org]. This email must include:
+ The name of the award you are applying for as the subject line.
+ Your name as you wish is to appear on your issued certificate
+ Your AMSAT member number. If you are not an AMSAT member, then state so.
+ Attachment(s) providing proof of your qualifying contacts. Acceptable proof of each qualifying contacts is limited to scanned copies of a QSL card or a screen capture/printout of your LoTW confirmation. Acceptable email file attachments include .jpg and .png. You may also paste the images in a Word or Adobe PDF document.
After your email application has been accepted and approved, you will receive a reply email instructing you how to make your payment on the AMSAT Online Store. Your certificate will then be sent to you, using the shipping address you used with your online payment. 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Friends of 50 Award
To achieve this award, you must work 50 amateur radio operators on any satellite (limit of 1 contact per day) during 2019. There is no requirement for operating at the same location for all contacts, as long as your home call sign is used somewhere in the operating call sign (e.g. KK5DO/MM, KK5DO/VE5, etc.).
The cost for this award is $15, plus postage. Certificates will be mailed upon receipt of payment. There will be no sequence number on the certificate.
To apply for this award, visit the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Award section in the AMSAT Online Store and select the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Friends of 50 Award. In the comment section, enter or copy and paste the required log information, which must include:
(1) Date, (2) UTC time, (3) Satellite name, and (4) Station worked.
EXAMPLE: 20190115 1835 AO-91 VE3ABC
Once you are satisfied with your entry, select PURCHASE and complete your payment method.
AMSAT on HF 50th Anniversary Award
To achieve this award, you must work at least one AMSAT Member on any HF band, in any mode. In addition, there are additional level of this award, based on the number of AMSAT Members you contact on the HF bands:
+ One AMSAT member contacted earns the basic OSCAR-1 award
+ Seven AMSAT members contacted earns the AO-7 endorsement
+ Twenty-Nine AMSAT members contacted earns the FO-29 endorsement
+ Fifty AMSAT members contacted earns the SO-50 endorsement
+ Ninety-Two AMSAT members contacted earns the AO-92 endorsement
+ Two Hundred AMSAT members contacted earns the ISS endorsement
AMSAT member members are encouraged to call "CQ AMSAT 50" on any HF band/mode. The minimum exchange is your call, signal report, and your membership number. Life members use LM and your number.
Cost is $15, plus postage. Certificates will be mailed in early 2020. There will be no sequence number on the certificate.
To apply for this award, visit the AMSAT 50th Anniversary Award section in the AMSAT Online Store and select the 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Friends of 50 Award. In the comment section, enter or copy and paste the required log information, which must include:
(1) Date, (2) UTC time, (3) Band, (4) Mode, (5) Station Worked, and (6) their AMSAT number.
EXAMPLE: 20190115 1835 20 CW W1ABC 1234
Once you are satisfied with your entry, select PURCHASE and complete your payment method.
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT-NA VP of User Services for the above information.]
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Fox-1 CubeSat Model Kits Available
Through the dedicated work of John Kludt, K4SQC, and Stefan Wagener, VE4NSA, AMSAT can again offer a 1:1 scale cardboard model of the Fox-1 CubeSat. It is life size, and based on the latest Fox-1 engineering drawings for highest fidelity in design and appearance. The model is printed in color on heavy stock paper, includes all components, and the instructions are carefully prepared to allow for easy assembly requiring scissors, glue etc.
Depending on experience, assembly will take approximately 10+ hours. The complete model will be a perfect addition to any satellite operator's shack, and a chance to show visitors what is being done by AMSAT today.
All proceeds will go to supporting AMSAT's satellite projects.
Price is $40 + shipping.
https://www.amsat.org/product/fox-1-cubesat-model/
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information]
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CubeSat Airborne Science Payload Standard
As part of a new initiative, the Cal Poly CubeSat Lab is working with NASA Ames Research Center to prototype a standardized mounting system for testing CubeSat-based systems on aircraft (incl. UAVs) and balloons.
We are seeking collaborators interested in airborne testing payloads, components, or complete systems, that could provide use- cases and assist in defining interface requirements. This Project has the potential to allow for expanded opportunities for payload development and testing.
