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.

OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1

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Lituanicasat-1-frequencies
Lituanicasat-1-frequencies

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

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

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

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

First Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers

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This is the first call for papers for the 2014 AMSAT Annual Meeting
and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 10-12, 2014,
at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Baltimore-Washington International
Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. Proposals for papers, symposium
presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of
interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative
title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than
August 1. The final copy must be submitted by September 15 for
inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be
sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org

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

AMSAT videos from Dayton 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fox-1 launch update

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The following is excerpted from the Apogee View column of AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, as published in the latest AMSAT Journal:

Grace L-55 will launch on a similar Atlas V
Grace L-55 will launch on a similar Atlas V

The launch of Grace/L55 from Vandenberg AFB is slipping from December 2014 into Summer 2015 due to governmental priorities. Fox-1 is currently manifested on that launch as part of the ELaNa-12 group of satellites. Instead of launching our vehicle in December, another launch vehicle with payload is taking precedence, forcing a reschedule of ELaNa-12. Currently, we are now scheduled to fly on 1 AUG 2015 rather than December 2014.

This delay is mixed news for AMSAT. While we are disappointed that this will mean that Fox-1 will not fly in 2014, it also means that we have more time to complete and test the spacecraft prior to delivery to SRI. In the overall scheme of things, it allows AMSAT to have greater confidence in the delivery of a thoroughly tested spacecraft by taking more time to allow for unforeseen contingencies and to do the ground testing.

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