ANS-023 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Jan. 23

by

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-023

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

In this edition:

  • Visit AMSAT at Orlando Hamcation
  • EASAT-2 and HADES Updates
  • AMSAT EA Receives Two OSCAR Designations: SO-114 & SO-115
  • Amateur Operation in 3.45 – 3.5 GHz Must Cease by April 14, 2022
  • Launch of a Wooden Satellite Still Pending
  • Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for January 20, 2022
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-023 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 Jan 23

Visit AMSAT at Orlando Hamcation

Hamcation 2022 is scheduled for February 11 – 13, 2022 at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Orlando, FL. You are invited to visit the AMSAT booth located at the far west end of West Hall. There you can see the SatPC32 and CubeSat Sim demos, ask questions, or just say “Hi.”  In addition, AMSAT President, Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT President, will host An AMSAT forum in Classroom 1 on Saturday at 3:00 PM. For more information about Hamcation 2022, including directions, operating hours, vendors, and a complete forum schedule, please visit https://www.hamcation.com/.

If you are interested at volunteering at the AMSAT booth, contact Dave Jordan, AA4KN, at aa4kn at amsat dot org.

[ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, for the above information]

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Join the 2022 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered Iron-on AMSAT Logo Patch
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!
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EASAT-2 and HADES Updates

Felix Paez, EA4GQS, AMSAT-EA Mission Manager provided the last information on their satellites as of January 18, 2022.

“We confirm the reception of both EASAT-2 and HADES, as well as the decoding of telemetry and the FM recorded voice beacon with the callsign AM5SAT of the first one. EASAT-2 appears to be working well except for the deployment of the antennas, something that apparently has not yet occurred and causes weak signals. However, the AMSAT-EA team confirms that, based on the reception of FSK, CW, the FM voice beacon and the telemetry data that has been decoded, it can be said that the satellite is working perfectly. In the event of low battery or system malfunction, the on-board computer would not transmit CW messages or the voice beacon-callsign, as it would be in a ‘safe’ state with only fast and slow telemetry transmissions.

“These signals that have been able to confirm the operation of both satellites were received by Dr. Daniel Estévez EA4GPZ at 18:07 UTC on Saturday, January 15, using two antennas from the Allen Telescope Array. The TLEs used were obtained from the radio amateur community, with Doppler observations from the Delfi-PQ satellite, deployed together with EASAT-2 and Hades.

“TLEs used were these ones:
https://github.com/AMSAT-EA/easat2-tle-lottery/blob/main/satnogs-2022-01-16-DELFI-PQ.tle

Daniel, EA4GPZ, performed a preliminary analysis using just one polarization of one of the satellite dishes. EASAT-2 has been detected with a relatively strong signal, close to the Delfi-PQ signal, obtaining said recorded voice FM beacon transmissions and FSK, FSK-CW at 50 baud.

“The CW beacon clearly shows the message: VVV AM5SAT SOL Y PLAYA, which is one of several that both satellites emit, although the callsign AM5SAT confirms that it is EASAT-2.

“In the recording made by Daniel EA4GPZ there is also a faint trace confirmed to be from Hades and stronger packets probably from the IRIS-A satellite.

“HADES, like EASAT-2, is transmitting weak signals, weaker than the ones of EASAT-2, most likely because the on-board computer has not yet managed to deploy the antennas either, although it will continue trying regularly. The reason the signals are suspected to be weaker at Hades is that the antennas are more tightly folded than those of EASAT-2. In any case, this is great news, since the transmission pattern confirms the proper functioning of the satellite. In the observations you can see the FSK tones with a deviation of about 5 kHz interspersed with the FM carrier corresponding to the voice beacon of the satellite, which has callsign AM6SAT. The AMSAT-EA team is working to try to decode the telemetry signals and obtain more detailed information on the state of the satellite.

“We kindly ask you, if you have very high gain antennas, to try to receive them, specially Hades. If we could decode telemetry it would be very helpful for us.

“Until antennas are deployed it will be very difficult to use their repeaters or to receive any SSTV camera images from Hades, but we hope that this will happen sooner or later, at least because even if the computer doesn’t succeed applying heat to the resistor where the thread is attached, with time, the thread should break due to the space environment conditions.

Details of the decoded telemetry and voice, as well as more details in:
https://www.amsat-ea.org/ (Texts are In Spanish)

And in the following Twitter threads:

EASAT-2 transmissions:
https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/1482457631566487553
EASAT-2 decodings by Gabriel Otero:
https://twitter.com/gaoterop/status/1482758196037050382
HADES transmissions:
https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/1482696274797338625.”

[ANS thanks Felix Paez, EA4GQS, AMSAT-EA Mission Manager for the above information]

AMSAT-EA Receives Two OSCAR Designations: SO-114 & SO-115

On January 13, 2022, the EASAT-2 and HADES satellites were launched on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Developed by AMSAT-EA, both satellites carry FM and digital repeater payloads to provide services to amateur radio enthusiasts around the world.

At the request of AMSAT-EA, AMSAT hereby designates EASAT-2 as Spain-OSCAR 114 (SO-114) and HADES as Spain-OSCAR 115 (SO-115). We congratulate AMSAT-EA, 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, AMSAT VP Operations/OSCAR Number Administrator for the above information.]

Amateur Operation in 3.45 – 3.5 GHz Must Cease by April 14, 2022

The FCC has established April 14, 2022, as the date by which amateur radio transmissions must stop in the upper 3.45 – 3.5 GHz segment of the amateur secondary 9-centimeter band. Secondary operations are permitted to continue indefinitely in the remainder of the band, 3.3 – 3.45 GHz, pending future FCC proceedings.

