AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-342
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 https://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 dot 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://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
In this edition:
- AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, Named 2020 Carole Perry Educator of the Year
- AMSAT Vice President – Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y, Participates in Hackaday Hack Chat
- AMSAT to Join ARRL in Opposition to FCC Proposal to Eliminate 3.3 – 3.5 GHz Amateur Allocation
- Chris Taron, NK1K, Completes Satellite DXCC Via LEO Satellites
- Duchifat3 with V/u FM Transponder To Launch December 11
- Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
- AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat to Transmit Emergency Traffic using WINLINK
- AMSAT-SA to Shift Main Focus to AfriCUBE, a Digital SDR CubeSat
- LSF Heads Back to Orbit with the Qubik Mission
- VUCC Awards And Endorsements for November 2019
- Upcoming ARISS Activities
- Upcoming Satellite Operations
- Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, Named 2020 Carole Perry Educator of the Year
The Orlando HamCation has announced that AMSAT member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, is the 2020 receipient of the Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award. This award is bestowed upon an individual who has made an outstanding contribution educating and advancing youth in Amateur Radio. It was first awarded in 2018 to its namesake, Carole Perry, WB2MGP, in honor of her work as an educator teaching students about ham radio.
Melissa has been an educational professional for over 20 years and currently teaches at Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School. Along with teaching engineering and computer scienve, she is also involved in the school’s amateur radio and engineering clubs. Her students held demonstrations at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center’s Innovation Day. Some of her other educational endeavors include working on the first satellite to be launched and built by an elementary school and co-facilitating a workshop at Space Port Area Conference for Educators 2019. Melissa has a Technician Class radio license and is a member of AMSAT, NASA Goddard Amateur Radio Club and ARRL. She is involved in ARISS as an Ambassador on the US Education Team. She will be presenting an
ARISS Workshop at the Space Exploration Educators Conference 2020.
AMSAT congratulations Melissa on this well-deserved honor!
[ANS thanks the Orlando HamCation for the above information]
AMSAT Vice President – Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y, Participates in Hackaday Hack Chat
AMSAT Vice President – Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y, participated in a Hackaday Hack Chat on December 4, 2019. Built for about $300 using mostly off-the-shelf and 3D-printed parts, the simulator lets satellite builders work the bugs out of their designs before committing them to the Final Frontier.
Logs from the chat are available at: https://hackaday.io/event/168230-amsat-cubesat-simulator-hack-chat
More information about the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator project can be found at http://cubesatsim.com/.
Dr. Johnston also recently presented at the Radio Club of America’s Technical Symposium. His presentation, entitled “Designing the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: A Functional Satellite Model for the Classroom” is available at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-342-KU2Y
[ANS thanks Hackaday and Alan Johnston, KU2Y, for the above information]
AMSAT to Join ARRL in Opposition to FCC Proposal to Eliminate 3.3 – 3.5 GHz Amateur Allocation
At its December 12th open meeting, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to remove the amateur allocation at 3.3 – 3.5 GHz, including the amateur satellite service allocation at 3.4 – 3.401 GHz.
The ARRL plans to file comments opposing the deletion of the amateur allocation. AMSAT also plans to file comments in opposition to this proposal and we are coordinating our efforts with the ARRL. More information on the FCC proposal can be found on the ARRL’s website at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-342-ARRL.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, and the ARRL for the above information]
The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
Chris Taron, NK1K, Completes Satellite DXCC Via LEO Satellites
Chris Taron, NK1K, recently completed his satellite DXCC award with all QSOs made using LEO satellites. His 100th DXCC entity worked came courtesy of Phillipe Chateau, EA4NF, who was operating as EA9/EA4NF in Melilla, on November 19th. Chris posted a recording of his QSO via AO-7 at https://chirb.it/90xpzx. The LoTW confirmation a few days later left him at 99 DXCCs confirmed. A QSL card received from VP2V/DL7VTX on December 5th put him over the top with 100 DXCC entities confirmed.
AMSAT congratulates Chris on his great achievement!
[ANS thanks Chris Taron, NK1K, for the above information]
Duchifat3 with V/u FM Transponder To Launch December 11
Duchifat3, carrying a V/u FM transponder, will launch on the PSLV-C48 mission, currently scheduled for launch at 09:55 UTC on December 11, 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in India. The planned orbit is 576 km circular with an inclination of 37 degrees.
Duchifat3 was built by high school students supported by Herzliya Science Center in Israel and carries an on-board camera for earth imaging. The V/u FM transponder has an uplink of 145.970 MHz and a downlink of 436.400 MHz. Telemetry will be transmitted using 9k6 BPSK with AX.25.
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=586
[ANS thanks the IARU 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/
Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA’s Required Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!
Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or accountant to make certain you are eligible.
AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT’s federal tax ID is 52-0888529.
AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat to Transmit Emergency Traffic using WINLINK
The AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat travels to the space station on the 19th SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) contract mission for NASA integrated within a NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) and launches from the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). The J-SSOD is handled by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Multi-Purpose Experiment Platform (MPEP) outside the space station.
AZTECHSAT-1 has received IARU coordination for a downlink frequency of 437.300 MHz using 9k6 GMSK or FSK. The cubesat will also carry a Globalstar radio. The cubesat will listen for emergency messages in the 439 MHz frequency range and then retransmit these messages for amateur radio operators to copy on the 437.300 MHz downlink using the WinLink protocol.
AZTECHSAT-1 will create a Saturation Map of 435-438 MHz by listening for the whole orbit and returning captured data to the ground station using the 437.300 MHz amateur radio downlink plus a 1600 MHz Globalstar link.
The emergency messages received via globalstar to the AZTECHSAT-1 ground station will be shared on the project’s website. A certificate will be available for amateur stations receiving the emergency message(s) submitted via their website and confirmed by the AZTECHSAT-1 team.
Full details are posted on the AZTECHSAT-1 web:
https://upaep.mx//aztechsat
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=661
[ANS thanks the IARU and the AZTECHSAT-1 at Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla]
AMSAT-SA to Shift Main Focus to AfriCUBE, a Digital SDR CubeSat
The AMSAT-SA CubeSat development team has shifted their CubeSat development focus from an analogue transponder to a digital SDR based unit. The development of the AfriCUBE digital SDR transponder under the leadership of Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC has reached an advanced stage and will soon be ready to undergo its first field trials.
The team is not abandoning the development of the KLETSKous analogue transponder, which performed well during the BACAR 7 flight on 12 October 2019. Leon Lessing, ZS6LMG has taken the development to this point but unfortunately, due to personal commitments, cannot continue to work on Kletskous. “I would like to thank Leon for his support and wish him well in his future endeavours,” Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, AMSAT -SA CubeSat project leader said.
During the BACAR flight test it showed that some further development is needed to improve the transponder’s receiver sensitivity. “Here is a great opportunity for young enthusiastic engineers in the amateur radio community to take on the challenge. I invite interested persons with RF experience to contact me and become part of the team. While there is no financial reward, the experience and achieving something great that will fly in space outweighs this many times. It will certainly look good on anyone’s CV”, Hannes said.
The EPS (electronic power system), space frame and stabilisation system are complete. The development of the solar panel and antenna deployment systems are making good progress. Frik Wolf, ZS6FZ said he will be ready by mid-January 2020 for project review and field testing.
Currently work on a new onboard control system has been paused while Fritz Sutherland, ZS6FSJ is working with Anton Janovsky to get AfricaCUBE ready for on-the-air trials.
Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL will continue work on the documentation crucial to secure a launch opportunity and Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV will work on frequency allocations and explore launch opportunities and the marketing of the project.
AMSAT-SA is continuing its dialogue with SANSA and its contractor to place a transponder on EOSAT-1, a planned high performance earth-observation satellite designed to produce data for a broad range of earth observation applications. The development of AfriCUBE will enhance this opportunity.
JOIN THE AMSAT SA CUBESAT TEAM
AMSAT SA invites radio amateurs with RF, electronic and software experience to join the Satellite Development team and contribute to technology and human capital development in South Africa. The team meets every alternate Monday on a Skype conference and quarterly face-to-face. Send your contact details and your main interest in the CubeSat project to [email protected]. Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP or another team member will contact you.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-SA and the South African Radio League for the above information]
LSF Heads Back to Orbit with the Qubik Mission
Libre Space Foundation is proud to announce that it is currently developing and integrating 2 pocketqube satellites (QUBIK-1 & QUBIK-2) and supplying a pocketqube deployer (PICOBUS) to be flown as part of the DREAM payloads program on the inaugural Firefly Alpha launch from Firefly Aerospace.
