[ans] ANS-288 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

[ans] ANS-288 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins2017-10-15 8:03 GMT+08:00 JoAnne K9JKM <k9jkm@comcast.net>:

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-288

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.

In this edition:

* 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting is Coming Soon!
* NASA JPSS-1 and ELaNa XIV/RadFxSat/Fox-1B Launch Briefings and Events
* Scientific American Magazine Interviews KD2BHC
* FalconSAT-3 Operating Guides Posted
* WSJT-X FT8 QSO Confirmed Between W2JAZ and W5RKN on FO-29
* Announcing the 2017-18 European Astro Pi Challenge
* U.K. OFCOM Satellite Regulation Workshop
* Send Your Name to Mars – Earn NASA ‘Frequent Flier’ Points
* Satellite DX Updates
* Satellite News From South Africa
* HamVideo Active for ARISS Italian School Contacts on October 20
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-288.01
ANS-288 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 288.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE October 15, 2017
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-288.01

2017 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting is Coming Soon!

The 2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and Annual Meeting, October 27-29,
at the Silver Legacy Resort Hotel, Reno, NV.

Please note that you CANNOT register for the AMSAT Banquet Dinner
at the door.  You MUST preregister at the AMSAT store by Friday,
October 20, 2017.

The last day to register online at the Silver Legacy with the
guaranteed rate closed on Friday, October 13, 2017.

The last day to reserve a seat at the Area Coordinators Breakfast is
Wednesday, October 25, 2017.

If you miss the Registration Deadline, you may still show up at the
door and pay $55. There will be no late orders for the Banquet or
Breakfast as this has to do with the rooms and tables necessary.

Complete Your Symposium Registration in the AMSAT Store
——————————————————-
You can register for the 2017 Space Symposium, the Saturday Evening
Banquet, the Sunday Morning Area Coordinators breakfast, the Sunday
afternoon tour to Virginia City, and the Monday tour to Lake Tahoe
in the AMSAT store: https://www.amsat.org/shop/

Symposium Registration (including a copy of the Proceedings)
+ Starting September 15 — $50
+ At the door           — $55

2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Schedule Posted
———————————————
The Schedule for the 2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and
Annual Meeting, October 27-29, 2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort
Hotel, Reno, NV.

Check the Symposium Web Page for updates and new information as it
becomes available: https://www.amsat.org/symposium-schedule/

2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Tours
———————————–
The 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday, Oct 27-29 in Reno.  There will be two tours of the sights
around Reno offered after the Symposium ends on Sunday morning.

A description of the tours has been posted at
https://www.amsat.org/symposium-tours/

Complete tour information is available by paging through each tour
description and a link to purchase the tour through the AMSAT Store
is provided below the description. You may also purchase all
Symposium events at the AMSAT Store.
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-symposium/

[ANS thanks the 2017 AMSAT-NA Symposium Committee for the above
information]

———————————————————————

NASA JPSS-1 and ELaNa XIV/RadFxSat/Fox-1B Launch Briefings and Events

AMSAT RadFxSat/Fox-1B will be launched as a passenger on NASA’s ELaNa
XIV mission. The primary payload for this flight is the Joint Polar
Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1), the first in a new series of four highly
advanced NOAA polar-orbiting satellites, which will help increase weather
forecast accuracy from three to seven days out.

JPSS-1 and ELaNa XIV (including RadFxSat/Fox-1B) is scheduled to launch
on Friday, Nov. 10, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Liftoff
aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch
Complex 2 is targeted for 1:47 a.m. PT (4:47 a.m. ET, 9:47 am UTC) at the
opening of a 65-second launch window. Launch coverage will begin on NASA
Television and the agency’s website at 1:15 a.m. PT.

Visit the NASA JPSS-1 Briefings and Events page for a full description
of the JPSS-1 mission and a timeline of press and launch events:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/jpss-1-briefings-and-events

The ELaNa missions generally get discussed on the L-2 Day Prelaunch
News Conference and Science Briefing followed by CubeSat owner inter-
views.

As AMSAT approaches the launch of RadFxSat/Fox-1B, Jerry Buxton, NØJY,
Vice-President Engineering, compiled a playlist of the streaming and
recorded videos he made as we went through the final testing and qual-
ification of the flight model: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-288-Fox1B-YouTube

On a related topic the next AMSAT-NA CubeSat of the Fox Team is Fox-1Cliff.
Here are links to videos showing Fox-1Cliff’s “ride”:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-288-Spaceflight-Video-1
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-288-Spaceflight-Video-2

[ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, NØJY, for the
above information]

———————————————————————

Scientific American Magazine Interviews KD2BHC

Scientific American magazine interviews radio amateur Zac Manchester,
KD2BHC in the article Breakthrough Sends Smallest-Ever Satellites into
Orbit.

On June 23, 2017 six tiny satellites were sent into low-Earth orbit
as secondary payloads on the Venta and Max Valier satelites that were
launched on the Indian PSLV-C38 rocket. These six satellites are
comparatively dainty, but punch far above their weight. Called “Sprites,”
each is a 4-gram flake of circuit-board just 3.5 centimeters on a side,
packing solar panels, computers, sensors and communications equipment
into an area equal to a U.S. postage stamp.

One Sprite apiece is attached to the outside of each mothership — the
Latvian Venta satellite and the Italian Max Valier satellite, the
latter of which also holds four additional Sprites awaiting deployment
into space as wholly independent spacecraft. Radio telemetry from minu-
scule magnetometers and gyroscopes on the deployed Sprites would then
be used to track the spacecraft as they shift, spin and tumble, to
better understand their orbital dynamics.

Signals on 437.325 MHz from at least one of the exterior-mounted Sprites
have been received in California and New York.

Read the Scientific American article at
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-288-ScientificAmerican
AMSAT-UK covers the interview at
https://amsat-uk.org/2017/07/26/sprite-satellites-deployed/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

———————————————————————

FalconSAT-3 Operating Guides Posted

As previously announced in the ANS-267 bulletins the Air Force
Academy satellite FalconSAT-3 is now open for amateur radio use
as a digital store-and-forward system.

FalconSAT-3’s payload includes a packet bulletin board system
plus digipeating is enabled for live QSOs (unattended
digipeating operations is not authorized at this time).

Uplink:   145.840 MHz FM 9600 baud
Downlink: 435.103 MHz FM 9600 baud – 1 watt

Current Keplerian elements can be found in the set distributed
by AMSAT. More information can be found at:
https://www.amsat.org/falconsat-3/

Tony, K2MO reported that the current UZ7HO soundmodem with the
Wisp setup seems to be working with FalconSAT-3. This configur-
ation consists of the full-duplex version of Soundmodem and
HW-VSP-3. The software can be downloaded from these links:

HW VSP-3: http://www.hw-group.com/products/hw_vsp/index_en.html
UZ7HO HS Soundmodem v0.19: http://uz7.ho.ua/packetradio.htm
Wisp for Windows: https://www.amsat.org/falconsat-3/

Tony put together a quick start guide video for those interested
in running Wisp with VSP and a soundcard modem. The video is
intended to be a self-explanatory demonstration to get started
with FalconSAT-3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ahlA-bRb5A

Watch for updates posted on amsat-bb as Tony continues his exper-
imentation and refinement of techniques and technology to operate
on FalconSAT-3.

[ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
for the FalconSAT-3 information and Tony, K2MO for the software
description]

———————————————————————

WSJT-X FT8 QSO Confirmed Between W2JAZ and W5RKN on FO-29

Ron, W5RKN and Rick, W2JAZ described their experiments in using the
new, shortened TX/RX sequences, weak signal protocol, FT8, to deter-
mine if this mode could be used on satellites. FT8 is operationally
similar to the older protocols but four times faster (15-second T/R
sequences) and less sensitive by a few dB.

Ron posited it might work near AOS or LOS where the Doppler correct-
ions are small. Ron’s configuration was made up of a Flex-6500 with
two DEMI transverters running SmartSDR, SatPC32, FlexSATPC, and WSJT-X.
Rick’s is a Flex-5000 with U/V module, running PowerSDR, SatPC32,
FlexSATPC, and WSJT-X.

Ron described the test, “After a couple runs on AO-7 without success,
we tried again tonight on the 0220Z (14 Oct) pass of FO-29. I started
out at my AOS calling CQ W5RKN EM10. After several transmissions without
success, the reply W5RKN W2JAZ FN29 popped up on the screen. Then
followed the usual signal report, RRR and 73 transmissions.”

Rick and Ron are interested in hearing about other’s experiences
with WSJT-X contacts.

[ANS thanks Ron, W5RKN for the above information]

———————————————————————

Announcing the 2017-18 European Astro Pi Challenge

Astro Pi is back! Today we’re excited to announce the 2017-18
European Astro Pi challenge in partnership with the European
Space Agency (ESA). We are searching for the next generation
of space scientists.

Astro Pi is an annual science and coding challenge where student-
written code is run on the International Space Station under the
oversight of an ESA astronaut. It is open to students from all
22 ESA member countries, including — for the first time — asso-
ciate members Canada and Slovenia.

Watch the announcement video at:
https://youtu.be/yjll_4JY98g

This year’s challenge includes a brand-new non-competitive mission,
in which participants are guaranteed to have their code run on the
ISS for 30 seconds!

MISSION ZERO

For teachers and students who are keen to take part but who don’t
have the capacity to carry out an in-depth project, we wanted to
provide an accessible activity that teams can complete in just
one session.

So we came up with Mission Zero for young people no older than 14.
To complete it, form a team of two to four people and use our step-
by-step guide to help you write a simple Python program that shows
your personal message and the ambient temperature on the Astro Pi.
If you adhere to a few rules, your code is guaranteed to run in
space for 30 seconds, and you’ll receive a certificate showing the
exact time period during which your code has run in space. No special
hardware is needed for this mission, since everything is done in a
web browser. Mission Zero is open until 26 November 2017!

MISSION SPACE LAB

Students aged up to 19 can take part in Mission Space Lab. Form a
team of two to six people, and work like real space scientists to
design your own experiment. Receive free kit to work with, and write
the Python code to carry out your experiment.

There are two themes for Mission Space Lab teams to choose from
for their projects:

Life in space
————–
+ You will make use of Astro Pi Vis (“Ed”) in the European Columbus
module. You can use all of its sensors, but you cannot record images
or videos.

Life on Earth
————-
+ You will make use of Astro Pi IR (“Izzy”), which will be aimed
towards the Earth through a window. You can use all of its
sensors and its camera.

The Astro Pi kit, delivered to Space Lab teams by ESA. If you achieve
flight status, your code will be uploaded to the ISS and run for three
hours (two orbits). All the data that your code records in space will
be downloaded and returned to you for analysis. Then submit a short
report on your findings to be in with a chance to win exclusive,
money-can’t-buy prizes! You can also submit your project for a Bronze
CREST Award.

Mission Space Lab registration is open until 29 October 2017, and
accepted teams will continue to spring 2018.

To find out more and get started visit the Astro-Pi web page:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/announcing-2017-18-astro-pi/

[ANS thanks raspberrypi.org for the above information]

———————————————————————

U.K. OFCOM Satellite Regulation Workshop

For satellite builders in the U.K. OFCOM is running a workshop
on Satellite Regulation on Friday 3rd November in conjunction
with the UK Space Agency.

The workshop is a one day introduction to the regulations you
need to know about to get your satellite project off the ground.
Which regulations apply to satellites and why? Who regulates what?
How to engage with regulators and how they can help you … plus
step-by-step guidance on what to do when.

Topics covered:
+ Spectrum licensing for satellite earth stations
+ Making a satellite filing to get your satellite’s
spectrum use internationally recognised
+ Licensing your satellite under the Outer Space Act

OFCOM would be very keen to encourage universities either teaching
satellite regulation as part of their courses or building cubesats
within their research teams to participate in this session. The
event is free to attend and will be held at OFCOM’s offices in
London and there will also be time for one-to-one meetings.

An informational flyer can be downloaded here:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-288-Ofcom-meeting
Email satellite.event@ofcom.org.uk to register your interest.

[ANS thanks the U.K. CubeSat Forum and U.K. OFCOM for the above
information]

———————————————————————

Send Your Name to Mars – Earn NASA ‘Frequent Flier’ Points

NASA is offering the public an opportunity to send your name to Mars
on a chip aboard the InSight Mars landing mission currently scheduled
for 2018.

To submit your name and sign up visit:
https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/insight/
Last Day to Submit: November 1, 2017 (11:59 p.m. ET)

Launch May 2018
Landing November 2018

A related story on Marsdaily.com describes the frequent flier program plus
more information about the InSight mission:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-288-MarsDaily

When it lands on Mars in November of 2018, NASA’s InSight lander will be
carrying several science instruments – along with hundreds of thousands
of names from members of the public.

This fly-your-name opportunity comes with “frequent flier” points
reflecting an individual’s personal participation in NASA’s exploration
of Mars. These points span multiple missions and multiple decades.
Participants who sent their names on the previous InSight opportunity
in 2015 can download a “boarding pass” and see their “frequent flier”
miles.

As part of this frequent flier program, a chip carrying the names of 1.38
million people also flew aboard the first flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft
in 2014. NASA is building Orion to carry astronauts to deep space
destinations that will enable future missions to Mars.

After InSight, the next opportunity to earn frequent flier points will be
NASA’s Exploration Mission-1, the first flight bringing together the Space
Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to travel thousands of miles
beyond the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars and beyond.

