AMSAT News Service

AMSAT News Service Bulletin posts. These are meant for the AMSAT News Service section of the website and will not be presented on the homepage.

AMSAT Partners with UMaine’s WiSe-Net Lab to Develop Maine’s First Small Satellite

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The University of Maine Wireless Sensing Laboratory (WiSe-Net Lab) and AMSAT have signed an agreement to collaborate on building and operating MESAT1, Maine’s first small satellite, to be launched in space in the next three years.

MESAT1 is Maine’s first CubeSat — one of 18 small research satellites selected by NASA to carry auxiliary payloads into space between 2021–23. It is part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative that provides opportunities for nanosatellite science and technology payloads built by universities, schools and nonprofit organizations to ride share on space launches.

UMaine’s WiSe-Net Lab, established in 2005, is involved in aerospace and space research. The lab was founded by Ali Abedi, KB1VJV, assistant vice president for research and director of the Center for Undergraduate Research. Lab researchers have developed the first wireless sensor network for NASA’s lunar habitation project and launched wireless leak-detection to the International Space station.

The MESAT1 initiative will enable K–12 students and teachers in Maine to access space data for educational and research purposes, and encourage students to pursue STEM careers.

AMSAT will provide a Linear Transponder Module (LTM) along with integration and operational support for MESAT1. AMSAT’s LTM incorporates a VHF/UHF telemetry beacon, command receiver, and linear transponder. It will be available for radio amateurs worldwide to use when the satellite is commissioned.

AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, celebrated the announcement. “This is a great day for AMSAT and UMaine’s Wise-Net Lab. This partnership is a true win-win for both education and the amateur radio community. The collaborative effort under AMSAT’s engineering and operations teams has once again succeeded to bring another opportunity to AMSAT.”

 

ANS-201 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for July 19th

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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-201

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:

  • AMSAT Board of Directors Election Packages Mailed July 14
  • HO-107 is Back!
  • First Call for Papers – Virtual 2020 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium
  • New D-STAR Reflector for AMSAT Use
  • SpaceX to Launch AMSAT-EA EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites
  • DARC Finds Unauthorized Transmissions in 144 MHz Satellite Band
  • 1240-1300 MHz Discussed at CEPT SE-40 Meeting
  • IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • ARISS News
  • Satellite Shorts from All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-201.01
ANS-201 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 201.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
July 19, 2020
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-202.01

AMSAT Board of Directors Election Packages Mailed July 14

Brennan Price, N4QX, AMSAT Secretary reports that the ballots, candidate statements, and return envelopes for the 2020 AMSAT Board of Directors Election were prepared by Paladin Commercial Printing of Newington, Connecticut. Paladin mailed the packages from Hartford, Connecticut, on Tuesday, July 14, to members of record on July 1.

Non-US addresses were sent first class (the only option for overseas). US addresses were sent pre-sorted standard, which is routine for mail that requires a two-way response time measured in weeks, as this does.

Allowing for postal delivery standards and guard time, the Secretary will not consider a ballot as lost in post any earlier than August 12 (four weeks after the mailing). This timing permits a replacement ballot to be mailed first class in both directions, even internationally, with time to spare under prevailing postal delivery standards.

Paladin has shipped materials for 100 blank election packages to Price.

Price will use these materials to assemble and mail replacement or substitute packages as necessary. These requests and packages will be tracked and accounted against the voter list and returned ballots to guard against duplicates, and will be identifiable against the package mailed by Paladin for further verification and accounting by the tellers. Members desiring a replacement ballot package should contact Price no earlier than August 12.

The package is clearly labeled as election-related and contains:

1) An instruction and ballot sheet, with the ballot perforated,
2) A sheet of candidate statements, and
3) A No 9 return envelope, which bears the address to which ballots should be returned and the member’s name and address for verification against the voter list and any replacement ballot requests.

Secrecy at the time of counting will be maintained by separating the ballot from the envelope without inspection, placing the ballot in a receptacle, and scrutinizing the ballots after all have been separated from the envelopes.

Ballots should be returned in the return envelopes provided to arrive at the designated Post Office Box in Vienna, Virginia, by 5 p.m. Thursday, September 15, 2020. Separation of the ballots from the envelopes and counting will occur as soon thereafter as practicable, and no later than September 30.

