Mark Johns

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/

In this edition:

• ARISS Europe to Perform Special Digital SSTV Experiment
• Nayif-1 (EO-88) Celebrates a Fifth Birthday in Orbit!
• URESAT-1 — A Chess-Playing Ham Radio Satellite
• A DX-pedition to the World’s Northernmost Habitable Place!
• Amateur Radio Payloads on Cubesats from Western Australia
• Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for February 17, 2022
• Message to US Educators: ARISS Contact Opportunity
• ARISS News
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-051 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2022 Feb 20

ARISS Europe to Perform Special Digital SSTV Experiment

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is planning for a special SSTV experiment. ARISS is the group that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS) and develops and operates the amateur radio equipment on ISS.

As part of its ARISS 2.0 initiative, the ARISS International team is expanding its educational and life-long learning opportunities for youth and ham radio operators around the world. ARISS Slow Scan Television (SSTV), which is the transmission of images from ISS using amateur radio, is a very popular ARISS mode of operation. To expand ARISS SSTV capabilities, the ARISS Europe and ARISS USA teams plan to perform special SSTV Experiments using a new SSTV digital coding scheme. For the signal reception, the software “KG-STV” is required, as available on internet.

We kindly request that the amateur radio community refrain from the use of the voice repeater thin this SSTV experiment on 20th of February 2022 over Europe.

This is a unique and official ARISS experiment. We kindly request keeping the voice repeater uplink free from other voice transmissions during the experiment time period. Also note that ARISS is temporarily employing the voice repeater to expedite these experiments and make a more permanent, more expansive SSTV capability fully operational on other downlink frequencies.

The first experiment in the series will utilize ARISS approved ground stations in Europe that will transmit these digital SSTV signals. These will be available for all in the ISS footprint when SSTV transmissions occur. The first SSTV experiment is planned for 20 February 2022 between 05:10 UTC and 12:00 UTC for five ISS passes over Europe. Please be aware that this event depends on ARISS IORS radio availabilities and ISS crew support, so last-minute changes may occur.

To promote quick experimental SSTV investigations–to learn and improve–the ARISS team will employ the ISS Kenwood radio in its cross-band repeater mode. The crossband repeater operates on a downlink of 437.800 MHz. Each transmission sequence will consist of 1:40 minute transmission, followed by 1:20 minute pause and will be repeated several times within an ISS pass over Europe.

The used modulation is MSK w/o error correction. For the decoding of the 320 x 240 px image, the software KG-STV is required. The KG-STV software can be downloaded from the following link: “http://amsat-nl.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/kgstv_ISS.zip”

The ZIP file contains the KG-STV program, an installation and setup manual, some images and MP3 audio samples for your first tests as well as links for additional technical information about the KG-STV use.

The members of the ham radio community youth and the public are invited to receive and decode these special SSTV signals.

Experiment reports are welcome and should be uploaded to “[email protected]” More information will be available on the AMSAT-NL.org web page: “https://amsat-nl.org/?page_id=568”

[ANS thanks ARISS Team Member Oliver Amend, DG6BCE for the above information]

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The 2022 AMSAT President’s Club coins have arrived!
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its launch on
October 15, 1972, this year’s coin features
an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 6.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
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Nayif-1 (EO-88) Celebrates a Fifth Birthday in Orbit!

Nayif-1 (EO-88) was launched at 03:58 UTC on February 15, 2017, on a PSLV launcher from India. It was part of a world record launch as the C37 flight carried 104 spacecraft into orbit.

The transmitter was autonomously activated around 04:47 UTC and the first signals were received and decoded a few minutes later by KB6LTY and within a few hours more than 250 stations around the world had submitted telemetry reports to the Data Warehouse.

After more than 27500 orbits of the earth, the spacecraft continues to function nominally. It switches between high power telemetry when in daylight to low power telemetry and transponder when in eclipse.

The mission was developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and American University of Sharjah (AUS). The UAE’s first Nanosatellite was developed by Emirati engineering students from AUS under the supervision of a team of engineers and specialists from MBRSC within the framework of a partnership between the two entities, aiming to provide hands-on experience to engineering students on satellite manufacturing.

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

URESAT-1 — A Chess-Playing Ham Radio Satellite

The Unión de Radioaficionados Españoles reports intensive work is underway to make URESAT-1 available before the end of the year. If all goes according to plan, URESAT-1 will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in October 2022.

A translation of the post by Spain’s national amateur radio society URE says: URESAT-1 is based on the architecture used in the GENESIS, EASAT-2 and HADES missions but will include significant improvements, such as a 32-bit computer compared to the 8-bit computers of the previous satellites and improvements in the mechanisms of deployment of antennas and batteries.

As for its functionalities, it will have a VHF / UHF FM repeater and FSK frames, like its predecessors. This will allow voice QSOs and digipeating of AX.25 and APRS frames.

The payload is not yet defined, but it could be the same SSTV camera that flies in HADES, a thruster or some kind of experiment. Talks with universities and companies and is expected to be closed in the coming weeks.