The project consists of two 50x50x50mm Pocketcubes each of approx. 250g. The project mission is for the satellites to conduct a series of telecommunications related experiments, while at the same time, ground station analysis of the received signals will try to exploit doppler variations in order to perform orbit determination and satellite identification from radio amateur stations around the world. The telecommunication experiments will use several different modulation, coding and framing schemes, with the intention to provide insights about their performance at nano-pico-satellite missions. In addition the frame itself will be organized in such a way so spacecraft identification can be performed as early as possible from the PHY (using orthogonal or PN sequences). Proposing UHF downlinks using either GFSK, GMSK or BPKS at 9k6 or 19k2 bps with QPSK at bit rates of 19k2 or 38k4 bps. Planning a Firefly launch from Vandenberg in March 2020 into a circular 300km 97 degree orbit together with GENESIS-N, GENESIS-L, FOSSASAT-1B and FOSSASAT-2 More info at https://libre.space
Frequency coordination is pending with the IARU:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=703
[ANS thanks LibreSpace for the above information]
VUCC Awards And Endorsements for November 2019
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period November 1, 2019 through December 1, 2019. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
| Callsign | October 2019 VUCC Standing | November 2019 VUCC Standing |
|---|---|---|
| KO4MA | 1694 | 1701 |
| WA5KBH | 738 | 744 |
| W5RKN | 694 | 702 |
| N3GS | 597 | 601 |
| VE7CEW | 478 | 501 |
| KK4YEL | 400 | 413 |
| AD0HJ | 353 | 375 |
| N7EGY | 300 | 351 |
| W5CBF | New | 179 |
| N0RSR | New | 154 |
| N0RC | 100 | 104 |
| EA8CXN | New | 101 |
| VE2NGO | New | 100 |
| VU2LBW | New | 100 |
If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at w5rkn at w5rkn dot 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]
ARISS Activities
- About Gagarin From Space Conducting an amateur radio session with students of “Amur State University Blagoveshchensk”, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via R?ØJ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka Contact is go for Thu 2019-12-05 08:52 UTC - Council Rock High School South, Holland, PA, direct via KC3NGG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact was successful: Thu 2019-12-05 17:56:31 UTC - B. Pascal Institute – Public School, Rome, Italy, direct via IKØMGA and Istituto Comprensivo Lipari “S. Lucia”, Lipari, Italy, direct via ID9GKS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Sat 2019-12-07 11:44:00 UTC - Greenwood Primary School, Greenwood, Western Australia, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-12-10 10:55:14 UTC - City of Kursk, Russia and City of Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-12-11 10:10 UTC - Woodridge Middle School, High Ridge, MO, direct via NØKBA
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Thu 2019-12-12 15:29:16 UTC
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS operation team members, for the above information]
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
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Satellite Shorts:
- Dec 12th ND0C EM09 – 1647z on AO-91 & 1708z on AO-92
- Dec 12th ND0C EN00 – 1821z on AO-91 & 1843z on AO-92
- South Florida (EL95, EL96) December 11-15, 2019
James, K4WPX, will be in EL96/95 December 11th-15th, vacation style, mostly evening passes, FM only. James will be staying in EM96 but ~1 mile from the EM95 line, so he can skip over there for some passes, too. Pass announcements via Twitter: https://twitter.com/k4wpx - Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/N7AGF - Big Bend National Park (DL88) March 16-17, 2020
Ron AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will operate from Big Bend National Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details will be added here as they come available, but you are more than welcome to keep an eye on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx, https://twitter.com/dtabor, and https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP – User Services, for the above information]
AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package,
including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in
lunar orbit. Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
Satellite Shorts From All Over
- Albert “Al” Noe (81), KL7NO, from Fairbanks Alaska, passed away Monday evening, November 25, 21 months after being diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. Al was an avid 6 meter operator just outside of Fairbanks, Alaska in grid BP54. He was still active on 6 meters up until the very end. For over 40 years Al provided EME, AMSAT, and many other contacts on 6, 2, 1.25 meters, 70 & 23 centimeters from his Alaska QTH just outside of Fairbanks. Blanchard Family Funeral Home in Fairbanks will be handling Al’s services and an obituary will be published at a later date. https://www.blanchardfamilyfuneralhome.com/ (Via the Central States VHF Society)
- John Toscano, W0JT, passed away Wednesday, November 27, in San Antonio. He fought a long battle against many health problems during the last several years. Since moving to Texas, he had almost completed his dream station (6-m through 10 GHz) at a great location (20 dB hilltop) and participated in both AMSAT and RMG club activities. Previously, while in Minnesota, he was a very active NLRS member on the VHF/UHF/SHF bands with fixed, rover and portable stations. As a retired pharmacist and U of MN assistant professor, John will be remembered for his programming contributions with his 10 GHz contest logging/scoring program and his on-line contest activity spreadsheets. He also had many interests in astronomy and astrophysics. (Via the Central States VHF Society)
- From Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1442: FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON (Early Announcement). Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon (NA-032, DIFO FP-002 WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between June 30th and July 14th, 2020. This is his 14th trip to the island. Activity will be on 160-10 meters (no 60m – not authorized) using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 (but primarily SSB, RTTY and FT8/FT4) and the satellites. He will generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring 12/10m). He will be active in the IARU HF World Championship (July 11-12th). ADDED NOTE: Eric will usually try to be on as many Satellite passes as he can when the WX is good, generally favoring the FO-29, XW-2x, AO-7, and possibly the FM birds. Weekends may be limited since he will be concentrating on the low(er) bands and contests. QSL via KV1J, direct or by the Bureau. Also eQSL and LoTW. For more details and updates, check out his Web page at: http://www.kv1j.com/fp/July20.html
- Issue 78 of CQ DATV is now available at https://cq-datv.mobi/78.php.
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. 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 student rate for a maximum of six 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,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
[email protected]