[ANS thanks NASA InSight and Marsdaily.com for the above information]

———————————————————————

Satellite DX Updates

5K0, SAN ANDRES ISLAND (Update). Members of the Grupo Yaguarete DX, who
postponed their DXpedition (which was scheduled between October and
November) to Sint Martin due to the extreme damage by hurricane Irma,
have now re-scheduled to be active as 5K0T from San Andres Island (NA-033)
between November 12-26th. Operators mentioned are Joe/LU1FM (Team Leader),
Dan/LU9FHF, Andy/LU2JCW, Wally/LU3FMD, Fer/LU6FOV and Bob/KK6EK. Activity
will be on 160-10 meters, using CW, SSB, Digital modes (PSK31 and FT8)
and the Satellites. They plan to have 3 HF stations and one satellite
station on the air. Complete list of equipment is available on QRZ.com.
QSL via LU1FM. The 5K0T DXpedition will be officially supported by the
Cordell Expedition’s DXA3 logging system <www.dxa3.org>. For more details
and updates, see:       http://tarjetasqsl.com.ar/5k0t/index.html

HC8, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS (Update). An Argentinian group will be active as
HC8LU from San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Islands between November
29th and December 8th. Operators mentioned are Alejandro/LU8YD, Alejandro/
LU9VEA, Mario/LU7VB and Patricio/LU3YK. Pilot stations are Sergio/LU7YS
and Javier/LU5FF. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using mainly SSB and
the Digital modes (WSPR, JT65, FT8, PSK31). There will also operations on
the satellites (LEO, FM and SSB). Their stations: 2x IC-7000 and home-made
5 elements VHF and 7 elements UHF antennas. QSL via IK2DUW. Visit their
Blog page for updates, at:        https://hc8lu.blogspot.com.ar
Any donations are greatly appreciated. Paypal accounts:
lu8ydnenquen@hotmail.com
hc8lu.2017@gmail.com

PJ4, BONAIRE (Satellite Op). David, NA2AA, will be operating as PJ4/NA2AA
from Bonaire between October 22nd and November 3rd. It is believed this
is the first satellite operation from Bonaire since it became a new DXCC
country on 10/10/2010. The operation will be from PJ4G, Radio Mountain
Bonaire, located in grid FK52tf. He will be very active with emphasis
on the linear satellites FO-29 and the XW-2 s. QSL to PJ4/NA2AA via LoTW.

[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1333 for the above information]

———————————————————————

Satellite News From South Africa

1. AMSATSA On-Target for October 21 BACAR Test Flight

AMSATSA continued work this past week with integration of the various
modules including the on-board computer and the transponder being
integrated into the space frame. No solar panels will be flown as a
precautionary measure as solar panels are expensive and could be
severely damaged on the landing. Kletskous will be powered by a
battery for this test flight.

Uplink:   435.145 MHz NBFM
Downlink: 145.870 MHz NBFM
Maximum uplink power is 5 watt EIRP.
DO NOT USE HIGHER POWER

The BACAR balloon flight with the Kletskous transponder is scheduled to
be launched on 21 October 2017 at 09:00 from an airfield near Secunda.

Kletskous is a crowd funded project. Please become part of the project
by donating to the Kletskous fund. Details and regular updates can be
found on www.amsatsa.org.za. All donors are acknowledged on the website.

Another interesting payload on BACAR is a XinaBox (pronounce X-in-a-box)
satellite. XinaBox is a rapid IoT and electronics development solution,
without the requirement of soldering, wiring or other hardware knowledge
… just coding! Ben Dixon, one of the developers of the XINABOX system
hails from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and joined MEDO
Space to assist with their STEM programme. This led to the development
of XinaBox. Ben and his team have been flying projects on party balloons
reaching somewhere around 8000 metres but on 21 October 2017 they will
take their project to near space with BACAR 5 arranged by the Secunda
Amateur Radio Club.

The core of the satellite is the CR03 Lora Radio operating on 915 MHz.
It is also equipped with a CPU to handle all the communication and runs
the flight software. The module is based around the RFM96W chip trans-
ceiver featuring the LoRa TM providing ultra-long range spread spectrum
communication. The CR03 is connected with a PB04, a smart battery solu-
tion which will also measure the battery voltage and current. A number
of other sensors will be included in the array. The SWO-1, which is
based on the BME28, measures temperature, humidity and pressure. Other
sensors measure UVA, UVB and acceleration. On the ground the XinaBox
team will be using a CW01 module, a Wi-Fi processor which will be
handling all the data and write the information to a kibana server.

2. SDR Workshop in Cape Town

AMSAT SA will be holding a SDR workshop in Cape Town at the Cape
Peninsula University of Technology Bellville campus on Saturday 4 Nov-
ember 2017. Booking for this event has opened. For details and a book-
ing form visit www.amsatsa.org.za. The programme features a description
of the software employed together with a walk through of the installa-
tion process on a PC or a laptop. Applications, such as general signal
reception and the download and display of weather satellite data on the
PC will be discussed.

A VHF dongle and a memory stick with software can be ordered on the book-
ing form. All orders will only be available at the workshop and no deliv-
ery by post is available. The closing date for bookings and payment is
27 October 2017.

The SDR workshop in Johannesburg will be held on 18 November at the
National Amateur Radio Centre. Full details will be available during
next week. Both workshops are presented by AMSAT SA in cooperation with
the South African Radio League. Members of both organisation will enjoy
member discounts.

[ANS thanks the SARL weekly news in English 2017-10-7 for the above
information]

———————————————————————

HamVideo Active for ARISS Italian School Contacts on October 21

Daniel Cussen, EI9FHB says the HamVideo aboard the ISS is planned to
be active for these school contacts on October 20:

“A.Gramsci-N.Pende”, Noicattaro,  Italy and Istituto Comprensivo
“Tauro – Viterbo”, Castellana Grotte (Ba), Italy  direct via IZ7RTN
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be  IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA
Contact is a go for: Sat 2017-10-21 14:23:14 UTC 86 deg

Istituto Scolastico Comprensivo “Nardi”, Porto San Giorgio, Italy and
I.C. Michelangelo Buonarroti,  Marina di Carrara,  Italy
direct via I6KZR and IQ5VR.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled  to be IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA
Contact is a go for: Sat 2017-10-21 09:31:20 UTC 41 deg

Note there may be other ‘surprise’ HAMTV events from time to time,
during other ARISS school contacts. The radio in use for ARISS school
contacts is on a case by case basis, and if the handheld radio is
used, then HAMTV may be used with little warning. There was an extra
HAMTV event with the ARISS meeting in Rome this past week.