One of the projects that is confirmed is a chess game that will allow radio amateurs to play having as an opponent the on-board computer sending FSK frames with the movements, to which the on-board computer will answer in its telemetry. Several radio amateurs are working on the project and if it is completed by the time the satellite is due to be delivered, it will be included.

The expected orbital altitude is around 525 km and the inclination will be polar, probably around 97 degrees, which would place it in the same orbital plane as its companions EASAT-2 and Hades.

URE has created a blog in WordPress where the status of the project will be reported, including details of the functionalities and technicians.

The blog can be found here https://uresat.ure.es/

[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]

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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/

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A DX-pedition to the World’s Northernmost Habitable Place!

DX-Adventure is a joint venture of Max-ON5UR and Erik-ON4ANN, and consists of 15 very enthusiastic people with all experience in participating or organizing a DX-pedition.

The first DX-Adventure project is therefore immediately ambitious: The Arctic Archipelago – Svalbard – IOTA EU026 from April 19-26, 2022, operating as JW0X and on satellite as JW100QO.

The setup is to be active with 5 stations on all HF bands in different modes (CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8-FT4). In addition, we have the ambition to be the first to activate EU026 on QO-100. Three team members take on the challenge of driving a snowmobile all the way to Kapp Linné, about 100km east of Longyearbyen.

This is the only location that allows a “line of sight” on the QO-100 satellite. In addition, Kapp Linné is also on the edge of the satellite footprint – speaking of a challenge…

Every contribution is welcome and appreciated.

Read all about the DXpedition at https://www.dx-adventure.com/en/svalbard-dx-pedition/

[ANS thanks DX-adventure.com for the above information]

Amateur Radio Payloads on Cubesats from Western Australia

Curtin University’s Space Science and Technology Centre in Perth Australia says they are planning on launching six more cubesats containing science, materials engineering, and amateur radio payloads. Their Binar-1 cubesat, which was deployed from the ISS in 2021, carried a packet radio test to
verify onboard store and forward functionality for amateur packet radio to engage local schools.

Binar-1 frequency coordination page (for reference of their previous amateur radio payload):
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=730

The entire article citing plans for six additional Binar cubesats can be accessed on-line at:
https://particle.scitech.org.au/space/was-homegrown-spacecraft-is-putting-perth-on-space-race-map/

[Thanks to scitech.org.au for the above information]

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for February 17, 2022

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/

The following satellites have been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE Distribution:

Hxxxx – NORAD Cat ID 51080 (Thanks to Space-Track and CelesTrak for ID.)
EASAT-2 – NORAD Cat ID 51081 (Thanks to Space-Track and CelesTrak for ID.)

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

Message to US Educators: ARISS Contact Opportunity

Call for Proposals: New Proposal Window is February 21, 2022 to March 31, 2022

February 16, 2022 — The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.
The deadline to submit a proposal is March 31, 2022

Proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and the proposal form can be found at https://ariss-usa.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-usa/

An ARISS Introductory Webinar session will be held on March 3, 2022, at 8 PM ET. The Eventbrite link to sign up is: https://ariss-proposal-webinar-spring-2022.eventbrite.com

The Opportunity

Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.

An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.

Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations’ volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.

Please direct any questions to [email protected]

(ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR Team, for the above information)

ARISS NEWS

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.

Recently completed:
FH Aachen, University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany, direct via DLØFHA with crewmember is Matthias Maurer, KI5KFH, using ISS callsign NA1SS. Contact was successful: Mon 2022-02-14 11:40:36 UTC 85 deg. Congratulations to the FH Aachen, University of Applied Sciences students and Matthias!

Upcoming contacts:
Erasmus-Gymnasium Denzlingen, Denzlingen, Germany AND Goethe-Gymnasium, Freiburg, Germany, Direct via DN1EME
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be DPØISS
The scheduled crewmember is Matthias Maurer, KI5KFH
Contact is go for: Tue 2022-02-22 10:05:11 UTC 53 deg

Sussex County Charter School for Technology, Sparta, NJ, direct via KD2YAQ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled crewmember is Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP
Contact is go for: Wed 2022-02-23 15:31:11 UTC 74 deg
Watch for Livestream at: https://youtu.be/U-gPHjI-2JY

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]

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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/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

EA4NF: March 4-6 IL07, IL17 El Hierro, Canary Islands. If you want to try the QSO, check for mutual footprints and contact Philippe in advance to be put in the NA shortlist.

AD7DB & N7JY: DM22, 2/18-2/20 at the Yuma Hamfest!

