The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on http://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.
* November/December 2017 Apogee View Column Posted on the AMSAT Web
* New Video: AO-91 Integration and Testing Before Launch
* Special Membership Offer Continues for RadFxSat/AO-91 Launch
* Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
* AMSAT Keplerian Elements Updated with AO-91 NORAD Tracking Number
* New Distance Record via AO-91 5,955 km
* Satellite Activity From Azores Islands on Christmas
* December 20 Launch for HA-1 CubeSat with FM transponder and SSTV
* Information for Requesting UT1FG/MM QSL Cards
* English Edition of AMSAT-EA Newsletter
* New Cuban Movie Features Ham Radio Contact With MIR
* 2017 Open Source Cubesat Workshop Talks Posted On-line
* Spaceflight Prepares to Launch Eleven Spacecraft on India’s PSLV-C40
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-344.01
ANS-344 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 344.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE December 10, 2017
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-344.01
November/December 2017 Apogee View Column Posted on the AMSAT Web
The November/December 2017 edition of Apogee View, a comprehensive
bimonthly update of AMSAT’s activities written by AMSAT President Joe
Spier, K6WAO, has been posted on the AMSAT website.
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM for the above information]
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New Video: AO-91 Integration and Testing Before Launch
AMSAT VP of Engineering, Jerry Buxton, NØJY has released a video
report on YouTube, “The Good and the Bad with AO-91”. During the
12 minute video Jerry describes what’s right and what went a little
wrong with AO-91: She hears very well, but she had a heck of a time
learning to talk. Watch on-line at: https://youtu.be/no4pHx02lSI
[ANS thanks AMSAT VP of Engineering, Jerry Buxton, NØJY for the above information]
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Special Membership Offer Continues for RadFxSat/AO-91 Launch
AO-91 is open to all and works great! Now is a good time to join
AMSAT and receive a free digital copy of “Getting Started with
Amateur Satellites”!
AMSAT is making our “Getting Started With Amateur Satellites”
book available for a limited time as a download with any paid new
or renewal membership purchased via the AMSAT Store. This offer is
only available with purchases completed online, and for only a limited
time. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated every year
with the latest amateur satellite information, and is the premier
primer of satellite operation. The 182 page book is presented in PDF
format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your first
contacts on a ham radio satellite.
Please take advantage of this offer today by visiting the AMSAT store
at https://www.amsat.org/shop/ and selecting any membership option.
While there, check out our other items, including the M2 LEOpack
antenna system, Arrow antennas, AMSAT shirts, and other swag.
Thank you, and see you soon on AO-91!
[ANS thanks Paul N8HM for the above information]
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Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA’s Required
Minimum Distribution for 2017? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!
Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals
over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000
per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without
increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or
accountant to make certain you are eligible.
AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific
organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and operate
satellites in space and to provide the support needed to encourage
amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT’s federal tax ID is
52-0888529.
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Board of Directors for the above information]
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AMSAT Keplerian Elements Updated with AO-91 NORAD Tracking Number
AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD advises that the
AO-91 (FOX-1B) object number has now been updated as NORAD CAT ID
43017 based on the results of detailed orbit analysis by Nico Janssen,
PA0DLO. This is expected to be the last change of object number. Ray
thanks to all who have labored to finally come to this conclusion.
to this point.
The AMSAT Keplerian elements have added AO-91 and EcAMSat (NORAD
CAT ID 43019) to the AMSAT-NA TLE distribution.
The following satellites have de-orbited and have been removed from the
AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution:
NORAD CAT ID 40949 – GomX-3
NORAD CAT ID 41477 – NODES 1
NORAD CAT ID 41478 – NODES 2
NORAD CAT ID 41931 – TANCREDO
NORAD CAT ID 42770 – INFLATESAIL
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager for the above information]
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New Distance Record via AO-91 5,955 km
Satellite operators are continuing to push AO-91’s footprint to
the limit. Joel Diaz, EB1AO, and Mike Diehl, W8LID, completed a
5,955 km QSO via the satellite this morning. The maximum elevation
of the pass was just 0.9° for Mike and the QSO was made at 0.5°
on his end. Who will be the first to complete a 6,000 km QSO? The
theoretical maximum range is 6,072 km. Visit the AMSAT Distance
Record page for a complete list of all satellite records: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM for the above information]
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Satellite Activity From Azores Islands on Christmas
Pedro, CU2ZG says he will be active on satellites from grid square
HM58 on Christmas.
