ANS-352 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Dec. 18

December 18, 2022 by Mark Johns

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: 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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

CAMSAT XW-4 (CAS-10) Scheduled for Deployment Today
CAS-5A Designated Fengtai-OSCAR 118 (FO-118)
Administration Drafting Executive Order To Simplify Space Rules
Top Ten Most Needed of the 488 Gridmaster Grids, November 2022
Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 18
Spacewalk From ISS With Two Cosmonauts Cancelled
ARISS News
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-352 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2022 Dec 18

CAMSAT XW-4 (CAS-10) Scheduled for Deployment Today

The CAMSAT XW-4 (CAS-10) satellite was launched into the Chinese Space Station on November 12, 2022 aboard China’s Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft, and was launched by the Long March-7 Y6 launch vehicle from the Wenchang Launch Center in Hainan, China. It is currently planned that the XW-4 (CAS-10) satellite will be separated from the Chinese space station and enter operational orbit at 01:30 UTC on December 18, 2022.

The functions of XW-4 (CAS-10) satellite include UHF CW telemetry beacon, GMSK telemetry data transmission, V/U mode linear transponder, a visible light band space camera.

After the satellite completes the in-orbit test and works normally, the space camera photo download will be open to amateur radio enthusiasts all over the world. When the relevant remote control command is received by the satellite, the GMSK telemetry channel will be used to downlink the photo storage information and photo data, and the telemetry data will stop sending at that time.

XW-4(CAS-10) satellite adopts a 8U CubeSat structure with a mass of about 12kg, an on-orbit envelope size of 1007x790x475mm with four solar array panels and a three-axis stabilized attitude control system is used, long-term power consumption is about 18.3 Watts.

XW-4 Technical specifications are as follows:

CW telemetry beacon:
- Frequency: 435.575MHz
- RF power: 20dBm
- CW rate: 22wpm
GMSK telemetry:
- Frequency: 435.725MHz
- RF power: 23dBm
- Data rate: 4800bps
V/U mode linear transponder:
- Uplink frequency: 145.870MHz
- Downlink frequency: 435.180MHz
- RF power: 20dBm
- Bandwidth: 30kHz
- Spectrum inverted
Photo download remote control:
- Coming soon…

Preliminary Keplerian elements, as supplied by CAMSAT are as follows:
XW-4 (CAS-10)
1 48274U 21035A 22349.57666509 .00020514 00000+0 25201-3 0 9994
2 48274 41.4739 194.5783 0004074 111.0935 347.0781 15.59787538 93120

[ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU, CAMSAT CEO, for the above information]

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Time is running out to get your 2022 AMSAT President’s Club coin!
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its launch on
October 15, 1972, this year’s coin features
an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 6.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
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CAS-5A Designated Fengtai-OSCAR 118 (FO-118)

On December 9, 2022, the CAS-5A satellite was launched on a Smart Dragon-3 Y1 launch vehicle from the Chinese sea launch platform in the Yellow Sea. The Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT), working closely with local education authorities, designed, built, tested, and manages the CAS-5A satellite. Thirty-one students from ten high schools learned satellite design, manufacturing, and applications through educational courses initiated by CAMSAT and the Fengtai educational institution. The satellite carries V/u and H/u linear transponders, a V/u FM repeater, and CW and GMSK telemetry beacons for amateur radio use.

At the request of CAMSAT and the CAS-5A team, AMSAT hereby designates the satellite as Fengtai-OSCAR 118 (FO-118). We congratulate all the involved teams, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, OSCAR Number Administrator, for the above information]

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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/

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Administration Drafting Executive Order To Simplify Space Rules

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is drafting an executive order intended to streamline approval for private rocket launches amid a broader effort to bring legal and regulatory clarity for American companies on everything from space travel to private space stations, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the effort.

The order would be part of a push by the White House’s National Space Council to modernize U.S. space regulation, which has failed to keep up with the increasingly ambitious pace of private-sector investment and development.

The order, slated to be ready for Biden to sign by early 2023, is meant to simplify licensing procedures under existing laws for more routine space activities like launching rockets and deploying satellites

[ANS thanks Reuters for the above information]

Top Ten Most Needed of the 488 Gridmaster Grids, November 2022

As of November, stations actively seeking the Gridmaster award who have reported their progress to KE0PBR — owner of the Gridmaster Heat Map account on Twitter, and AMSAT rover page manager — have indicated that the following are the most needed grids at this time:

1. CM79
2. DN35
3. DN08
4. CM89
5. DN27
6. DN24
7. DN26
8. DL79
9. DM86
10. DM76

Satellite operations or roves in any of these grids would be VERY popular!

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

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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

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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 18

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated Thursday evenings around 2300 UTC, or more frequently if new high interest satellites are launched. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/

On December 9, 2022, CAMSAT’s CAS-5A satellite was launched on a Smart Dragon-3 Y1 launch vehicle from the Chinese sea launch platform in the Yellow Sea. See AMSAT News Service Bulletin ANS-345 (Dated December 11, 2022) for transponder data.

Then, at the request of CAMSAT and the CAS-5A team, AMSAT has designated the satellite as Fengtai-OSCAR 118 (FO-118) on December 15, 2022. See Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA and OSCAR Number Administrator’s bulletin (above)) for details.

Originally FO-118 was thought to be NORAD Cat ID 54682, but more recent TLE have revealed that CAS 5A is actually object 54684 (2022-167C). Thanks to Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, for the update on the correct NORAD Cat ID for FO-118 (formally CAS-5A).

Therefore, the following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT-NA TLE distribution:
FO-118 NORAD Cat ID 54684.

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

Spacewalk From ISS With Two Cosmonauts Cancelled

The Roscosmos Mission Control team in Moscow postponed Wednesday evening’s planned spacewalk with two cosmonauts to evaluate the situation and data from the Soyuz spacecraft. None of the crew members aboard the International Space Station were in danger, and all conducted normal operations throughout the day.