HamVideo operational status aboard the ISS can be found at:
http://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/

Ham Video downlink frequencies:
+ 2369 MHz
+ 2395 MHz
+ 2422 MHz
+ 2437 MHz
DVB-S modulation; Symbol rates: 1.3 Ms/s and 2.0 Ms/s
FEC : 1/2; NTSC format (SIF: 352×240 or D1:720×480)

[ANS thanks Daniel Cussen, EI9FHB and ARISS for the above information]

———————————————————————

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Reminder – November 15 deadline! The Amateur Radio on the Inter-
national Space Station (ARISS) program is seeking proposals from
U.S. schools, museums, science centers and community youth organ-
izations to host radio contacts with an orbiting crew member aboard
the International Space Station (ISS) between July 1 and
December 31, 2018. See ARISS website for additional details on
expectations, proposal guidelines, and the proposal form:
http://www.ariss.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-us.html

+ Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp’s 59th Mission is open for
registration. This be will EarthKAM’s 59th week-long mission
and the fourth of 2017! Mission 59 runs October 31 through
November 4. Mission sign up is available and orbits will be
published by Thursday, October 26. Educators can sign up and
get their class involved up to the day of the orbit. Requested
images should be available within 24 hours of the orbit. If
you are looking for a project to do with the images, look at
our activities page for some great ideas that incorporate the
images. See: https://www.earthkam.org/ and the EarthKAM user
Guide:
https://www.earthkam.org/files/pdf/ISS_EarthKAM_User_Guide.pdf

+ AMSAT-UK tweeted that the RSGB video interviews of participants
in the YOTA 2017 event show how amateur satellite communications
feature in The Future of Amateur Radio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNKNcaNpG1I

+ ARISS International is holding their Face to Face Meeting at the
ESA Centre for Earth Observation or ESRIN in Frascati, a small
town 20 km south of Rome. (via ARISS Facebook group)

+ Congratulations to Bob Liddy, K8BL for achieving VUCC Satellite
as a roving station. Bob wrote on amsat-bb, “After 6+ years of
casual Roving, I finally made it to VUCC-R Satellite! My friend
John, K8YSE, who got me started on this, was the QSO that put me
at grid #100 when he called me on SO50 yesterday at the EN72/73
line. Thanks to John and everyone else that put me in their
log on SATs to reach this goal. More to come since my joy is to
give ‘new ones’ to fellow SAT Ops”.

+ NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – with support from NASA’s Solar
System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) and the Lunar
and Planetary Institute – are sponsoring an International Observe the
Moon Night (InOMN) on October 28, 2017. Go to the InOMN website to
find information about how to host, register, and evaluate your InOMN
event, look for an InOMN event near you, and share pictures and high-
lights from InOMN: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/observe_the_moon_night/

+ Congratulations to Mac Cody, AE5PH on his successful satellite
presentation and live operating demo at the Richardson Wireless Klub
on October 9. He had at least forty attendees and about half of them
stayed for the live demo. Stations contacted included Fernando NP4JV,
Glenn AA5PK, Jim K5ND, Bert XE1HG, Christy KB6LTY, Edward KK9EJ,
Matthew KG5HVL, John K8YSE, Jerry N0JY, and Virgilio HP2VX. Working
EN60 also netted a new grid.

+ AMSAT-UK says recordings of all talks from the 2017 Colloquium,
October 14-15 will be posted on the AMSAT-UK YouTube Channel after
the event at: https://www.youtube.com/user/AMSATUK

+ The DXWatch Blog posted an article, “Satellites: A New Horizon for
DXpeditions” at:
https://dxwatch.com/blog/satellites-new-horizon-dxpeditions

+ The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 VHF-UHF-μW Newsletter
is available for free download. The newsletter covers the recommend-
ations affecting the VHF and higher bands from the IARU-R1 General
Conference in Landshut.
The VHF-UHF-μW Newsletter 74 is at:
http://www.iaru-r1.org/imag…/…/newsletters/Newsletter_74.pdf
Previous editions are at:
http://www.iaru-r1.org/index.php/vhfuhsshf/newsletters

+ The Ham Talk Live! show which is streamed on Thursday night at
9 pm Eastern is also available for download as a podcast. This
week Ham Talk Live interviewed Ken Goodwin, K5RG about the 50th
Anniversary of the NASA Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club
W5RRR and their Special Event station. You can listen on demand
24/7/365.25 at www.hamtalklive.com; or a podcast version is on
Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, SoundCloud, and iHeart
Podcasts; and it’s also available on YouTube.

———————————————————————

/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 the tale of the scarecrow who
got promoted because he was outstanding in his field.

73,
This week’s ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org

_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-281.01

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Chris Bradley <kg5jup@gmail.com>
Date: 2017-10-08 23:46 GMT+08:00
Subject: [ans] ANS – 281.01
To: ans@amsat.org, amsat-bb@amsat.org

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-281.01

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 dot org.

In this edition:

* ARISS One Step Closer to Flying New Equipment to ISS
* VUCC Awards/Endorsements for September 2017
* Sputnik Replica – The Transmitter
* PE1ITR Posts Impressions and Photos From AMSAT-DL Annual Meeting
* AMSAT Phase 4 Groundstation Report for the Week 3 October 2017
* COMET Program Training
* Get Ready for the 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Congratulations to Alex N7AGF
+ Daily DX Report
+ Gérard Auvray, F6FAO Slient Key

SB SUN @ AMSAT $ANS-281.01
ANS-253.01 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 281.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
September 10, 2017
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-281.01

ARISS One Step Closer to Flying New Equipment to ISS

On behalf of the ARISS International team, I am proud to announce
that on Friday September 29th the ARISS team submitted the
InterOperable Radio System (IORS) Safety Data Package to NASA for
review! Our next step in this process is the Safety Review, which is
planned for November 2.

Submitting this was a phenomenal accomplishment!! Particularly
since the entire Safety Data Package was developed exclusively by our
ARISS volunteers—something we have never done before. Prior to
this submittal, all safety packages—from Owen Garriott’s in the
early 1980s to today–were developed with contractors from NASA, ESA
or Energia. And might I say at substantial expense. I am pleased
that the ARISS team did it ourselves!

Why is this important? Two reasons:

1) This is a very major IORS milestone. We cannot get to orbit
without successfully completing the safety review process and getting
our hardware certified for flight.

2) Developing the safety package exclusively with volunteers is an
innovative and gutsy approach to keep costs down and get the hardware
flown sooner. Otherwise we probably would have to slip launch 1-2
years while we acquired additional funding to get this done.

NASA Human Spaceflight Safety Certification is a four-step process—
Phase 0, Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3. The material we submitted
covers the first three of the four phases. As part of Phases 0, 1
and 2, we need to make sure NASA understands our design. And we need
to show NASA that we understand all the potential hazards that our
hardware systems could introduce to ISS and how we have mitigated (or
prevented) these hazards. One example is to demonstrate to NASA that
our IORS was designed with electrical wiring and circuit breakers
that possess adequate features and sufficient margin to prevent an
electrical shock or fire on-board the ISS. Critically important
stuff! The final phase (Phase 3) will be complete when we have
completed all testing and NASA inspection of our flight hardware and
NASA deems it flight worthy. At that point the IORS will be flight
certificated and we can fly! Currently we are looking to March-May
2018 for flight readiness.