On January 14 the FCC released DA 22-39, which announces the results of Auction 110 for the 3.45 – 3.55 GHz band. Release of this notice triggered FCC rules adopted last year requiring that amateur radio operations between 3.45 GHz and 3.5 GHz cease within 90 days of the public notice.

In October 2021, ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, urged Congress to direct the FCC to preserve Amateur Radio’s secondary use of the 3 GHz band in a written statement responding to H.R. 5378, the Spectrum Innovation Act of 2021, before the US House Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

A chronology of actions responding to amateur access on the 3.5 GHz band can be found on the ARRL website.

[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information.]

Launch of a Wooden Satellite Still Pending

Two spacecraft comprised of wood or using wooden framing are hoping to launch this year and next. One will carry an amateur radio payload.

WISA Woodsat, a Finnish spacecraft that planned to include an amateur radio payload, was forced to postpone its announced launch target from 2021 to 2022 after the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination system turned away its request to use amateur radio frequencies.

“I regret to inform you that IARU is not in a position to support the WISA Woodsat Coordination request,” the coordinator said. “The main reason is that the primary mission doesn’t seem to be an amateur mission.”

As announced last year, WISA Woodsat was designed to accommodate multiple missions — from materials science, space education, and awareness to promoting and facilitating amateur radio communication with and via satellites. No transponder was on board, but the satellite’s sponsors said they had the support of Finland’s IARU member-society, SRAL, to use amateur radio frequencies. They are now reworking the spacecraft to use commercial radio frequencies.

“To our great disappointment, we can’t serve the radio amateur community with the LoRa-repeater mission as we had hoped and planned. We will continue to share the pictures and data online, but the technical aspect has been diminished due to this decision,” said WISA Woodsat’s Chief Engineer Samuli Nyman of Arctic Astronautics.

Meanwhile, LignoSat, a 1U-sized CubeSat with an outside structure mainly composed of wood, has applied for IARU frequency coordination and hopes to launch from the ISS in 2023. Built by students at Japan’s Kyoto University, LignoSat includes a unique amateur radio payload but not a transponder.

The LignoSat application for IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination in December said the CubeSat would carry amateur radio equipment that will extract call signs of amateur radio stations from uplinked FM packet signals and respond to them via the CW downlink and the sender’s call signs to convey thank you messages. The plan proposes UHF downlinks for CW and FM.

The satellite’s development team, comprised of Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry Company, said it’s aiming to harness the environmental friendliness and the economy of wood in spacecraft development. They say a satellite with a wooden exterior would burn up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its mission, lessening its burden on the environment. The wooden framework also will permit the satellite’s antennas to be inside the spacecraft. A plan is under way to use an experimental apparatus on the International Space Station to hold wooden sheets of varying hardness, taken from several tree species, attached. These would remain exposed to the space environment for about 9 months to determine their deterioration.

The team is headed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Tako Doi. Now a Kyoto University professor, Doi was the first JAXA astronaut to take part in spacewalks from the shuttle Columbia in 1997. He said the concept, if successful, could lead the way to “allowing even children who are interested in space to make a satellite.” LignoSat would be deployed from the ISS in July 2023.

[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information.]

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for January 20, 2022

The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE Distribution:

– DELFI-PQ – NORAD Cat ID 51074 (Thanks to Nico Janssen, PA0DLO for the
identification)

– Still waiting for the SpaceTrack Catalog ID for Tevel-1 thru Tevel-8,
EASAT-2, and Hades to be identified.

As always, the latest Keps data can be found at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected].

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, 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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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.

+ Quantorium Children’s Technopark, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 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 Anton Shkaplerov.
Contact is go for January 25, 2022 at 08:45 UTC

+ Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, 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 Pyotr Dubrov.
Contact is go for February 2, 2022 at 08:45 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

+ 4A90, MEXICO (Special Event). Members of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE)[Mexican Society]are celebrating their 90th anniversary during January, February and March 2022 promoting each of the 31 States and Mexico City with the following 32 different special event callsigns and 4A90FMRE:
– January 16-30: 4A90MOR, 4A90NAY, 4A90PUE, 4A90QRO, 4A90TLX and 4A90VER
– January 31-February 14: 4A90AGS, 4A90BAC, 4A90BCS, 4A90COA, 4A90CHH and 4A90DGO
– February 15-March 1: 4A90NLE, 4A90SLP, 4A90SIN, 4A90SON, 4A90TAM and 4A90ZAC
– March 2-16: 4A90CAM, 4A90CHI, 4A90GRO, 4A90OAX, 4A90QUI, 4A90TAB and 4A90YUC

Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 and the satellites. Awards are available (see QRZ.com for details). For more details on the event, see: http://fmre90.puebladx.org

+ N5BO – 1/22-26/2022
Justin travels five days to see how many #pota he can activate with a minimum of 50 QSOs at each stop. He will also look to add EL88/87 to his SAT /R at some point.

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

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

+ ARRL National Convention
February 10-13, 2022
DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld
10100 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32821

+ Orlando HamCation
February 11-13, 2022
Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park
4603 West Colonial Drive
Orlando, Florida 32808

+ CubeSat Developers Workshop
April 26–28, 2022
San Luis Obispo, CA

+ Hamvention 2022
May 20, 2022 to May 22, 2022
Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center
210 Fairground Road
Xenia, Ohio 45385
https://www.hamvention.org

+ 2022 Rocky Mountain ARRL Division Convention
October 7, 2022 – October 9, 2022
Event Center at Archer
3921 Archer Pkwy
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
https://wyhamcon.org/site.

