In this edition:

* Registration Open for 41st Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting

* 2023 AMSAT Symposium Call for Papers

* Amateur Radio Operator Contacts Spacecraft

* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for August 18, 2023

* 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.

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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-232 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 August 20

The 41st Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday through Saturday, October 20-21, 2023 at the Sheraton DFW Airport Hotel in Irving, Texas. Highlights of all scheduled events include:

– AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting, October 19-20

– 41st AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting, October 20-21

– Friday Night Social and Auction, October 20

– AMSAT Banquet and Reception, October 21

– AMSAT Member Breakfast, October 22

Prices for the Symposium, the Banquet and the Member Breakfast remain the same as last year:

– Friday and Saturday Symposium and General Meeting $75

– Saturday Evening Banquet $55

– Sunday Morning Member Breakfast $15

EVENT REGISTRATION

You can register online for individual events or all events at: https://launch.amsat.org/event-5363188.

HOTEL ROOM RESERVATIONS

The Sheraton DFW Airport is located adjacent to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and provides complimentary, scheduled shuttle to and from the airport. Complimentary parking is available for those who drive to the Symposium. The hotel address and phone number is:

Sheraton DFW Airport Hotel

4440 W John Carpenter Fwy.

Irving, TX 75063

972-929-8400

Rooms are available for check-in on Wednesday, October 18 and check out Sunday, October 22.

– Standard room with single King bed is **SOLD OUT** ACT FAST! GET YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW!

– Standard room with two Queen beds is $137.00*

* Rate does not include state and local taxes of 15%

For Phone Hotel Reservations:

Call 972-929-8400. Ask for rate RADIO AMATEUR SATELLITE.

For Online Hotel Reservations click on this link: https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1689956666782&key=GRP&app=resvlink

Please send your Symposium questions or comments to info [at] amsat [dot] com.

We, at AMSAT, are excited to be able to host our 41st annual Symposium this year. We hope that you can join us in celebrating Amateur Radio in Space.

Papers are now being acceptedfor the 41st annual AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 20-21, 2023 at the Sheraton DFW Airport in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

Proposals for Symposium papers and 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 submitted by October 12 for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at n8fgv at amsat.org

The headlines are sensational, although a bit exaggerated: “Ham Radio ‘hacks’ NASA Satellite”. While the phrase is eye-catching for social media, the truth is just as exciting. Amateur radio astronomer Scott Tilley, VE7TIL, has made contact with NASA’s STEREO-A spacecraft, which passed Earth for the first time in 17 years.

The STEREO-A (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) spacecraft was launched on October 25, 2006, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with its twin sister ship, STEREO-B. Both spacecraft were on a mission to circle behind the and send images back to Earth so scientists could make 3D models of solar activity. In 2014, STEREO-B failed and was not heard from again.

“I’m having fun with STEREO-A,” Tilley reported to Spaceweather.com. “The spacecraft is close to Earth this summer, and I can now receive its signal using a small 26-inch dish in my backyard.”

Scott Tilley’s, VE7TIL, dish antenna for receiving NASA STEREO-A spacecraft.

Tilley began hearing rumors that other radio operators were picking up signals from STEREO-A on 8443.580 MHz. He decided to check it out. “The central carrier is very loud, almost 30 dB above the noise,” he said. “I also noticed data sidebands, which are unusual to see on such a distant object for my small antenna.”

Tilley was able to decode and demodulate STEREO-A’s signal using a special program written by Alan Antonie, F4LAU, known as SatDump, and now, he is monitoring almost all of STEREO-A’s science instruments, including its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI), two coronagraphs (COR1 and COR2), the heliospheric imager (HI), and a solar radio burst receiver (S/WAVES).

STEREO-A’s closest approach to Earth was scheduled to occur on August 17, 2023.

Amateur radio operators who would like to monitor STEREO-A can check out Tilley’s technical blog for more information.

[Thanks to Spaceweather.com and NASA for updated information in this story]]

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for August 18, 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/

This week there are no additions or deletions to the weekly AMSAT TLE distribution.