For those not following ARISS hardware development very closely, we
are developing the IORS to replace most of the on-board radio
hardware. It is called “interoperable” because it is being designed
to be operated anywhere on ISS. But specifically, it will be used in
the two areas with ISS Ham legacy antennas: the Columbus Module and
the Russian Service Module. Interoperability allows us to leverage
existing ISS power cables, it can be moved between modules in the
event of on-orbit failures, and it supports common training and
operations. The IORS is the most complex in-cabin hardware system we
have ever designed, built, tested and flown as a volunteer team. We
will remove the 3 watt Ericsson handheld radio system, initially
certified for flight in 1999, and the Packet module–both of which
have recently had issues-and install a brand-new, specially modified
25 watt JVC Kenwood D710GA radio to enable a multitude of new or
improved capabilities on ISS, including voice repeater and be
tter APRS operations. A key development is the Multi-Voltage Power
Supply (MVPS), which interfaces with multiple electric outlet
connection types on ISS and provides a multitude of power output
capabilities for our current and future ARISS operations and amateur
radio experimentation. It will also allow our Ham Video system to
have a dedicated power outlet, eliminating the outlet sharing we have
now, which shuts down Ham Video at times.

This effort would not be possible without the dedication and
persistence of our IORS development team of volunteers. They have
been working tirelessly behind the scenes to provide an outstanding
amateur radio experience for all. Our IORS development team
includes: Lou McFadin, W5DID, our Chief Engineer; Kerry Banke, N6IZW,
the MVPS lead designer; Bob Davis, KF4KSS, the MVPS Mechanical
enclosure designer; Ed Krome, K9EK, supporting IORS thermal control
and cabin noise dissipation; Dave Taylor, W8AAS, our JVC Kenwood D-
710 development liaison; Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, our APRS and D-710
operations expert; Shin Aota, JL1IBD, and Phil Parton, N4DRO for all
their phenomenal support from JVC Kenwood; Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, our
operations lead; and our safety package team-Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, and
Gordon Scannell, KD8COJ. Kudos to all on a fantastic effort!

Designing, building and testing the IORS is a huge undertaking and
*very* expensive. We need to build ten (10!) units to support flight
hardware, flight spares, testing, and training across the
international team. Hardware parts, development tools, fabrication,
testing, and expenses to certify the IORS are expected to cost
approximately $150,000. And the hard part (i.e. most expensive part)
is just now starting. So please consider making a donation to ARISS
to take our hardware system from dream to reality. You can donate to
ARISS directly through the AMSAT web site at:
http://www.ariss.org/donate.html. ALL donations go directly to ARISS.

Thank you for all your support to inspire, engage and educate our
youth to consider wireless communications and amateur radio, and to
pursue STEAM careers through our exciting human space exploration and
amateur radio endeavor!

[ANS thanks Frank Bauer KA3HDO for the above information]

———————————————————————

VUCC Awards/Endorsements for September 2017

The VUCC Standings for September 30th are still not
without problems. Totals that changed a few up or down
are still not corrected. A few more callsigns are missing.
Below are the totals that changed on 8 September 2017 which
were in the last posting. The 30 September pdf dropped N1AIA
and AK4WQ(EN34). AI6GS and K7TAB are still missing.

Previous Callsigns missing on 08Sep2017:
AI6GS (230)
K7TAB (100)

New Callsigns Missing on 30Sep2017:
N1AIA (216)
AK4WQ(EN34) (107) (was 106 01Aug2017)

Callsigns with totals that went DOWN:

KO4MA 1564 -1562
AC0RA 1143 -1142
K8TL 974 -973
AA5PK 876 -875
W6ZQ 561 -560
K4XP 102 -101

Callsigns with totals that only went UP by a few:

K6FW 603 -606
KK4FEM 476 -480 (now NJ4Y at 502)
KL7CN/W6 249 -250
KX9X 158 -159
AK4WQ(EN34) 106 -107
VA3NNA 100 -102
(The above callsigns could be legitimate endorsements.)

Here are the apparent endorsements and new VUCC Satellite
Awards issued by the ARRL for the period September 8, 2017
through September 30, 2017.
Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

CALL GRIDS

KB1RVT 1524
K4FEG 818
NJ4Y 502
W4FS 482
W0DHB 400
K5ND 351
NS3L 225
W6ZQ(DM42) 202 (NEW VUCC)
NR0T 200
WA7HQD 138
PT2AP 102 (NEW VUCC)
PS8ET 101 (NEW VUCC)
K4RGK 100 (NEW VUCC)

This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf
listings for September 8th and September 30th, 2017. It’s a visual
comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your
call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are
roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are
doing most of the work!

[ANS thanks John K8YSE for the above information]

———————————————————————

Sputnik Replica – The Transmitter

Stefan’s Radio Blog posted at:
http://www.radio.cc/post/franks-sputnik-transmitter

Frank’s Sputnik Replica – The Transmitter

In the January edition of the RAZzies magazine Frank Waarsenburg
PA3CNO continued to report about building a replica of the original
Sputnik 1 transmitter.

In his interesting article he writes about the difficulties and
obstacles he faced: Missing data for winding the coils, errors
in 2p19b datasheets and a critical bug in the schematics. He des-
cribed his approaches to tackle these problems. (See the blog
page for a photo of the project.)

I think for everyone who is interested in understanding the
Sputnik 1 transmitter or who wants even to build a replica Frank’s
article is a must read. Please note that the RAZzies is a Dutch
HAM magazine. If you don’t understand Dutch simply use the Google
translator or similar tools in order to get a translation.

Access Razzie’s Magazine at:
https://www.pi4raz.nl/razzies/razzies201601.pdf

[ANS thanks Stephan’s Radio Blog for the above information]

———————————————————————

PE1ITR Posts Impressions and Photos From AMSAT-DL Annual Meeting

http://pe1itr.com/satellite/verslag-amsat-dl-jahreshauptversammlung-
2017.htm
(Ed. note – Google translate helps)

On September 30th I visited with Jack, PA0BOJ, the AMSAT-DL
Jahreshauptvers-
ammlung 2017. We left Bochum at 7:15 am and at 8:00 we were home
again. It
was a long and interesting day, revealing that it was a blast of
activities.

In addition to the usual administrative issues, the central theme of
the
annual meeting was the developments of and around the future Es’hail-
2 satel-
lite. The expectation is now that the satellite will be launched in
Q2 2018.

There were lectures on the construction of the various ground
stations and
their current status. It was nice to see that in the command, ground
stations
built in extensive switching options, which also included space for
experiments.

Also the well-known LEILA is built in custom form and there will be
a websdr
available to monitor the downlink signal.

