Paul Stoetzer

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of the AMSAT office, the March/April 2020 edition of The AMSAT Journal will not be printed and mailed to members. Instead, a full-color PDF is being made available on the AMSAT website. The issue can be downloaded here.

This issue includes detailed information about AMSAT’s new online membership portal, now active at https://launch.amsat.org. AMSAT members are encouraged to review this article, which includes detailed instructions on accessing your membership account. Stay tuned for more features, including members-only content coming soon.

Articles in the March/April 2020 edition of The AMSAT Journal:

• Apogee View – Clayton Coleman, W5PFG
• Engineering Update – Jerry Buxton, N0JY
• Treasurer’s Report – Robert Bankston, KE4AL
• AMSAT’s New Member and Event Portal – Robert Bankston, KE4AL
• amsatLink — Proposed Wireless Communications Network – Robert Bankston, KE4AL
• Educational Relations Update – Alan Johnston, KU2Y
• A New Design for the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator – Alan Johnston, KU2Y; Jim McLaughlin, KI6ZUM; David White, WD6DRI; Pat Kilroy, N8PK
• For Beginners — Amateur Radio Satellite Primer IV – Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF
• PSAT 1U — A Low-Cost, EasyBuild 1U CubeSat – George Downey, Robert Bruninga, WB4APR
• Gridmaster Heat Map – Paul Overn, KE0PBR

[ANS thanks the AMSAT office for the above information]

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-103

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT North America, 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://amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat dot org.

In this edition:

• ARISS Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic
• New TQSL Version Provides Better LoTW Rover Support
• AMSAT-EA Registering SanoSat-1 for AMSAT Nepal
• ESA and LibreSpace Report: SDR’s for Small Satellites
• Brazil Holds 430 and 1240 MHz Hearing
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts from All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-103.01
ANS-103 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 103.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
April 12, 2020
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-103.01

ARISS Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic

In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the ARISS team is working to transform its activities for the health and safety of ourstudents, host educational institutions and its team.  It has instituted an immediate response effort followed by a more strategic, longer term initiative to protect all.  ARISS leadership, working with a physician on the team, is carefully reviewing all of its procedures in light of the evolving COVID-19 recommendation. ARISS will continue to monitor the local and global situations and will modify its local and global planning as these situations change.

ARISS has two primary initiatives underway.  One is to develop “virtual school” contacts to link each student in their home through its telebridge stations.  The other is to plan SSTV (picture downlink) sessions during which pictures from ISS can be received by all in their homes.

For further information on the ARISS plan, see: https://www.ariss.org/COVID-19.html

[ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, ARISS International Chair 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/

New TQSL Version Provides Better LoTW Rover Support

The latest version of TrustedQSL (TQSL), version 2.5.2, offers improved Logbook of The World (LoTW) support for operations from several locations, as well as the ability to detect uploads that contain incorrect location data.

The primary new feature in TQSL 2.5.2 allows logging programs, in conjunction with TQSL, to avoid incorrect contact uploads, while adding mechanisms to allow easy uploading of logs for roving stations. LoTW had required rovers to identify each location used as a separate location in TQSL. The new version of TQSL allows these operations to be handled much more smoothly by using information from the station’s logging program.

When a log is signed by TQSL, the station details — call Sign, DXCC entity, grid square, and other location details provided by the selected station location (and call sign certificate) — are compared with the details in the log. If the US state and station location in a log do not agree, TQSL 2.5.2 will reject the contact, detecting errors in instances when an incorrect station location has been chosen.

This feature will necessitate changes in many logging programs, because it requires that the log provide station details previously not used by TQSL. Once a logging program supplies these (MY_STATE, MY_DXCC, MY_CQ_ZONE, etc.), then TQSL will validate them against the log. Currently, Cabrillo logs use the CALLSIGN field to verify that the contacts are for the correct call sign.

Optionally, a station performing roaming operations (e.g., from multiple grid squares) can choose to have TQSL assume that the log is correct. When call sign or home station are provided with the log, TQSL will automatically update the details on the upload. Select “Override Station Location with QTH Details from your Log” on the “Log Handling” preference page to enable this feature.