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

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The January operating schedule shows one remaining date in January for FO-29 operation.  That will be January 29 from 00:03 UTC until battery exhaustion.
FO-29 will be in full sunshine from January 28 to the end of April. During that time, continuous operation can be expected.

[AMSAT thanks Akira Kaneko,JA1OGZ, for the above information.]

+ The SpaceX Smallsat Rideshare program offers a viable and affordable option to launch up to 200 kg into a sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit. That is why, along with approximately 80-90 other satellites, USC’s Dodona satellite—it’s third ever—hitched a ride on SpaceX’s latest mission, Transporter 3 this week. Dodona is a project out of USC’s Space Engineering Research Center. Part of SERC’s mission is creating hands-on opportunities for students and faculty to build and test advanced space technology, in addition to integrating, launching and operating small satellites. Dodona takes advantage of the space focused curriculum through analysis tools and techniques that are taught at USC through the Astronautical Engineering Department. The complete story can be found at https://www.isi.edu/news/45250/usc-launches-its-3rd-satellite-into-space/.

[AMSAT thanks Information Sciences Institute for the above information.]

+ The very first Svalbard QO-100 Satellite DX-Pedition will take place April 22-24, 2022 from Kapp Linné – Isfjord Radio at 78° North. They will operate two QO-100 satellite stations under the callsigns JW0W and JW100QO, while JW0X will be used by another team for contacts on shortwave. With QO-100 only 3° above the horizon, Kap Linné was the only suitable place in the area with Svalbard at the edge of the satellite footprint. Looking for a suitable location to stay and getting there, is one of the biggest challenges and cost drivers for the team. More information at https://amsat-dl.org/en/svalbard-qo-100-satellite-dx-pedition/.

[AMSAT thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information.]

+ The University of Cambridge has announced the creation of the Raspberry Pi Computing Education Research Centre. With computers and digital technologies increasingly shaping all of our lives, it’s more important than ever that every young person, whatever their background or circumstances, has meaningful opportunities to learn about how computers work and how to create with them. The Raspberry Pi Computing Education Research Centre wants to increase understanding of what works in teaching and learning computing, with a particular focus on young people who come from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in the field of computing or who experience educational disadvantage. MOre information can be found at tinyurl.com/ANS-023-Cambridge.

[AMSAT thanks Raspberrypi.org 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,
Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org

ANS-016 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Jan. 16

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: 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:

  • SpaceX Rideshare Mission Carries Multiple Amateur Satellites
  • Tevel Mission Launched on SpaceX Transporter-3 Mission January 13
  • EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites with FM Repeaters Are Launched
  • SpaceX Launches TU Delft Mini-Satellite
  • AMSAT Awards Update
  • First Ever Svalbard QO-100 DXpedition JW100QO
  • Eight U.S. Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-016 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 Jan 16

SpaceX Rideshare Mission Carries Multiple Amateur Satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 placed more than 100 smallsats into orbit on January 13 as the company accelerates the pace of its dedicated rideshare missions. The mission, dubbed Transporter-3, or TR-3, carried a number of Amateur Radio satellites to orbit.

The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 15:25 UTC. The upper stage reached orbit eight and a half minutes later and, after a second burn 55 minutes after liftoff, deployed its payloads into a 525-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit over the following half-hour.

The Falcon 9 first stage landed at the company’s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral, the first land landing of a Falcon 9 booster since the Transporter-2 rideshare mission in June 2021. The booster was on its tenth flight, having first launched in May 2020 on the Demo-2 commercial crew mission for NASA. It subsequently launched the ANASIS-2 satellite, CRS-21 cargo mission, Transporter-1 and five Starlink missions before Transporter-3. SpaceX is planning up to three more dedicated rideshare launches this year.

SpaceX said that the TR-3 launch carried 105 spacecraft. Among them were the long-delayed EASAT-2 and Hades satellites from Spanish satellite organization AMSAT-EA, and the Tevel mission consisting of 8 satellites developed by the Herzliya Science Center in Israel. All ten of these satellites carry FM repeaters, among other function, and are detailed in the following stories.

[ANS thanks SpaceNews.com 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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Tevel Mission Launched on SpaceX Transporter-3 Mission January 13

The Tevel mission consisting of 8 satellites developed by the Herzliya Science Center in Israel, each carrying an FM transponder, was launched on January 13 at 15:25 GMT on the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-3 mission. This mission also carries AMSAT-EA’s EASAT-2 and HADES satellites.

Tevel-1, Tevel-2 ….Tevel-8

Beacon transmissions on 436.400 MHz, (9600bps BPSK G3RUH)
FM transponders uplink frequency: 145.970 MHz|
FM transponders downlink frequency: 436.400 MHz

All 8 satellites will have the same frequencies, so as long as the footprints are overlapping, only one FM transponder will be activated. The satellites were built by 8 schools in different parts of Israel.

Prelaunch TLEs:

Deployment number 28

TEVEL-4/TEVEL-5
1 12345U 22-T3TE 22013.69008102 0.00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 9997
2 12345 97.3652 83.6317 0010843 246.0911 147.6817 15.12493461 06

Deployment number 30

TEVEL-1/TEVEL-2/TEVEL-3
1 12345U 22-T3TE 22013.69038194 0.00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 9991
2 12345 97.3658 83.6317 0009074 254.1211 141.2940 15.11975594 07

Deployment number 55

TEVEL-6/TEVEL-7/TEVEL-8
1 12345U 22-T3TE 22013.69375000 0.00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 9991
2 12345 97.3676 83.6318 0009046 252.0606 161.7026 15.11914367 05

Control station will be 4X4HSC at the Herzliya Science Center.