Roscosmos is closely monitoring Soyuz spacecraft temperatures, which remain within acceptable limits. NASA and Roscosmos continue to coordinate external imagery and inspection plans to aid in evaluating the external leak location. Plans for an additional inspection of the Soyuz exterior using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm are underway.

The leak was first detected around 7:45 p.m. EST Dec. 14 (0045z on Dec. 15) when data from multiple pressure sensors in the cooling loop showed low readings. At that time, cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin were preparing to conduct a spacewalk. The cosmonauts did not exit the space station, and no crew members were exposed to the leaking coolant.

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin into space after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 21.

[NOTE: All amateur radio equipment aboard the ISS is switched off during docking maneuvers and EVAs (spacewalks)]

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

RECENTLY COMPLETED:
Maitland Air Cadet Association, Goderich, ON, Canada, direct via VA3SQN. The ISS callsign was NA1SS. The crewmember was Josh Cassada, KI5CRH. Contact was successful: Fri 2022-12-16 17:25:07 UTC 32 degrees elevation. Congratulations to the Maitland Air Cadet Association students and Josh!

TO BE RESCHEDULED:
ESPRIT: Private Higher School of Engineering and Technology, Little Ariana, Tunisia, telebridge via ON4ISS. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be TBD. The scheduled crewmember is Josh Cassada, KI5CRH. Due to an EVA, the contact has been cancelled for: Wed 2022-12-21 08:45:59 UTC 84 degrees. The contact will need to be rescheduled.

The crossband repeater continues to be active. If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never know!

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

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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/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

KG4AKV: I’ll be activating grid FM15 on Dec 17th or 18th. Carlos W7QL needs it for his last 2-3 grids for the Gridmaster Award. Specific passes will be posted later.

KB3IAI: Will be roving in EM23 (near Paris, TX) from Dec 21 to Dec 27th. Passes will be added to hams.at, & Twitter. Linear and FM as availability with family permits.

AD7DB: AD7DB going to DM22 in Yuma AZ, Dec 17-18. Maybe DM32 and DM23. Various FM sats. He will try to post announcements on Twitter ahead of them.

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

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.

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford K6LCS has a few satellite presentations scheduled …
-Greenville, North Carolina (1/10/23)
-Ontario, Canada (1/16/23)
-Thames Valley, England (5/11/23)

Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or club? Always included are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS. And pre-presentation questions are welcome. Visit http://www.work-sat.com for more information.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ An FO-118 (CAS-5A) User’s Manual, containing technical details and telemetry specifications, is now available at https://bit.ly/3HXEzwn (ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU, for the above information).

+ Pages 60-62 of the January 2023 issue of QST magazine carries a story about RamSat, a cubesat constructed by students at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee that was launched by NASA in 2021. Page 66 of the same issue describes an ARISS contact with Canterbury School in fort Myers, Florida that took place in October of 2022. (ANS thanks ARRL for the above information)

+ The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation has been issued a $336.64 donation from the AmazonSmile Foundation as a result of AmazonSmile program activity between July 1 and September 30, 2022. (ANS thanks Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, AMSAT VP-Development, for the above information)

+ FalconSat-3 is being made available for use for 24 hour periods most weekends. The satellite is decaying, and near re-entry. So use it while you can! (ANS thanks Mark L. Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station, for the above information)

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

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org

ANS-345 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Dec. 11

December 11, 2022 by Paul Stoetzer

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-345

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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

CAMSAT’s CAS-5A Satellite Launched, Transponders Active
AMSAT-DL Erminaz Mission Announced
VUCC Satellite Standings December 2022
Changes to the AMSAT TLE Distribution for December 8, 2022
ARISS News
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-345 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2022 Dec 11

CAMSAT’s CAS-5A Satellite Launched, Transponders Active

CAMSAT’s CAS-5A satellite was launched at 06:35 UTC on December 9, 2022 into a 554 km x 543 km orbit with an inclination of 97.5 degrees. The satellite was launched on the inaugural flight of the Smart Dragon-3 Y1 launch vehicle. This vehicle launches from a sea launch platform in the Yellow Sea.

CAS-5A carries two linear transponders and an FM transponder, which are all continuously active assuming the power budget permits. The frequencies are:

V/u Linear Transponder: Uplink 145.805 MHz – 145.835 MHz, Downlink 435.525 MHz – 435.555 MHz (Inverting)
V/u FM Transponder: Uplink 145.925 MHz, Downlink 435.600 MHz
H/u Linear Transponder: Uplink 21.4275 MHz – 21.4425 MHz, Downlink 435.4975 MHz – 435.5125 MHz (Non-Inverting)
CW Beacon: 435.570 MHz (22 wpm)
Telemetry: 435.650 MHz (4800 bps GMSK)

QSOs have been reported via all three of the transponders as of this writing. Reports indicate that the downlink is strong and the transponders are sensitive.

Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, reports that Doppler measurements show CAS-5A to be object 54682 (2022-167A). However, he cautions that not all objects from the launch have been cataloged yet, so this identification is subject to change.

Doppler.sqf entries for SatPC32 courtesy of Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA:

CAS-5A,435540.0,145820.0,USB,LSB,REV,0,0,VUTransponder
CAS-5A,435600.0,145925.0,FM,FM,REV,0,0,VURepeater
CAS-5A,435505.0,21435.0,USB,USB,NOR,0,0,HUTransponder
CAS-5A,435570.0,145790.0,USB,LSB,REV,0,0,CW Beacon
CAS-5A,435650.0,145820.0,FM,LSB,REV,0,0,4k8 GMSK

TLEs from Space-Track:

CAS-5A
1 54682U 22167A 22343.39869083 -.00000063 00000-0 00000+0 0 9992
2 54682 97.5461 118.4205 0013131 254.7121 186.9755 15.08519392 16

[ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU, and Michael Chen, BD5RV, CAMSAT, Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, Peter Goodhall, 2M0SQL, and various amateur satellite operators in Europe for the above information]

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The 2022 AMSAT President’s Club coins have arrived!
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its launch on
October 15, 1972, this year’s coin features
an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 6.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/

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AMSAT-DL Erminaz Mission Announced

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) announced the winners of their microlauncher payload competition at an event in Berlin on December 6th. Among the missions selected was a multi-satellite mission from AMSAT-DL and international partners.