We would like your input as we design and develop this system and have put together a google form with a ten short questions that would help us derive our system requirements in the coming weeks.
For more information visit: https://tinyurl.com/ANS013-AirborneScience
[ANS thanks Cal Poly CubeSat Lab via Dave Pignatelli for the above information]
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UWE-4 CubeSat frequency change request approved
After two weeks in orbit, UWE-4 is in very good shape. The batteries are fully charged, the temperatures of the batteries, the outside panels and the MCU are all lying in the expected range.
It has been observed that the battery temperatures are slightly rising around 8:45 am, when the downlink of this measurement took place.
After the early orbit phase, we are looking forward to some interesting experiments with the attitude determination sensors and the propulsion system.
Unfortunately, our uplink success rate is very poor, which currently prevents these experiments. In the precursor mission UWE-3, it was found that the reason for this is very likely a substantial noise floor at the used frequency range. For this reason, we filed a request for the change of our radio frequency to 435.600 MHz with IARU, which has already been approved.
January 10, we will started the procedure to change the frequency of UWE-4. So if you want to track UWE-4, please adjust your center frequency accordingly. We already started the procedure to change the frequency on UWE-4, so during the next days it may happen that you can also still receive a signal on our old frequency. Additionally, we have been assigned NORAD ID 43880 in the meantime.
A tool in order to upload the received UWE-4 telemetry directly into our groundstation database is a work in progress and will be shared with you as soon as we have tested it thoroughly. Until then, we would be very grateful, if you'd forward your UWE-4 telemetry files to [email protected].
[ANS thanks the The UWE-4 Team via Trevor M5AKA for the above information.]
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HamSCI 2019 Workshop Set for March in Cleveland, Call for Papers Issued
The 2019 HamSCI Workshop will take place March 22 - 23 at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio, in association with the CWRU Amateur Radio Club (W8EDU). Registration is now open, and papers are invited.
"We are especially looking for speakers with presentations showing analysis of ionospheric observations, ideas and proposals for the design of the Personal Space Weather Station and instrumentation for the 2024 eclipse," HamSCI's Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, said. "We will also accept other presentations related to Amateur Radio and science." If you would like to present, email your abstract to [email protected] by February 10, 2019.
The theme for this year's conference will be "Ionospheric Effects and Sensing," including the use of Amateur Radio techniques to characterize and study ionospheric phenomena such as traveling ionospheric disturbances, sporadic E, response to solar flares, geomagnetic storms, the 2024 total solar eclipse, and other space weather events.
Discussion will include continued development of the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station and integration of Amateur Radio into the collegiate curriculum. Featured speakers will include well-known Amateur Radio author Ward Silver, N0AX, propagation specialist Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, and Larisa Goncharenko, who will talk on Space Science for Ham Radio Operators.
The workshop is hosted by CWRU in collaboration with New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]
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Nominations Solicited for Six ARRL Awards
The ARRL invites nominations for awards that recognize educational and technological pursuits in Amateur Radio. Nominations are also open for ARRL's premier award to honor a young licensee - the Hiram Percy Maxim Award.
The Hiram Percy Maxim Award recognizes a radio amateur and ARRL member under age 21 whose accomplishments and contributions are of the most exemplary nature within the framework of Amateur Radio activities. Nominations for this award need to be made through your ARRL Section Manager, who will then forward the nomination to ARRL Headquarters by March 31, 2019.
The ARRL Herb S. Brier Instructor of the Year Award honors an ARRL volunteer Amateur Radio instructor or an ARRL professional classroom teacher who uses creative instructional approaches and reflects the highest values of the Amateur Radio community. The award highlights quality of - and commitment to - licensing instruction. Nominations are due by March 15, 2019.
The ARRL Microwave Development Award pays tribute to a radio amateur or group of radio amateurs who contribute to the development of the Amateur Radio microwave bands. The nomination deadline is March 31, 2019.
The ARRL Technical Service Award recognizes a radio amateur or group of radio amateurs who provide Amateur Radio technical assistance or training to others. The nomination deadline is March 31, 2019.