This release also includes an update to the most recent TQSL configuration file.

[ANS thanks the ARRL 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

AMSAT-EA Registering SanoSat-1 for AMSAT Nepal

The Union of Spanish Amateur Radio Operators’ satellite group, AMSAT-EA, is registering with IARU and the ITU the AMSAT Nepal satellite SanoSat-1.  This is being done due to the difficulty of carrying out this procedure in the Asian country. This is a one-off collaboration which will allow said satellite to fly under the Spanish flag.  It should be launched jointly with the AMSAT-EA EASAT-2 and Hades satellites possibly with SpaceX later this year.

SanoSat-1 is a 5cm/side pocketQube 1P designed and developed affordably for the hobbyist community by using readily available commercial of-the-shelf components (COTS).

The SanoSat-1 satellite integrates a gamma radiation sensor as a payload. Its main mission will be to measure space radiation while orbiting, and periodically transmit its level to Earth using RTTY-FSK modulation. All radio amateurs will be able to receive and decode radiation measurement data.

The secondary mission of the SanoSat-1 satellite is also to demonstrate the storage and forwarding concept which will be useful in remote disaster-prone locations. The satellite will collect data from ground sensors, store it on board and transmit it to Earth’s main station. The design and kit for the ground sensors will be made available to the general public.

One of AMSAT Nepal’s goals is to encourage more people to join the group of radio amateurs by receiving data from SanoSat-1 which will also transmit a CW beacon with its internal status.

Another activity scheduled to promote radio amateurs and satellite technology to science and technology students around the world is the organization of hands-on workshops on the construction of pico-satellites and ground stations. There will be an opportunity to build an affordable open source ground station (SatNOGS) and a dedicated GFSK receiver ground station to receive the data.  The design of the satellite itself will be open source as well.

More information is available at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-103-SanoSat-1

[ANS thanks the Union of Spanish Amateur Radio Operators 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/

ESA and LibreSpace Report: SDR’s for Small Satellites

The European Space Agency and Libre Space Foundation have published a paper comparing many common software defined radios (SDR’s). The devices they examined are:

• RTS-SDR v3
• Airspy Mini
• SDRPlay RSPduo
• LimeSDR Mini
• BladeRF 2.0 Micro
• Ettus USRP B210
• Pluto SDR

The report looked at several bands of interest, but not the HF bands — not surprising considering that some of the devices can’t even operate on HF. They did examine VHF, UHF, L band, S band, and C band performance. Some of the SDR’s have transmit capabilities, and for those devices, they tested the transmit function as well as receive.

The review isn’t just subjective. It calculates noise figures and dynamic range, along with other technical parameters. It also includes GNURadio flowgraphs for their test setups, which would be a place to start if one wanted to do these kinds of measurements oneself.

Towards the end of the 134 page report is an assessment of SDR software and how the boards are supported. There was no clear winner or loser although the report did mention how SDRPlay’s closed source limited software support in some applications.

Read the complete report at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-103-SDR-Report

[ANS thanks Hackaday for the above information.]

Brazil Holds 430 and 1240 MHz Hearing

A public hearing is being held in Brazil concerning both the 430 MHz and the 1240 MHz Amateur Radio bands.

On March 23, 2020 the National Telecommunications Agency, ANATEL, published a Public Consultation proposal number 14/2020 on technical and operational requirements for the use of the frequency bands from 430 MHz to 440 MHz and from 1240 MHz to 1300 MHz by stations of the Private Limited Service (SLP) for radiolocation applications.

The national amateur radio society LABRE says “The Radio Amateur community is concerned about the possible occurrence of interference, especially in the 70 cm band.”

Read the translated LABRE post at: https://tinyurl.com/BrazilLABRE.

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.]

Upcoming Satellite Operations

From the Mountains to the Bay(CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02, 10,11,20,21) April 12-21, 2020

RJ, WY7AA, is hitting the asphalt again, roving from Wyoming to Vacaville, CA. He’s attending a class from April 15-19, so most of the roving will be outside of this time. Grids to be covered include: CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21. Specific pass details will be posted on WY7AA QRZ page and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WY7AA) as the trip approaches.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL 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 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. As always, ARISS will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.