The mission proposed is a syndicated, multi-PocketQube mission (1x 2P + 2x 1.5P + 3x 1P, total of 6 PQs), involving several EU countries, the amateur radio community, AMSAT-DL, AMSAT-EA (Spain), ESERO-Deutschland (Bochum Observatory), Libre Space Foundation (Greece) and other EU non-profit organizations or institutions. They work to create open-source space technologies for educational purposes and to promote, advance and develop knowledge for space. Using PocketQube technology will allow them to maximize the mission impact, involving several institutions, universities, and teams.

[ANS thanks Rocket Factory Augsburg for the above information]

VUCC Satellite Standings December 2022

VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary
November 01, 2022 to December 01, 2022.

CALL	NOV	DEC
K8YSE	2164	2200
WI7P	859	882
AA8CH	835	855
WD9EWK(DM43)	710	715
W8LR	623	643
EA2AA	611	626
ND0C	561	605
K5TA	575	600
KQ4DO	555	579
NM3B	553	566
N6UTC	503	525
XE1MYO	451	525
HB9AOF	New	500
KJ7DZ	New	500
VE4MM	459	476
KB1HY	395	427
N8URE(FM19)	375	389
KE0WPA	355	383
K3HPA	250	258
PA7RA	160	224
EA3TA	New	200
WD9EWK(DM23)	185	192
WD9EWK(DM31)	177	187
PU5DDC	100	151
F5VMJ	New	110
DL1BM	New	100
EA1GGX	New	100
IK3ITB	New	100

Congratulations to the new VUCC holders.

EA1GGX is first VUCC Satellite holder from IN52
EA3TA is first VUCC Satellite holder from JN11
F5VMJ is first VUCC Satellite holder from JN18
IK3ITB is first VUCC Satellite holder from JN55

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ, for the above information]

Changes to the AMSAT TLE Distribution for December 8, 2022

The following satellites have been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE distribution:

Tevel-1 NORAD Cat ID 51013.
Tevel-2 NORAD Cat ID 51069.
Tevel-3 NORAD Cat ID 50988.
Tevel-4 NORAD Cat ID 51063.
Tevel-5 NORAD Cat ID 50998.
Tevel-6 NORAD Cat ID 50999.
Tevel-7 NORAD Cat ID 51062.
Tevel-8 NORAD Cat ID 50989.
(Thanks to N2YO for providing the NORAD Cat Id for the Tevel series of satellites.)

The Israeli team operating these satellites is going to keep at least one of these eight satellites active all the time, so we will need TLE available for all eight of them. Tevel-3 was activated briefly last weekend.

Thanks to Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the “heads up” on the status of the Tevel series of satellites.

Note: The object named Tevel (NORAD Cat ID 50999) in past TLE data was simply a place marker for the Tevel series until the identity of this series of satellites was sorted out. Tevel-6 is the new name for the object NORAD Cat ID 50999.

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]

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ARISS News

Scheduled ARISS Contacts

Stella Maris College, Gzira, Malta, direct via 9H1MRL

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled crewmember is Koichi Wakata KI5TMN
Contact has been postponed by the ISS planners due to unforeseen circumstances and will need to be rescheduled. (***)
Watch for Livestream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk-Onkbr6PY

School TBD, Republic of Mordovia, Russia, direct via TBD

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled crewmember is Sergey Prokopyev
Contact is go for Sat 2022-12-10 11:10 UTC

Maitland Air Cadet Association, Goderich, ON, Canada, direct via VA3SQN

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled crewmember is Josh Cassada KI5CRH
Contact is go for: Fri 2022-12-16 17:25:07 UTC 32 deg

ARISS Radio Status

Columbus Module radios:
IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS – Configured. Default mode set for cross band repeater (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down).

* Powered OFF for RS EVA on December 15. OFF Dec 14 about 19:00 UTC. ON Dec 15 about 13:15 UTC.
* Powered OFF for US EVA on December 19. OFF Dec 18 about 19:20 UTC. ON Dec 20 about 10:15 UTC.
* Powered OFF for RS EVA on December 21. OFF Dec 21 about 09:05 UTC. ON Dec 22 about 08:00 UTC.
* Capable of supporting USOS scheduled voice contacts, packet and voice repeater ops.

Service Module radios:
IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS – Configured. Default mode is for packet operations (145.825 MHz up & down).

* Powered OFF for RS EVA on December 15. OFF Dec 13 about 19:00 UTC. ON Dec 16 about 08:15 UTC
* Powered OFF for US EVA on December 19. OFF Dec 18 about 19:20 UTC.
Powered OFF for RS EVA on December 21. ON Dec 22 about 08:00 UTC.
* Capable of supporting ROS scheduled voice contacts, packet, SSTV and voice repeater ops.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors, for the above information]

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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/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

N5UC is heading to Hawaii!
BL11 potential schedule:
RS-44 Dec 10 2155z Dec 11 2215z Dec 12 0201z, 2237z Dec 13 0227z
IO-117 Dec 10 ~1030z, 1425z Dec 11 1232z Dec 12 1030z, 1503z

KG4AKV: I’ll be activating grid FM15 on Dec 17th or 18th. Carlos W7QL needs it for his last 2-3 grids for GM. Specific passes will be posted later.

