Mark Johns – Page 30

ANS-215 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for August 2nd

August 8, 2020August 2, 2020 by 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: [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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

ISS MAI-75 SSTV Activity Planned For Aug 4-5
AMSAT Awards Update
How Many Satellite Awards Have Been Issued?
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 2020
First Demonstration Of Orbit Control On A 1U CubeSat
Burns Fisher, WB1JF, Featured Speaker at AMSAT SA Symposium
NASA to Provide Coverage of Astronauts’ Return from ISS on SpaceX
ARISS News
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-215.01
ANS-215 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 215.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2020 August 02
To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-215.01

ISS MAI-75 SSTV Activity Planned For Aug 4-5

Russian cosmonauts will transmit amateur radio Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images from the International Space Station (ISS) during August 4-5 on 145.800 MHz FM (likely using PD-120).

On July 9, ESA Education had Tweeted: “We are expecting the ISS to transmit pictures in the next weeks for the 45th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz test project. This is a perfect opportunity to try this activity for yourself!” https://twitter.com/ESA__Education/status/1281140713237946370

Apollo–Soyuz was the first international space mission, carried out jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union in mid-July 1975.

An announcement made July 27 on the ARISS SSTV Blog says: The final crew schedule for the week of Aug 3-9 was released recently and it showed a MAI-75 activity scheduled for Aug 4 and 5. This is soon after the Space X Demo-2 undock so changes to that event could impact the schedule.

The current dates and times of the planned activity are as follows: Aug 4 (12:25-18:10 UTC) is setup and day 1 operations. Aug 5 (11:15-18:45 UTC) is day 2 operations and close out.

This is the Moscow Aviation Institute SSTV experiment that is active for orbital passes over Moscow, Russia. It has traditional been PD-180 or PD-120 and transmitting on 145.800 MHz.

Source ARISS STV Blog http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/

The ISS puts out a strong signal on 145.800 MHz FM and a 2m handheld with a 1/4 wave antenna will be enough to receive it. Many FM mobile and base station rigs can be switched been wide and narrow deviation FM filters. For best results you should select the filter for wider deviation FM (25 kHz channel spacing). Handhelds all seem to have a single wide filter fitted as standard.

The space agency ESA has released a video ‘How to get pictures from the International Space Station via Amateur Radio’ along with a collection of Tutorial videos explaining how to receive ISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV) pictures for different computers and mobile devices https://amsat-uk.org/2020/07/08/esa-promote-amateur-radio-iss-sstv/

Read the Raspberry Pi article Pictures from space via ham radio
https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/pictures-from-space-via-ham-radio/

ISS SSTV info and links https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice. For details, please visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/

AMSAT Awards Update

Here are the awards issued in the last two months.

The AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award is given to any operator for having made their first contact:

Anthony Rizi, NR1Z
Edward Hartzel, W3HMK
James Brooks, KB3EFH
Vilanova University ARC, W3YP
Robin Shelley, G8VVY

——

The Oscar Satellite Communications Achievement Award is for working 20 contacts on any satellite:

Anthony Rizi, NR1Z, #628
Angus Alexander, KJ7KOJ, #629

——

The AMSAT Sexagesimal Satellite Communications Achievement Award is given for 60 satellite contacts:

Stephan Greene, KS1G, #187
Casey Tucker, KI7UNJ, #188

——

The AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award is for 25 different stations on Phase 2 (LEO) satellites:

Anthony Rizi, NR1Z, #US230
Casey Tucker, KI7UNJ, #US231
Angus Alexander, KJ7KOJ, #US232

——

The Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Satellite Operator Achievement Award is awarded for the submission of 1,000 satellite contacts on OSCAR-6 or later satellites:

W4AMI Award (1,000-4,000)

Mitchell Whitman, N4DCW, #110
Mark Johns, K0JM, #111
David Hoffman, KL1XI, #112
Phillip Sauvey, AK7DD, #113
Dennis Love, N7EGY, #114
Kell Bodholt, KI7UXT, upgrade to 2000

——

AMSAT Rover Award is based on a point system and is awarded to those who put grids on the air away from their home QTH:

Rover Call
===== ========
#054 N0TEL
#055 AK7DD
#056 KE0WPA

——

GridMaster Award is presented to those who confirm QSOs with all 488 grids in the Continental U.S.:

GridMaster Call
========== ========
#11 KO4MA
#12 N4UFO
#13 W5CBF

To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org and click on Services then Awards.

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards for the above information]

How Many Satellite Awards Have Been Issued?

When Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, was asked by a ham last week how many awards he has issued, his response was, “You know, I really had no idea.” Paige took over doing the AMSAT awards in May, 2001. Most of the awards have computer records. However, the Satellite Communicator Club award, he did not start keeping track of until 2003.

So, you ask, how many awards has he issued? Paige says,
“Satellite Communicator 407+ but my records only go back to 2003
South Africa Satellite Communication Achievement 167
AMSAT Satellite Communication Achievement 273
Sexagesimal (60 QSOs) 64
Century (100 QSOs) 24
W4AMI (1,000 QSOs) 81
W4AMI endorsements (each additional 1,000 QSOs) 66
W4AMI 5000 (5,000 QSOs) 25
Rover 55
GridMaster 13

and if I added correctly, it comes out to 1,165 plus whatever Satellite Communicator awards were issued in 2001 and 2002. That’s a lot of certificate paper, a lot of ink and a bunch of envelopes and stiffeners to get them safely to their owners.”

Do you have one on your wall? If not, maybe you should submit for one or more so that one day I will hit 2,000 or 3,000 who knows. Visit the awards page at https://www.amsat.org/awards-2/

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards 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/

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 2020

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period July 1, 2020 through August 1, 2020. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! WOW! Long list this month!

CALL July August

W7QL 478 510
WI4T 301 461
N7EGY 405 456
PS8ET 350 434
AF5CC New 425
N9FN 303 403
HP2VX 351 377
WB7VUF 319 370
KC9UQR 301 332
W4ZXT 252 327
WA9JBQ 326 326
W4DTA 263 275
AK7DD New 255
N1PEB * 138 255
K4RGK 175 214
VE6WK New 207
S57NML 179 205
AC9O 108 204
YV1DIG 146 200
AA4FL 181 187
N3CAL 160 171
WD9EWK (DM23) 137 152
N7AME 128 148
WB7QXU New 140
K3HPA 102 128
VE2NGO 100 128
HB9WDF New 114
N5EKO 102 108
KP4RV 100 105
XE1R New 105
KB9STR New 104
N2ZN New 103
IK1IYU New 101
KF6JOQ New 101
N5MIG New 101
LU3FCA New 100
M0KDS New 100
N6RVI New 100

* For some reason, this call dropped off the list from February to now.