The following schools have now been postponed or canceled due to COVID-19:

Postponed:

• SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD
• RO-SAT One, Piatra-Neam?, Romania, direct via YRØISS
• McConnell Middle School, Loganville, GA, prefer direct via KD4TGR
• Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, direct via N4FR
• Oakwood School, Morgan Hill, CA, direct via AE6XM
• Ramona Lutheran School, Ramona, CA, direct via N6ROR

Canceled:

• Electromagnetic Field, Ledbury, United Kingdom, direct via GB4EMF

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, for the above information.]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Due to COVID-19, many hamfests 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.

Current schedule:

• May 2, 2020 Arrowhead Radio Amateurs Club Hamfest, Superior, WI
• June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Com, Plano, TX

The following events scheduled to have an AMSAT presence have been CANCELED:

• April 18, 2020 Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, Brainerd, MN
• May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur Radio Association Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ
• May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ
• May 15-17, Hamvention, Xenia, OH

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]

Shorts from All Over

Fresh ISS Crew Arrives

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR, and two Russian cosmonauts arrived Thursday for their mission aboard the International Space Station, temporarily restoring the orbiting laboratory’s population to six people. The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft carrying Cassidy, along with Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, docked to the station’s Poisk service module at 10:13 A.M. after a four-orbit, six-hour flight. Their Soyuz spacecraft launched at 4:05 A.M. EDT (0805Z, or 1:05 P.M. Kazakhstan time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information.]

Rocket Lab Rocket Recovery Test Video

Before New Zealand went into COVID-19 lockdown, the folks at Rocket Lab did a test to recover a first stage Electron rocket. You can see the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3CWGDhkmbs

[ANS thanks Terry Osborne, ZL2BAC, for the above information.]

Preparing for the Ultimate DXpedition? Read the Manual First!

For those of you who have been dreaming about operating from the moon or Mars, you can begin your preparations by reading SpaceX’s Starship User Guide Version 1.0.  No, it’s not a detailed flight manual but it will help you plan your provisions.  It’s light reading and can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-103-Starship

[ANS thanks JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM for the above information.]

First Transatlantic Contact on 70 Centimeters Reported

History appears to have been made on April 7, when AMSAT member Burt Demarcq, FG8OJ, on Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, and an operator at D4VHF in Cape Verde off the African Coast and , completed a contact on 70 centimeters using FT8 — a distance of 3,867 kilometers (2,398 miles). This would mark the first transatlantic contact on that band that did not involve satellites or moonbounce. The most likely mode of propagation was marine ducting, with the signal being trapped close to the ocean surface.

One day earlier, 9Y4D in Trinidad copied D4VHF over a distance of 4,006 kilometers (2,484 miles), but no contact was made. D4VHF is the VHF-UHF contest call sign of the Monteverde Contest Team (D4C).

Perhaps not coincidentally, FG8OJ was the first to span the Atlantic on 2 meters over the same path, when he worked D41CV in Cape Verde on June 16, 2019.

[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information.]

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President’s Club. Members of the President’s Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT office.

Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status.

Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information.

73,

This week’s ANS Editor,

Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-096

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

In this edition:

• Ham Radio Book Featured in “Story Time From Space” on ISS
•  NO-104 / PSAT2 Status
•  VUCC Standings for April 2020
• AMSAT Awards During Stay-at-Home Orders
• Radio Amateurs of Canada Offers New Online Amateur Radio Course
• AMSAT South Africa Reports Good Progress with AfriCUBE
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• Satellite Shorts from All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.01
ANS-096 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 096.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE April 5, 2020
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-096.01

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/

Ham Radio Book Featured in “Story Time From Space” on ISS

In a collaborative initiative between the ISS National Lab Space Station Explorers, Story Time From Space, and ARISS, the recent book Ada Lace, Take Me to Your Leader by Emily Calandrelli, KD8PKR, was read by Astronaut Anne McClain for Story Time From Space. Anne read the book in three segments. The second segment features a tour of the ARISS radio station that includes details about ham radio and ARISS.