Brennan can be reached at [email protected] for a query about membership status at any time or a replacement ballot after August 12.

[ANS thanks Brennan Price, N4QX, AMSAT Secretary 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/

HO-107 is Back!

On the evening of July 17, 2020, Vlad Chorney, EU1SAT, tweeted “Husky-1 ACTIVE!” with a screenshot from FoxTelem showing that he had received telemetry from HO-107 (HuskySat-1) which had been silent for nearly two months. About an hour after EU1SAT’s tweet, the satellite passed over the eastern United States and AMSAT command stations KO4MA and N8MH copied telemetry. On subsequent passes, the satellite was successfully commanded.

Please continue to copy telemetry in FoxTelem. If you have removed HO-107 from your tracked satellites during its period of inactivity, please add it back. The transponder remains disabled while AMSAT Operations evaluates the telemetry from the satellite.

[ANS thanks AMSAT Operations for the above information]

First Call for Papers – Virtual 2020 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium

This is the first call for papers for the Virtual 2020 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on October 17, 2020. Proposals for papers and symposium presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. Further details regarding the virtual event will be announced shortly. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with the final copy to be submitted by October 5, 2020 for inclusion in the Symposium Proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv(at)amsat.org.

[ANS thanks Dan Schultz, N8FGV, 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

New D-STAR Reflector for AMSAT Use

It has been nearly two years since Walter Holmes, K5WH and friends created the AMSAT DMR Talkgroup 98006 and has been working with great success. About one year ago they created a YSF US AMSAT Reflector 11689 to pull in others using Yaesu System Fusion digital radios. As these were working so well, they decided to bridge the two systems together so it would longer matter which of these digital technologies users had. Users could cross communicate between all users of both systems.

After success with the DMR talkgroup and the YSF reflector for more than a year, there was plenty of interest in adding D-STAR capability to the same system.

Walter is happy to announce the creation of a new D-STAR reflector for that purpose.  It supports four different reflector names such as XLXSAT, XRFSAT, DCSSAT, and REFSAT that are all linked together so that all of these work the same. As most people that are familiar with D-STAR reflectors know, they usually have numbers for the reflectors, but it seemed more appropriate to switch from the number system to the Alpha name like SAT to make it easier to find in the list.

For those using hotspots, they will need to refresh or update their Pistar or BlueDV host files to see these entries before they will see this one in the pull-down list.

Walter adds, “We recommend that users use module C for the AMSAT conversations but several other modules are available if we find a need to stretch out a bit. But, the C module is the one also linked to a few other repeaters.

“The D-STAR SAT reflector is not currently bridged into the system as are the DMR and YSF reflectors, but we hope to have that linked invery soon after a little more testing.

“If you have D-STAR capability, we invite you to give it a try and see how  it works for you.”

[ANS thanks Walter Holmes, K5WH for the above information]

SpaceX to Launch AMSAT-EA EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites

Spain’s national amateur radio society URE says SpaceX expect to launch the EASAT-2 and Hades satellites in December 2020.

AMSAT-EA, the URE satellite group, is building the satellites together with the European University of Madrid. The launch has been managed through the space broker Alba Orbital based in Glasgow.

EASAT-2 and Hades will be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit between 500 km and 600 km and their main function is to act as analog and digital repeaters for radio amateurs. There is also a camera for SSTV transmissions provided by the Czech Republic that has already flown on the United States Naval Academy PSAT-2 satellite, and has now been adapted to fit into the PocketQube satellites.

Both satellites are based on the PocketQube 1.5P (7.5 x 5 x 5 cm) architecture and represent an evolution of the previous GENESIS platform, whose GENESIS-L and GENESIS-N satellites are expected to fly before the end of the year with Firefly, in a joint collaboration with Fossa Systems and LibreSpace, which also launch their own satellites, all of them within the Picobus dispenser, developed bythe latter.

IARU has coordinated these frequencies:
– Hades – uplink 145.925 MHz, downlink 436.888 MHz
– EASAT-2 – uplink 145.875 MHz, downlink 436.666 MHz

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK 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/

DARC Finds Unauthorized Transmissions in 144 MHz Satellite Band

The DARC reports unauthorized transmissions are taking place in the 144 MHz satellite segment of the 2M amateur radio primary allocation.