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

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.

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford K6LCS has a few satellite presentations scheduled …

-The PAPA System in Southern California
-Greenville, North Carolina
-Ontario, Canada
-Thames Valley, England

Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or club? Always ncluded are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS. And pre-presentation questions are welcome. Contact K6LCS for more information.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ FO-99’s operation schedule for December is available at https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p=2052

+ Tevel-3’s FM transponder was activated for 24 hours on December 4th. The Tevel Mission consists of 8 identical CubeSats, all containing an FM transponder with an uplink of 145.970 MHz and a downlink 436.400 MHz. Stay tuned for further updates.

+ AMSAT has been in contact with the ARRL regarding the addition of IO-117 and TEVEL1-TEVEL8 to LoTW. These satellites should be added soon. AMSAT will also request the addition of CAS-5A after the expected request and issuance of an OSCAR number to the satellite.

+ IO-117 has entered a period of full sunlight through February. (ANS thanks Doug Papay, K8DP, for the information)

+ As of December 8th, the IO-117 Digipeater Club now stands at 348 ham radio operators who have been successful in digipeating a message. These stations represent 222 unique grid squares and at least 56 DXCCs. (ANS thanks Doug Papay, K8DP, for the information)

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

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional 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

ANS-338 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Dec. 4

December 4, 2022 by Mark Johns

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: 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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

* GreenCube is now designated Italy-OSCAR 117 (IO-117)
* The IO-117 (GreenCube) Club continues to grow
* Release Candidate WSJT-X 2.6.0-rc5 now available
* Dhruva Space- Thybolt Mission (Amateur Radio Payload)
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 2, 2022
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-338 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2022 December 4

GreenCube is Now Designated Italy-OSCAR 117 (IO-117)

On July 13, 2022, the GreenCube satellite was launched on a Vega-C launch vehicle from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite project is managed by the S5Lab research team at Sapienza University of Rome, and involves ENEA (the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and University of Naples. The satellite carries environmental and thruster payloads and as well as a 70cm digipeater for amateur radio use.

At the request of the GreenCube teams, AMSAT hereby designates the satellite as Italy-OSCAR 117 (IO-117). We congratulate all the involved teams, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, OSCAR Number Administrator, for the above information]

The IO-117 (GreenCube) Club Continues to Grow

Because of the increasing interest and the quick appearance of instructional material on making digipeated contacts through IO-117, the “GreenCube User Club” has rapidly grown to more than 300 as reported by Doug Papay, K8DP. Several individuals have blogs describing their operational set up that enables them to take advantage of the great DXCC and VUCC opportunity:

Burt DeMarcq, FG8OJ, offers some nicely detailed instructions and good advice on his blog at: https://bit.ly/3FjqM1f.

Fabio Roccatagliata, F5VKV, writes on the AMSAT-BB mailing group that the UZ7HO Soundmodem is very useful for IO-117 but one must download http://uz7.ho.ua/greentnc.zip for success as the tone spacing is shifted from those normal for APRS. He continues: “Use the ssb modem, 1600 main frequency in the spectrum. (Put the) Radio in USB, AGC off if possible (or fast), no noise blanker/reduction. You should receive the packet when the signal is within the bandwidth bar you see in the sound modem spectrum. Adapt the DCD threshold accordingly, usually by the half. In the green cube GUI window you should see the decoded packets, in the sound modem the data.” Editor Note: The link to the zipped file is listed directly because it does not yet appear on Andrey Kopanchuk’s website).

Joe Pereira, VK5EI, suggested on the AMSAT-BB mailing group that the summary by Tom Van den Bon, ZR6TG, is particularly helpful for newcomers. It may be found in a blog post on Tom’s website: https://bit.ly/3Uqpm9B.

Doug Papay sent a Friday update (which is growing rapidly) on the number and DXCC distribution of contacts made on the bird:

As of 1400Z 2/Dec/2022 there have been 303 stations active on IO-117 since 31/Oct/2022. Congratulations to ZL3TKZ for contact #300!

There have been 154 stations heard in the last 24 hours. There have been 194 unique grid squares and 51 DXCC entities activated. Here is the DXCC list including number of stations heard from each country:

United States of America 87
Italy 45
Japan 29
Spain 25
Federal Republic of Germany 12
Australia 10
England 7
Argentina 6
Canada 6
Brazil 5
France 5
China 4
Mexico 4
Netherlands 3
New Zealand 3
South Africa 3
Switzerland 3
United Arab Emirates 3
Azores 2
Bulgaria 2
Finland 2
Indonisia 2
Northern Ireland 2
Poland 2
Puerto Rico 2
Scotland 2
Sweden 2
Venezuela 2
Alaska 1
Belgium 1
Curacao 1
Czech Republic 1
Denmark 1
Ecuador 1
Estonia 1
Georgia 1
Guadeloupe 1
India 1
Ireland 1
Isle of Man 1
Israel 1
Luxemburg 1
Mauritius 1
Philippines 1
Portugal 1
Romania 1
Russia 1
Slovenia 1
Sudan 1
Uruguay 1
Wales 1

[ANS thanks Doug Papay, K8DP and the listed blog and email authors for the above information.]

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Only a Small Handful of 2022 Coins are left! Don’t Miss Out!
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its launch on
October 15, 1972, this year’s coin features
an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 6.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
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Release Candidate WSJT-X 2.6.0-rc5 Now Available

From: Joe Taylor <jo…@pr…> – 2022-11-29 16:16:47

Dear WSJT-X Users,

We are pleased to announce that Release Candidate WSJT-X 2.6.0-rc5 is ready for download by beta testers. The list of changes since Release Candidate 4 is extensive. Be sure to read the Release Notes: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

Links for downloading WSJT-X 2.6.0-rc5 can be found on the WSJT-X Home Page, https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html Scroll down to find “Candidate release: WSJT-X 2.6.0-rc5”.