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT VP Human Spaceflight, pointed out that at the end of the final segment, a video was included of Astronaut Sunita Williams, KD5PLB talking about the impact of ham radio on both the ISS astronauts and the students participating in ARISS activities. Many schools and media outlets—and even the USA’s First Lady—have recommended that parents have housebound youth listen to McClain read the book.

The Vermont Community Newspaper Group‘s (Burlington) reporter wrote in part, “A great way to get out of the house—way out of the house—without leaving home…. In this installment Ada is trying to fix a ham radio. It’s a nice antidote to weighty issues, enjoying readings from weightlessness.”

A few posts recommending McClain’s YouTube thus far are: Los Angeles’s ABC TV7; Daily Times (Delaware County, PA); The Mercury (Berks County, PA); The Trentonian (NJ); The Barnstable Patriot (MA); and the Orange School District and Hamilton School District (NJ).

Find the video for your favorite future astronaut at: https://storytimefromspace.com/ada-lace-part-1/

[ANS thanks Rosalie White, K1STO, of the ARISS staff for the above information]

NO-104 / PSAT2 Status

The 2m/APRS side of the sat is still non operating for the unknown reasons. Any change or any packet heard would be welcomed.

The 435MHz side of the sat is still going strong. The PSK31 transponder is operating flawlessly with occasional activity seen over the US. If you are operating through transponder, you are asked to stay within 400-1000Hz of downlink frequency. Lower you can interfere with the tlm beacons and higher you will be wiped off by the SSTV signal.

The orbit is elliptical with apogee position period approximately 34 days.

The 435.350MHz downlink frequency is temperature dependent a bit so best reception with any kind of SDR, where in waterfall you can see actual downlink freq. The greatest offset is seen after eclipse when sat is coldest. The downlink is operating in Sun only, it switches off entering the eclipse and switches on coming from eclipse or after 30-minute timer.

The tlm beacons transmit every 4 minutes. The spectrum of the signal is narrow, so in SDR you can use just 2kHz bandwidth gaining SNR. Two minutes after tlm, the SSTV picture is transmitted in 4 minutes intervals also. For reception best bandwidth observed is around 9500Hz. Transmitted pictures are alternating prestored ones and pictures from camera memory stored on orbit.

Reception is possible on high passes with good omni antenna using the LNA in the quiet environment. But for the passes till horizon, directional antenna and LNA is needed.

We are still looking for any stations capable of regular downlink receptions with position between 40deg South and 40deg North. If you can make the receptions available in IQ format it would be greatly welcomed. Station capable of uplink in 29MHz to sat can be selected as commanding station and then can acquire pictures in real time or store them in sequence. So you can get pictures of your side of the globe, just contact us.

Further info and contacts can be found at https://github.com/alpov/PSAT-2/blob/master/README.md

[ANS thanks Tomáš Urbanec, OK2PNQ, 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

VUCC Standings for April 2020

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

Callsign	March 1	April 1
N3GS	624	652
K9UO	550	565
KK4YEL	413	504
G0ABI	453	454
KB2YSI	101	450
AD0HJ	405	425
N7EGY	351	405
KC9VGG	228	310
N9FN	207	303
PT9BM	225	255
KC9UQR	240	252
WA9JBQ	175	225
W4ZXT	150	202
K5ZM	135	179
WD9EWK (DM41)	148	164
WD9EWK (DM22)	131	150
N4QX	125	138
XE2YWH	102	137
EA2AA	101	125
IZ1ERR	New	112
N7JY	New	106
KE4BKL	New	101
AA7WB	New	100
DP0GVN	New	100

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

AMSAT Awards During Stay-at-Home Orders

So, you are sitting at home waiting to go back to work. You are working some of the passes of a satellite. Logging as you go. What are you going to do with all those contacts in your log? Easy…

You apply for an AMSAT or ARRL award. The ARRL has Worked All States, DXCC and VUCC all with satellite endorsements. AMSAT has the Satellite Communicator Club for working your very first contact on a satellite. The easiest award to apply for. Go directly to the AMSAT Online store and purchase the award. In the comments enter the time/date, satellite and station worked. That’s it. No waiting for QSL cards, no waiting  for LoTW confirmation. Then send me an email that you have paid for the award so I know there is one waiting to be processed.