There was special attention to the digital television capabilities
of this
satellite. In this context I found the reading of Thomas, DG5NGI,
interest-
ing, in which he told me about the DVB-S2 mode that one wants to
use. And
even talked about DVB-S2X as a possible next step afterwards. I had
not
heard of DVB-S2 before, but now I understand that DVB-S2 is more
packet
oriented than DVB-S, so there are more opportunities in the data
stream
build-up. Spoken was about FEC, Modulation, BBFRAMES, Dynamic Coding
and
Transport Capability.

It was also clear that for experimenting with datv on the wideband
trans-
ponder, coordination between users is needed. The BATC is developing a
website that provides more information in this performance.

There was also a dummy S/X band P4A transponder at the meeting. Jack
had taken his DVB-S S-band television transmitter and X-band receiver.
And I’m my ssb/cw S/X band equipment. With this we thoroughly tested
the
dummy transponder. I even made my first qso about this phase4a style
S/X
band dummy transponder with Achim DH2VA, which was on the other side
of
the room. We have therefore exchanged 59 +++ reports. And we were
again
a nice experience richer.

[ANS thanks Rob, PE1ITR, and AMSAT-DL for the above information]

———————————————————————

AMSAT Phase 4 Groundstation Report for the Week 3 October 2017

Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, has released the Weekly Report for the AMSAT
Groundstation Team.

Her full report, including notes are posted with the video (click on
‘See More’). This week Michelle discusses our simplified pi/2 BPSK
decoder, working under the assumption that symbol timing and phase
have already been resolved to a single sample per symbol.

This work fits into the much larger picture of acquiring phase, timing
of symbols, demodulation, decoding, and correlation to the fixed
patterns
of the Start of Frame field in the physical layer header that helps
define each DVB-S2 frame.

The DVB-S2 physical layer header is sent using a modulation scheme
called
pi/2 BPSK. This scheme is defined in the standard. Since we’re using
GNU
Radio as our reference design, we decided to make a custom block in
GNU
Radio to do this. This block will evolve to include our specific type
of correlation for the Start of Frame as well.

We started with the definition in the specification where, “SOF shall
correspond to the sequence 18D2E82HEX (01-1000-….-0010 in binary
notation, the left-side bit being the MSB of the PLHEADER)” 90 degree
BPSK, so in complex notation, it’s…”The PLHEADER, represented by the
binary sequence (y1, y2,…y90) shall be modulated into 90 p/2BPSK
symbols according to the rule:

I sub 2i-1 = Q sub 2i-1 = (1/v2) (1-2y sub 2i-1), I sub 2i =
– Q sub 2i = – (1/v2) (1-2y sub 2i) for i = 1, 2, …, 45 ”

[Ed. note: examples and explanation are in the video]

Assuming that the demodulation is correct, the next step from here
is to take our start of frame and look for received patterns that
match
it. When this happens, we will produce a tag. Tags in GNU Radio are
synchronized chunks of information that are attached to samples. It
is like metadata that can be used by other blocks. For this block,
we are going to follow the conventions in the general correlation
estimation block. This means that there will be several tags that
can be used by downstream blocks that need them. Those downstream
blocks have already implemented functions that consume the tags, so
if we produce them, it makes for more useful flow graphs.?

[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NYV for the above information]

———————————————————————

COMET Program Training

The COMET Program is pleased to announce the publication of the new
lesson,
“Communicating Winter Weather Surface Impacts
<https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_module.php?id=1320>”. This
lesson will
introduce National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters to the benefits
of
pre-season coordination in understanding the critical needs of
decision-makers, particularly the state and local Departments of
Transportation (DOTs). The strategies used by DOTs to mitigate road
impacts
during the winter and how the NWS can best support their needs are
also
discussed. Learners will gain insight into the common methods of
collaboration between the NWS and DOT, and the different types of
winter
weather events in which they work together. Learners will also
practice
communicating winter weather forecast information that best support
the
concerns of DOT, including working through a simulation to see the
effects
of their communication choices on DOT decisions. The lesson will
take about
an hour to complete (not including the quiz).

The intended audience for “Communicating Winter Weather Surface
Impacts
<https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_module.php?id=1320>” includes
operational forecasters in U.S. NWS Weather Forecast Offices, and
others
with general interest in communicating weather information. NWS
forecast
offices could use the lesson in their training programs in
preparation for
the winter weather season.

For best viewing of content on the MetEd website, please ensure that
you
have a browser updated to its latest version with JavaScript
enabled. For
technical support, please visit our Registration and Support FAQs
<https://www.meted.ucar.edu/resources_faq.php>.

We welcome any comments or questions you may have regarding the
content,
instructional approach, or use of this lesson. Please e-mail your
comments
or questions to Vanessa Vincente (vincente ATucar.edu) or Tsvetomir
Ross-Lazarov (tlazarov AT ucar.edu).

[ANS thanks Lloyd Colston, KC5FM for the above information]

———————————————————————

Get Ready for the 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting
Everything you need to know and get done today

Here is a summary of what you need to do to get ready for the
2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and Annual Meeting, October 27-29,
2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort Hotel, Reno, NV.

2017 Annual AMSAT Symposium important deadlines.
———————————————————–

The last day to reserve a meal at the Saturday Evening Banquet is
Sunday, October 8, 2017.

The last day to register online at the Silver Legacy with the
guaranteed rate is Friday, October 12, 2017.

The last day to register online is Friday, October 20, 2017.

The last day to reserve a seat at the Area Coordinators Breakfast is
Wednesday, October 25, 2017.

If you miss the Registration Deadline, you may still show up at the
door and pay $55. There will be no late orders for the Banquet or
Breakfast as this has to do with the rooms and tables necessary.

Complete Your Symposium Registration in the AMSAT Store
——————————————————-
You can register for the 2017 Space Symposium, the Saturday Evening
Banquet, the Sunday Morning Area Coordinators breakfast, the Sunday
afternoon tour to Virginia City, and the Monday tour to Lake Tahoe
in the AMSAT store: https://www.amsat.org/shop/

Symposium Registration (including a copy of the Proceedings)
+ Starting September 15 — $50
+ At the door — $55

Make Your Reservations for the Symposium Hotel in Reno
——————————————————
You must make your hotel reservations at the Silver Legacy at this
link: https://www.amsat.org/symposium-hotel/ (block code ISAMSAT)
The hotel phone number is 1-800-687-8733.

TO GUARANTEE OUR RATES PLEASE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS BEFORE
OCTOBER 12, 2017.

The Silver Legacy is a 4-star Resort/Hotel/Casino which is an iconic
42-story hotel with its massive round dome and spires centered in
downtown Reno.

2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Schedule Announced
————————————————————
The Schedule for the 2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and
Annual Meeting, October 27-29, 2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort
Hotel, Reno, NV.