Installation files for Raspberry Pi are not yet available, but will be posted as soon as possible.

We hope you will enjoy using this beta release of WSJT-X 2.6.0. As a beta tester you should report on your experiences using one of the relevant WSJT forums. Bugs should be reported by following instructions found here in the User Guide: https://www.physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-2.6.0-rc5.html#_bug_reports

WSJT-X and MAP65 are licensed under the terms of Version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3). Development of this software is a cooperative project to which many amateur radio operators have contributed. If you use our code, please have the courtesy to let us know about it. If you find bugs or make improvements to the code, please report them to us in a timely fashion. Additional licensing details can be found here: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/devel.html

73 from the WSJT Core Development Team
Joe, K1JT; Steve, K9AN; Nico, IV3NWV; Uwe, DG2YCB;

[ANS thanks Joe Taylor K1JT, and the WSJT-X Development Team for the above information.]

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Dhruva Space- Thybolt Mission, Amateur Radio Payload Information

Dhruva Space launched the Thybolt Mission On 26 November, 2022, at 11:56 am, onboard ISRO PSLV-C54. The Thybolt Mission consists of two 0.5U nano satellites. These nanosatellites are built on the 0.5U P-DoT satellite platform which is designed, built and tested by Dhruva Space for use in the amateur communications, disaster management, and low bit-rate applications of STEM and strategic importance. The qualification of this 0.5U platform with its sub-systems will enable many more amateurs across India to learn, build, launch and operate experiments on amateur satellite missions.

Information regarding the system and the the data modes they use may be found at the Dhruva Space website: https://bit.ly/3FgYNz8 While it is not clear whether the satellites will be active throughout their entire orbital pathThe website states: “Please note that S&F Messaging will be available after conclusion of launch & early phase and commissioning operations tentatively on 20 December, 2022.”

Nico Janssen, PA0DLO writes on the AMSAT-BB list:
“Doppler measurements show that Thybolt 1 and 2 are the objects 54363 and 54364. Current separation: 1 s, so it is not yet possible to determine which is which.
CW beacon frequencies: Thybolt 1: 435.35447 MHz and Thybolt 2: 435.3522 MHz.
Nothing received on the telemetry frequency 436.175 MHz, but that downlink is probably only active when in range of India.”

[ANS thanks Dhruva Space and Nico Janssen, PA0DLO for the above information.]

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ARISS NEWS

[School TBD], Aznakayevo, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS. The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz. The scheduled crewmember is Dimitri Petelin. Contact is go for Sun 2022-12-04 11:20 UTC.

British School in the Netherlands (Junior School Leidschenveen), The Hague, The Netherlands, direct via PE1RXJ. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be TBD. The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz. The scheduled crewmember is Josh Cassada KI5CRH. Contact is go for: Thu 2022-12-08 11:09:54 UTC 36 deg.

Stella Maris College, Gzira, Malta, direct via 9H1MRL. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS. The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz. The scheduled crewmember is Koichi Wakata KI5TMN. Contact is go for: Sat 2022-12-10 07:55:55 UTC 55 deg.

[School TBD], Republic of Mordovia, Russia, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS. The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz. The scheduled crewmember is Sergey Prokopye. Contact is go for Sat 2022-12-10 11:10 UTC.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors and NASA News for the above information]

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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/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

Quick Hits:
N5UC is heading to Hawaii!: BL11 potential schedule:

RS-44: Dec 10 2155z / Dec 11 2215z / Dec 12 0201z, 2237z / Dec 13 0227z,

GreenCube: Dec 10 ~1030z, 1425z / Dec 11 1232z / Dec 12 1030z, 1503z

Major Roves: None listed currently.

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

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 4, 2022

On November 28, 2022, at the request of the GreenCube satellite teams, AMSAT has designated the GreenCube satellite as Italy-OSCAR 117 (IO-117). See AMSAT News Service Bulletin 332.01 dated November 28, 2022 for details. The GreenCube satellite designation in the AMSAT TLE distribution is now as follows:

IO-117 NORAD Cat ID 53106

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, OSCAR Number Administrator and Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

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.

Don’t forget to check in to the AMSAT-Twitter Meetup Net on DMR BrandMeister Talkgroup #98006 | D-STAR Reflector REFSAT | YSF Reflector #11689 | Wednesday Nights @ 21:00 CST.

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford K6LCS has a few satellite presentations scheduled:
-The PAPA System in Southern California
-Greenville, North Carolina
-Ontario, Canada
-Thames Valley, England

Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or club? Always included are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS. And pre-presentation questions are welcome.
Send an email or call!
Clint Bradford K6LCS
AMSAT Ambassador; ARRL instructor, Affiliated Club Coordinator
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)

[ANS thanks Clint Bradford, K6LCS, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ A new AMSAT distance record has been claimed on FO-29. KE9AJ in DM79IQ48UR worked EB1AO in IN52PE28F at a distance of 7,642 km on 23-Nov-2022 at 20:46 UTC, edging out the previous record held by KG5CCI and F4DXV by 8 km. See https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ for all records. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President & Ambassador for the above information.]

+ Artemis I’s launch tower and deluge systems performed as designed. The tower sustained some minor damage, particularly to the elevator (blew the doors off), which will be repaired before the next launch.[ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.]

+ OMOTENASHI indeed was unable to be commanded to perform a landing burn. Its operators hope that it has a stable spin axis and that enough sunlight will reach it in the spring to establish comms and undertake secondary mission objectives. [ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.]

+ Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) (Paris:ETL) has selected Thales Alenia Space (Thales 67 % and Leonardo 33 %) to build a next-generation highly flexible, software-defined satellite (SDS). The Flexsat (for flexible satellite) will be based on Thales Alenia Space’s cutting-edge ‘Space Inspire’ (INstant SPace In-orbit REconfiguration) product line, enabling seamless reconfiguration and instant in-orbit adjustment to offer an optimum level of customer service, maximising the effective use of the satellite resources. [ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information.]

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

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ
kd4iz at arrl dot org

ANS-331 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Nov. 27

November 27, 2022 by Mark Johns

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: 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: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

Apogee View
September/October 2022 AMSAT Journal Now Available
SatPC32ISS Updated for Better GREENCUBE Performance
FUNcube-1 (AO73) Now Celebrating Nine Years in Orbit
OMOTENASHI – Amateur Radio Mission to the Moon is Lost
Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for November 24, 2022
ARISS News
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-331 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2022 Nov 27

Apogee View

The AMSAT 40th Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting has come and gone. All I can say is WOW! It was nice to finally meet in person again, and the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota, located right between the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Mall of America was the perfect venue.

Our Board of Directors met on Thursday, October 20th, and the first half of Friday, October 21st. It was a very informative and productive meeting. First, our engineering, operations, education, youth initiative, ANS, Journal, information technology, contest & awards, and web store teams provided updates on what they have been working on during the year, what they have accomplished, and what they are working on in the coming year. Then, as we moved to new business, our directors approved a new Reserve Policy and an Export Control and Economic Sanctions Policy, as well as discussed the use of the Fox Plus program as a test flight platform to quickly test newly developed satellite systems in space and the impact of the new FCC pronouncement on orbital debris mitigation.

On Friday afternoon and Saturday, we were treated to some fantastic presentations:

– Stefan Wagener, VE4SW, shared with us “Building a Portable Station for QO-100, the Geostationary Satellite Es’hail-2 Carrying Amateur Radio.”

– Randy Berger, WA0D, ARISS Director of Engineering, provided us with an update on “What’s New, ARISS on ISS and mission to the moon with Lunar Gateway.”

– Next, Heimir Thor Sverrisson, W1ANT, presented an interesting proposal on “OTA Software Update for LEO satellites,” using multiple ground stations to reprogram or apply software updates in coordinated segments.

– Nick Pugh, K5QXJ, then filled us in on the work being done at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Nick’s first presentation covered the university’s approach to its education initiative. The second presentation provided an update on their Cape IV mission.

– Paul Graveline, K1YUB, updated us on AMSAT’s CubeSat Simulator program.

– Kip Moravec, AE5IB, provided the current development status of AMSAT GOLF-TEE’s electrical power system.

– Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, shared improvements made to AMSAT’s Linear Transponder Module (LTM) power amplifier and the upcoming use of it in the University of Maine’s MESAT-1 3U CubeSat mission.

– Next up was a fascinating presentation by AMSAT’s Assistant V.P. of Engineering, Jonathan Brandenburg, KF5IDY, on his work, “Building a Helmholtz Cage for Dynamic Magnetic Field Generation and CubeSat Attitude Control Testing.”

– An update on AMSAT’s reaction wheel assembly open project update, was presented by Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO, and Jonathan Brandenburg, KF5IDY.

– The AMSAT 40th Space Symposium culminated with an AMSAT Engineering Update, provided by Jerry Buxton, N0JY, V.P. of Engineering.

You could tell our presenters put a lot of time and effort into preparing these, for which we are truly thankful.

New FCC Ruling Presents a New Set of Challenges

What goes up must come down, and that applies to satellites. Until now, all spacecraft had to either deorbit or move to a disposal orbit no later than 25 years after the end of their mission. With the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) new ruling, they must come down sooner.

The FCC’s new orbital debris mitigation ruling, FCC 22-74, requires non-geostationary satellite operators that terminate satellite operations in or passing through the low Earth orbit region (below 2,000-kilometer altitude) complete disposal as soon as practicable following the end of mission, and no later than five years after the end of its primary mission. The goal is to minimize the risk of collisions that would create debris.

The FCC defines “end of mission” to be “the time at which the individual spacecraft is no longer capable of conducting collision avoidance maneuvers,” and, for spacecraft without collision avoidance capabilities, end of mission is defined as the point at which the individual spacecraft has completed its primary mission.

Furthermore, the FCC requires a demonstration that the probability of success of the chosen disposal method will be 90 percent or greater. This new rule-making will have a significant effect on AMSAT’s future satellite operations and, as such, was a serious topic of discussion at our recent board of directors meeting. That discussion generated many questions.

– What does the FCC mean by disposal demonstration, and what constitutes a 90 percent or greater probability rate?

– What are licensable disposal methods, other than through natural decay?

– Will the FCC accept the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) orbit analysis report for naturally decaying orbits to meet the probability threshold?

Unfortunately, the FCC did not supply much implementation guidance in meeting these new requirements, so our next step will be to reach out to the FCC to define our requirements better and how we can meet those standards. We will keep you informed.

Export Control and Economic Sanctions Policy

One of the most exciting things to come out of this year’s AMSAT Symposium, at least to me, was our Export Control and Economic Sanctions Policy approved by our Board of Directors.

Some of AMSAT’s greatest achievements have come from working with our international AMSAT partners. Unfortunately, changes in International Traffic in Arms Regulations(ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the enforcement thereof caused a self-imposed limit to our international participation.

The desire to return to the international development of satellites and related systems served as the impetus for our new policy.

This policy states, “The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) will comply with all U.S. export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations.” While this, in and of itself, is no different than how we have been operating, specific provisions of the policy create an essential path to our return to international cooperation through the use of the public domain (ITAR) and publicly available (EAR) exclusions.

It is important to note that ITAR and EAR exclusions only apply to information related to the development of our satellites but not to the actual building of satellites. Exporting materials to non-U.S. persons, be it hardware or software, will still require an export license. On the other hand, importing materials to the U.S. is not restricted by ITAR or EAR.