[ANS thanks David Greenberg, 4X1DG, for the above information]

EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites with FM Repeaters Are Launched

The Scottish space broker Alba Orbital has confirmed the launch of the EASAT-2 and Hades satellites in the Falcon-9 vehicle, using the company’s AlbaPOD ejector for this purpose. The launch took place as schedule on January 13 at 15:25 UTC (16:25 Spanish peninsular time). Both satellites should have been launched a year ago, but the problems of the Momentus integrator, on whose Vigoride vehicle Alba Orbital’s AlbaPod ejectors were to be integrated with the American administration, caused this delay. Momentus was replaced by Exolaunch for the flight.

Both satellites offer FM voice communications and data retransmission in FSK or AFSK up to 2400 bps, such as AX.25 or APRS frames. They also emit FM voice beacons with the callsigns AM5SAT and AM6SAT, as well as CW.

The EASAT-2 satellite, designed and built jointly by AMSAT-EA and students of the European University of the Degrees in Aerospace Engineering in Aircraft and in Telecommunications Systems Engineering, with contributions from ICAI in the communications part, incorporates as an experimental load Basaltic material from Lanzarote, similar to lunar basalts, provided by the CSIC’s research group on meteorites and planetary geosciences at the Institute of Geosciences, IGEO (CSIC-UCM) and which could be used as a construction material on the Moon. This project was promoted and has the collaboration of the ETSICCP (UPM).

As for Hades, its payload consists of a miniature camera module that sends the captured images as an audio signal in SSTV mode. The SSTV formats it uses are compatible with Robot36, Robot72, MP73 and MP115.

The design is based on the one used in the successful mission of the PSAT2 satellite, an amateur radio satellite of the United States Naval Academy and the Brno University of Technology. This camera has been operational since June 25, 2019: (http://www.aprs.org/psat2.html).

The camera chip is the Omnivision OV2640, which provides a resolution of up to 2M pixels and compressed JPEG output. Resolution is limited by the internal memory of the CPU (MCU) that controls the camera to 320×240 (typical) or 640×480 maximum. The MCU selected for control is the STM32F446RET6, which has the smallest footprint possible with connection to DCMI peripheral, necessary for connection to the camera.
Images can be stored in 2 MB serial flash memory. The complete SSTV encoder has managed to be implemented on a 4-layer PCB with dimensions of just 38x38mm.

The MCU can be fully controlled from ground stations. The firmware allows the sending of live camera images, images previously saved in flash memory or images encoded in ROM. It also provides advance PSK telemetry and imaging schedule with current status (event counters, temperature, voltage, light conditions, etc.) and a brief summary.

The described module has been developed and manufactured in the Radioelectronics Department of the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic. Both hardware and firmware designs with source codes will be available on Github under the MIT license (https://github.com/alpov/SatCam).
Initially, only the EASAT-2 repeater is active. The Hades one will be activated by telecommand a few days after launch.

The frequencies coordinated with IARU for both satellites are as follows:

EASAT-2
145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200 / 2400 bps
436.666 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with AM5SAT callsign

Hades
145.925 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200 / 2400 bps
436.888 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW FSK 50 bps, SSTV Robot 36, FM voice beacon with AM6SAT callsign

The description of the transmissions in English can be found in the .pdf document at: https://bit.ly/31VmA6W

AMSAT-EA appreciates the reception of telemetry, voice beacons and SSTV images. A paper QSL is sent to those who send their transmissions. It can be done through the following link: http://data.amsat-ea.org

Preliminary post-launch Keplerian elements for EASAT-2 and HADES are:
1 99999U 22013.68430556 .00000000 00000-0 50000-4 0 02
2 99999 97.5220 83.8550 0002429 -171.2750 173.6400 15.12786821 04

[ANS thanks Felix Paez, EA4GQS, and AMSAT-EA 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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SpaceX Launches TU Delft Mini-Satellite

During the Transporter-3 satellite launch by SpaceX on 13 January from Cape Canaveral a small satellite from Delft in the Netherlands also traveled into space. The DelfiPQ is one of the smallest satellites in the world. Satellite researchers Alessandra Menicucci, Stefano Speretta and Sevket Uludag from TU Delft designed and built the satellite themselves to demonstrate that technology on such a small scale can actually function in space. Swarms of these small satellites are better able than today’s large satellites to observe the earth. They could play an important role in monitoring climate change and in fast wireless broadband connections, among other things.

An important goal of these tiny satellites is that they prove that even miniature-scale technology can still function in space. And moreover, that the satellites can be monitored from Earth and can be distinguished from space debris. A big advantage is that the development time is much shorter than for larger satellites, some of which still run on 20-year-old technology. “We can build and launch a whole new generation of instruments every one or two years, so we can always incorporate the latest technology,“ says Speretta. In the future, satellite swarms may even play a role in high-speed wireless broadband connections.

The DelfiPQ measures just 5 by 5 by 18 centimetres, making it one of the smallest satellites in the world. The satellite is the third TU Delft satellite to actually go into space. DelfiC3 was the first. This satellite has been in space for over 12.5 years and is still alive. DelfiN3xt was launched in 2013. Contact has recently been re-established with this satellite. University lecturer and project leader Alessandra Menicucci: “Whether the DelfiPQ also comes to life in space is the most exciting of all three. DelfiPQ is eight times smaller than its brothers. And those were already no bigger than a milk carton.”

The DelfiPQ has UHF downlink for GMSK at up to 19k2. A downlink on 436.650 MHz has been coordinated.