If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at W5RKN at W5RKN dot com. 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]

First Demonstration Of Orbit Control On A 1U CubeSat

The University Wuerzburg Experimental Satellite 4 (UWE-4) successfully used its propulsion system in order to conduct orbit control. The 1U CubeSat, developed and built at the Chair for Robotics and Telematics, is equipped with the electric propulsion system NanoFEEP which has been developed by TU Dresden.

Several manoeuvres have been performed within 11 days between June 23 and July 3, 2020 such that the altitude of the CubeSat was reduced by more than 100 meters, compared to an average of 21 meters with natural decay. This marks the first time in CubeSat history that a 1U CubeSat changed its orbit using an on-board propulsion system.

As chance would have it, the team of UWE-4 received a conjunction data message (CDM) in the morning of July 2, 2020 from the United States Air Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron. A conjunction of UWE-4 with a non- operational Iridium satellite (ID: 34147) in the morning of July 5, 2020 with a minimum range of about 800 meters was a threat to the safety of UWE-4. An analysis has shown that the altitude of UWE-4 would already be below the Iridium satellite at the time of conjunction. Thus the on-going altitude lowering manoeuvre could only improve the situation and can be considered as a collision avoidance manoeuvre. No further CDMs have been issued regarding this possible conjunction. An analysis of the orbit of the two spacecraft after July 5, 2020 results in a closest approach of more than 6000 meters.

Lowering the altitude of a spacecraft in low earth orbit (LEO) is equivalent to a reduction of its lifetime, since satellites in LEO usually burn up during re-entry due to the friction with the Earth’s atmosphere. Thus, this experiment is a concept demonstration of a de- orbiting manoeuvre shown at the smallest class of spacecraft in LEO. Today, there is no commitment to carry a propulsion system for space- craft. However, due to the vastly increasing number of satellites in mega constellations such obligations are being discussed in the space agencies of several space faring countries. The experiment of UWE-4 presents a de-orbiting solution for the fraction of space debris of operational but unused satellites of today and for the mega constellations of tomorrow.

[U.S. regulations make the ability to de-orbit a requirement for HEO amateur satellites in the future — Ed.]

Stay tuned for more updates on UWE-4 and the upcoming launch of NetSat, a formation flying nano-satellite mission from the Center for Telematics which is expected to be launched September 2020!

Kind regards, The UWE-4 Team

UWE-4: First NanoFEEP thruster ignition https://amsat-uk.org/2019/03/04/uwe-4-first-nanofeep-thruster-ignition/

UWE-4 435.600 MHz https://bit.ly/39FdrPt

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

Burns Fisher, WB1JF, Featured Speaker at AMSAT SA Symposium

AMSAT of South Africa (AMSAT SA) has converted its annual Space Symposium into a live online event to take place from 08:00z to 17:00z on Saturday 22 August with a lunch break to have your sandwiches at home.

Burns Fisher, WB1JF, IHU Software Engineer and key volunteer in the construction of the Fox1 series of satellites, will join the symposium from the USA with two presentations. In one of his papers Burns will present a small, easy-to-deploy telemetry station called Fox-in-a-Box, a good way for amateurs to get started in satellite telemetry collection with a modest investment.

There will be features about AMSAT OSCAR 7, the longest operating amateur satellite, as well as about SATNOGs and how to track and decode thousands of small satellites in orbit with simple hardware/software requiring minimal outlay. Dr. Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, and his team will present the latest developments in the AfriCUBE project.

To book, visit http://www.amsatsa.org.za. Members of the SARL or AMSATSA and may register before 15 August for a cost of only R30. Non-members may register prior to this date for a cost of R100 (approximately $6 U.S.) but the AMSAT SA website only offers instructions for registration via postal mail. Contact AMSAT SA to explore other possible options.

[ANS thanks SARL News and JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, 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

NASA to Provide Coverage of Astronauts’ Return from ISS on SpaceX

NASA will provide live coverage of activities leading up to, during, and following the return of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight with the agency’s astronauts Robert Behnken, KE5GGX, and Douglas Hurley from the International Space Station.

The duo arrived at the orbiting laboratory on May 31, following a successful launch on May 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 7:34 p.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 1, for undocking of the Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft from the space station and 2:42 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, for splashdown, which will be the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station.

Coverage on NASA TV and the agency’s website will begin at 20.30z on Aug. 1, with a short farewell ceremony on station and resume at 21.00z with departure preparations through splashdown and recovery at one of seven targeted water landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

Watch at https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public

[ANS thanks NASA 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.

ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancella- tions or postponements of school contacts.

The most recent contact was with the American School of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS on Thursday, 2020-07-30 at 16:41:42 UTC. The scheduled astronaut was Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR. The contact was successful, and the recording may be found at https://youtu.be/MSyfzEHYwrE

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team men- tors 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/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Quick Hits:

Do you need Hawaii? NH7WN on AO-7 Most days. Reach out for a schedule.

EN57, EN56, EN67, 8/2 – 8/8: N8MR, will be in EN57 from August 2nd through August 8th. He may also activate EN56 and 67. Roving will be holiday style.

DM97/98 & EM08/09, 8/29 & 8/30: Super Rover @AD0DX is heading out for the Kansas QSO party and N0E. More to come.

Major Roves:

AD0HJ, is heading out again for the South Dakota Super Rove Part I Rove Map: Grids DN74, DN75, DN84, DN85, DN94, DN95, EN04, EN05, EN14, EN15, EN16, and EN17. July 31st through August 7th. See the Twitter post at https://twitter.com/AD0HJ/status/1284669314637930499 to get passes and times.
Then as if that isn’t enough, there is more: South Dakota Super Rove Part II Rove Map: Grids DN73, DN82, DN83, DN92, DN93, EN02, EN03, EN12, EN24, and EN25. August 17th through August 21st.

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

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

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space? AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

Due to COVID-19, many hamfest and events around the United States have been cancelled or postponed. While we make every effort to ensure the information contained below is correct, there may be some that we missed. We wish all of you safekeeping and hope to be at a hamfest near you soon.

A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from: https://bit.ly/2ygVFmV This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout.