His equipment will include an Alaskan Arrow antenna, Yaesu FT-817ND,
Yaesu FT-857D, Kenwood TS-2000 and a Wouxun KG-UV9DPlus. Most of
the operation will be done using the TS-2000.
Expected operating days are December 23 and 24, plus December 25
during the afternoon/evening hours. Pedro says this will be a family
holiday and skeds will be accepted depending on his availability.
His exact location will be HM58qm, at the CU7BC QTH (check QRZ.com)
Watch his twitter account (@pdsousa) for updates.
[ANS thanks Pedro, CU2ZG for the above information]
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December 20 Launch for HA-1 CubeSat with FM transponder and SSTV
The IARU has announced frequency coordination has been completed for
HA-1, a 2U CubeSat developed by the Teenagers Amateur Radio Center of
Activity in Huaian, China. HA-1 is planned for launch on December 20.
HA-1 will be mainly used for teenagers in Huaian to carry out activities
related with amateur radio and aerospace science education. The cubesat
is equipped with amateur radio repeater and SSTV(Slow Scan Television)
component, which is to validate still image transmission in narrowband
voice channel.
There is an SSTV beacon, which puts Date/Time/Location information/temp-
erature etc on a SSTV picture. Amateurs worldwide can also use HA-1 to
test SSTV via the cubesat.
Uplink: 145.930 MHz FM
Downlink: 436.950 MHz FM
Telemetry: 437.350 MHz 9k6 BPSK
[ANS thanks the IARU for the above information]
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Information for Requesting UT1FG/MM QSL Cards
John, K8YSE, posted a message on the amsat-bb on behalf of Yuri,
UT1FG/MM currently at sea aboard the MV Seahorse, “Yuri has asked
that anyone who has not received confirmations from this year and
previous year’s operations to prepare logsheets so that he can mail
them out when he arrives in New Orleans.”
John’s web page includes instructions to prepare your logsheet of QSO’s
that Yuri can print, verify, sign and mail from one of his destination
ports. E-mail your logsheet to John at the address he lists in his
instructions. John will send an acknowledgement email when he receives
your request. This way you will know that Yuri will have your logsheet.
Marinetraffic.com anticipates a December 15-16 arrival in New Orleans.
John requests you send your logsheet QSL request as soon as possible
so Yuri will have time to get them ready for mailing.
Yuri’s current ship, Seahorse, is a relatively new ship and is wider
than previous vessels he has captained so it cannot go through the
locks in the Great Lakes. On this voyage he will be more restricted
as to possible destinations than he was last season.
John concluded, “Yuri has been very busy with his duties and has
had little time for anything else. He sends his regards to all.”
[ANS thanks John Papay, K8YSE for the above information]
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English Edition of AMSAT-EA Newsletter
Spain’s amateur satellite group AMSAT-EA have released an English
language edition of their December newsletter
It covers the recently launched RADFXSAT (FOX-1B) FM transponder
CubeSat and the HA-1 FM / SSTV CubeSat due to launch in December.
There is an article on the satellite tracking software Orbitron
and Robert KE4AL describes his experiences operating satellites
during a DXpedition to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Island.
[ANS thanks Southgate and AMSAT-EA for the above information]
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New Cuban Movie Features Ham Radio Contact With MIR
The Havana, Cuba Film Festival begins on December 7. One of the movies
features a cuban amateur radio operator talking to the MIR space
station.
Posted on tiff.net: “As the Soviet Union crumbles in 1991, an amateur
radio operator in Cuba makes unexpected contact with stranded cosmo-
naut Sergei Krikalev as he observes the dissolution of his nation
from orbit, in Cuban director Ernesto Daranas Serrano’s comedic yet
poignant reflection on how big events can impact ordinary lives.”
[ANS thanks the Southgate Amateur Radio News site for the above information]
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2017 Open Source Cubesat Workshop Talks Posted On-line
The Open Source Cubesat Workshop which was held on November 23-24 at
the European Space Operations Center (ESOC/ESA), Darmstadt, Germany
co-organized by Libre Space Foundation, the Librecube initiative and
ESA/ESOC Cybernetics Team (https://oscw.space) have posted a YouTube
playlist of the presentations and talks at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-344OpenSourceCubesat
[ANS thanks the Libre Space Foundation for the above information]
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Spaceflight Prepares to Launch Eleven Spacecraft on India’s PSLV-C40
by SpaceDaily.com Staff Writers
Seattle WA (SPX) Dec 05, 2017
Spaceflight, a satellite rideshare and mission management provider,
has announced it will be launching 11 spacecraft in early January
from India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Spacecraft
include Finland’s ICEYE-X1 SAR microsatellite, Planetary Resources’
Arkyd-6 6U asteroid prospecting demonstration cubesat, four Spire
Global Lemur-2 cubesats, Astro Digital’s Landmapper-BC3, AMSAT’s
Fox-1D cubesat, and others.