[ANS thanks Delft University of Technology for the above information]

AMSAT Awards Update

As we have rolled into 2022, I am posting the awards from the last part of 2021 and a couple from 2022.

AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO

John Gesell, KB7JJG
Brian Lopeman, KI7WXP
Peter Stover, KD4QNA
James Gillanders, KG6HXN

——

AMSAT Communications Achievement Award

Richard Nolet, VA3VGR #639

——

AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award

Richard Nolet, VA3VGR #242

——

AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award (1,000-4,000)

Edward Campagnulol, KN4ZAA #US120
Hector Martinez, W5CBF #US121 4,000 Upgrade
Keith Austermiller, KB9STR #US122
Giancarlo Zanella, IK1DOC #US123
Dwight Fletcher, N1RCN #US124

——

AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award (5,000)

Hector Martinez, W5CBF #39
Mitchell Ahrenstorff, AD0HJ #40

—–

AMSAT Rover Award

Rover Call
===== ========
#60 KF6JOQ
#61 VA3VGR
#62 N6UTC

——

GridMaster Award

#33 Dave Chasey, N9FN
#34 Douglas Tabor, N6UA

—–

Our newest award the Reverse VUCC or VUCC/r

#03 James Clary, ND9M Ugrade to 385
#09 Randy Kohlwey, WI7P

To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org and click on Services then Awards.

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

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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, now manifested for launch on
NASA’s ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

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First Ever Svalbard QO-100 DXpedition JW100QO

A DXpedition to Svalbard (78° North) is planned for April 19-26 with the callsign JW0X. In addition to the five HF stations (FT8/FT4/RTTY/SSB/CW) the team will activate the first QO-100 satellite DX Station callsign JW100QO April 22-24.

Making the first ever QO-100 calls from Svalbard is the biggest challenge of this DXpedition. ON4CKM Cedric, ON4DCU Patrick and ON5UR Max will make a rugged snowmobile ride of almost 100 km in temperatures of -20° – 25° Celsius to reach their goal. Kapp Linné is the only place in the area that allows a view of the QO-100 satellite at only 3° above the horizon. Svalbard also lies on the edge of the satellite area (footprint), which makes the challenge even greater. We want to give as many radio amateurs as possible the opportunity to work this first QO-100 DXpedition. For this unique challenge we also have a special callsign JW100QO.

Further info at:

Svalbard QO-100 JW100QO April 22-24
https://www.dx-adventure.com/en/qo-100-our-goal/

Svalbard JW0X April 19-26
https://www.dx-adventure.com/en/svalbard-dx-pedition/

QO-100 geostationary amateur satellite transponder provides coverage from Brazil to Thailand, see
https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/geo/eshail-2/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK 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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Eight U.S. Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the schools/host organizations selected for the July 1 through December 31, 2022, time period. A total of eight of the submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to move forward in the processes of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS. The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.

The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling opportunities for the eight US host organizations during the July 1 through December 31, 2022, time period. They are now at work completing an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment plan is approved by the ARISS Technical Mentors, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA.

The schools and host organizations are:
* Buehler Challenger & Science Center, Paramus, NJ
* Eaton Public Library, Eaton, CO
* Davis Aerospace Technical High School, Detroit, MI
* St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Houston, Houston, TX
* Harris Middle School, Spruce Pine, NC
* Kopernik Observatory & Science, Vestal, NY
* Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN
* Canterbury School of Fort Myers, Ft Myers, FL

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s Space communications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org

[ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR for the above information]

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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.

The next scheduled contact is with Quantorium Children’s Technopark, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS, and the scheduled crewmember is Russian Cosmonaut, Anton Shkaplerov. The contact is go for 2022-01-25 08:45 UTC.

The next mode change, from APRS digital repeater to FM voice cross band repeater is expected to occur in late January/early February 2022.

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

4A90, MEXICO (Special Event). Members of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE)[Mexican Society]are celebrating their 90th anniversary during January, February and March 2022 promoting each of the 31 States and Mexico City with the following 32 different special event callsigns and 4A90FMRE:

January 16-30th: 4A90MOR, 4A90NAY, 4A90PUE, 4A90QRO, 4A90TLX and 4A90VER

January 31st-February 14th: 4A90AGS, 4A90BAC, 4A90BCS, 4A90COA, 4A90CHH and 4A90DGO

February 15th-March 1st: 4A90NLE, 4A90SLP, 4A90SIN, 4A90SON, 4A90TAM and 4A90ZAC

March 2-16th: 4A90CAM, 4A90CHI, 4A90GRO, 4A90OAX, 4A90QUI, 4A90TAB and 4A90YUC

Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 and the satellites. Awards are available (see QRZ.com for details). For more details on the event, see: http://fmre90.puebladx.org

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

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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.

Events with a confirmed AMSAT presence:

HamCation 2022 – The ARRL National Convention

Friday, February 11th, 2022 to Sunday, February 13, 2022

Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park
4603 West Colonial Drive
Orlando, Florida 32808

https://www.hamcation.com/

——

Hamvention 2022

Friday May 20, 2022 to Sunday May 22, 2022

Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center

210 Fairground Road
Xenia, Ohio 45385

https://www.hamvention.org

——

2022 Rocky Mountain ARRL Division Convention

Friday, October 7th, 2022 to Sunday, October 9th, 2022

Event Center at Archer
3921 Archer Pkwy
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007

https://www.wyhamcom.org/site

——

Clint Bradford, K6LCS reports:

2022 is starting off with a bang! Presentations set for clubs in …

Tennessee
South Bay CA
New York
British Columbia
Ontario Canada
Victoria BC
Sonoma CA
Tampa FL
Texas
Nevada

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 solicited and welcome.