To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC), September 11 – 13. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s conference will be held online. Papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings; authors do not need to participate. Submit papers by August 15 via email to Maty Weinberg, KB1EIB. (ANS thanks ARRL for the above information)

+ AMSAT-UK has announced the OSCAR Satellite QSO Party, aimed at encouraging radio amateurs around the world to get on the air and make contacts via satellite during summer in the Northern Hemisphere. While points are given per contact, AMSAT-UK says the OSCAR Satellite QSO Party is not a contest. The event starts at 0000 UTC on August 1 and continues until 2359 UTC on September 22. (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information)

+ W5KUB’s high-altitude balloon went down around July 21 between Green- land and Norway after 72 days aloft and more than three trips around Earth. “It got stuck in the Arctic for several weeks, making loops,” Tom Medlin, W5KUB, said. “We are getting ready to launch W5KUB-21, an SBS-13 balloon with lithium polymer (LiPo) battery. Testing on ground is showing that we are getting 24-hour tracking. We hope to launch that in the next week or two.” (ANS thanks ARRL for the above information)

+ NASA’s latest rover, Perseverance, launched to Mars on July 30 carry- chips with 10.9 million names submitted by people all over the world. Anyone can sign up to send their name on a future Mars mission at https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/ (ANS thanks NASA for the above information)

+ Kerry Banke, N6IZW, was featured in an article published in the La Mesa Courier newspaper of La Mesa, Calif. on July 24. The article highlighted Kerry’s association with ARISS, particularly his work on the new special power supply that converts the space station power to the levels that are required by ham radio equipment aboard the ISS. See the full story at https://lamesacourier.com/space-radio/ (ANS thanks Clint Bradford, K6LCS, for the above information)

+ NASA and its international partners have assigned crew members for Crew-2, which will be the second operational SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station as part of NASA?s Commercial Crew Program. Crew-2 is targeted to launch in spring 2021. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, for the mission. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG, will join as mission specialists. (ANS thanks NASA for the above information)

+ The 34th Annual Small Satellite Conference, SmallSat 2020, is going virtual, August 1-6, 2020. Admission is free of charge at: https://smallsat.org/conference/registration (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)

+ The public disclosure copy of AMSAT’s 2019 IRS filing (Form 990) has been posted to the AMSAT website at: https://www.amsat.org/audit-and-other-financial-reports/

———————————————————————

/EX

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 addi- tional 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 stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 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, Mark D. Johns, K0JM

k0jm at amsat dot org

ANS-187 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for July 5th

July 8, 2020July 5, 2020 by Mark Johns

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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

Successful Launch of BY70-2 With FM-to-Codec2 Transponder
AMSAT Responds to Allegations of Unauthorized Legal Expenses
New Satellite Distance Records Set
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2020
Virginia Air and Space Center Discontinues KE4ZXW Demo Station
AMSAT 2020 Board of Directors Election Upcoming
CAS-6 Becomes TO-108, Confusion Ensues
San Diego Microwave Group Discusses ARISS Possibilities
ARISS News * Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.01
ANS-187 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2020 July 05
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.01

Successful Launch of BY70-2 With FM-to-Codec2 Transponder

Wei Mingchaun, BG2BHC, reports on Twitter that BY70-2 was launched on July 3 at 03:10z from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on a CZ-4B launch vehicle. BY70-2 will serve as a replacement for BY70-1, a 2U CubeSat which launched on December 26, 2016. Due to a booster failure, BY70-1 was placed in an elliptical orbit with a low perigee and the satellite’s orbit decayed in February 2017.

Unlike BY70-1, which carried an FM transponder, BY70-2 carries an FM-to-Codec2 transponder similar to the ones on board LO-90 and Taurus-1. More information about working this type of transponder can be found in an article entitled “Digital Voice on Amateur Satellites: Experiences with LilacSat-OSCAR 90” by Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, in the January/February 2019 issue of The AMSAT Journal. The article can also be found on the AMSAT website at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-166-BY70-2.

BY70-2 is in a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of approximately 500 km. As a replacement, the satellite is sharing BY70-1’s IARU coordination and ITU API notification. The uplink frequency is 145.920 MHz and the downlink frequency is 436.200 MHz.

[ANS thanks Wei Mingchaun, BG2BHC, for the above information]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice. For details, please visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/

AMSAT Responds to Allegations of Unauthorized Legal Expenses

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) has been made aware of public comments alleging financial mismanagement in the form of “unauthorized” legal expenditures. AMSAT takes these allegations very seriously and in full disclosure, has investigated these claims for many months.

AMSAT’s corporate records give a full accounting of all expenditures and are provided to its Directors upon request, in compliance with our governing documents and law of the District of Columbia (D.C.) Our office remains closed due to COVID-19, where those documents reside. Furthermore, AMSAT complies with IRS rules for 501(c)(3) disclosure of public financial documents, such as the Form 990 available on the AMSAT website. Financial review and accounting services from a third- party firm of Certified Public Accountants are utilized by the corporation to ensure governance to best practice and law.

The Corporation vehemently denies false statements alleging “unauthorized” expenditures.

On behalf of AMSAT,

Clayton Coleman, W5PFG President

[ANS thanks Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, AMSAT President, for the above information]

New Satellite Distance Records Set

Two new distance records have been established in the past week! New records are added regularly to the AMSAT Satellite Distance Records page: https://amsat.org/satellite-dist

Jérôme LeCuyer, F4DXV, and Vladimir Vassiljev, R9LR, have claimed the distance record on TO-108 (CAS-6) with a 4,458 km QSO on 28-Jun-2020 at 10:11 UTC between JN04ft91dd in France and MO27qf72nd in Russia. Congratulations to Jérôme and Vladimir!

Also, congratulations to Alain Combelles, TR8CA, and Philippe Chateau, EA4NF, for a new AMSAT distance record on the CAS-4A Satellite on 27-Jun-2020 at 13:30 UTC. The contact was completed between IN80fl in Spain and JJ40ql in Gabon.

These are the latest in a series of new records set over the past few months, including:

EO-88 – 4,086 km. F4DXV in JN04iu <> VO1FOG in GN37in. 02-Apr-2020 at 23:20 UTC.
PO-101 (FM) – 5,128 km. EA4SG in IN80cp77em<> R9LR in MO27qf72nd. 06-May-2020 at 23:03 UTC.
RS-44 – 8,357 km. W5CBF in EM30jf35qi <> DL4EA in JN48ko94cw. 26-May-2020.
AO-92 (L/V) – 4,202 km. OA4/XQ3SA in FH17lv <> XE1MEX in EK08mu. 03-Jun-2020 at 04:07 UTC.
AO-27 – 5,682 km. E21EJC in OK03fp <> R9LR in MO27qf. 09-Jun-2020 at 23:45 UTC.
XW-2B – 4,978 km. KE9AJ in DM79iq47 <> FG8OJ in FK96ig17. 20-Jun-2020 at 11:14 UTC.

Congratulations to all of these operators for their patience and their operating skill.