Events:

Received via Email from JoAnne, K9JKM: 4A90, MEXICO (Special Event). Members of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE)[Mexican Society]are celebrating their 90th anniversary during January, February and March 2022 promoting each of the 31 States and Mexico City with the following 32 different special event callsigns and 4A90FMRE:

February 15th-March 1st: 4A90NLE, 4A90SLP, 4A90SIN, 4A90SON, 4A90TAM and 4A90ZAC
March 2-16th: 4A90CAM, 4A90CHI, 4A90GRO, 4A90OAX, 4A90QUI, 4A90TAB and 4A90YUC

Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 and the satellites. Awards are available (see QRZ.com for details). For more details on the event, see: http://fmre90.puebladx.org

Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

+ CubeSat Developers Workshop
April 26-28, 2022
San Luis Obispo, CA

+ Hamvention 2022
May 20, 2022 to May 22, 2022
Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center
210 Fairground Road
Xenia, Ohio 45385
https://www.hamvention.org

+ 2022 Rocky Mountain ARRL Division Convention
October 7, 2022 – October 9, 2022
Event Center at Archer
3921 Archer Pkwy
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
https://wyhamcon.org/site

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ AMSAT regrets to report the passing of Roy Welch, W0SL. Roy was very active on the satellites and wrote the ORBITS III tracking program. He was instrumental in placing a station in the St. Louis Science Center during the Soviet Space exhibit from mid 1992 to January of 1993. One memorable event during the exhibit was a contact between General Tom Stafford, Commander of the Apollo-Soyuz mission and the cosmonauts on board MIR. Roy is pictured at the station on the cover of the February 1993 issue of QST. (ANS thanks Mike Koenig, N0PFF, for the above information)

+ Two days after launching from Kazakhstan, a Russian Progress cargo freighter docked with the International Space Station on autopilot Thursday, Feb. 16, with a fresh delivery of food, crew supplies, experiments, and CubeSats that will be released outside the complex on a future spacewalk. Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, said the Progress MS-19 spacecraft delivered around 5,562 pounds (2,523 kilograms) of supplies to the station. The arrival of Progress MS-19 at the station marked the first docking at the orbiting outpost this year. Teams at Wallops Island, Virginia are preparing for launch of a Cygnus cargo ship Saturday, Feb. 19 on a commercial Antares rocket. If that launch occurs on time, the Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the station Monday, Feb. 21. (ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information)

+ SpaceX is prepared to shift testing of its Starship next-generation launch vehicle from Texas to Florida if there are extended delays in an ongoing environmental review, company founder and chief executive Elon Musk said Feb. 10. In a long-awaited, and long-delayed, update about development of Starship at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, test site, Musk said he thought the Federal Aviation Administration would complete an environmental review and award SpaceX a launch license for Starship launches as soon as March. One potential outcome of that review, though, is to perform a more rigorous environmental impact statement (EIS) that could take months. (ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information)

+ Astronomers have identified a Chinese rocket booster as an object on a trajectory to strike the Moon on March 4. The Chinese Chang’e 5-T1 mission launched in October 2014 on a Long March 3C rocket. This lunar mission sent a small spacecraft to the Moon as a precursor test for an eventual lunar sample return mission. The launch time and lunar trajectory are almost an exact match for the orbit of the object that will hit the Moon in March. “In a sense, this remains ‘circumstantial’ evidence,” Bill Gray, who writes the widely used Project Pluto software to track near-Earth objects, wrote. “But I would regard it as fairly convincing evidence. So I am persuaded that the object about to hit the moon on 2022 Mar 4 at 12:25 UTC is actually the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket stage.” (ANS thanks ARS Technica for the above information)

+ A company called Halibut Electronics has announced plans to produce and market a Satellite Optimized Amateur Radio (SOAR) rig. Video announcement at https://electronics.halibut.com/ (ANS thanks Halibut Electronics for the above information)

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.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org

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:

• AMSAT Volunteer RF and Mechanical Engineers Needed
• APRS Developer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR (SK)
• IARU Region 1 Working to Resolve Potential Amateur Interference to Satellite Navigation System
• Geomagnetic Storm Dooms 40 Starlink Satellites
• ARISS News
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-044 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2022 Feb 13

AMSAT Volunteer RF and Mechanical Engineers Needed

AMSAT Engineering is currently recruiting RF and mechanical engineers for its FOX-Plus and GOLF satellite programs.

AMSAT is looking for an EE with RF experience for its FOX-Plus program. You will have the opportunity to design and build the RF communications subsystems for a series of low earth orbit, 1U-3U CubeSats to support AMSAT’s educational and engineering objectives. You should have a working knowledge of analog and digital communications protocols (e.g., FM, PSK, FSK) to provide digitally synthesized audio for FM modulated VHF/UHF/SHF voice and telemetry channels. Development opportunities can begin with modification of previous FOX designs and/or by starting with a blank sheet for an original design.

AMSAT is looking for Mechanical Engineers to join its FOX-Plus and GOLF CubeSat teams. You will have the opportunity to use your structural design and analysis skills in the development of a series of low earth orbit and highly elliptical orbit, 1U-3U CubeSats to support AMSAT’s educational and engineering objectives. Your contribution may include a) the development of the spaceframe and deployable solar panel subsystem, b) the analysis of the thermal characteristics of the CubeSat and the design of the thermal management system, c) preparation and oversight of the environmental testing procedure, and/or d) management of documentation of the CubeSats adherence to the launch provider’s and space vehicle owner’s specifications.

You will collaborate with AMSAT’s all-volunteer teams of up to 12 electrical, mechanical, software and systems engineers. Our volunteers typically spend five hours per week on their project and attend a weekly online update meeting. An Amateur Radio license and CubeSat experience is helpful but not necessary. U.S. citizenship or proof of permanent residency is required.