A translation of the DARC post reads:

“In the 144.010 MHz to 144.020 MHz range, illegally operated transmitters are increasingly being operated as “water vitalizers” or “water energizers”. The manufacturer specifies 144.015 MHz as the transmission frequency in its product description.

“The DARC EMC department asks for further information with location information about conspicuous signals in this frequency range, in preparation for collective complaints.

“The devices apparently generate fields with considerable field strength and a long range. The signals appear increasingly in the morning or in the evening. The illegal transmitters are typically in operation for 5 to 60 minutes (integer multiples of 5 minutes). The signal is generally very stable in frequency, but occasionally shows short-term fluctuations of up to a few 100 Hz. Otherwise the carrier is not further modulated.

The frequency range 144.000 MHz to 146.000 MHz is assigned to the Amateur Radio service in Germany as the primary exclusive user.”

A video of the interference caused by these devices and a map showing some of the cases so far detected in Germany can be seen at https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/emv/

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

1240-1300 MHz Discussed at CEPT SE-40 Meeting

The 69th meeting of CEPT ECC Working Group SE-40, held June 23-25, discussed the Amateur Radio 1240-1300 MHz band, the meeting documents are now available.

Several contributions were received for the ECC Report dealing with the coexistence between the radionavigation-satellite service and the amateur service in the frequency band 1240 – 1300 MHz. The contributions were incorporated in the draft ECC Report. The CPG arrangements for the preparation of WRC-23 for AI 9.1 topic b) was noted.

The Russian Federation noted:
– 1240-1260 MHz is by the GLONASS system
– 1260-1300 MHz are used by EU’s Galileo, Beijing’s Beidou, Japan’s
QZSS and is planned to be used by Korea’s KPS.

Among the documents available in Input, Info and Minutes are:
– SE40(20)052 Amateur Repeaters – IARU-R1
– SE40(20)051 Section 2 update WI_39 – IARU-R1
– SE40(20)050 Annex Draft report RNSS Amateur – Russian Federation
– SE40(20)049 Suggestions for RNSS and Amateur Service Compatibility, Russian Federation
– Info 1 Amateur repeaters 23 cm – IARU-R1
– Info 3 Letter to SE40 chairman on updated of ITU-R M.1092 – European Commission
– Minutes
– SE40(20)56A3 (1) Draft Report Amateur vs RNSS

Download the meeting documents from https://tinyurl.com/ANS-201-CEPT.

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

IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites

– HIAPO
HIAPO is a 1U CubeSat mission that is a unique platform being used to provide engaging meaningful hands-on STEM curriculum for Hawaii students K-12. Part of this curriculum involves obtaining data about solar flares solar particle events and the disturbances of the Earth’s magnetic field. The students can also collect data on solar events with relation to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back towards the Earth from the ionosphere. During the lifespan of this mission that data will be available for amateur operators to download directly from the satellite.

The Hawaii Science & Technology Museum was awarded a no-cost flight of the launch and a limited resources will not allow the development of an Amateur Radio digipeater. However if the launch date slips they plan to work with resources at AMSAT to develop a digipeater. Proposing a UHF downlink using 9k6 FSK with AX25. Planning a Firefly launch from Vandenberg in July 2020 into a 300 km orbit with 137 degree inclination together with Serenity and Spinnaker 3. A downlink on 437.225 MHz has been coordinated.

– VZLUSAT-2
VZLUSAT-2 is 3U CubeSat project of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and Czech Aerospace Research Centre. Students from four Czech technical universities are involved along with members of an Amateur Radio community from The Czech Republic.

The primary payload is the experimental Earth observation camera with an expected resolution around 30 to 50 m GSD. Secondary payloads of the mission are Radiation Orbital Monitor, Gama Ray Burst detector, X-ray detector and other sensors. This mission is fully open to Radio Amateurs who were also involved in the development of the satellite.

The space segment uses two Amateur bands for communication: An S-band for payload data downlink (DVBS2 ETSI EN 302 307 standard, 2 MBd, QPSK), and UHF downlink beacon (GMSK 1200 Bd), telecommand uplink (GMSK, 1200 Bd – 9600 Bd) and telemetry downlink (GMSK 4800, 9600 Bd). All the information is in an open format and everything needed for decoding is or will be published at: https://www.pilsencube.zcu.cz/vzlusat2/transmission.pdf.