Spaceflight performed the cubesat integration at its Seattle Inte-
gration Facility and is in the process of shipping the spacecraft to
India for the PSLV-C40 mission. The PSLV rocket is scheduled to lift
off from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center in early January 2018
with the Cartosat-2ER navigation satellite, in addition to Space-
flight’s rideshare customers.
“PSLV-C40 is a perfect example of how our flexible, full-service
rideshare model is enabling new commercial space businesses to
exist while expanding into new markets,” said Curt Blake, president
of Spaceflight. “This mission brings new customers from outside
the industry into space while continuing partnerships with existing
customers for their ongoing satellite constellations.”
One first-time customer on the mission is Finland’s ICEYE with
the country’s first commercial satellite, ICEYE-X1. ICEYE developed
its own synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) sensor technologies suitable
for satellites under 100kg in weight, making it one of the bigger
payloads on the PSLV-C40 mission.
This is ICEYE’s first proof-of-concept microsatellite mission with
a SAR sensor as its payload and also the world’s first SAR satel-
lite in this size, enabling radar imaging of the Earth through
clouds and even in total darkness. Potential use-cases for the data
are monitoring sea ice movements or marine oil spills, and preven-
tion of illegal fishing.
“Working together with Spaceflight to schedule and make this launch
a reality has been an outstanding experience for ICEYE, and it has
given us the necessary opportunities for scaling up operations for
our constellation of micro-SAR satellites as planned,” said Rafal
Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder at ICEYE.
Spaceflight offers customers the most options for getting to space,
working with nearly every global launch vehicle provider, including
the Falcon 9, PSLV, Antares, Cygnus, Electron, Soyuz and others.
Much like buying an airline ticket that is valid on multiple airlines,
Spaceflight can ensure organizations have flexibility to move vehicles
if changes or delays occur. Additionally, the smallsat rideshare
service model helps organizations reach a desired orbit at a much
lower cost than buying their own launch vehicle.
Spaceflight has negotiated the launch of more than 120 satellites
on behalf of its customers and has contracts to deploy nearly 200
more through 2018. The company plans to coordinate and deploy its
largest launch to date in 2018 with its first dedicated rideshare
mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Did you know you can help AMSAT by logging into your Amazon
account using http://smile.amazon.com/ch/52-0888529 to designate
AMSAT-NA as the organization of your choice. When shopping on-line
you must use the URL http://smile.amazon.com for AMSAT to receive
the donation from your purchases.
+ 2017: FUNcube Status and New Developments – Wouter Weggelaar,
PA3WEG walks us through the whole FUNcube family of spacecraft
at the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in Milton Keynes,
October 15th 2017. Watch on-line at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELFoLtm44Kc&feature=share
+ While waiting for the next satellite pass have a listen at http://www.livemeteors.com/ to hear meteor pings as they
happen. The pings are a bit more frequent during the popular
meteor showers.
+ Wyatt, AC0RA plans to be active from the Carnival Sunshine cruise
between December 9-16. He will use the callsign C6AWD/MM. He will
operate in semiduplex mode with his FT817 and Arrow antenna. More
info at the callsign listing for C6AWD on qrz.com
+ The 3Y0Z DXpedition Team on Bouvet Island is asking the amateur
radio community to help with flying costs. See the details on
the web: http://www.bouvetdx.org/news-and-updates/
+ European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA, is compiling
TimeLapseADay videos and is sharing them on-line. These can be
found on his playlist posted on YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-344TimeLapseADay
+ The December 2017 issue of SatMagazine has been posted at: http://www.satmagazine.com/ Vytenis Buzas LY1ZY features in
this issue, see pages 76-77.
+ Read about new analysis of the famous Hubble Deep Field images and
watch a video scan across the Deep Field. Each of those blobs and
dots is a galaxy. See: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-344-UniverseToday
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/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President’s Club. Members of the President’s Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information. And, with that consider that bowling is more advantageous
than golf since you rarely lose a bowling ball.
73,
This week’s ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org