Interested persons should send an email with their resume/curriculum vitae to:

volunteer (at) amsat (dot) org.

[ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, N0JY, VP Engineering and Jonathan Brandenburg, KF5IDY, Assistant VP Engineering for the above information.]

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Join the 2022 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered Iron-on AMSAT Logo Patch
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!
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APRS Developer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR (SK)

The creator of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS), Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, died on February 7. An ARRL Life Member, Bruninga was 73. According to his daughter, Bruninga succumbed to cancer and the effects of COVID-19. Bruninga had announced his cancer diagnosis in 2020. Over the years, he readily shared his broad knowledge of and experience with APRS, among other topics in the amateur radio and electronics fields.

While best known for APRS, Bruninga was also a retired US Naval Academy (USNA) senior research engineer who had an abiding interest in alternative power sources, such as solar power. In 2018, he authored Energy Choices for the Radio Amateur, published by ARRL, which explores developing changes in the area of power and energy, and examines the choices radio amateurs and others can make regarding home solar power, heat pumps, and hybrid and electric vehicles. Bruninga drove an all-electric car and had experimented with a variety of electric-powered vehicles over the years.

APRS originated in 1982, when Bruninga wrote his first data map program that plotted the positions of US Navy ships for the Apple II platform. A couple of years later, he developed what he called the Connectionless Emergency Traffic System (CETS) on the VIC-20 and C64 platforms for digital packet communications to support an endurance race. The program was ported to the IBM PC platform in 1988, and was renamed APRS in 1992. The recognized North American APRS frequency is 144.39 MHz, and APRS is globally linked via the internet. Bruninga founded the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATPG) event, which fields APRS nodes from Stone Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine each July.

ARRL Contributing Editor Ward Silver, N0AX, remembered Bruninga this way: “Bob kept pushing APRS beyond its origins as a position reporting system. He developed and helped implement numerous other uses of APRS in support of what has become the ‘Ham Radio of Things,’ with great potential for future amateur radio applications. Bob’s far-reaching vision and imagination were as good as it gets.”

Bruninga mentored USNA midshipmen in building and launching amateur radio satellites and CubeSats, beginning with PCsat in 2001. PCsat was the first satellite to directly report its precise position to users via its onboard GPS module. Subsequent USNA spacecraft included PSK31 capability (HF to UHF) and other innovations.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ARRL liaison Rosalie White, K1STO, recalled that Bruninga attended many ARISS-International meetings and contributed “enormously” to ARISS APRS activities, leading a team in developing protocols and software for rapid message exchange via a packet “robot.”

White said APRS remains a key staple in the new ARISS InterOperable Radio System (IORS) that’s now on board the ISS. She added that Bruninga offered input for future NASA Lunar and Gateway opportunities in which ARISS hopes to take part.

Last year, ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, on behalf of ARRL, honored Bruninga with a brick in the ARRL Diamond Club Terrace at ARRL Headquarters. ARRL sent him a letter of appreciation along with a replica of the brick.

Bruninga held a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology) and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. Bruninga was a 20-year US Navy veteran. Dayton Hamvention® honored him in 1998 with its Technical Excellence Award.

Bruninga authored and co-authored numerous academic papers over the years, and was frequently in demand as a speaker and presenter at amateur radio gatherings.

Survivors include his wife, Elise Albert; daughter, Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar, WE4APR, and son A.J. Bruninga, WA4APR. Arrangements are pending, although his daughter said that a celebratory memorial service will be held this summer in Annapolis, Maryland.

[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information]

IARU Region 1 Working to Resolve Potential Amateur Interference to Satellite Navigation System

IARU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia) continues wrangling with the issue of interference potential to GALILEO global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sites in Europe from amateur radio operation in the 1240 – 1300 MHz (23-centimeter) band. Considerable work has gone into documenting an interference case on a single GALILEO channel between a “very local” Italian 23-centimeter repeater and receivers at the nearby European Commission Joint Research Centre in Ispra, where GALILEO applications are developed and tested.

“This one case is often cited as the ‘proof’ that interference can occur,” said Barry Lewis, G4SJH, the chair of IARU Region 1 Spectrum Affairs. As a consequence of this single instance of interference, the IARU has been engaged for several years in defending amateur interests on 23 centimeters. Considerable computer modeling has gone into the effort, in advance of World Radiocommunication Conference 23 (WRC-23).

In 2018, the FCC granted, in part, the European Commission’s request for a rules waiver so that non-federal devices in the US may access specific GALILEO signals to augment the US Global Positioning System. The two systems are interoperable and RF compatible. That Order permits access to two GALILEO satellite signals — the E1 signal in the 1559 – 1591 MHz portion of the 1559 – 1610 MHz Radionavigation-Satellite Service (RNSS) band, and the E5 signal in the 1164 – 1219 MHz portion of the 1164 – 1215 MHz and 1215 – 1240 MHz RNSS bands. The Order does not grant access to the Galileo E6 signal on 1278.750 MHz in the 1260 – 1300 MHz band, which is not allocated for such services in the US. Omitting that channel eliminates any need for US radio amateurs to protect GALILEO receivers from interference.

