AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-052
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: [email protected]
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/
In this edition:
- Replays of AMSAT Presentations at HamCation Available
- FO-29 March Operations Schedule
- VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 1, 2021
- Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for February 18, 2021
- ARISS News
- Upcoming Satellite Operations
- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
- Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 052.01
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2021 Feb 21
Join the 2021 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin with Polished Gold Finish,
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
By donating today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!
Replays of AMSAT Presentations at HamCation Available
AMSAT participated in the 2021 Virtual Orlando HamCation on Sunday, February 14, 2021. Replays of the presentations are available on YouTube:
AMSAT CubeSat Simulator – Dr. Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT Vice President – Educational Relations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0eLHJ9vuqc
AMSAT: Onward and Upward – Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT President
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n974-Jpuu2I and continuing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaX19ohrd-I
AMSAT Engineering Updated – Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President – Engineering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcQqP-IRlcI
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
FO-29 March Operations Schedule
All times are UTC
The operation is until UVC (under-voltage control) operates. The battery dates from 1996, and cannot be fully charged. Note that this seldom allows for operation over North America.
DD on times
6 00:45- 02:30-
7 01:35- 03:20-
13 01:20- 03:05-
14 00:25- 02:10-
20 01:55- 03:40-
21 01:00-
27 00:45- 02:30-
28 01:35- 03:20-
[ANS thanks Akira Kaneko, JA1OGZ, for the above information]
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 1, 2021
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period January 1, 2021 through February 1, 2021. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
| Call | Jan | Feb | |
|---|---|---|---|
| WA4NVM | 1557 | 1568 | |
| WD9EWK (DM43) | 630 | 632 | |
| VE7CEW | 501 | 555 | |
| NM3B | 481 | 553 | |
| N9FN | 499 | 526 | |
| N7EGY | 502 | 501 | ?? |
| ND0C | 450 | 500 | |
| AC9O | 359 | 475 | |
| W0NBC | 435 | 437 | |
| PV8DX | 373 | 412 | |
| KF6JOQ | 353 | 403 | |
| AK7DD | 376 | 390 | |
| W8LR | 300 | 328 | |
| S57NML | 205 | 291 | |
| K5ZM | 179 | 277 | |
| VE4MM | 227 | 263 | |
| VU2LBW | 246 | 260 | |
| VE6WQ | New | 232 | |
| KV4T | New | 219 | |
| DG7YEO | New | 217 | |
| KF0QS | 115 | 205 | |
| NA1ME | 175 | 200 | |
| W4ALF | 102 | 200 | |
| WD9EWK (DM41) | 176 | 187 | |
| WA8ZID | 126 | 176 | |
| DG3YJB | New | 103 | |
| HB9GWJ | New | 102 | |
| VE6BMX | New | 102 | |
| AA8CH (EN84) | New | 101 | |
| AB0XE | New | 100 | |
| KN4ZUJ | New | 100 | |
| KS4YT | New | 100 |
If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I’ll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It’s a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]
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/
Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for February 18, 2021
The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE Distribution:
UVSQ-SAT – NORAD Cat ID 47438.
Thanks to Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, for this satellite identification.
Editor’s Note: Per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, the identification of UVSQ-SAT as object number 47438 is not yet certain as the distance between objects 47438 and 47437 is less than 25 km. It may take several more weeks for the objects to separate enough to determine which is UVSQ-SAT with 100% certainty.
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]
AMSAT’s GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control. Come along for the ride. The
journey will be worth it!
ARISS News
The next contacts are probably going to be via the Kenwood TM-D710E radio located in the Service Module. You may or may not notice a difference in signal when compared to the Kenwood TM-710GA that is in the Columbus module.
John F Kennedy High School, Denver, CO, Multi-point telebridge via NA7V
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The scheduled astronaut is Mike Hopkins KF5LJG
Contact is go for: Wed 2021-02-24 18:41:13 UTC 48 deg
Watch for live stream at: https://youtu.be/1RgszX0npbQ
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]
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
CAPE-3 CubeSat Launched
The University of Louisiana (UL) at Lafayette student-built CAPE-3 satellite was launched on January 17. A 1-U CubeSat, CAPE-3 includes a “digipeater and experimental UHF adaptive radio.” An AX-25 telemetry downlink has been coordinated on 145.825 MHz and a 1k2 frequency-shift keying (FSK) downlink has been coordinated on 435.325 MHz, “which may burst to 100 kHz bandwidth,” according to the IARU Amateur Satellite Coordination page.