Planning a launch from Cape Canaveral in the time window from December 2020 to March 2021 into SSO 500-600 km. A downlink on 437.325 MHz has been coordinated.

[ANS thanks the IARU 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:

– Need Hawaii? On AO-7 Most days. NH7WN for a schedule.

– EN85, 86 and maybe 75 and 76, July 11-25. @AA8CH for a schedule.

– FN44/54, 7/22 – 7/31, KQ2RP: Just like last time, FM only.

– FN11+21 then 12+22 grid lines, 7/25, @NS3L Steve is heading out to these lines. Schedule to come.

– 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.

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

Major Roves:

– @WY7AA is heading out again!
Mon 7/20 DN67/68. All SSB and FM passes from about 1600-0400.
Tue 7/21 DN57/58. All SSB and FM passes from about 1600-0400.
Wed 7/22 Travel day no sats.
Thu 7/23 DN55/56. All SSB and FM passes from about 1600-0400.
Fri 7/24 DN65/66. All SSB and FM passes from about 1600-0400.
Watch his QRZ page for details and updates.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

No events posted.

ARISS News

No pending school operations.

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

Shorts from All Over

– Sean Kutzko, KX9X To Present “Working Satellites” at DXE Virtual Hamfest and DX Academy July 25, 2020

Join Sean on Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 10:15 EDT for his thirty-minute presentation on Amateur Radio satellites.  Sean’s presentation is part of the DX Engineering Virtual Hamfest and DX Academy. The event is free and open to all. Register at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-201-Sean

– Behind Scenes SpaceX Crew Dragon Mission You Haven’t Seen

NASA has just released a new video. It starts with “You saw history made with the first crewed launch and docking of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, but you didn’t see the flurry of activity on board the International Space Station…until now.

“Join Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy and his crew mates as they prepare their cameras to document the DM-2 launch, and look over their shoulders to witness the new American spacecraft dock to the station and deliver their new crew mates.”

Watch the twelve minute video at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-201-Dragon.

[ANS thanks http://spaceref.com 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

 

ANS-194 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for July 12th

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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-194

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:

  • AMSAT Leadership Explains 2018-2020 Legal Expenses
  • Update on HO-107 (HuskySat-1)
  • AMSAT-DL Proposes LunART – Luna Amateur Radio Transponder
  • Buffalo Soldiers Special Event on the Satellites
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Upcoming ARISS Contacts
  • Satellite Shorts from All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-194.01
ANS-194 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 194.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE July 12, 2020
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-194.01

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 Leadership Explains 2018-2020 Legal Expenses

On July 10, 2020, AMSAT President Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, sent the following letter to AMSAT members regarding legal expenses incurred during the 2018-2020 timeframe. The letter was co-signed by Dr. Tom Clark, K3IO, Martha Saragovitz, Keith Baker, KB1SF, Robert Bankston, CPA, KE4AL, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, Dr. Mark Hammond, N8MH, Bruce Paige, KK5DO, and Paul Stoetzer, N8HM.

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-194-Letter

[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information]

Update on HO-107 (HuskySat-1)

AMSAT Vice President – Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, posted the following update on HO-107 (HuskySat-1) on the AMSAT-BB:

While it is disappointing that the transponder did not see a longer period of use following the science missions, the overall HuskySat-1/HO-107 project and mission were quite beneficial for our
partner and for AMSAT. The HuskySat-1 team were able to command their satellite and experiments and receive the telemetry they sought, and AMSAT was able to work through the extensive process of making a new design for a “black box” radio module that can be integrated into a non-AMSAT spacecraft and fly in the space environment.

The LTM (Linear Transponder Module) on HO-107 worked for over three months after HuskySat-1 came alive following its deployment. The failure of the LTM came during or just after a period of full sun where LTM temperatures reached over 80 degrees Celsius.

While licensed and operated as an amateur radio satellite by AMSAT during the transponder use, there are some facts that set HO-107 apart from our Fox-1 CubeSats and other AMSAT satellites.