“The impact of traffic through this very local repeater (12.5 kilometers distant) on three different GALILEO receivers has been documented,” Lewis said. “This work suggests that while RNSS receiver bandwidth can have a part to play in enabling coexistence, beyond that nothing has been reported that could help develop any coexistence criteria.” IARU Region 1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ, stated last year that IARU does not want the Amateur Service to affect GALILEO system operation in any way.

Lewis said the IARU has provided extensive information regarding amateur applications in the 1240 – 1300 MHz band as well as operational characteristics and data indicating the density of active transmitting stations and the busiest periods when these are most likely to be operational.

“Amateur transmissions virtually anywhere in the band will be co-frequency with the RNSS receivers from one system or another,” Lewis said. “It is therefore obvious that any RNSS receiver will be open to any co-frequency amateur transmission, and amateur operators have no way of knowing where or when a RNSS service user is active.” Lewis suggests that “some compromises will need be necessary” to develop a co-existence model.

[ANS thanks The ARRL Letter for the above information.]

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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/

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Geomagnetic Storm Dooms 40 Starlink Satellites

SpaceX is in the process of losing up to 40 brand-new Starlink internet satellites due to a geomagnetic storm that struck just a day after the fleet’s launch last week. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday (Feb. 3) from NASA’s historic Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth increased the density of the atmosphere slightly, increasing drag on the satellites and dooming most of them.

“Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe mode to begin orbit-raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere,” SpaceX wrote in an update Tuesday (Feb. 8).

The 49 satellites SpaceX launched last week were deployed in an initial orbit that skimmed as low as 130 miles (210 kilometers) above Earth at its lowest point. SpaceX has said it intentionally releases Starlink batches in a low orbit so that they can be disposed of swiftly in case of a failure just after launch. That orbit design, it turned out, left the fleet vulnerable to Friday’s geomagnetic storm.

“In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches,” SpaceX wrote in its update. The satellites were then placed in a protective “safe mode” and commanded to fly edge-on “like a sheet of paper” to minimize drag effects as the company worked with the U.S. Space Force and the company LeoLabs to track them with ground-based radar, it added. But for most of the new Starlink satellites, the drag was too much. Locked in their safe mode, up to 40 of them were expected to fall out of orbit like space debris just days after their launch.

“The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry — meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground,” SpaceX wrote of the satellites’ reentry. “This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation.”

[ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.]

ARISS NEWS

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.

+ Upcoming Contacts

FH Aachen, University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany, direct via DLØFHA.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz.
The scheduled crewmember is Matthias Maurer, KI5KFH.
Contact is go for Monday, February 14, 2022 at 11:40:36 UTC.

+ Completed Contacts

Gewerbliche Schulen Donaueschingen, Donaueschingen, Germany, direct via DN2FIS.
The ISS callsign was DPØISS.
The downlink frequency was 145.800 MHz.
The crewmember is Matthias Maurer KI5KFH.
Contact was successful on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 10:00 UTC.

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]

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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/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

4A90, MEXICO (Special Event). Members of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE)[Mexican Society]are celebrating their 90th anniversary during January, February and March 2022 promoting each of the 31 States and Mexico City with the following 32 different special event callsigns and 4A90FMRE:

February 15-March 1: 4A90NLE, 4A90SLP, 4A90SIN, 4A90SON, 4A90TAM
March 2-16: 4A90CAM, 4A90CHI, 4A90GRO, 4A90OAX, 4A90QUI, 4A90TAB and 4A90YUC

Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 and the satellites. Awards are available (see QRZ.com for details). For more details on the event, see: http://fmre90.puebladx.org

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

+ CubeSat Developers Workshop
April 26-28, 2022
San Luis Obispo, CA

+ Hamvention 2022
May 20, 2022 to May 22, 2022
Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center
210 Fairground Road
Xenia, Ohio 45385
https://www.hamvention.org

+ 2022 Rocky Mountain ARRL Division Convention
October 7, 2022 – October 9, 2022
Event Center at Archer
3921 Archer Pkwy
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
https://wyhamcon.org/site

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information.]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Astra failed to deliver four satellites to orbit as planned today (Feb. 10) in the company’s first-ever orbital launch from the contiguous United States. The California startup’s 43-foot-tall (13 meters) Launch Vehicle 0008 (LV0008) launched the ELaNa 41 mission from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today, rising off the pad at 2000 GMT. The two-stage LV0008 performed well initially, soaring high into the Florida skies. But something appeared to go wrong about 3 minutes into flight, just after the rocket’s first and second stages separated. Footage from a camera onboard the second stage showed the rocket body spinning rather than cruising smoothly toward its intended destination, an orbit with an altitude of 310 miles. Read the full story at https://www.space.com/astra-first-florida-launch-failure-february-2022. [ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.

+ The International Astronomical Union is establishing a new centre to focus the astronomy’s response to huge networks of spacecraft being launched into LEO to deliver broadband internet connections from space. Its work will be led by the U.S. National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) in Tucson, Arizona; and by the Square Kilometre Array Organisation (SKAO) in Manchester, UK. It will engage with, and encourage, satellite companies to make every effort to minimise the light pollution they are creating. But it will also pursue policy makers around the world to tighten the regulations on what is acceptable behavior in orbit. [ANS thanks BBC.com for the above information.]