Creating this policy was only the first step. We still need to develop and put in place the prescribed controls to ensure our compliance and establish a training program for our volunteers, all of which we hope to have accomplished in the next couple of months.

I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead with being able to collaborate with our fellow AMSAT organizations around the world once again.

Please read our new Export Control and Economic Sanctions Policy, available on our website, along with our other organizational documents, policies, and financial disclosures, at www.amsat.org/about-amsat/. This is your organization, and together, we can accomplish great things.

Until the next time, Onward & Upward!

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

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Only a Small Handful of 2022 Coins are left! Don’t Miss Out!
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its launch on
October 15, 1972, this year’s coin features
an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 6.
Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
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September/October 2022 AMSAT Journal Now Available

The AMSAT Journal is AMSAT’s bi-monthly digital magazine for amateur radio in space enthusiasts. Each issue is your source for hardware and software projects, technical tips, STEM initiatives, operational activities, and news from around the world.

The September/October 2022 issue, just released includes the following top articles:

– Educational Relations Update – Alan Johnston, KU2Y
– Education and CubeSat Simulator Project Update – Alan Johnston, KU2Y
– President’s Club 2022 Members
– SatNOGS Ground Station at the School of Telematics – Omar Álvarez-Cárdenas, XE1AO, et al.
– Tips for Starting ISS Satellite Operations – Shavrika Pendyala, KQ4CUS
– A Helmholtz Cage: Developing a “Time Machine” – Jonathan Brandenburg, KF5IDY
– Expediting the Deorbit of CubeSats – Bob Stricklin, N5BRG
– AMSAT-NA 40th Annual Space Symposium and Annual Meeting Photos

Members can access the latest issue of The AMSAT Journal as well as archived editions (going back to 2014) on the membership portal. Not an AMSAT member yet? Join AMSAT today to start receiving your bi-monthly issue of The AMSAT Journal at https://launch.amsat.org/.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]

SatPC32ISS Updated for Better GREENCUBE Performance

Erich Eichmann, DK1TB, has uploaded a revised SatPC32ISS.exe, which hopefully fixes the SatPC32ISS problems with GREENCUBE such as frequency drift etc. Also, the update now supports USB-D/LSB-D.

Erich says, “Simply copy the file into the SatPC32 program folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\SatPC32). Because of the different name, it will not overwrite your current SatPC32ISS. Start the program with the Windows Explorer. It will switch the radio into SPLIT mode (unless the radio is already in Satellite mode).
In menu CAT specify the CAT interval and save the change (the file does no longer share its CAT interval with the FM interval of the normal SatPC32 as it did previously). Don’t set the interval too low!

“In Non-Satellite mode the radios (at least most as far as I know) go mute for the fraction of a second, when the frequencies are updated via CAT command. SatPC32ISS has to do that for Doppler correction. That can cause data losses, if packet data is received at that time. The pre-set 50 Hz interval seems to be a good value.

“The new file supports also FM-D. The entry in Doppler.SQF has to be FMD, the entries for USB-D an LSB-D) have to be USB-D and LSB-D.

If everything works, I will upload new setup files.”

The file can be downloaded at www.dk1tb.de/SatPC32ISS_2.exe, or as zip file at www.dk1tb.de/SatPC32ISS_2.zip.

[ANS thanks Erich Eichmann, DK1TB for the above information.]

FUNcube-1 (AO73) Now celebrating nine years in orbit!

Another year has passed and FUNcube 1 has continued to operate from its orbit around 600km above the earth. To start with some statistics. The spacecraft creates and downlinks data in frames that run for two minute periods. It has now transmitted more that 16 million of these frames or “Sequence Numbers”. Another big statistic is that more than 10 million data packets have been received by stations that have forwarded them to FUNcube Data Warehouse.

You can see the leading ground stations at http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/ui/fc1-fm/satellite_ranking – special congratulations to those at the top scorers…many of them have individually forwarded more than 1 million packets. Thanks to all contributors around the world. Having this network of ground stations has enabled the FUNcube team to easily monitor the status of the spacecraft easily.

Back here on earth, as mentioned, AMSAT-UK has continued to monitor the health of the spacecraft as these illumination levels and spin/tumble rates have changed over the months.

After some time in full sun, the spacecraft is now experiencing “normal” eclipse periods of around 25 minutes each orbit. This will reduce the on board temperatures and may influence the tumble rate which has been between 2 and 5 seconds for some time. This is quite fast and is not helping telemetry reception with its 5 second data frame mentioned above.

The present operational schedule is for high power telemetry when in sunlight and receive only when in eclipse. This seems to suit the EPS quite well and the battery bus voltages have been quite stable.

At least that was correct until early morning on Friday November 11 when the indicated bus voltage appeared to “drop off a cliff” over the period of just four orbits. Further analysis showed that the 3.3V bus consumption had suddenly jumped four times normal. As can be seen by the graph above this problem then disappeared just as suddenly and the bus voltage recovered quite quickly. Investigations are continuing!

Please keep the telemetry reports coming in and let the FUNcube team know if you would like a Fitter message uploaded for any educational or outreach events.

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

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OMOTENASHI – Amateur Radio Mission to the Moon is Lost

OMOTENASHI, a project of the JAXA Ham Radio Club, was a secondary payload aboard NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, launched on November 16. It was planned to land on the surface of the moon, and to transmit a beacon in the amateur 70cm band.

Unfortunately, controllers were unable to receive radio communication from OMOTENASHI as of November 21, 2022. Thus, the lunar landing experiment could not be carried out.

Engineers will investigate the cause of the incident and proceed with the future possible operation plans while consulting with mission managers.