1. It’s not our satellite. We have no control and may not have any insight into how a partner actually uses the LTM. While we see the LTM temperatures and many of the other typical data fields that we downlink to FoxTelem regarding LTM health, data such as temperature of the host environment as well as other specific information like power and the state of the other systems in a host satellite may or may not be available to us. Whether LTM is operated within design limits is entirely up to the host.

The University of Washington HuskySat Labs team was very cooperative with us on this mission, however there are things regarding their mission that we do not know because they are processing and studying their data for use in their thesis and classes and preparing it for release in a specific way typical of such an institution today. AMSAT is generally more forthcoming with information about our missions but what we can and have said about this mission is determined by UW. That is really no different to certain aspects of our own missions. Most members are likely familiar with the vague wording I provide for some of our launch timelines and that is the result of the same thing, in the owner of the launch vehicle or LSP/APIC determining what we can say to the public and when.

2. HO-107 was the first ever use of a new product, the AMSAT LTM. The LTM idea was first put forth at the AMSAT leadership strategic planning meeting in 2017 and is now coming into availability for other non-AMSAT CubeSats to fly amateur radio on their mission.

HO-107 is the pilot production of LTM and was developed in partnership with UW HuskySat-1. It was the first CubeSat radio module designed and built by AMSAT for use in other host CubeSats, and UW was key in working with us through the design and processes needed to provide such a module. They did not buy it as, nor did we give it to them as an “off the shelf” product as we plan to for future LTM production. LTM was developed from the Fox-1E linear transponder design, and provided in a partnership with UW that started in November 2014 when we made an agreement with University of Washington to fly an amateur radio on their CubeSat mission. Overall, the HuskySat-1 team were quite happy with the telemetry and command performance even with the LTM anomalies showing up toward the end of their experiments. In the process of getting HuskySat-1 to orbit several students became interested in amateur radio, and we have already had preliminary
discussions of future joint mission plans.

The ability to provide more LTM to new and future partners will increase the number of orbiting satellites carrying amateur radio, at a low cost to AMSAT and the partner, keeping amateur radio in space even as we develop newer and more capable satellites. There is no doubt that HO-107 was a success in many ways beyond the operational life of the transponder.

As usual, the AMSAT Engineering team of volunteers deserve the praise for putting yet another amateur radio in space be it in our own satellite, or in a partner satellite!

[ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President – Engineering, 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

AMSAT-DL Proposes LunART – Luna Amateur Radio Transponder

AMSAT-DL has submitted a proposal to the European Space Agency to place an amateur radio communications link on the Large European Lander. This system would support direct communication with earth through amateur radio frequencies in the microwave bands, support University and Student Payloads with direct access to their experiments, allow Radio Science for a huge community of radio amateur operators and scientists worldwide. It would also provide an important back-up communication capability and capacity during emergency or when the ESA network is busy.

More details can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-LunART

AMSAT wishes our friends at AMSAT-DL the best of luck on their proposal. This would be a great resource for amateur radio should it come to fruition.

[ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information]

Buffalo Soldiers Special Event on the Satellites

In honor of Buffalo Soldiers Month and to commemorate the formation of the United States Army 9th and 10th Calvary Buffalo Soldiers Regiments the Texas Parks and Wildlife will take part of a worldwide amateur radio special event on July 25th – 26th, 2020. Transmissions will begin transmitting at 8am CST Saturday morning July 25 and will end 8pm CST Sunday July 26. Commemorative QSL cards and Certificates will be available (see the callsign W5W or W5B at the QRZ.com web site for QSL information).

Operations will be held on:

Voice 10, 15, 20, 40 and 80 meters
Digital FT8 on 20, 40 and 80 meters
CW on 20, 40 meters
Satellite

Listen for the FCC assigned callsigns: W5W or W5B

Shortwave Listeners (SWL) are encouraged to participate.

For those without amateur radio privileges to transmit or listen in, please join us Saturday July 25 at 1pm CST on Facebook Live, look for Buffalo Soldiers Program – Texas Parks and Wildlife, for participation and a chance at a special QSL Card and Commemorative Certificate.

For additional information about the Buffalo Soldiers legacy and an excellent video history about the Buffalo Soldiers with commentary from Judge Joe Green please visit www.qrz.com and enter W5W or W5B into the search box.