+ A video of the Voyager 1 presentation given by radio amateur Daniel Estevez M0HXM/EA4GPZ at the Fosdem 2022 event is now available. Voyager 1 is the furthest spacecraft and the first ever to exit the solar system. Fueled by its radioisotope generators, after more than 40 years of flight it is still sending data about the interstellar medium using its 3.7 metre dish antenna and 8.4 GHz transmitter. In this talk, Daniel reports two adventures regarding the reception of the Voyager 1 signal. Watch the video at
https://fosdem.org/2022/schedule/event/radio_voyager1/. [ANS thanks Southgate Amateur Radio News for the above information.]

+ NASA raised concerns about SpaceX’s new Starlink satellites, including an increase of the risk of collision in orbit, in a letter to the FCC. The five-page letter was submitted to the FCC Tuesday, February 8, 2022. SpaceX submitted a proposal to the FCC to put 30,000 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit as part of a “Gen 2” Starlink system. There are currently about 1,800 operational Starlink satellites in orbit and there have already been several near-misses in orbit; one study has suggested Starlinks are responsible for half of all close encounters in low-Earth orbit. NASA has “concerns with the potential for a significant increase in the frequency of conjunction events and possible impacts to NASA’s science and human spaceflight missions, Read the full story at https://www.space.com/nasa-collision-risk-starlink. {ANS thanks Space.com for the above information.]

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.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org

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/

In this edition:

* HamSCI invites abstracts for its 2022 Workshop
* New QO-100 satellite antenna for DP0GVN
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements needs a new author
* CAMSAT XW-3(CAS-9)is designated Hope-OSCAR-113, HO-113
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 30, 2021
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-002 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2022 Jan 02

HamSCI Invites Abstracts for its 2022 Workshop

The ARRL report that HamSCI is soliciting abstracts for the 2022 HamSCI Workshop. The submission deadline is February 1, 2022. The workshop will be a hybrid (in-person and virtual) event from March 18 – 19, 2022, at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

“The primary objective of the HamSCI workshop is to bring together the amateur radio community and professional scientists,” said HamSCI Lead Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, an assistant professor within the Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering at The University of Scranton. “This year’s theme is ‘The Weather Connection,’ with invited speakers Tamitha Skov, WX6SWW, and Jim Bacon, G3YLA.”

“Skov and Bacon will present tutorials on the impacts of space and terrestrial weather on the ionosphere. Chen-Pang Yeang, an associate professor and director for the Special Project on Scientific Instruments at the University of Toronto, will deliver the keynote address, “Ham Radio and the Discovery of the Ionosphere.” Additional information is available at: https://bit.ly/3EHDAe5

[ANS thanks ARRL News for the above information]

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Join the 2021 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!
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New QO-100 satellite antenna for DP0GVN

On December 29, 2021, our new QO-100 SatCom ground station antenna for DP0GVN arrived intact in Antarctica at Neumayer Station III. This should ensure future operations for the upcoming 2022/2023 over-wintering crew.

Securing the operation: Since the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 over-wintering team, radio contacts with Antarctica via the first amateur geostationary radio satellite Qatar-OSCAR 100 / QO-100 (Es’hail-2) enjoy the greatest popularity. AMSAT-DL provided the appropriate radio equipment for DP0GVN at Neumayer Station III, covering all costs for setup and provision of the required radio equipment and antenna. While amateur radio operations mostly take place during free time, contacts with schools have also been arranged on a regular basis. Similar to ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), such contacts in Antarctica are also something very special for the students. This will certainly also arouse interest in scientific or technical professions and, last but not least, amateur radio.

During the night of 13/14 August 2021, one of the strongest storms at Neumayer Station III measured average wind speeds of 176 km/h and even more than 207 km/h at peak. This did not remain without consequences and so among other things the satellite antenna for QO-100 was damaged so strongly that with it no more radio operation was possible. DP0GVN via QO-100 so unfortunately QRT until further notice.

AMSAT-DL therefore decided at short notice to build a new antenna and to deliver it in less than 2 months construction time in the middle of October for the ship transport to Antarctica. The antenna has now arrived there safely and was immediately transported from the ship at the ice edge to Neumayer Station III. The next step is to hoist the antenna onto the roof of the station by crane and rewire everything. As the team on site has a huge work program at the moment, it can certainly take a few more days and weeks to get DP0GVN up and running via QO-100. Patience is requested until then, but all stars are aligned for a successful 2022 with DP0GVN !!!

(ANS thanks Peter Gulzow, DB2OS, President, AMSAT-DL for the above information)

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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/

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VUCC Awards-Endorsements is getting a new author

Ron Parsons, W5RKN Has announced that he is retiring as the author of the VUCC Awards and Endorsments list. He says: “Jon Goering, N7AZ has offered to take over on February 1. I will pilot on January 1 with Jon as copilot. I was happy to have done the task for the past few years and wish Jon equal pleasure. My method is completely manual, so someone might want to automate. An AMSAT member who wishes help Jon should reach out to him.