Check the Symposium Web Page for updates and new information as it
becomes available: https://www.amsat.org/symposium-schedule/

2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Tours Announced
———————————————
The 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday, Oct 27-29 in Reno. There will be two tours of the sights
around Reno offered after the Symposium ends on Sunday morning.

The first tour is offered on Sunday October 29, 10:00AM to 4:00PM
This tour will visit Historical Virginia City. Tour cost is $46 per
person. Lunch will be on your own.

The second tour is offered on Monday October 30, 8:30AM to 5:30PM
This tour will Discover Truckee, the Donner Party, Lake Tahoe &
Genoa. The tour cost is $80 per person. There is an optional Lake
Tahoe Cruise on a paddle-wheel ship available. The tour cost with the
Lake Tahoe Cruise is $147 per person. Lunch is provided with either
tour option.

A description of the tours has been posted at

Symposium Tours

Complete tour information is available by paging through each tour
description and a link to purchase the tour through the AMSAT Store
is provided below the description. You may also purchase all
Symposium events at the AMSAT Store.
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-symposium/

Introducing Banquet Keynote Speaker Garrett L. Skrobot, NASA
Cubesat Launch Initiative Program, Kennedy Space Center
————————————————————–
Garrett was born in Myrtle Beach, S.C., but moved to West Cocoa,
Florida at the age of six months. Immediately after graduating
from Cocoa High School in 1980, Garrett began a four-year tour
of duty in the United States Marine Corp that took him around
the world.

In 1988 Garrett earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical
engineering from the University of Tennessee; he later received
his master’s degree in space systems from the Florida Institute
of Technology in 1992.

Garrett joined the NASA team at Kennedy Space Center in 2000 as
an Integration Engineer for the Launch Services Program. Prior
to his work with NASA, Garrett was employed by General Dynamics
as a System Engineer for the Atlas/Centaur booster program. Dur-
ing his tenure with General Dynamics, Garret participated in more
than 50 launches while working in the Electrical, Ground Instru-
mentation, Payload Mission Integration, Telemetry and Project
Management divisions.

Garrett continues to live in Cocoa with his wife and their three
daughters. In his free time, Garrett enjoys nature photography,
fishing, and actively supporting his daughters in their sports.
Garrett himself is also an accomplished athlete, having earned
a black belt in karate.

[ANS thanks the 2017 AMSAT-NA Symposium Committee for the above information]

———————————————————————

Satellite Shorts From All Over

Congratulations to Alex N7AGF? for earning his VUCC Satellite Award.
Alex wrote, “It took almost a year. Thanks to all the
operators/rovers
who helped me get there!” Alex was licensed in 1992. He is a digital
and satellite enthusiast. He is a life member of AMSAT and the ARRL.

[ANS thanks AMSAT Twitter for the above information]

———————————————————————

The Daily DX has reported that RI1F has been reported on
14.040 and 10.127 MHz CW. Members of the Russian Robinson
Club (RRC) had announced plans for activity on 160-10 meters,
including the WARC bands, VHF and UHF. Operations will be on
CW, SSB, the Digital modes, EME (dates are October 3-7) and
the satellites. (via the Daily DX)

[ANS thanks The Daily DX for the above information]

———————————————————————

Gérard Auvray, F6FAO, passed away on 17 October 2017.

Gerard was Amsat-F president. He was very involved in the Hamradio
satellite community and contributed to several satellites that were
launched in space : Arsène, Spoutnik 40, Spoutnik 41, Idefix 1 et 2,
cubesat like Robusta, QB50 P2, X-cubesat et Spacecube.

He also shared his passion with many students, and hamradio operators.
He has contributed to other projects / activities such as providing
help during 1985 Mexico City earthquake, promoting experimental
balloons and solar balloons… He was also involved in Big Jump
project.

[ANS thanks AMSAT dot org for the above information]

———————————————————————

/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.

73,
This week’s ANS Editor,
Chris Bradley,AA5EM
aa5em at amsat dot org
———————————————————————
Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum
available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect
the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to
support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

[ans] ANS-274 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

[ans] ANS-274 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Joe Spier <wao@vfr.net>
Date: 2017-10-01 10:40 GMT+08:00
Subject: [ans] ANS-274 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: ans@amsat.org, amsat-bb@amsat.org

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-274
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.

The AMSAT News Service Bulletins are delivered weekly to your
e-mail address. The subscription form can be accessed at:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

* Get Ready for the 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting
Everything you need to know and get done today
* Last Call for 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers
* International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students –
ARISS-US program education proposal deadline is November 15, 2017
* Daniel “Nick” Kucij, KB1RVT, Silent Key
* AMSAT Pioneer Patrick J. A. Gowen, G3IOR, Silent Key
* AMSAT Phase4 weekly report – User Input for Remote Operation
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-274.01
ANS-274 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 274.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE October 1, 2017
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-274.01

———————————————————————

Get Ready for the 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting
Everything you need to know and get done today

Here is a summary of what you need to do to get ready for the
2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and Annual Meeting, October 27-29,
2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort Hotel, Reno, NV.

2017 Annual AMSAT Symposium important deadlines.
———————————————————–

The last day to reserve a meal at the Saturday Evening Banquet is
Sunday, October 8, 2017.

The last day to register online at the Silver Legacy with the
guaranteed rate is Friday, October 12, 2017.

The last day to register online is Friday, October 20, 2017.

The last day to reserve a seat at the Area Coordinators Breakfast is
Wednesday, October 25, 2017.

If you miss the Registration Deadline, you may still show up at the
door and pay $55. There will be no late orders for the Banquet or
Breakfast as this has to do with the rooms and tables necessary.

Complete Your Symposium Registration in the AMSAT Store
——————————————————-
You can register for the 2017 Space Symposium, the Saturday Evening
Banquet, the Sunday Morning Area Coordinators breakfast, the Sunday
afternoon tour to Virginia City, and the Monday tour to Lake Tahoe
in the AMSAT store: https://www.amsat.org/shop/

Symposium Registration (including a copy of the Proceedings)
+ Starting September 15 — $50
+ At the door           — $55

Make Your Reservations for the Symposium Hotel in Reno
——————————————————
You must make your hotel reservations at the Silver Legacy at this
link: https://www.amsat.org/symposium-hotel/  (block code ISAMSAT)
The hotel phone number is 1-800-687-8733.

TO GUARANTEE OUR RATES PLEASE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS BEFORE
OCTOBER 12, 2017.

The Silver Legacy is a 4-star Resort/Hotel/Casino which is an iconic
42-story hotel with its massive round dome and spires centered in
downtown Reno.

2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Schedule Announced
————————————————————
The Schedule for the 2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and
Annual Meeting, October 27-29, 2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort
Hotel, Reno, NV.

Check the Symposium Web Page for updates and new information as it
becomes available: https://www.amsat.org/symposium-schedule/

2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Tours Announced
———————————————
The 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday, Oct 27-29 in Reno.  There will be two tours of the sights
around Reno offered after the Symposium ends on Sunday morning.