Send an email or call!

Clint Bradford K6LCS
AMSAT Ambassador, ARRL instructor
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, and Clint Bradford, K6LCS, for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ NASA has recognized Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) as a science education and research program. Two images of ARISS activity are among those singled out by the space agency as some of the Best Space Station Science Pictures of 2021. The photos feature “some of the best photos of breakthrough investigations crew members worked on in 2021.” The complete gallary of photos can be seen at https://go.nasa.gov/3rdedwh (ANS thanks ARRL and NASA for the above information)

+ Among the 105 satellites launched on Thursday aboard the SpaceX TR-3 rideshare was the Brazilian satellite PION-BR1, “a radio amateur mission combined with education with the aim of promoting access to space technologies and interaction between students and the radio amateur community.” In addition, “the satellite’s main mission will be a digital experiment in storing and sending messages using the NGHam protocol.” A downlink on 437.300 MHz has been coordinated. (ANS thanks the Internation Amateur Radio Union frequency coordination site for the above information.)

+ In addition to the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-3 launch on January 13, Virgin Orbit completed another flight of its air-dropped rocket later the same day off the coast of California. The LauncherOne rocket carried seven mini-payloads into low Earth orbit. The Boeing 747 carrier jet took off from the Mojave runway around 2100 GMT) to begin an hour-long flight out to the mission’s drop point 35,000 feet (10,700 meters) over the Pacific Ocean. The satellites on-board were from three customers: The U.S. Space Force, SatRevolution of Poland, and Spire. There were no Amateur Radio payloads this time. (ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information)

+ U.S. space tracking has linked the breakup of Chinese satellite Yunhai-1 (02) to a collision with a small piece of debris from a Russian satellite launch, according to NASA. The Yunhai-1 (02) satellite was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and launched in September 2019 into a Sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of around 783 kilometers. It suffered a breakup event on March 18, 2021, creating a number of pieces of debris. The breakup of Yunhai-1 (02) is the fifth confirmed accidental collision between two cataloged objects, according to the report. A total of 37 fragments from the collision have been cataloged as of 1 October 2021, with four of these having reentered the atmosphere. (ANS thanks SpaceNews.com for the above information)

+ As widely reported in the media, the ESA/NASA James Web Space Telescope (JWST) has successfully deployed. We can now all breathe out and marvel at how complex it all was. According to NASA, “The unfolding and tensioning of the sunshield involved 139 of Webb’s 178 release mechanisms, 70 hinge assemblies, eight deployment motors, roughly 400 pulleys, and 90 individual cables totaling roughly one quarter of a mile in length.” The telescope now faces approximately six more months of commissioning and calibration before beginning operation. (ANS thanks NASA and The Orbital Index for the above information)

+ Now that the JWST is deployed and could have a lifespan of 20 years, some are already turning attention to NASA’s next telescope. The wide-field infrared Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (née WFIRST) is scheduled to launch in 2025. Like JWST, it will also orbit at the Sun-Earth L2 point. The NGRST has two instruments: the Wide Field Instrument, a 300-megapixel camera with a Hubble-class 2.4 m aperture, but 100x the field of view, and the Coronagraph Instrument, for imaging and spectroscopy of nearby exoplanets. It is predicted to find 100,000 transiting exoplanets, expanding far beyond the 4,884 exoplanets discovered so far. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index 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

Tevel Mission to Launch on SpaceX Transporter-3 Mission January 13th

by

The Tevel mission consisting of 8 satellites developed by the Herzliya Science Center in Israel, each carrying an FM transponder, is expected to launch on January 13 at 15:25 GMT on the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-3 mission. This mission also carries AMSAT-EA’s EASAT-2 and HADES satellites.

Tevel-1, Tevel-2 ….Tevel-8

Beacon transmissions on 436.400 MHz, (9600bps BPSK G3RUH)
FM transponders uplink frequency: 145.970 MHz|
FM transponders downlink frequency: 436.400 MHz

All 8 satellites will have the same frequencies, so as long as the footprints are overlapping, only one FM transponder will be activated. The satellites were built by 8 schools in different parts of Israel.

Prelaunch TLEs:

Deployment number 28

TEVEL-4/TEVEL-5
1 12345U 22-T3TE  22013.69008102 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  9997
2 12345  97.3652  83.6317 0010843 246.0911 147.6817 15.12493461    06

Deployment number 30

TEVEL-1/TEVEL-2/TEVEL-3
1 12345U 22-T3TE  22013.69038194 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  9991
2 12345  97.3658  83.6317 0009074 254.1211 141.2940 15.11975594    07

Deployment number 55

TEVEL-6/TEVEL-7/TEVEL-8
1 12345U 22-T3TE  22013.69375000 0.00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0  9991
2 12345  97.3676  83.6318 0009046 252.0606 161.7026 15.11914367    05

Control station will be 4X4HSC at the Herzliya Science Center.

[ANS thanks David Greenberg, 4X1DG, for the above information]

ANS-009 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for January 9th

by

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-009

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:

  • The ARRL Foundation Grants an Award for the ARISS *STAR* Keith Pugh Memoriam Project
  • EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites with FM Repeaters Scheduled for Launch on January 13th
  • Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for January 6, 2022
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

The ARRL Foundation Grants an Award for the ARISS *STAR* Keith Pugh Memoriam Project

ARISS-USA is known for engaging students in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) subjects by arranging live question-and-answer sessions via amateur radio (ham radio) between K-12 students and astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). In the last two decades, over 1,400 contacts have connected more than one million youth using amateur radio, with millions more watching and learning. ARISS is constantly pursuing educational opportunities that inspire student interest and outcomes.