AMSAT has a few other awards. The AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award for working 20 different contacts in different US States, VE Call Areas and DXCC entities. Adding 40 more, you earn the AMSAT Sexagesimal Award and adding another 40 earns the AMSAT Century Award.

Have you been keeping your log for a long time? You might already qualify for the AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Satellite Operator Achievement Award. This award is for 1,000 contacts with anyone over a satellite. Endorsements for each 1,000 up to 4,000 and a special certificate at 5,000.

There is also the South Africa AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement award. This award is for 25 contacts through a LEO satellite. As we have no HEO satellites at this time and only one GEO satellite you are pretty much good on almost any satellite you work.

And the final one, the AMSAT Rover award. A bit much to explain here.

You can get information on all the AMSAT Awards at http://www.amsat.org click on Services and click on the word Awards. You can also click on each of the individual awards to get information on each.

Submission is easy for the AMSAT awards. Scan your QSL cards or screen shot your LoTW for each contact. Place them in a ZIP file, Word Document, PDF document and email them to kk5do at amsat dot org. I will then take a look at your submission, complete my documentation and email you to go pay for the award/s at the AMSAT online store.

Remember, all satellites are COVID-19 free and you should have no hesitation making a contact through one.

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

Radio Amateurs of Canada Offers New Online Amateur Radio Course

In response to the current Covid-19 crisis, Radio Amateurs of Canada is pleased to announce that it is introducing a new online Amateur Radio course so that individuals can upgrade their qualifications while continuing to practise social/physical distancing.

The RAC Online Basic Amateur Radio Qualification Course prepares stu dents for the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Basic Qualification Level Operator Certificate exam to operate on allocated Amateur Radio frequencies.

The course will use the GoToMeeting web-based service and will start on Thursday, April 16 and will finish in mid-June. Classes will be held on Thursday evenings from 6 pm to 8:30 (1800 – 2030) Eastern Time (1900 – 2130 Atlantic Time) and Sunday afternoons 1 pm to 3:30 pm (1300 – 1530) Eastern Time (1400 – 1630 Atlantic Time).

The course instructor is Al Penney, VO1NO. Al was first licensed in 1977 and has been active in many areas of Amateur Radio including contesting, DXing, VHF/UHF weak signal, satellites, emergency communications and DXpeditioning. He has served as the President of six different Amateur Radio clubs in both Canada and the United States and currently chairs the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 Band Planning Committee. Al has taught the Basic Qualification Amateur Radio Course since 1994.

Cost: The registration fee for the course is $50 plus GST/HST. The cost of the Basic Study Guide is extra and an order link will be provided upon completion of payment.

For more information please visit: https://www.rac.ca/basic-radio-course/

[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]

AMSAT South Africa Reports Good Progress with AfriCUBE

AMSATSA held its regular online progress meeting this past Wednesday. During the past few weeks, progress was made on all fronts. The transponder was tested on the air and an actual contact was made through the transponder. Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP installed the transponder on the tower at his house and made a contact with Keith Laaks, ZS6TW. While it was only over a few kilometres distance, the importance of the contact was that there was no interference and the audio quality was good.

This past week Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC has worked on the software and through a complicated link managed to upload and install newer software remotely. “Anton connected to my computer and took over the machine using TeamViewer and then connected via Wi-Fi to the transponder on my tower,” Hannes, ZS6BZP said. “In normal times we would have simply exchanged a memory stick, but in abnormal times one has to resort to unconventional ways of doing things”.

Further updates will be uploaded this weekend with more testing of the transponder. The next step is to open the testing to local radio amateurs. Full details will be announced on SARL News and on the AMSAT SA Web. The full AfriCUBE development story is available on www.amsatsa.org.za.