The ARRL Technical Innovation Award is granted to a radio amateur or group of radio amateurs who develop and apply new technical ideas or techniques in Amateur Radio. The nomination deadline is March 31, 2019.
The Knight Distinguished Service Award was established to recognize exceptionally notable contributions by a Section Manager to the health and vitality of ARRL. The nomination deadline is April 30, 2019.
The ARRL Board of Directors selects recipients for these awards. Winners are typically announced following the Board's July meeting. More information about these awards is on the ARRL website, or contact Steve Ewald, WV1X, telephone (860) 594-0265, at ARRL Headquarters.
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]
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AMSAT Argentina Special Event
During 'the weekend of the lussat', from Saturday-19 to Sunday-January 20, 2019 (2 days), Amsat-Lu, several radio clubs and collaborators will deliver to a contact commemorative contact The 29th anniversary of the lussat-1, 1St Argentine satellite.
It will operate in 80/40/6 m / 2 M / 23 cm in FM, SSB, CW, j3e, psk31, ft-8, packet, Sstv-R36 and via active amateur satellites.
It will be called 'Lux Collaborating Station of amsat Argentina, awarded qsl commemorative for the 29th anniversary of the lussat'.
Celebrating His stay in space our lussat continues to broadcast after 29 years a strong pressed carrier, recibible in 437.125 Khz. + /- Doppler. See schedules of steps at http://amsat.org.ar/pass?satx=LUSAT
[ANS thanks Ricardo LU4ARU for the above information.]
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
Super Road Trip (Wyoming to Tennessee to Florida to Wyoming) - January 9, 2019 until he gets back home
Starting Jan. 9th, RJ, WY7AA, will be traveling from Wyoming to Tennessee to Florida, to New York and back to Wyoming, staying approximately 10 days in each place and activating grids whenever he can. First stop Tennessee - EM86, and will try to rove to EM85, EL87, and EL96. Next on to Florida - EL98, and will try to rove to EL88, EL89, and EL99. And then on to New York - FN02, and try to rove to FN01, FN03, FN11, FN12, and FN13 Traveling between each place, RJ will try to stop and work as he can, but putting down miles will take priority most often. In addition, RJ will be trying to operate mobile from time to time. FM birds for sure, but will be trying to learn linears while on the trip. Specific pass announcements will be posted to his Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/WY7AA) and to the AMSAT-bb reflector.
Oregon (DN04) - January 11, 2019
Casey, KI7UNJ, will make a quick trip to DN04 on January 11th. Passes will be FM only: 17:36z AO-92; 18:34z AO-91; 19:09z AO-92; 20:09 AO-91; and 20:24z SO-50. Keep an eye on Casey's Twitter feed for further announcements https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ
Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) - January 12, 2019
David, AD7DB, will be in the area of Kettleman City CA near a convergence of four grids, operating on FM satellites. Grids (maybe gridlines) will depend on the satellite passes. Operation expected from 1700 UTC through 2300 UTC. Updates will be on Twitter as the time approaches: https://twitter.com/ad7db
Quartzfest Arizona (DM23) - January 19-27, 2019
John, N7JY, will be operating FM satellites on a holiday schedule. He may also visit some adjoining grids. There will likely be other hams operating from the event, located a few miles south of Quartzsite AZ. QSL via LOTW, or you can send your card with SASE
Las Vegas NV and Northwest AZ (DM25, DM26, DM36) - January 20-22, 2019
David, AD7DB, will be in Las Vegas at DM25/26 line, operating on FM satellites on a holiday schedule. In addition, weather permitting, sometime on Monday 01/21/19 he will make a side trip to Beaver Dam AZ to activate from DM36aw. Updates will be on Twitter as the time approaches: https://twitter.com/ad7db
Labrador (GO11) - January 20-22, 2019
VE3FU, VO1HP, and VE9CB will be participating in the CQ160 CW Contest from the Point Amour Lighthouse in Labrador (GO11), which will be held 2200Z January 25 - 2200Z January 27, 2019. This is important, because, if time permits they will be active on AO-85, AO- 91, and AO-92 passes before the contest. Call signs are expected to be VO2AC and VO2AAA. Note: this is just preliminary information. Keep your eye on https://twitter.com/chrisve3fu and https://www.qrz.com/db/vo2ac for possible updates.