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:

STEMforGIRLS, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, telebridge via K6DUE (***)

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS

The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz

The scheduled crewmember is Steve Bowen KI5BKB

The ARISS mentor is VE6JBJ

Contact is go for: Wed 2023-08-23 15:24:59 UTC 47 deg (***)

Australian Air League – South Australia Group,  Salisbury, South Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS

The scheduled crewmember is Warren Hoburg KB3HTZ

The ARISS mentor is VK4KHZ

Contact is go for: Fri 2023-08-25 09:11:46 UTC 51 deg

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).

* SPECIAL SSTV experiment July 26, 2023. Transmissions are scheduled to begin at 20:05 UTC (16:05 ET) and ending at 20:20 UTC (16:20 ET). If necessary, a backup window will be 21:40 UTC (17:40 ET) to 21:55 UTC (17:55 ET). Requesting a clear uplink during this time frame.

* Powering off for Russian EVA on Aug. 09.

* 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 Russian EVA on Aug. 09. OFF TBD . ON 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

TF/DL2GRC: Got an email from Nina stating that she & the family will be heading to Iceland with operations scheduled to begin on Friday (18th).

From Nina:

We will do a trip around the Island and hope to be active on MEO, LEO and GEO: family, equipment, satellites and weather permitting. Operations can be expected between August 18th to 30th.  Please keep in mind, it will be a family holiday and no DX-pedition.

Look out for TF/DL4BEN, TF/DL8SCU and TF/DL2GRC.

Stay tuned!

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 Mitch Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ will be at the Northern Plains Regional Radio Council (NPRRC) Hamfest in Brewster, Minnesota on Saturday, August 26, 2023. You can expect to find him engaging in discussions about amateur radio satellite operations at the AMSAT table or presenting live satellite demonstrations just across the street at Brewster City Park. Targeted demonstration passes will be on linear satellite RS-44 at 1434Z (fixed uplink 145.945 MHz) and the TEVEL FM satellites between 1630Z and 1700Z. Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/NPRRC for additional information about the NPRRC Hamfest.

+ Northeast HamXposition and ARRL New England Division Convention

August 25-27, 2023

Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel

Marlboro, MA

+ 41st AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting

October 20-21, 2023

Sheraton DFW Airport Hotel

4440 W John Carpenter Fwy, Irving, TX 75063

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, says,

“Think a 75-minute presentation on “working the easy satellites” would be appropriate for your club or event? Let me know by emailing me at k6lcsclint (at) gmail (dot) com or calling me at 909-999-SATS (7287)!”

Clint has NEVER given the exact same show twice: EACH of the 150+ presentations so far has been customized/tailored to their audiences.

+ RS-44 has returned to service after a multi-day outage this past week. There is no definitive word on the cause of the outage.

+ Woody Hoburg, KB3HTZ, was active as NA1SS from the ISS, utilizing the FM repeater, on Monday, August 14th around 1900 UTC and Wednesday, August 16th around 2100 UTC (ANS thanks ARISS for the above information)

+ NASA released its updated Software Catalog for 2023-2024, containing more than 1,000 programs for mission analysis, disaster response, spacecraft testing, data analytics, and more. Access restrictions apply to some software that may be limited to use by U.S. citizens or for U.S. government purposes only. Review the catalog online at: http://software.nasa.gov (ANS thanks The Orbital Index and NASA for the above information)

+ NASA will provide live launch and docking coverage of the Roscosmos Progress 85 cargo spacecraft carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 69 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The unpiloted spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 01:08 UTC on Wednesday, Aug. 23 on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Progress spacecraft will be placed into a two-day, 34-orbit journey to the station, leading to an automatic docking to the Zvezda module at 03:50 UTC Friday, Aug. 25. As always, amateur radio operation aboard the ISS is suspended during docking maneuvers. The spacecraft will remain at the orbiting laboratory for approximately six months, then undock for a destructive but safe re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew. (ANS thanks NASA for the above information)

+ India’s Chandrayan-3 moon lander completed another lunar-orbit reduction burn and entered a 100 km circular polar lunar orbit ahead of a landing attempt next week. It is projected that the Indian craft will land two days after Russia’s Luna-25 lander. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index 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.