The review meeting was also updated with the other components of AfriCUBE. The space frame is complete, the PC boards for the solar panels have been designed and will be manufactured as soon as the lockdown is over. Work is continuing on the antenna and solar panel deployment and a further prototype will be manufactured as soon as South Africa returns to normal work. The electronic power supply unit is complete. A new interface between the Raspberry Pi and the processor has been designed and the circuit board laid out.

[ANS thanks the South African Radio League for the above information]

ARISS News

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-03-30 21:00 UTC

Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:

TBD

Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio? Check out these links:

Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. By the way, I don’t work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw. Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World. Check out: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard

NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home. Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem

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. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates.

The following schools have now been postponed or canceled due to COVID-19:

Postponed:

• SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD
• RO-SAT One, Piatra-Neamț, Romania, direct via YRØISS
• McConnell Middle School, Loganville, GA, prefer direct via KD4TGR
• Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, direct via N4FR
• Oakwood School, Morgan Hill, CA, direct via AE6XM
• Ramona Lutheran School, Ramona, CA, direct via N6ROR

Canceled:

• Electromagnetic Field, Ledbury, United Kingdom, direct via GB4EMF

The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/

Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also.

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, of the ARISS Operations Team, 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/

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.

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.

Current schedule:

• May 2, 2020 Arrowhead Radio Amateurs Club Hamfest, Superior, WI
• June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Con, Plano, TX
• October 16-18, 2020, AMSAT Symposium and Annual General Meeting, Bloomington, MN

The following events scheduled to have an AMSAT presence have been CANCELED:

• April 18, 2020 Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, Brainerd, MN
• May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur Radio Association Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ
• May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ
• May 15-17, Hamvention, Xenia, OH

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services for the above information]

AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

From the Mountains to the Bay (CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21) April 12-21, 2020
RJ, WY7AA, is hitting the asphalt again, roving from Wyoming to Vacaville, CA. He’s attending a class from April 15-19, so most of the roving will be outside of this time. Grids to be covered include: CM88,89,98,99 DM09,19,29 DN00,01,02,10,11,20,21. Specific pass details will be posted on WY7AA QRZ page and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WY7AA) as the trip approaches.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

• At 15:41 UTC on April 2nd, the thrusters of Progress MS-13 fired for 427.5 seconds to provide Δv 0.48. m/s and raise the ISS’s orbit height by about 0.9 km. (ANS thanks @Zarya_info on Twitter)
•  New distance records have been claimed for XW-2B and EO-88. F4DXV reports working VO1FOG on XW-2B on April 1st and again on EO-88 on April 2nd. The 4,086 km trans-Atlantic QSOs are the longest claimed on either of these two satellites. For more records, check https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/
• The Folding at home project is a distributed computing project that is currently running calculations to analyze protein structures on the COVID-19 virus. Donate your spare computer time to help this project and consider joining AMSAT’s team (#67910). More information at https://foldingathome.org/covid19/ AMSAT’s team standings can be found at https://stats.foldingathome.org/team/69710
• The 2020 Eastern VHF/UHF Conference has been canceled, so there will be no Proceedings published. All the papers submitted so far are now available online at: http://newsvhf.com/conference/2020papers.html (more papers may be coming – there is no hard deadline) (ANS thanks the 2020 Eastern VHF/UHF Conference)
• AMSAT-EA has applied for IARU coordination of the Hades satellite. Hades, a 1.5p Pocketqube will feature a V/U linear transponder, a regenerative transponder for FM/FSK/ASK and 0.05kbps-125kbps ASK/FSK/PSK telemetry, store & forward and data transmission from ground stations. (ANS thanks the IARU for the above information)
• Bob Beatty, WB4SON, reported a successful “Satellites for Beginners” presentation via Zoom to the Rochester VHF Society on Saturday, April 4th. If your group would like to host a virtual AMSAT presentation, email ambassadors at amsat.org.
• Happy First Contact Day! 43 years from today, Zefram Cochrane will break the warp barrier with the Phoenix and make first contact with the Vulcans.

/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,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org