Nevada (DM15, DM16, DM17, DM18, DM25, DM26, DM27, DM28, DM37, DM36) - February 8-11, 2019
Casey KI7UNJ and Jonathan KI5BEX are planning a joint roving trip to Nevada, February 8-11, 2019. Planned activations include the DM15/16/25/26 grid corner Friday morning, the DM16/26 gridline Friday afternoon, DM17/18 gridline Saturday morning, DM27/28 gridline Saturday evening, DM27/37 gridline Sunday morning, and DM36/37 gridline Sunday evening. This will be FM only. All contacts uploaded to LoTW upon return. Check out @KI7UNJ Twitter feed for specific passes https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ and follow them on aprs.fi KI7UNJ-7.
Turks and Caicos Islands (FL31) - February 28 - March 9, 2019
Adrian, AA5UK, will be heading to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands from Feb 28th through March 9th, 2019. He will be operating holiday style on HF and Satellites as VP5/AA5UK from grid FL31UU14. Focus will be on the linear satellites, with some FM activity depending on pile-up civility. Hope to work some European stations as location favors the East. Pass announcements will be made via Twitter: https://twitter.com/AA5UK and periodically via amsat-bb.
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org Updated January 9, 2019
See https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/
[ANS thanks Robert KE4AL for the above information]
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ARISS News
+ 2019-01-08 15:28 UTC between Astronaut David St-Jacques KG5FYI using ISS callsign NA1SS and Pembroke Junior Senior High School, Corfu, NY, USA. Contact was telebridge via LU8YY. ARISS Mentor was Steve W2AKK.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
There are no contacts scheduled for the upcoming week.
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information]
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Shorts From All Over
+ SatNOGS Dashboard
The SatNOGS Dashboard project makes crowd-sourced dashboards which visualize data that has been collected and decoded through the Sat- NOGS Network and SatNOGS DB. Links to production dashboards already created can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/SatNogs-Telemetry
SatNOGS is using InfluxDB and Grafana for their telemetry dashboards.
InfluxDB is a time-series database designed to be efficient for time-series data like the telemetry collected in SatNOGS. Additional documentation is provided on the SatNOGS Wiki pages: https://wiki.satnogs.org/Telemetry_Dashboards
[ANS thanks LibreSpace Community/SatNOGS]
+ Satellite DXPedition News for AMSAT
Philippe, EA4NF will be active from MONACO as 3A/EA4NF during February 15-18,2019 on FM and SSB satellites.
QSL via LoTW
[ANS thanks Philippe EA4NF for the above information.]
+ All About Ham Satellites Feature at Hackaday
Al Williams has put together togetherbab series on Hackaday All About Ham Satellites. Visit: https://hackaday.com/2019/01/07/all-about-ham-satellites/
[ANS thanks Hackaday.com for the above information]
+ SmallSat Symposium 2019 Highlights
SmallSat Symposium 2019 promises something for everyone, including 19 Sessions, 3 Keynotes, 3 Technology Briefs and many networking opportunities.
For details visit https://mailchi.mp/satnews/smallsat19_1-200613?e=e3b56a3ebc
[ANS thanks Simon Payne for the above information]
+ US Islands Awards Program Now Accepting Sat QSOs
Sean Kutzo KX9X recently tweeted that "...the Us Islands portable #hamradio awards program has modified their rules to allow satellite contacts, effective January 1, 2019! More units to activate on satellite. Check out http://usislands.org for details!"
[ANS thanks Sean KX9X for the above information.]
+ PicSat Cubesat Mission
The PicSat team has made available to all a paper about their cubesat and the mission. Access the full paper here: https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.02677 (PicSat via Twitter)
[ANS thanks PicSat via Twitter for the above information.]
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/EX
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, EMike McCardel, AA8EM aa8em at amsat dot org