ARISS-USA is pleased to announce that the ARRL Foundation awarded funding for the first year of a two-year project called the “ARISS *STAR* Keith Pugh Memoriam Project” with *STAR* being the acronym for Space Telerobotics using Amateur Radio. The ARRL Foundation very generously provided $47,533. The project honors the memory of highly-respected Keith Pugh, whose call sign was W5IU (Silent Key, May 2019). He was an expert supporter of ARISS for many years, a star ARISS Technical Mentor assisting schools with their ARISS contacts, finding educators who might be interested in learning about ARISS, and going to schools to lead youth in a variety of lessons about wireless radio technology.

ARISS *STAR* (short for ARISS *STAR* Keith Pugh Memoriam Project), is a brand-new education program that will enable US junior high and high school education groups to remotely control robots through digital APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) commands using amateur radio. Year 1 focuses on systems development and initial validation of *ARISS* STAR, and Year 2 focuses on evaluation and final validation. Systems development and evaluation will be led by university staff and students who will undertake hands-on-wireless and telerobotics lesson development, learn about Amateur Radio, and support the development of the *STAR* engineering hardware and software. Next, youth teams will be selected to experiment and critique *STAR* telerobotics scenarios along closed courses and radio lessons. Some participating students will want to prepare for, and earn, their amateur radio licenses, using ham radio to learn and practice concepts in radio technology and radio communications.

Overarching goals for *STAR* are to improve and sustain ARISS STEAM educational outcomes with youth. Robotics is gaining popularity among youth and adults alike. Telerobotics adds a wireless accent to robotic control. *STAR*, therefore, gives ARISS a new educational dimension to attract the attention of more education groups and their students and educators—outreach that promises to attract new audiences.

The ARRL Foundation was established in 1973 by ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio ®, and advances the art, science and societal benefits of the Amateur Radio Service by awarding financial grants and scholarships to individuals and organizations in support of their charitable, educational and scientific efforts. ARISS-USA Executive Director Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, praised the ARRL Foundation, saying, “ARISS team member, Keith Pugh, W5IU, poured his energy into inspiring, engaging and educating youth in space and in amateur radio endeavors. What a better way to honor Keith than through the ARISS *STAR* initiative. We thank the ARRL Foundation for their vision to move this initiative forward. Maybe someday one of our ARISS *STAR* students will use their telerobotics skills to control scientific rovers on the Moon or Mars!”

[ANS thanks ARISS 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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EASAT-2 and Hades Satellites with FM Repeaters Scheduled for Launch on January 13th

I just wanted to confirm with you all that the launch of EASAT-2 and Hades satellites is scheduled for this January, 13, 15.25 UTC on SpaceX TR-3 flight, as it has been confirmed to us by Alba Orbital.

As it has been noted in older posts, both satellites offer voice communications in FM and data retransmission in FSK or AFSK up to 2400 bps, such as AX.25 or APRS frames. They also transmit voice beacons in FM with the callsigns AM5SAT and AM6SAT, as well as CW, and, in the case of Hades, SSTV live images too.

We thank you in advance for trying to receive their signals and of course for trying to use the repeater. EASAT-2 one will be automatically active 30 minutes after the launch although it would be a priority for us trying to have some telemetry frames first to check if all is working properly.

I tell you a bit more about the satellites:

EASAT-2 has been designed and built jointly by AMSAT-EA and students from the European University of Degrees in Aerospace Engineering in Aircraft and in Telecommunication Systems Engineering, with contributions from ICAI in the communications part, and it incorporates as an experimental load a basalt material from Lanzarote, similar to lunar basalts, provided by the CSIC research group on meteorites and planetary geosciences at the Institute of Geosciences, IGEO (CSIC-UCM) and that could be used as a construction material on the Moon. This project was promoted and has the collaboration of the ETSICCP (UPM).

The UNESCO world geopark of Lanzarote and the Chinijo archipelago has been used for different investigations as an analogue of the Moon and Mars, also including the training of ESA astronauts. The selected basalt material meets the requirements to be used as a simulant of the existing basalt on the Moon. The purpose of the experiment is to determine its evolution in space based on periodic measurements of some of its properties. Although the experiment is limited and constitutes the first phase of this type of study, it represents an important milestone as it is the first of its kind to be introduced on such a small satellite.

As for Hades, its payload consists of a miniature camera module that outputs the captured images as an audio signal in SSTV mode. The SSTV formats it uses are compatible with Robot36, Robot72, MP73 and MP115. The design of the cam module is based on the one used in the successful mission of the PSAT2 satellite, an amateur radio satellite of the United States Naval Academy and the Brno University of Technology. This camera has been operational since June 25, 2019: (http:// www.aprs.org/psat2.html).

The camera chip is the Omnivision OV2640, which provides a resolution of up to 2M pixels and compressed JPEG output. The resolution is limited by the internal memory of the CPU (MCU) that controls the camera to 320×240 (typical) or 640×480 maximum. The MCU selected for the control is the STM32F446RET6, which has the smallest possible footprint with connection to a DCMI peripheral, necessary for the connection with the camera. Images can be stored in 2MB serial flash memory. The complete SSTV encoder has managed to be implemented on a 4 layer PCB with dimensions of only 38x38mm. The MCU can be fully controlled from ground stations. The firmware allows the sending of live camera images, images previously saved in flash memory, or images encoded in ROM. It also provides PSK telemetry and imaging advance scheduling with current status (event counters, temperature, voltage, light conditions, etc.) and a brief summary.