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice-President, 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/

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2020

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period June 1, 2020 through July 1, 2020. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

CALL	June	July

N0JE	637	652
WD9EWK(DM43)	600	612
NS3L	551	575
KI7UNJ	510	527
AD0HJ	425	450
KE8FZT	400	428
AA4QE	305	408
K5IX	375	402
ND0C	346	377
KC9UQR	275	301
WA9JBQ	275	300
N4YHC	250	270
W4DTA	261	263
KA9P	212	259
KS1G	170	233
KE0WPA	200	229
VU2LBW	114	200
N3CAL	100	160
K7TEJ	102	126
N7ZO	New	116
AC9O	New	108
DJ3GZ	New	108
WD9EWK(DM45)	100	106
K3HPA	New	102
WA9WUD	New	102
KI5HHK	New	101
N8URE	New	101
KD9NGV	New	100
KP4RV	New	100
W8LR	New	100

If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at W5RKN [at] W5RKN.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]

Virginia Air and Space Center Discontinues KE4ZXW Demo Station

The Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton,Virginia has ended its twenty-five year relationship with the KE4ZXW Amateur Radio Demonstration Station. Robert Griesmer, Executive Director and CEO of the Virginia Air and Space Center has directed that the KE4ZXW Amateur Radio Demonstration Station located at the Virginia Air and Space Center (VASC) be disassembled and removed from the Center by June 30.

In his June 5, 2020, update Mr. Griesmer advised the following to the KE4ZXW group: “I am writing to you to inform you that, after careful consideration, we have decided to discontinue the Ham Radio Station Exhibit effective July 1st upon the re-opening of the Center.” Randy Grigg, WB4KZI, president of the Amateur Radio group, thanked the volunteers who have supported and operated the station for the last 25 years.

The station has spent the last quarter of a century demonstrating the use of Amateur Radio, its applications as a STEM Activity, communications skills and communications through amateur satellites to school groups. The station also made contacts to the International Space Station.

The KE4ZXW Amateur Radio station’s equipment has found a new home with K4KDJ, the Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Association in Blacksburg, Va.

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

AMSAT 2020 Board of Directors Election Upcoming

The nomination period for this year’s AMSAT Board of Directors election ended June 15. The following candidates have been found to have their membership in good standing and their nomination credentials in order:

Howard DeFelice, AB2S
Mark Hammond, N8MH
Jeff Johns, WE4B
Robert McGwier, N4HY
Bruce Paige, KK5DO
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM

This year, AMSAT will be electing three voting members of the Board of Directors. These will go to the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternates chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received.

Further details regarding the mechanics of the election will appear in ANS in the near future. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT membership by July 15th based on a membership list that will be generated as early as July 1. Members are encouraged to use the AMSAT Membership Portal at https://launch.amsat.org/ to verify that their membership is in good standing and their mailing address is correct.

[ANS thanks Brennan Price, N4QX, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]

CAS-6 Becomes TO-108, Confusion Ensues

At the request of CAMSAT and the CAS-6 team, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations & OSCAR Number Administrator announced last week that CAS-6 (TQ-1) would receive the official designation of TQ-OSCAR 108 (TO-108).

Since that designation, TO-108 was added to the AMSAT Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page at https://www.amsat.org/status/ However, an entry for CAS-6 also remains on that page. Further, AMSAT TLE distributions continue to list the satellite as CAS-6 (NORAD Cat ID 44881).

Operators should be aware that the designations CAS-6 and TO-108 both refer to the same satellite, and should be on the lookout for changes in the naming on websites and in TLE distribution sets. It many take a week or two before consistent naming filters through all systems.

Frequencies for the intended radio amateur mission are:
• CW Telemetry Beacon: 145.910 MHz
• AX.25 4.8kbps GMSK Telemetry: 145.890 MHz
• U/V Linear Transponder Downlink: 145.925 MHz, 20 kHz bandwidth
• U/V Linear Transponder Uplink: 435.280 MHz, Inverted

Operator reports indicate that the transponder is active only for brief intervals of about 2 seconds, spaced approximately 5 seconds apart. With patience, and quick transmissions, QSOs have been completed.

[ANS thanks Mark Johns, K0JM, for the above information]

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San Diego Microwave Group Discusses ARISS Possibilities

Participants in the San Diego Microwave Group’s (SDMG) 29 June 2020 Zoom meetup discussed the possibility of the AREx broadband digital microwave design being potentially deployed on the International Space Station (ISS).

Since the project has focused heavily on high earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and the lunar opportunity with Gateway, the challenges of low earth orbit (ISS) now need to be addressed. This will be an ongoing process. Here’s what participants recommended at SDMG:

Since there are LEO constellations up to and including Ka band, the tracking and doppler have been done. It’s just a question of learning the requirements, design patterns, limitations, and techniques.

Since the project already incorporates the near-space communications recommendations from Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), little has to be done in that regard.

HamTV on ISS is at 2.4 GHz, which while lower than the projected 5 GHz and 10 GHz, has all the other aspects of broadband digital. There is plenty to be learned from those experiments, and meetings are being set up to begin to collaborate with the principals of HamTV on deeply appreciated advice & next steps.

There was strong advice to eliminate antenna pointing. Use of an antenna system in space and on the ground that does not require tracking would dramatically increase adoption. With Adaptive Coding and Modulation, all sorts of systems can be accommodated. However, a ground station that does track can use a directional antenna with a lot more gain, and get a much higher bit rate, while a station with a 120 degree field of view would get a lower bit rate, but would not have to track at LEO. This needs thorough link budgeting.

There are several link budgets in Jupyter Notebook in progress at https://github.com/phase4space/payload-dmt Others interested in helping here are most welcome.

Testing for human rated spacecraft incurs a substantial increase in engineering, paperwork, and time requirements. Putting the equipment outside instead of inside does not eliminate the testing requirements. This is going to require advice/direction from ARISS.

Space heritage of this type, where equipment is an external payload only requiring power, makes hosted payload options easier to negotiate. There are 5-6 GEO missions going up in the next 3 years that could be targeted.

Doppler is a factor here, and SDMG participants received strong recommendations about talking with particular ARISS team members with experience. SDMG will be learning from and incorporating their advice in the very near future.

[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, Member of the AMSAT Board of Directors, for the above report]

ARISS NEWS

Scheduled contacts and events:

Don Bosco Haacht Technisch en Beroepsonderwijs, Haacht, Belgium, Multi-point telebridge via AB1OC. (A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home.) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS, and the scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR. The contact is go for Friday, July 10 at 10:49:51 UTC (27 degrees maximum elevation).

ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts.

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors 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/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Quick Hits:

Email from @KS1G: K2B (VA, me) and K2F (MD) are both on sats for the 13 Colonies event through Tuesday evening. K2F told me K2A (NY) is also on. He will also post schedules to twitter!!!

DN08, 7/4 & 7/5, @KC7JPC, John is heading out roving. Yippeeeeee!!!!

DN18 / DN28, 7/11: KI7UXT and KC7JPC

EM57 & EM67 (Saturday 7/11 & 7/12) N4DCW may also stop in EM58, passes posted on his QRZ page.

FN45 & FN46, VE2FUA, 7/12 & 7/13: Chris is heading out to a little known (to rovers at least) called Maine. Might want to get him while he is there.

FM13 & FM03, 7/12 & 7/13, WZ4M is heading out Holiday Style <- Updated Grids

EN20/30 Line, July 28-31, @KX9X : Sean is moving quickly towards his VUCC/R award by heading out again for two more grids. Watch his Twitter for details.