CAPE-3 is the third cube satellite in the CAPE series. The primary educational mission is to allow grade-school classrooms to access the Smartphone CubeSat Classroom, and run interactive experiments through an experimental smartphone ground-station grid.
The secondary mission is to perform scientific experiments involving radiation detection and take pictures of Earth.
The solar-powered spacecraft, created by UL Lafayette’s CAPE Satellite Team, was launched with nine other CubeSats as part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program. A Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket attached beneath a wing of a customized Boeing 747 was dropped high above the Pacific Ocean. It climbed about 225 miles above Earth and then ejected the satellite.
Information on the ElaNa program can be found in PDF format at https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/lsp_elana_20_fact_sheet.pdf
The CAPE satellites are named for the university’s Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experiment program, designed to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information]
Upcoming Satellite Operations
****Watch Twitter, there are lots pop-up roves happening lately, and I can’t keep this page updated with all of them.****
Spring Training Rove! KX9X will be heading down to Ft Myers, FL the week of March 7 for some sun and baseball. Will activate EL86 & 96 holiday style for sure, possibly a couple other grids as well. Linear/FM. Details soon.
N6UA: I’ve had enough of the arctic zephyr … I’m headed south. I don’t have exact details yet – but the plan is to rove to DM74 for passes on February 19th. I’ll be overnight, so plenty of opportunities. Probably headed down via the “7s” and home into the “8s”
CM93 Possibility: N6DNM Very long shot, but might want to put it on your calendar for May 15th, if you can figure out where it is and for SOTA folks, that would be W6/SC-336, Santa Rosa Island, activated only once before.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager for the above information]
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassador and ARRL registered instructor Clint Bradford, K6LCS, is certainly keeping busy!
He reports these upcoming satellite presentation dates …
02/17 – St. George, Utah
02/23 – Franklin, Indiana
03/10 – Trenton, New Jersey
03/11 – Clearwater, Florida
03/13 – QSO TODAY 2021 Virtual Convention (https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/)
03/16 – Palm Springs, CA
03/20 – Bonham, Texas
04/01 – Orem, Utah
06/15 – East Massachusetts
… and more being scheduled.
Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or club? Always includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS … and pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome.
Send Clint an email or call!
Clint Bradford K6LCS
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)
[ANS thanks Clint Bradford, K6LCS, AMSAT Ambassador, and Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events Page Manager, for the above information]
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Virgin Orbit published a Payload Profiles video that showcases AO-109 (RadFxSat-2). The video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2VSpX0vWJI&feature=youtu.be
+ The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. AMSAT-DL tracked signals from the cruise stage until the rover separated approximately 10 minutes before landing on their 20 meter dish at the Bochum Observatory. A replay is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m36CQLyS1Lo
+ EO-88 (Nayif-1) celebrated its 4th birthday on February 14th. Carrying a FUNcube linear transponder, the satellite continues to provide a high power telemetry downlink when in sunlight and a linear transponder for amateur radio operations in eclipse.
+ Several new products are available on the AMSAT Zazzle store, including a set of coasters, a watch, a t-shirt featuring the AMSAT round logo, and more. Check out the new items! 25% of the purchase price goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+ All issues of The AMSAT Journal dating back to 2014 are now available to AMSAT members on AMSAT’s new membership portal. The 1969-2013 archive will be added at a later date. All editions of AMSAT’s Symposium Proceedings are also available for members. If you’re a current AMSAT member, get logged on today. If you are not yet a member, consider joining today at https://launch.amsat.org/
+ The 2020 edition of AMSAT’s Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available on the AMSAT store. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated every year with the latest amateur satellite information, and is the premier primer of satellite operation. The book is presented in DRM-free PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your first contacts on a ham radio satellite. The digital download is available for $15 at https://tinyurl.com/2020GettingStarted. The print edition is $30 plus shipping and is available at https://tinyurl.com/GS2020Print
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 additional benefits. President’s Club donations may be made at https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
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.
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,
This week’s ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org