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OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1

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Lituanicasat-1-frequencies
Lituanicasat-1-frequencies

In a message to the LituanicaSAT-1 team, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced, “LituanicaSAT-1 has met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number. My findings from information provided to AMSAT-NA and IARU officials confirm this to be true. Accordingly, under the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I do hereby assign LituanicaSAT-1 the designation LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78, or LO-78. I, and all of the amateur radio satellite community, wish LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78 a long and successful mission.”

On behalf of the LituanicaSAT-1 team, Simon Kareiva, LY2EN replied, “It is my honor and pleasure to accept this assignation. Our team is focused to keep LO-78 operational for the benefit of amateur radio as long, as it is possible for a small cubesat. Thank you very much, Simon LY2EN.”

The LituanicaSAT-1 team has announced activation of the FM transponder. A general rule to find out if the transponder is working at the moment is to monitor the beacon frequency on 437.275 MHz. If you can hear CW FM beacon it means that transponder is off, if you cannot hear it –  the transponder is on. The transponder frequencies are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS.

[ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator for the above information]

First Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers

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This is the first call for papers for the 2014 AMSAT Annual Meeting
and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 10-12, 2014,
at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Baltimore-Washington International
Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. 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, but no later than
August 1. The final copy must be submitted by September 15 for
inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be
sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org

[ANS thanks the 2014 Baltimore Symposium Committee for the above
information]

AMSAT videos from Dayton 2014

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Tom, K3IO, was the speaker at the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet at the Dayton Hamvention. In his talk, he remembers the many Elmers that helped him with his hobby and career.

Barry, WD4ASW and AMSAT President, gives an update on AMSAT, including changes to the BoD roster, regulatory issues, membership and finances.

As AMSAT’s new VP of Engineering and Fox satellite team leader, Jerry gives an update on the Fox-1 satellite, its design, milestones, and launch opportunities. He also looks ahead to Fox-1B, Fox-1C, Fox-1D, and Fox-2.

Howard, G6LVB, gives a fascinating look into the launch and operation of the FUNcube-1 satellite, and a tentative calendar of the next three FUNcube satellites.

Drew, KO4MA, reviews six operational amateur satellites, then previews another dozen amateur satellites that will be launched soon, or should be turned over to amateur use when their primary mission is completed.

Frank, KA3HDO, gives an update on Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, including the radios and antennas on board, the impact of funding changes at NASA, and the new Ham TV system.

EMike, KC8YLD, explains how K-16 education is key to the launches of future amateur radio satellites, and discusses the joint work of AMSAT, ARRL, and NASA.

In this brief video, Spence, WA8SME, shows the next version of the WRAPS rotor with circularly polarized antennas and discusses an updated broadband preamp that now includes an antenna polarity switch.

Older AMSAT videos can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/AMSATNA/videos

Special Thanks to Steve Belter, N9IP for recording and editing the videos from the Dayton Hamvention, making them available for those who couldn’t attend in person!

SPROUT microsatellite to launch 0305UTC May 24th with SSTV and digitalker

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SPROUT is a 7.1 kg microsatellite set to launch on the JAXA ALOS-2 mission on May 24th at 0305 UTC from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan to a 654km sun synchronous orbit. Watch the launch live at http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/alos2/index.html

This satellite is a project of Nihon University and will include some interesting amateur radio payloads and experiments, including CW telemetry, an FM digipeater, digitalker and message box, and live and preloaded SSTV pictures! Nihon University enjoyed previous success with SEEDS-II, aka CO-66.

Courtesy Nihon-Univ. Miyazaki Laboratory Facebook Page
Courtesy Nihon-Univ. Miyazaki Laboratory Facebook Page

SPROUT will operate CW and 1200 bps AFSK or 9600 GMSK mission telemetry on 437.525 MHz. Digitalker and SSTV downlink will be on 437.600 MHz FM.

Telemetry software can be found at http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Software-e.html

JE9PEL has posted preliminary Keplerian elements at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/jaxalos2.htm

SPROUT
1 00000U 14001A   14144.15426352  .00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0    10
2 00000 097.8740 241.6133 0035980 058.6810 194.6458 14.85960816    15

SPROUT information can be found at http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/

Nihon University Miyazaki Laboratory page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nihon-Univ-Miyazaki-Laboratory/406566642818860