Major Roves:

@KM4LAO is heading out on 7/3 – 7/9 through Texas, Colorado and Kansas. FMs for sure and maybe linears. The tentative schedule is as follows: 7/3 (evening) – 7/4: DM95 7/5: DM86/96 gridline and possibly DM85/95 line as well 7/6: DM87/88 or DM97/98 gridline based on family schedule 7/6-7/9: DM87 Details will be posted on Twitter @KM4Ruth

@N5BO is heading out into the Murder Hornet territory: EM43/44 on 7/3 Starting at 15:05 EM53/54 on 7/4 Starting at 14:54 EM52 on 7/5 Starting at 16:37 Click here for pass scheduled and frequencies

@WY7AA is heading out again!!! Starting July 13th DN63 (Some Day passes) DN64 fir a few days of fly fishing then DN55 – DN68, and getting home on July 31st….

** Postponed ** DL88: Ron (@AD0DX) and Doug (@N6UA) are making another run at the elusive DL88 in Big Bend National Park, TX. As we know they tried this grid back in March, and due to the mud couldn’t get to the grid, so never ones to quit, off they go again. Today the tentative date is Monday July 6th, 2020. They will be using the K5Z call sign. More information is available at the K5Z QRZ Page.

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

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

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Current schedule:

Shelby NC Hamfest (Contact N4HF for info or if you want to help.) Phil Jenkins, N4HF, is planning to present a forum – and set-up/man an info table – at the Shelby NC Hamfest Friday/Saturday Sept 4 & 5. (the ‘fest runs Sept 4-6, but he’ll probably only be there Friday and Saturday). Demos possible if additional volunteers step up.

A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from: https://bit.ly/2ygVFmV This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout.

To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ There has been further work on trying FT8 for EME, this time on 1296. It turns out that, contrary to the original news item, the Doppler spread on the lower bands is not an issue, since the energy distribution of the EME signal is mainly concentrated in a much narrower spectrum than the maximum total Doppler spread. This means that it can work probably with little degradation on bands up to and including 1296, under most circumstances. For a writeup of this work please see http://bobatkins.com/radio/FT8_EME_1296.html (ANS thanks Charles Suckling, G3WDG, via Southgate ARC, for the above information)

+ Two ISS astronauts, including newly-arrived Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, performed a spacewalk to replace batteries on the outside of the station (and dropped a handheld mirror which promptly became the newest piece of space debris). (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)

+ Hackster recently featured a nice little project using a Raspberry Pi to display the current location of the International Space Station (ISS) and its trajectory over time, using an ePaper Display, ProtoStax Enclosure and some Python code. See https://bit.ly/2Ao9HVa (ANS thanks to hackster.io and JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above information)

+ The Space Science Center at Morehead State University (Kentucky) is accepting applications for a full-time position as a Space Systems Engineer – Software Engineer. For details and to apply, see: https://moreheadstate.peopleadmin.com/postings/9284 Please note: The preferred closing date has passed, but they are still accepting applications! (ANS thanks Morehead State and JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above information)

+ The Benchmark Space Systems team is excited to sponsor and present a complimentary “Propulsion Systems 101” workshop Wednesday July 8 at 1:00 p.m. EST (1700z) The workshop will provide satellite integrators and constellation developers with a broad overview of propulsion technologies and their associated operational capabilities. Register at: https://www.lrainstitute.com/event_post/0720-propulsion-systems/ (ANS thanks Benchmark Space Systems and JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above information) +

/EX

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 6 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, Mark D. Johns, K0JM

k0jm at amsat dot org

ANS-180 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for June 28th

June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Mark Johns

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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

AMSAT Symposium Proceedings Now Available to AMSAT Members
Ham Talk Live Episode on Satellite Etiquette
ASEE Presentation on CubeSatSim
CAS-6 Becomes TO-108, Added to AMSAT TLE Distribution
AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2020 Board of Directors Election
ARISS Volunteer VK5ZAI Named Member of the Order of Australia
Upcoming Satellite Operations
ARISS News
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.01
ANS-180 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2020 June 28
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-180.01

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice. For details, please visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/

AMSAT Symposium Proceedings Now Available to AMSAT Members

All editions of the AMSAT Symposium Proceedings dating back to 1986 are now available as a benefit of AMSAT membership via the Member Resources section of our new membership portal at launch.amsat.org.

If you’re a current member and have not yet logged on to the portal, please do so to ensure that your information is accurate in the database and check out the online resources we have made available to all members, including Proceedings, all issues of The AMSAT Journal dating back to 2014, and a printable frequency chart listing currently available amateur satellites.

If you’re not a current member, now is a great time to sign up. Visit https://launch.amsat.org/ today!

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President for the above information]

Ham Talk Live Episode on Satellite Etiquette

Popular internet podcast “Ham Talk Live!” this past week featured an episode on Satellite Etiquette. The podcast, which uses the format of a radio call-in show, streams live on Thursdays at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (0100z in the current Daylight Time regimine), can be replayed on You- Tube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF1FnCczwUikw1aKsTqMR9g as Episode 218.

Podcast host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, conducted interviews with Kevin Zari, KK4YEL and Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services about basic satellite operating etiquette as well as how to conduct satellite operations special event stations, such as roamers and during events such as Field Day.

[ANS thanks @HamTalkLive on Twitter 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/

CAS-6 Becomes TO-108, Added to AMSAT TLE Distribution

The CAS-6 (TQ-1) microsatellite was launched December 20, 2019 on a CZ-4B launch vehicle from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. CAS-6 (TQ-1) was developed by the Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT) and in cooperation with China’s commercial satellite manufacturer. CAMSAT completed the design and manufacture of the amateur radio payload, and manages the on-orbit operation of the payload. The satellite carries CW and digital telemetry beacons and a linear transponder. The deployment of the amateur antennas was delayed due technical and COVID-19 issues, but was completed on June 20, 2020. Currently the beacons are carriers only, and the transponder operates with about 2 seconds on and 5 seconds off.

At the request of CAMSAT and the CAS-6 team, AMSAT hereby designates CAS-6 (TQ-1) as TQ-OSCAR 108 (TO-108). We congratulate the owners and operators of TO-108, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.

Frequencies for the intended radio amateur mission are:

CW Telemetry Beacon: 145.910 MHz
AX.25 4.8kbps GMSK Telemetry: 145.890 MHz
U/V Linear Transponder Downlink: 145.925 MHz, 20 kHz bandwidth
U/V Linear Transponder Uplink: 435.280 MHz, Inverted

Operator reports indicate that the transponder is active only for brief intervals of about 2 seconds, spaced approximately seconds apart. With patience, and quick transmissions, QSOs have been completed.