JAXA Ham Radio Club reports, “We were very encouraged by the warm support we received as a team. It’s such a shame that it can’t live up to expectations. Although we were not able to land on the moon, the opportunity to travel beyond the moon is valuable, so we would like to continue working on recovery and realize some of our mission.”

Amateurs wanting to continue listening for the orbiting module downlink should use the following information.

Frequency: 437.31 MHz
Antenna: SRR antenna
Polarization: Linear
Modulation: beacon, PSK31 Sync Word C1 (ASCII code)
Power: 30dBm

Project updates are periodically posted at https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/omotenashi/JHRCweb/jhrc.html.

[ANS thanks the JAXA Ham Radio Club and paralink.com for the above information.]

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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for November 24, 2022

The following satellite has decayed from orbit and has been removed
from this week’s AMSAT-NA TLE distribution:

Lightsail-2 NORAD Cat ID 44420 (decayed from orbit on 11/19/22 per Space-Track).

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information.]

ARISS NEWS

+ Upcoming Contacts

West Ferris Intermediate Secondary School, North Bay, ON, Canada, telebridge via ON4ISS.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be TBD.
The scheduled crewmember is Koichi Wakata, KI5TMN.
Contact is go for: Monday, November 28, 2022 at 15:58:45 UTC.

Escola Naval (Brazil Navy Academy), Ilha de Villegagnon – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, direct via PY1AX.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled crewmember is Josh Cassada, KI5CRH.
Contact is go for: Monday, November 28, 2022 at 12:23:41 UTC.

Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS0ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Sergey Prokopyev.
Contact is go for Monday, November 28, 2022 at 08:20 UTC.

School TBD, Saint Petersburg, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS0ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Anna Kikina.
Contact is go for Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 14:25 UTC.

School TBD, Kaliningrad, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS0ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Anna Kikina.
Contact is go for Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 16:00 UTC.

School TBD, Aznakayevo, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS0ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Anna Kikina.
Contact is go for Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 08:20 UTC.

School TBD, Vologda, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS0ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Anna Kikina.
Contact is go for Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 08:20 UTC.

School TBD, Aznakayevo, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, direct via TBD.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RS0ISS.
The scheduled crewmember is Dimitri Petelin.
Contact is go for Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 11:20 UTC.

+ Completed Contacts
All-Russian Youth Space Festival “Vostochny Cosmofest”, Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via RK0J.
The ISS callsign was RS0ISS.
The crewmember was Dimitri Petelin.
Contact was successful on Friday November 18, 2022 at 11:32 UTC.

Ural State University of Railway Engineering, Yekaterinburg, Russia, direct via RK9C.
The ISS callsign was RS0ISS.
The crewmember was Sergey Prokopyev.
Contact was successful Monday, November 21, 2022 at 15:20 UTC.

St. Joseph´s Convent Secondary School, Castries, St Lucia, multi-point telebridge via IK1SLD.
The ISS callsign was OR4ISS.
The crewmember was Josh Cassada, KI5CRH.
Contact was successful on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 17:40:36 UTC.

Five Bridges Junior High School, Stillwater Lake, NS, Canada, telebridge via IK1SLD.
The ISS callsign was OR4ISS.
The crewmember was Josh Cassada, KI5CRH.
Contact was successful on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 at 16:52:06 UTC.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information.]

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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/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

+ No operations listed.

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.

+ No events listed.

+ Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or club? Always included are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS. And pre-presentation questions are welcome.

Send an email or call to:
Clint Bradford K6LCS
AMSAT Ambassador; ARRL instructor, Affiliated Club Coordinator
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The newly renovated west wing of the National Air and Space Museum at the downtown Mall recently opened to the public. The new “One World Connected” exhibit shows how aviation and spaceflight transformed how Earth came to be viewed and understood as an interconnected world. “One World Connected” tells the story of how taking to the skies and stars fostered two momentous changes in everyday life: the ease in making connections across vast distances and a new perspective of Earth as humanity’s home. Featuring an array of satellites and other tools that have increased human connection, the exhibition asks visitors to consider how global interconnection touches their lives and to imagine how advances in technology might impact our near-future. Scale models of OSCAR 1 and MICROSAT are on display in the exhibit. Read more at: https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/one-world-connected:event-exhib-6304.

[ANS thanks Perry Klein, W3PK, for the above information.]

+ Want to see the 2022 AMSAT Symposium Proceedings? No need to purchase them at the AMSAT Store if you’re an AMSAT member! AMSAT members have free access to all Symposium proceedings going back to 1986. Simply log into the member portal at https://launch.amsat.org/ then click on the “Member Resources” tab. While you’re there, download the 2022 Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide – also free to AMSAT members!

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]

+ NASA and the Government of Japan on Thursday announced further contributions by Japan to Gateway, a key component of the agency’s Artemis missions for long-term lunar exploration. In addition to the Gateway arrangement, Minister Nagaoka announced Japan’s commitment to participate in the International Space Station Program through 2030, the first international partner to join the United States in formally committing to space station operations through 2030. NASA welcomed Japan’s announcement of its continuation of space station operations through 2030. NASA and its international partners conduct critical science, research, and technology demonstrations aboard the orbiting laboratory that make long-duration missions to the Gateway and the Moon possible. Read the full story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-331-JAXA.

[ANS thanks SpaceRef.com for the above information.]

+ During September 26 – 30 GNU Radio Conference 2022 was held in Washington DC. GNU Radio Conference (aka GRCon) is an annual conference centered around the GNU Radio Project and community, and is one of the premier software defined radio industry events. GNU Radio is an open source digital signals processing (DSP) tool which is used often with SDRs. A few days ago videos of all the presentations were released on their YouTube channels. The videos contain a mix of in person and remote talks. A schedule of all talks can be found on the GNU Radio website, https://events.gnuradio.org/event/8/timetable/#20210920

[ANS thanks RTL-SDR.com for the above information.]

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

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org