Many Thanks to Ron who has done a great job of organizing and keeping up with VUCC activities!
Ron reports: “Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period December 1, 2021 through January 1, 2022. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

This is my last time preparing this list. Next month it will be done by Jon Goering, N7AG.”

CALL Dec. January

K8TL 1012 1016
WN9Q 710 783
K9UO 675 695
XE1HG 100 639
N5BO 580 635
KN2K 401 450
N6UTC 400 450
EA2AA 396 400
VU2LBW 350 400
N8URE (FM19) 279 326
NA1ME 275 300
K8BL 283 292
RA3DNC 252 276
K3HPA 176 201
M0NKC 200 New
WD9EWK (DM23)173 182
DL6KBG 150 175
A65BR New 157
WA7HQD 150 151
K6MX New 134
KG7CW New 115
K9AQ New 109
N6UTC(MOJAVE)New 101
KE6LB New 100
W4GLU New 100

“This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. 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 a lot of the work! Ron W5RKN”

[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]]

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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, now manifested for launch on
NASA’s ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

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CAMSAT XW-3(CAS-9) is designated Hope-OSCAR-113 HO-113

Drew Glasbrenner, AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator, has announced the OSCAR assignment: “On December 26, 2021, the XW-3 (CAS-9) satellite was launched on a CZ-4C launch vehicle from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. Also known as Hope-3, XW-3 (CAS-9) was developed by the Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT) in cooperation with the Chinese government’s aerospace and education departments, and is used to provide services to amateur radio enthusiasts around the world and to educate students in science and technology. CAMSAT completed the design and manufacture of the amateur radio payload and manages the satellite in-orbit operation.

At the request of CAMSAT and the XW-3 (CAS-9) team, AMSAT hereby designates XW-3 (CAS-9) as Hope-OSCAR 113 (HO-113). We congratulate the owners and operators of HO-113, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.”

Early reports of telemetry and contacts came in quickly.
Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, Provided additional information: “Doppler measurements show that XW 3 (CAS 9) is object 50466 (2021-131B). Frequency CW beacon: 435.57515 MHz.”
From the XW-3（CAS-9）Amateur Radio Satellite User’s Manual 2 / 21 V1.0 by BA1DU:
UHF antenna: 1/4 wavelength whip antenna
CW telemetry beacon:
*Frequency: 435.575MHz
*RF power: 20dBm
*CW rate: 22wpm

GMSK telemetry:
*Frequency: 435.725MHz
*RF power: 23dBm
*Data rate: 4800bps

V/U mode linear transponder:
*Uplink frequency: 145.870MHz
*Downlink frequency: 435.180MHz
*RF power: 20dBm
*Bandwidth: 30kHz
*Spectrum inverted

Photo download should be available in the future.

The XW-3 (CAS-9) satellite user manual is available from the AMSAT website: https://bit.ly/3FH8lS2

Mike Sartoretti, KC2YSF has the following reminder for S.A.T. tracker users: “If you are using a sat tracker from CSN technologies we do have the TLE’S and frequencies for this satellite already in place. Just hit your TLE update button and you’re ready to go, XW-3 or CAS-9.”

Congratulations to CAMSAT for a successful launch.

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator, Alan Kung, BA1DU, Nico Janssen PA0DLO, and Mike Sartoretti, KB2YSI for the above information]

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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

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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 30, 2021

The following satellite has decayed from orbit and has removed from this week’s AMSAT TLE Distribution:

NO-84 (PSAT) – NORAD Cat ID 40654 (The decay date was most likely 12-22-2021)

The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE Distribution:

XW-3 (CAS-9) – NORAD Cat ID 50466 (Thanks to Nico Janssen, PA0DLO for the identification)
XW-3 (CAS-9) was launched December 25, 2021 from China’s Complex 9 on a Long March 4C rocket.

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, TLE Manager for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

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.

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2021-12-30

Scouts Victoria (Radio and Electronics Team), Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia, via AB1OC. 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 crewmember is Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP. Contact is go for: Tue 2022-01-04 11:27:32 UTC 60 deg

On the AMSAT-BB reflector, VE7JMN noted that the ISS has been tracking differently on websites and several programs. Charlie Sulfana AJ9N of the ARISS Operations Team offered this explanation: “The ISS apparently did a burn over the last day or so. As a result one of the upcoming ARISS contacts is now about 5 minutes sooner than what I originally posted. The latest amsat-bb posting I did this morning has the newest time. Maybe that is what you are seeing.”

The next mode change to voice cross band repeater is expected to occur in early January, 2022.