CAS-6 (NORAD Cat ID 44881) has been added to the AMSAT distributions of Two Line Element (TLE) sets beginning from June 25, 2020. Watch for possible future changes to the satellite name in future TLEs.

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations & OSCAR Number Administrator; Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager; and Alan Kung, BA1DU, for the above information]

ASEE Presentation on CubeSatSim

At this week’s American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) virtual national conference, AMSAT’s VP of Educational Relations, Alan Johnston, Ph.D., KU2Y, presented a paper on the use of the AMSAT CubeSatSim in the classroom. His paper “The CubeSat Mini Project: Experiences with an Introductory Freshman Electrical and Computer Engineering Course” described the use of the CubeSatSim in the spring of 2019 at Villanova University.

In addition to building CubeSatSims, the students also built tape measure Yagi-Uda antennas, tracked amateur radio satellites, and listened to Morse code telemetry using SDRs. The CubeSatSim is a low cost satellite emulator that runs on solar panels and batteries, transmits UHF radio telemetry, has a 3D printed frame, and can be extended by additional sensors and modules. It can be built for about $200. Details about the design and use of the simulator are in a series of articles in the AMSAT Journal. More information on the AMSAT CubeSatSim is available at https://cubesatsim.org or by contacting Alan at ku2y at amsat dot org or on Twitter @alanbjohnston.

[ANS thanks Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT VP Educational Relations for the above information]

AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2020 Board of Directors Election

Howard DeFelice, AB2S
Mark Hammond, N8MH
Jeff Johns, WE4B
Robert McGwier, N4HY
Bruce Paige, KK5DO
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM

Further details regarding the mechanics of the election will appear in ANS in the near future. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT membership by July 15th based on a membership list that will be generated as early as July 1. Members are encouraged to use the AMSAT Membership Portal at launch.amsat.org to verify that their membership is in good standing and their mailing address is correct.

[ANS thanks Brennan Price, N4QX, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]

ARISS Volunteer VK5ZAI Named Member of the Order of Australia

Veteran Amateur Radio on the International Radio Station (ARISS) volunteer Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, has been honored as a Member of the Order of Australia in Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours List. Hutchison was recognized “For significant service to amateur radio, particularly to satellite and space communication.” The Australian Government’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet noted that Hutchison is one of 10 official ARISS telebridge stations to the International Space Station, as well as a HamTV ground station.

Hutchison’s station has served as the ham radio contact point for ISS crew members to speak with schools and groups on Earth via ham radio, when a contact location is not within the footprint of an ISS pass. The students connect via a teleconference line from their school to the telebridge station, and then with the astronaut using ham radio.

Hutchison provided communication support for contacts with Australian astronaut Andy Thomas, VK5JAT/VK5MIR, during Thomas’s tour on the Russian Mir space station, and he enabled the first school contact with Mir in 1993. As part of ARISS, he helped 65 schools prepare for ARISS contacts and used his telebridge station for 58 ARISS contacts throughout the world. He is a member of AMSAT-VK.

“Tony’s been an ARISS mentor for years, and was lead of Australia’s mentors,” ARISS-International Secretary Rosalie White, K1STO, said. “He enjoyed talking to the Mir crews long before.” White said that Hutchison, who is in his early 80s, remains involved in the ARISS program. Licensed in 1960, Hutchison became interested in satellite communication in 1965 with OSCAR-3.

“Although I received the honour, I would like to share it with all team members I work with,” Hutchison said. “If it wasn’t for the work that all the ARISS-International volunteers do, this award would never have been given.”

An investiture ceremony is tentatively set for this fall.

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

Largely due to summer school holidays, no contacts are currently scheduled.

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors 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/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Upcoming Roves: Quick Hits:

CM86, 6/26. W6KSR: Will be on a few passes on Friday from CM86,

EM19, 6/27 & 6/28 KE9AJ : Will be at the farm with FM and Linear gear.

FM25 and Maybe FM26, @KM4LAO Now though 6/28. Ruth will be at the beach, no schedule yet!

EM58/EM59, 6/29 @KX9X will be heading out to the grid line between 14:00 and 22:00. Watch his twitter feed for updates. <Updated

EM57 & EM67 (Saturday 7/11 & 7/12) N4DCW <-Change of grids!

FN45 & FN46, VE2FUA, 7/12 & 7/13: Chris is heading out to a little known state (to rovers at least) called Maine. Might want to get him while he is there.

Major Roves:

@WY7AA is heading out again!!! Starting July 13th DN63 (Some Day passes) DN64 fir a few days of fly fishing then DN55 – DN68, and getting home on July 31st….

DL88: Ron (@AD0DX) and Doug (@N6UA) are making another run at the elusive DL88 in Big Bend National Park, TX. As we know they tried this grid back in March, and due to the mud couldn’t get to the grid, so never ones to quit, off they go again. Today the tentative date is Monday July 6th, 2020. They will be using the K5Z call sign. More information is available at the K5Z QRZ Page.

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

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

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Current schedule:

* Shelby NC Hamfest (Contact N4HF for info or if you want to help.) Phil Jenkins, N4HF, is planning to present a forum – and set-up/man an info table – at the Shelby NC Hamfest Friday/Saturday Sept 4 & 5. (the ‘fest runs Sept 4-6, but he’ll probably only be there Friday and Saturday). Demos possible if additional volunteers step up.

A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from: https://bit.ly/2ygVFmV This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout.

To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Rohit Bokade, VU3OIR, has started a petition requesting a change to the Amateur Radio license in India to permit all grades of license to use the amateur radio satellites. In India, holders of the Restricted grade of license (VU3 prefix) are not permitted to use amateur radio satellites or communicate with the International Space Station. (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information)

+ NASA’s Perseverance rover is getting ready to launch to Mars in July, and it’ll carry some very special messages with it. We already knew about the 11 million names and the statement “explore as one” written in Morse code. NASA revealed last week it’ll also take a tribute to health care workers all the way to the red planet. The Perseverance team installed a small aluminum plate showing Earth on top of a serpent-wrapped rod, a nod to the ancient Rod of Asclepius symbol for medicine. NASA said the plaque commemorates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pays tribute to the perseverance of health care workers around the world. (ANS thanks cnet.com for the above information)

+ NASA has agreed to allow its astronauts to fly on reused Crew Dragon spaceships and Falcon 9 boosters beginning as soon as SpaceX’s third launch of a crew to the International Space Station, a mission expec- ted to launch next year. The space agency has modified its contract with SpaceX to permit reuse of spacecraft and rocket hardware. NASA had not previously approved the use of previously-flown spacecraft and rockets on missions carrying the agency’s astronauts into orbit. NASA said the contract modification allows for the extension of the Crew Dragon’s Demo-2 test flight — which launched May 30 with astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, KE5GGX — from two weeks to up to 119 days. (ANS thanks SpaceflightNOW for the above information)