[ANS thanks Rudy Hardy, W5HRH, 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

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 canceled or postponed. While we make every effort to ensure the information contained below is correct, there may be some that we missed.

No events are currently scheduled. We wish all of you safekeeping and hope to be at a hamfest near you soon.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President – User Services, 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:

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.
DN44, 7/13 – 7/17, @N7AGF FM for sure may bring linear gear if it fits.
FM13 & FM03, 7/12 & 7/13, Wz4M is heading out Holiday Style
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.
DM97/98 & EM08/09: Super Rover @ADoDX is heading out for the Kansas QSO party and N0E. More to come.

@WY7AA is heading out again!!!

Mon. 7/13 Drive day possible FM passes from DN63
Tues – Sat. 7/14 – 7/18 SSB and FM passes from DN64 Burgess Junction, WY. Some HF POTA K-4534 Big Horn National Forest
Sun. 7/19 Travel day no sats, but internet updates
Mon 7/20 SSB and FM passes from DN67/68. Every pass from about 16:00 – 04:00
Tues 7/21 SSB and FM passes from DN57/58. Every pass from about 16:00 – 04:00
Wed. 7/22 Travel day no sats
Thurs 7/23 SSB and FM passes from DN55/56. Every pass from about 16:00 – 04:00
Fri 7/24 SSB and FM passes from DN65/66. Every pass from about 16:00 – 04:00
Watch his QRZ page for details and updates.

Please submit any additions or corrections to [email protected]

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, for the above information]

Upcoming ARISS Contacts

Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:

Don Bosco Haacht Technisch en Beroepsonderwijs, Haacht, Belgium, Multi-point telebridge via AB1OC

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR
Contact was successful: Fri 2020-07-10 10:49:51 UTC 27 deg (***)

International Aerospace School, Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Ivan Vagner
Contact is go for Fri 2020-07-17 19:10 UTC

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

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

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

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+Congratulations to Kevin Manzer, N4UFO, on earning AMSAT GridMaster Award #12 for working all 488 continental US grids. Kevin notes that it took him just over five years, from 2013-2018, to accomplish this goal. More information regarding the GridMaster Award can be found at https://www.amsat.org/gridmaster/ (via KK5DO and N4UFO)

+F4DXV and R9LR have set another new satellite distance record – this time on LilacSat-2. The 4,561 km QSO occured on 10-Jul-2020 at 04:23 UTC. Records are listed at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-SatDist (via F4DXV and N8HM)

+An article about the first amateur radio communication system in lunar orbit, aboard LO-94, has been published at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-194-LO-94 (via BG2BHC on Twitter).

+Congratulations to KP4RV for being the first station in Puerto Rico to receive the VUCC Award on amateur satellites (via KF7R on Twitter).

+The European Space Agency recently published a how-to video regarding reception of ISS SSTV pictures. An ISS SSTV transmission is expected within the next few weeks in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of Apollo/Soyuz: https://youtu.be/HtC-BPcMruA

+All issues of The AMSAT Journal dating back to 2014 are now available to AMSAT members on AMSAT’s new membership portal. The 1969-2013 archive will be added at a later date. All editions of AMSAT’s Symposium Proceedings are also available for members If you’re a current AMSAT member, get logged on today. If you are not yet a member, consider joining today at https://launch.amsat.org/

+The 2020 edition of AMSAT’s Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available on the AMSAT store. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated every year with the latest amateur satellite information, and is the premier primer of satellite operation. The book is presented in DRM-free PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your first contacts on a ham radio satellite. The digital download is available for $15 at https://tinyurl.com/2020GettingStarted

+ The AMSAT Folding at home team continues to climb the rankings. Now in the top 900 of all teams at the time of this writing, the team has grown to 48 members with 67 active CPUs within the past 50 days and includes 12 members in the top 100,000 of all users. Alex Free, N7AGF, is our top contributor with over 159,000,000 points credited to AMSAT’s team. For more information about the Folding at home project and how you can contribute to scientific research, including the fight against COVID-19, see https://foldingathome.org/. AMSAT’s team number is 69710: https://stats.foldingathome.org/team/69710

/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. President’s Club donations may be made at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-PresClub.

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.

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,

This week’s ANS Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org

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

by

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:

  • 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]

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

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

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.

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

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.

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