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 2014 Space Symposium’s Keynote Speaker will be Jan King, W3GEY

by
AMSAT Founding Member Jan King, W3GEY
AMSAT Founding Member Jan King, W3GEY

The AMSAT Space Symposium’s Keynote Speaker with be Jan King, W3GEY, founding member of AMSAT and former member of the Board of Directors & V.P. of Engineering. Jan’s keynote speech, entitled “Never, Never, Never Give Up!” will be presented during the Symposium banquet on Saturday October 11. As a teaser for his speech, Jan shared the following with our symposium team:

” So very much has changed in 45 years! For starters, our hobby of 1968 has become an industry. Launch vehicles can’t be had for the price of a NASA Administrator’s letter anymore. Launch costs are $100K per kilogram now.  ITAR? Not worth discussing. So, what do we do? Is it time to say, “We had a really good run at this” and let it go? We showed some people who cared and wanted to listen that you can do a lot with a little. Should we call it quits and give it up? There are those who ask me questions that start with, “Back in your day….?” It is particularly those people, I’d like to show…that we really

Jan King, W3GEY, prepares AMSAT-OSCAR 7 for a vibration test.
Jan King, W3GEY, prepares AMSAT-OSCAR 7 for a vibration test.

are made of the right stuff. We still have things we know that Government Experts and wide-eyed university graduate students don’t. Silicon Valley is now filled with satellite experts who aren’t. The average university graduating electrical engineer still can’t make a 2 meter pre-amp with a 1 dB noise figure, and wouldn’t know how to start. Unless, of course, they figured it out from the Internet. Ah yes, the Internet! Another small change since 1968. We’ll talk about it in October. Hope to see you in Baltimore. W3GEY.”

Space Symposium Auction Announced

by

Greetings Amateur Radio in Space Enthusiasts!

2014 AMSAT Symposium
2014 AMSAT Symposium

At this year’s AMSAT Space Symposium, we are trying a few new things and we hope you will enjoy them.  One exciting facet we are adding this year is an auction.  All proceeds from the auction will support AMSAT’s two major initiatives—the development and launch of the FOX satellite series and the ARISS program.

As we prepare for the auction, we are asking for your help in donating specialty items for auction (minimum value $100) that will attract symposium attendee’s attention and get them bidding up the item price.  If you have any items that are ham related (no boat anchors please), items of historical value, space related and/or autographed items, or even sports tickets or time shares, we would love to get your donations.  Think out of the box on this—what exciting things would you like to see in this auction?

If you have something to donate to the Symposium auction, please send an e-mail to Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, who will work with you on getting your item or items into the auction.   Frank’s e-mail address is ka3hdo at verizon.net

This auction, while adding a fun experience to the AMSAT Space Symposium experience, will also serve to keep amateur radio’s spirit thriving in space through its donations to FOX and ARISS.

On behalf of AMSAT, I thank you for your donations in advance.  And I encourage each of you to attend and participate in this year’s AMSAT Space Symposium to be held in Baltimore Maryland Oct 10-12.  For more information, see:

http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/?page_id=1555

73 from Your Symposium Committee Co-Chairs:

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO and Janet Bauer

Possible ISS Voice Contacts on Field Day

by

ariss_logoARISS NEWS RELEASE   no. 14-02
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
David Jordan, AA4KN – ARISS Public Relations

Current discussions between the ARISS team and NASA suggest the possibility of voice contacts with the International Space Station (ISS) during Saturday’s ARRL Field Day activities this coming weekend.

In a June 23 email, Kenneth Ransom, the ISS Ham Radio payload developer, stated “I have received a response from astronaut (Reid) Wiseman that he is willing to try and work some stations on Saturday. Pass times begin very soon after the start of Field day.” Wiseman would operate under the call sign, NA1SS. Should Alex Gerst participate, he would use the call sign, DP0ISS.

If voice operation does occur, It will likely take place from the Columbus (COL) module using the standard Region 2 uplink frequency of 144.49 MHz and 145.800 MHz for downlink. It’s expected that the packet system will be operational on 145.825 MHz during periods when the crew is not available.

It’s not clear whether any of the Russian crew would participate from the Russian module, but if so, they would be directed to use 437.550 MHz for any contacts using the call sign RS0ISS. The COL would also be available to their crew using the VHF frequencies above, if Wiseman is not operating.

Listed below are approximate pass times and a chart showing ISS passes for the Field Day weekend. The pass times shown are not definite, scheduled times with the crew. They may or may not be able to support these times. And, updates to this tentative plan will be released as they become available.

Saturday, June 28:

Click for full size image. Each segment starts and ends when the U.S. coastline is on the horizon of the ISS.
Click for full size image. Each segment starts and ends when the U.S. coastline is on the horizon of the ISS.
  • N. America (18:11-18:33 UTC)
  • Hawaii (19:36 – 19:47 UTC)
  • N. America (19:48-20:10 UTC)

 

OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1

by
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]