+ NASA announced this week that it will rename its Washington headquarters after its first black female engineer, Mary Jackson, whose story was told in the hit film “Hidden Figures.” Jackson was a research mathematician who was later promoted to become the agency’s first black female engineer. The move by NASA comes as weeks of protests in the United States have sparked a national reckoning about systemic racism and racial inequality. (ANS thanks Space Daily for the above information)

+ Congratulations to Drew Blasbrenner, KO4MA, who has been awarded the first AMSAT issued GridMaster Award (#11)! The GridMaster award is available to all amateurs worldwide who submit proof with confirmation of contacts with each of the 488 maidenhead grids located within the contiguous United States of America. Contacts must be confirmed in writing, preferably in the form of QSL cards or via Logbook of the World (LoTW). This award was first introduced by Star Comm Group in 2014. AMSAT thanks Damon Runion, WA4HFN, and Rick Tillman, WA4NVM, for not only sponsoring this award since its inception, but, also, entrusting AMSAT with the honor of carrying on this important award for the benefit of the entire AMSAT community. (ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director, Contests & Awards, for the above information)

+ The San Diego Microwave Group will hold a Zoom meeting this Monday, June 29 at 7 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time (0200 UTC on June 30) with a presentation by Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, concerning challenges of placing an amateur microwave payload in space. Microwave on the ISS was raised as a possibility this past week from the ARISS/AREx hardware summit meetings. The San Diego Microwave Group meeting is a regular technical roundtable on amateur microwave activities, questions, operations, and experiments. Join Zoom Meeting ID: 819 2711 2936 using Password: 487697. (ANS thanks AMSAT Board Member Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, for the above information).

+ Congrats to Joe Werth, KE9AJ, and Burt Demarcq, FG8OJ, for setting a new distance record on XW-2B on June 20. This was also the longest QSO recorded on any of the XW-2 series of satellites. FG8OJ located at FK96ig17, to KE9AJ at DM79IQ47 is 4,978 km. (ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, AMSAT Executive Vice-President, for the above information)

/EX

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 6 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, Mark D. Johns, K0JM

k0jm at amsat dot org

ANS-173 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for June 21st

June 21, 2020 by Mark Johns

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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2020 Board of Directors Election
AMSAT Announces GridMaster Award
CAS-6 Online
Amicalsat – Aurora Pictures
Raspberry Pi FUNcube Satellite Telemetry Decoder Now Available
ORI Announces ARRL Foundation Grant Award
ORI Announces YASME Foundation Grant Award
38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event
Upcoming Satellite Operations
ARISS News
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-173.01 ANS-173 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 173.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE June 21, 2020
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-173.01

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office is closed
until further notice. For details, please visit
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/

AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2020 Board of Directors Election

Howard DeFelice, AB2S
Mark Hammond, N8MH
Jeff Johns, WE4B
Robert McGwier, N4HY
Bruce Paige, KK5DO
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM

Further details regarding the mechanics of the election will appear in ANS in the near future. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT membership by July 15th based on a membership list that will be generated as early as July 1. Members are encouraged to use the AMSAT Membership Portal at launch.amsat.org to verify that their membership is in good standing and their mailing address is correct.

[ANS thanks Brennan Price, N4QX, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]

AMSAT Announces GridMaster Award

Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director and Contest and Awards Manager, announced AMSAT is now the official sponsor of the GridMaster Award, effective June 15, 2020. This award was first introduced in 2014 by the Star Comm Group. AMSAT thanks Damon Runion, WA4HFN, and Rick Tillman, WA4NVM, for not only developing and sponsoring this award since its inception, but, also, entrusting AMSAT with the honor of carrying on this important award for the benefit of the entire AMSAT community.

The GridMaster Award is available to all amateurs worldwide who submit proof with written confirmation of contacts with each of the 488 maidenhead grids located within the 48 contiguous United States of America.

Two-way communication must be established via amateur satellite with each grid. There is no minimum signal report required.

Contacts must be made from the same location, or from locations no two of which are more than 200 kilometers apart. The applicant’s attestation in the award application serves as affirmation of abidance to the distance rule. There are no endorsements and no recognized tiers of progression; however, amateur operators may apply for and be granted multiple GridMaster awards, when operating from separate and unique 200-kilometer circles.

A numbered and dated certificate will be awarded to each person who qualifies for the award at no cost. In addition, awardees may purchase an engraved plaque to commemorate their achievement.

Since its introduction, ten amateur satellite operators have claimed the title of Grid Master:

John Papay, K8YSE
Doug Papay, KD8CAO
Rick Tillman, WA4NVM
Glenn Miller, AA5PK
Clayton Coleman, W5PFG
Alvaro De Leon R., XE2AT
Fernando Ramirez, NP4JV
Ron Oldham, N8RO
Randy Kohlwey, WI7P
Frank Westphal, K6FW

So, who will be awarded AMSAT’s GridMaster Certificate No. 11? Are you up for the challenge?

Please visit http://amsat.org/gridmaster/ for further details.

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards for the above information]

CAS-6 Online

The CAS-6 V/UHF antenna has been deployed today. Due to some OBC failures, CW beacon and GMSK telemetry are not working properly. At present, only the carriers are transmitted on the two frequencies, the linear transponder has been put into operation. We will then try to diagnose and then determine whether the CW and telemetry data stream transmission can be recovered.

CW Telemetry Beacon: 145.910MHz
AX.25 4.8kbps GMSK Telemetry: 145.890MHz
U/V Linear Transponder Downlink: 145.925MHz, 20kHz bandwidth, Inverted
U/V Linear Transponder Uplink: 435.280MHz

TLE:

CAS-6(2019-093C)
1 44881U 19093C 20170.81187924 -.00001118 00000-0 -13581-3 0 9991
2 44881 97.9575 246.8556 0015830 36.2280 323.9959 14.81412013 26893

[ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU, 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!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

Amicalsat – Aurora Pictures

The Vega rocket (VV16) was scheduled to launch from Kourou on 19 June 2020 01:51:10 GMT with 53 satellites on board. Due to wind conditions this launch has been delayed until at least 21 June.

One of the satellites that will be leaving is the Amicalsat satellite built by the CSUG (Centre Spatial Universitaire Grenoblois). The measurements made by the satellite will be available to all. They will allow radio amateurs to use them for propagation predictions.

The project’s website (in English) has just been put online: http://amicalsat.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/.

The Amsat-Francophone supported this project: http://site.amsat-f.org/amicalsat/

Software (Linux & Windows) is provided for decoding the telemetry and sending it to the database (SatNogs). The user manual is available (in English)

https://tinyurl.com/Amicalsat-User-Manual

*Beacon* *Frequency* *Modes* *Callsign* UHF 436.1 MHz AFSK 1200 RS17S S band 2,415.3 MHz GFSK 1000 kb/s http://amsat-f.org/AMSATLIST/SatellitePage/UK/0Amicalsat.html

Reports are welcome. Thank you for your help.