The described module has been developed and manufactured in the Department of Radioelectronics of the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic. Both hardware and firmware designs with the source codes will be available on Github under the MIT license (https://github.com/alpov/SatCam).

As noted, initially only the EASAT-2 repeater is active. Hades one will be activated by remote control a few days after launch.

The frequencies coordinated with IARU for both satellites are as follows:

EASAT-2

145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200/2400 bps
436.666 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with AM5SAT callsign

HADES

145.925 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (no subtone) and FSK 50 bps, AFSK, AX.25, APRS 1200/2400 bps
436.888 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW FSK 50 bps, SSTV Robot 36, FM voice beacon with callsign AM6SAT

The description of the transmissions can be found in the following document.

https://www.amsat-ea.org/app/download/12530621/AMSAT+EA+-+EASAT-2+and+HADES+Transmissions+description+v1.05.pdf

AMSAT-EA appreciates the receipt of telemetry, voice beacons and SSTV images. A paper QSL will be sent to those who submit their transmissions. It can be done through the following link:

http://data.amsat-ea.org

[ANS thanks Felix Paez, AMSAT-EA Mission Manager, 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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Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for January 6, 2022

CAMSAT XW-3(CAS-9) is designated Hope-OSCAR 113, HO-113:

HO-113 – Cat ID 50446 (Formerly known as XW-3 (CAS-9))

Drew Glasbrenner, AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator, announced the following OSCAR assignment in AMSAT News Service Bulletin ANS-002 dated January 2, 2022:

“At the request of CAMSAT and the XW-3 (CAS-9) team, AMSAT hereby designates XW-3 (CAS-9) as Hope-OSCAR 113 (HO-113). We congratulate the owners and operators of HO-113, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them continued success on this and future projects.”

Also thanks to Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, for his timely name changing of CAMSAT’s new satellite to HO-113 in last week’s AMSAT NA webpage TLE distribution of Object Cat ID 50446.

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

ARISS News

No scheduled contacts reported.

The next mode change to voice cross band repeater is expected to occur in early January, 2022.

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

Events:

4A90, MEXICO (Special Event). Members of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE)[Mexican Society]are celebrating their 90th anniversary during January, February and March 2022 promoting each of the

31 States and Mexico City with the following 32 different special event callsigns and 4A90FMRE:

January 1st-15th: 4A90COL, 4A90CMX, 4A90EMX, 4A90GTO, 4A90HGO, 4A90JAL and 4A90MIC
January 16-30th: 4A90MOR, 4A90NAY, 4A90PUE, 4A90QRO, 4A90TLX and 4A90VER
January 31st-February 14th: 4A90AGS, 4A90BAC, 4A90BCS, 4A90COA, 4A90CHH and 4A90DGO
February 15th-March 1st: 4A90NLE, 4A90SLP, 4A90SIN, 4A90SON, 4A90TAM
March 2nd-16th: 4A90CAM, 4A90CHI, 4A90GRO, 4A90OAX, 4A90QUI, 4A90TAB and 4A90YUC

Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 and the satellites. Awards are available (see QRZ.com for details). For more details on the event, see: http://fmre90.puebladx.org

[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.

Events with a confirmed AMSAT presence:

HamCation 2022 – The ARRL National Convention

Friday, February 11th, 2022 to Sunday, February 13, 2022

Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park
4603 West Colonial Drive
Orlando, Florida 32808

https://www.hamcation.com/

Hamvention 2022

Friday May 20, 2022 to Sunday May 22, 2022

Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center

210 Fairground Road
Xenia, Ohio 45385

2022 Rocky Mountain ARRL Division Convention

Friday, October 7th, 2022 to Sunday, October 9th, 2022

Event Center at Archer
3921 Archer Pkwy
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007

Clint Bradford, K6LCS reports:

Part of the “job description” for volunteer AMSAT Ambassadors is to “spread the gospel” of working satellites to clubs and conventions.

PS 2022 is starting off with a bang! Presentations set for clubs in …

Tennessee
South Bay CA
New York
British Columbia
Ontario Canada
Victoria BC
Sonoma CA
Tampa FL
Texas
Nevada

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 solicited and welcome.

Send an email or call!

Clint Bradford K6LCS
AMSAT Ambassador, ARRL instructor
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, and Clint Bradford, K6LCS, 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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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ A new distance record has been claimed on AO-109. ES4RM in KO49al completed a SSB QSO with F4DXV in JN04iu on 22-Dec-2021 at 15:24 UTC – a distance of 2,445 km. With a reported total power output of 8 mW, SSB QSOs over a decent range are quite a challenge. Can anyone do better?

+ With the recent re-enabling of the AO-73 transponder, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, has issued the 59th 73 on 73 Award to JA1OJA. This award was completed using CW only. N8HM notes, “AO-73 is a fantastic satellite, but it can be a challenge due to the transponder’s frequency drift. With the recent technical issues, we don’t know how long it will be available. Get on and make some QSOs so that more operators can receive this award!” More information about the award can be found at https://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/

+ John Brier, KG4AKV, has posted a video regarding HO-113 and some of the issues with working it successfully. The video can be found at https://youtu.be/NglO_WJ2hhc

+ NASA reports that the James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed its sunshade and the full primary mirror.

+ Abstract Submission for the 2022 CubeSat Developer’s Workshop is still open! The deadline is January 14th, 2022! More information about the 2022 CubeSat Developer’s Workshop, to be held ar Cal Poly on April 26-28, 2022, can be found at https://www.cubesatdw.org/

+ Version 1.11 of the HO-113 (XW-3) User’s Manual, mainly adding the test mode telemetry data format. is now available at https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/XW-3_Manual_1.11.pdf

 

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,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org