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]

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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/

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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

+ 23rd annual Ham Radio University (HRU) educational conference will again be held as a virtual event on January 8, 2022

W2JV, Peter Portanova, will be giving a talk on “The Art of operating thru the FM Amateur Satellites” The goal of this forum is to at minimum give you the tools and the confidence to listen to a few satellite passes as a stepping stone to making contacts. The HRU announcement follows:

With Covid19 uncertainties precluding an in-person gathering for a second year, the 23rd annual Ham Radio University (HRU) educational conference will again be held as a virtual event – on Saturday, January 8, 2022 — 8:00am to 3:00pm EST (12:00– 20:00 UTC) — as a GoToWebinar on-line video conference. Advance Registration Required — Starting December 20th 2021

HRU 2022 will be adding five forums, for a total of 19 presentations by experts in a broad range of Amateur Radio activities including: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications; Basics of HF Operating; Ham Radio Contesting and Dxing, Communicating Through Amateur Radio Earth Satellites; Software Defined Radios; HF and VHF Digital Communications; Parks on the Air, Skywarn, Cables & Connectors, and Using RaspberryPi Computers in Amateur Radio.

In addition to viewing the presentations, on-line attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of the presenters.

Founded by Phil Lewis, N2MUN, who passed away in March, 2020, HRU also will be the on-line convention of the NYC-Long Island Section of ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio®

As in years past, participation in HRU 2022 will be free of charge, with an optional suggested donation of $5.00, but advance registration – starting December 20, 2021– will be required for each presentation.

Further information, including the schedule of forums and advance registration starting December 20, 2021, is on line at: http://www.HamRadioUniversity.org

+Winterfest, the ARRL Midwest Division Convention
Collinsville, IL Jan 22 2022

+ARRL National Convention and Orlando Hamcation Feb 10-13 2022
Registration details at http://www.arrl.org/arrl-expo
Updates may be found at: https://www.amsat.org/other-events/

+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 Clint Bradford, K6LCS, makes online presentations to Amateur Radio clubs and other interested organizations. He reports: “Seven presentations lined up to start the new year so far, including three clubs in Canada, and clubs in Florida, California, New York and Nevada!

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 included are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS. And pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome.

Contact Clint at http://www.work-sat.com or by phone at 909-999-SATS (7287) to arrange a presentation.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, Pete Portanova, W2JV, and Clint Bradford, K6CLS for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ CNES, French Space Agency Special Callsigns TM60CNES, TO60CNES, TX60CNES and TK60CNES for the 60th anniversary of CNES are activated since December 18, 2021 and until January 2, 2022 on different frequency bands and different modes. To know the activated callsigns (realtime) as well as their mode and frequency consult the AMSAT-F page : https://site.amsat-f.org/. A Google translation may be viewed from https://bit.ly/3HflGkA (ANS thanks Christophe Mercier, President AMSAT-F, for the above information)

+ Starlink satellite’s near-collision with Chinese station puts focus on space jam. First reported by The Guardian, which cited experts as saying the Chinese action was unusual, the incident spotlights the growing risk in space, where orbital room is being crowded out by an astronomical race in which nation-states as well as private companies are increasingly active. Behind it are projects such as the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s Starlink constellation and rival Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Both companies want to create a web of low-earth orbit (LEO) spacecraft that will beam down internet connectivity to anywhere on the planet. And then there are several countries – Russia and India being the most recent – that have carried out tests of satellite-killing missiles, generating millions of pieces of debris. More is available at: https://bit.ly/3FFQz1c (ANS thanks Southgate News for the above information)

+ JWST is on its way to orbit L2! On Christmas Day, JWST launched successfully (video) aboard its Ariane 5 from French Guiana. During its flight, the rocket performed a unique sawtooth maneuver, rotating back and forth 30° to protect JSWT’s instruments from overheating due to direct solar illumination (as opposed to Apollo’s ‘BBQ roll’). After release, the spacecraft deployed its solar array—here’s a video, which likely includes the final close proximity image of the craft. Now beyond the orbit of the Moon, it has successfully performed two course corrections and deployed its gimbaled antenna assembly. Jonathan McDowell has a timeline of JWST’s ongoing “30 days of terror” deployment schedule on its way to L2. The sunshield has started its multistep deployment and, in about a week, mirrors will begin unfolding. Check-in on its live mission dashboard to see where it is and what it’s doing, follow it on Twitter, or watch NASA’s Deep Space Network real-time dashboard to see active communications underway. Hopefully, the first images from Webb should be available by next summer. The Planetary Society has an excellent summary of the JWST mission at: https://bit.ly/3pG6045 (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

+ More JWST Coverage: Over the next two weeks, NASA will provide broadcast coverage and other updates on major deployment milestones for the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful space science telescope. Broadcasts of milestone events will air live on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website: https://www.nasa.gov/live. NASA provides regular updates on the Webb telescope blog, https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb The public can also follow Webb’s deployments online via a “Where is Webb?” interactive tracker and a Deployments Explorer at https://go.nasa.gov/3eEkGdQ (ANS thanks NASA for the above information)

+ UVSQ-SAT: Transponder expected to be active on 01/01/2022 from 12:00 UTC. The LATMOS team has programmed the UVSQ-SAT satellite to go into transponder mode on January 1, 2022 at 12:00 UTC.
The transponder will be active during 11 consecutive hours.
Frequencies used:
Telemetry:
437.020 MHz – BPSK – GR3UH 9k6
FM transponder :
Uplink frequency : 145.905 MHz
Downlink frequency: 437.020 MHz
More information on AMSAT Francophone https://site.amsat-f.org/uvsq-sat/

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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.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ
kd4iz at frawg dot org