[ANS thanks Christophe Mercier, AMSAT-F Chairman 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

Raspberry Pi FUNcube Satellite Telemetry Decoder Now Available

The FUNcube Team has announced the availability of FUNcube CubeSat satellite telemetry decoder software for the popular Raspberry Pi computer board.

The original FUNcube telemetry decoder and Dashboard was designed to run on Windows devices and the FUNcube team did publish the telemetry format in accordance with the Amateur Satellite Service traditions and requirements. The Team had planned to opensource the Telemetry Decoder and provide an implementation on Linux, but several new missions after the original FUNcube-1 delayed their plans somewhat.

Late 2019, the Team had the opportunity to develop a low power/low impact ground station, based on Docker containers, for use at the Neumayer III Antarctic base at DP0GVN. This led us to evolve the code such that it would run on a Raspberry Pi.

The Linux implementation is suitable for use on Raspberry Pi versions from 2B+ to 4 and with a FUNcube dongle (Pro or Pro+). The software will tune a dongle to search for and track all three FUNcube compatible spacecraft currently operational. The Telemetry Decoder is configured with five active decoders operating concurrently so it can deal with situations where more than one of the spacecraft are overhead at the same time.

The decoder and warehouse uploader run as a Docker container for convenience shell scripts have been provided to launch the container in one of two modes:

“Interactive Mode” is when the Telemetry Decoder operates in the foreground , when FUNcube compatible telemetry is received, the corresponding hex data is displayed on the terminal screen.
“Background Mode” allows the telemetry decoder to run as a Docker image in the background where it operates much like any other background service on Linux. This mode allows for the automatic restarting of the telemetry decoder after a shutdown or reboot of the RaspberryPi, therefore making it suitable for a remote deployment situation.

*Both modes, when connected to the internet, will upload the received data to the FUNcube Data Warehouse and the totals displayed on the Ranking Page in the normal manner.

*Uploading to the warehouse requires online registration with the FUNcube Data Warehouse.

All the code for the telemetry decoder, and the scripts to build the Docker images, are now published online under a GPL Open Source License at the FUNcube-Dev GitHub account https://github.com/funcube-dev

Alternatively, it possible to buy a pre-formatted microSD card for the Pi from the AMSAT-UK shop at https://shop.amsat-uk.org/

Full instructions PDF can be downloaded from https://tinyurl.com/RPi-FUNcube-Decoder

FUNcube Data Warehouse http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/missions

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

ORI Announces ARRL Foundation Grant Award

ORI, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to open source research and development in amateur radio, has been awarded a $3,000 grant from the ARRL Foundation. This grant, the maximum amount, will be immediately applied to Phase 1 of the Digital Multiplex Transponder research and development program. This grant allows hardware prototypes for broad- band microwave digital payloads to proceed much more quickly.

Established in 1973 by the American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL) as an independent and separate 501(c)(3) organization, the ARRL Foundation administers programs to support the Amateur Radio community.

Funded entirely by the generous contributions of radio amateurs and friends, ARRL Foundation administers programs for Amateur Radio award scholarships for higher education, award grants for Amateur Radio projects, and award special Amateur Radio program grants for The Victor C. Clark Youth Incentive Program and The Jesse A. Bieberman Meritorious Membership Program.

[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NVY, CEO and Director, ORI for the above information]

ORI Announces YASME Foundation Grant Award

ORI, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to open source research and development in amateur radio, has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Yasme Foundation. This grant completes the Phase 1 fundraising campaign and allows ORI’s communications prototype work for geosynchronous and interplanetary amateur radio satellites to proceed.

The Yasme Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation organized to support scientific and educational projects related to amateur radio, including DXing (long distance communication) and the introduction and promotion of amateur radio in developing countries. Yasme supports various projects relating to amateur radio, with an emphasis on developing amateur radio in emerging countries and encouraging youth participation in amateur radio.

The Yasme Foundation makes supporting grants to individuals and organizations providing or creating useful services for the amateur radio community. Regardless of originality or novelty, Yasme supports these programs in order to further the development of amateur radio around the world.

[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NVY, CEO and Director, ORI for the above information]

38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event

The 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting in-person event scheduled to be held in Bloomington, Minnesota has been canceled. The event will be shifted to a virtual, online platform. This comes after a decision made between AMSAT’s Senior Leadership and Board of Directors in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While AMSAT recognizes the national challenges related to recent events in Minneapolis, they have no bearing on the Symposium decision whatsoever. We anticipate holding the 2021 Annual Space Symposium at the previously announced 2020 venue.

The in-person event was scheduled to occur Friday, October 16 through Sunday, October 18. As the 2020 virtual event plans are developed, they will be announced via the usual AMSAT channels.

[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office 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/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

+ Quick Hits DN65/66 (Sunday 6/22/2020) N7EGY

+ Major Roves: DL88: Ron (@AD0DX) and Doug (@N6UA) are making another run at the elusive DL88 in Big Bend National Park, TX. As we know they tried this grid back in March, and due to the mud couldn’t get to the grid, so never ones to quit, off they go again. Today the tentative date is Monday July 6, 2020. They will be using the K5Z call sign. More information is available at the K5Z QRZ Page.

Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, 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/

ARISS News

ARISS lets students worldwide experience the excitement of talking directly with crew members of the International Space Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio science technology through amateur radio.

No upcoming events reported

The ARISS team continues to test and firm up a plan to transform ARISS contacts and how ARISS interacts with youth and education institutions. ARISS will provide distance learning with every student and staff member in their own homes (even quarantined).

[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Due to COVID-19, many hamfest and events around the United States have been canceled or postponed. While we make every effort to ensure the information contained below is correct, there may be some that we missed. We wish all of you safekeeping and hope to be at a hamfest near you soon.

*No events currently scheduled

A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from: https://bit.ly/2ygVFmV This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout.

To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Diwata-2 (PO-101) has been active daily to provide emergency access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Check https://twitter.com/Diwata2PH for the daily activation schedule [ANS thanks DIWATA-2 Ground Team for the above information]

+ The following satellite has decayed from orbit and has been removed From this week’s AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution: 1KUNS-PF – NORAD Cat ID 43466 (Decayed from orbit June 11, 2020 per Space-Track).

+ A new organization, the National Radio Society of Ireland (NRSI) has has been newly founded this year, 2020. Membership is open to all amateur radio operators and shortwave listeners who are either full- time residents or who have, in the past, spent a minimum of two months in Ireland as a visitor. NRSI became member association of the European Radio Amateurs’ Organization (EURAO) on June 11. For details, see https://www.nrsi.ie [ANS thanks EURAO for the above information]

/EX

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 6 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,

Casey Tucker, KI7UNJ ki7unj at amsat dot org