The first tour is offered on Sunday October 29, 10:00AM to 4:00PM
This tour will visit Historical Virginia City. Tour cost is $46 per
person. Lunch will be on your own.

The second tour is offered on Monday October 30, 8:30AM to 5:30PM
This tour will Discover Truckee, the Donner Party, Lake Tahoe &
Genoa. The tour cost is $80 per person. There is an optional Lake
Tahoe Cruise on a paddle-wheel ship available. The tour cost with the
Lake Tahoe Cruise is $147 per person. Lunch is provided with either
tour option.

A description of the tours has been posted at
https://www.amsat.org/symposium-tours/

Complete tour information is available by paging through each tour
description and a link to purchase the tour through the AMSAT Store
is provided below the description. You may also purchase all
Symposium events at the AMSAT Store.
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-symposium/

Introducing Banquet Keynote Speaker Garrett L. Skrobot, NASA
Cubesat Launch Initiative Program, Kennedy Space Center
————————————————————
Garrett was born in Myrtle Beach, S.C., but moved to West Cocoa,
Florida at the age of six months. Immediately after graduating
from Cocoa High School in 1980, Garrett began a four-year tour
of duty in the United States Marine Corp that took him around
the world.

In 1988 Garrett earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical
engineering from the University of Tennessee; he later received
his master’s degree in space systems from the Florida Institute
of Technology in 1992.

Garrett joined the NASA team at Kennedy Space Center in 2000 as
an Integration Engineer for the Launch Services Program. Prior
to his work with NASA, Garrett was employed by General Dynamics
as a System Engineer for the Atlas/Centaur booster program. Dur-
ing his tenure with General Dynamics, Garret participated in more
than 50 launches while working in the Electrical, Ground Instru-
mentation, Payload Mission Integration, Telemetry and Project
Management divisions.

Garrett continues to live in Cocoa with his wife and their three
daughters. In his free time, Garrett enjoys nature photography,
fishing, and actively supporting his daughters in their sports.
Garrett himself is also an accomplished athlete, having earned
a black belt in karate.

[ANS thanks the 2017 AMSAT-NA Symposium Committee for the above information]

———————————————————————

Last Call for 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers

This is the last call for papers for the 2017 AMSAT Annual Meeting
and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 27, 28, 29,
2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort, Reno, Nevada.

Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations
are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite
community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon
as possible, with final copy to be submitted by October 6 for
inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be
sent to Dan Schultz N8FGV at n8fgv at amsat.org

[ANS thanks Dan, N8FGV, for the above information]

———————————————————————

International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students –
ARISS-US program education proposal deadline is November 15, 2017

September 18, 2017: The Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) program is seeking proposals from U.S. schools,
museums, science centers and community youth organizations to host
radio contacts with an orbiting crew member aboard the International
Space Station (ISS) between July 1 and December 31, 2018.

Each year, ARISS provides tens of thousands of students with oppor-
tunities to learn about space technologies and space communications
through the exploration of Amateur Radio. The program provides
learning opportunities by connecting students to astronauts aboard
the International Space Station (ISS) through a partnership between
NASA, the American Radio Relay League, the Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation and other Amateur Radio organizations and worldwide
space agencies. The program’s goal is to inspire students worldwide,
to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM) through Amateur Radio.

Educators overwhelmingly report that student participation in the
ARISS program inspires an interest in STEM subjects and in STEM
careers. Ninety-two percent of educators who have participated in
the program have indicated that ARISS provided ideas for encourag-
ing student exploration, discussion, and participation, and 78
percent said that ARISS was effective in stimulating student
interest in STEM.

ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers
of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed
education plan. Students can learn about satellite communications,
wireless technology, science research conducted on the space
station, what it is like to work in space, radio science, and any
related STEM subject. Students learn to use Amateur Radio to talk
directly to an astronaut and ask their STEM-related questions.
ARISS will help educational organizations locate Amateur Radio
groups who can assist with equipment for this once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity for students.

The proposal deadline for 2018 contacts is November 15, 2017.

The ARISS website has additional details on expectations, proposal
guidelines, and the proposal form. See:
http://www.ariss.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-us.html


About ARISS

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coop-
erative 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
Center for the Advancement of Science in space (CASIS) and National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of
ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via
amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in
classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts,
students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space,
space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see
www.ariss.org.

Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS). Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status

[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]

———————————————————————

Daniel “Nick” Kucij, KB1RVT, Silent Key

It is with a sad heart that I am writing this email, Nick, KB1RVT’s,
family contacted me and asked me to relay this information:

Nick, while riding a bicycle trail in Vermont over the weekend,
suffered a fall, he apparently suffered some head injuries resulting
in hemorrhaging in the brain and passed away suddenly, local
paramedics were quickly on the scene & worked vigorously to tend to
his injuries.

The family is still in the process of contacting people & asked me to
reach out to the satellite community.

Any details about the arrangements should be in the local Burlington
Free Press newspaper,

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/burlingtonfreepress/obituary.aspx?n=
daniel-nicholas-kucij&pid=186774388

As I receive any additional information I will post it to the various
BB’s. Please pass any information along any of the other social media
conveyances.

Nick will be missed by the satellite community.

[ANS thanks Frank, K4FEG for the above information]

———————————————————————

AMSAT Pioneer Patrick J. A. Gowen, G3IOR, Silent Key

Pat Gowen, G3IOR, of Norwich, Norfolk, passed away on August 17, after
a long illness.  He was 85.  The amateur-satellite world has lost one
of its true pioneers. Pat was a co-founder of AMSAT-UK, and was
elected to the board of directors of AMSAT-NA in 1974.  He was also
the longtime satellite columnist of Practical Wireless, as well as a
frequent contributor to The AMSAT Journal and Oscar News.

He was the first to work 100 DXCC entities via satellite (all LEOs),
and received Satellite DXCC No. 4 when his QSL cards arrived. Fluent
in Russian, Pat enjoyed conversing with the cosmonauts aboard MIR and
ISS.  He and I made the first transatlantic QSO between two handheld
transceivers, in 1991.

More recently, Pat was the first to discover the “re-birth” of AMSAT-
OSCAR 7 when its battery returned to life in sunlight. In addition to
his work with AMSAT and satellites, Pat was a prominent HF operator
and DXer.  He had confirmed QSOs with all DXCC entities and had also
been a member of the First Class CW Operators Club (FOC), as well as a
leading member of the Norfolk Amateur Radio Club.  Literally hundreds
of new amateurs obtained their licenses as a result of Pat’s NARC
training classes.

Martin Sweeting, G3YJO, Chairman of AMSAT-UK and founder of Surrey
Satellite Technology, Ltd.  (SSTL) remembered Pat this way, “If my
memory serves me well, I first met Pat G3IOR sometime in the mid-
1970’s when I became interested in space and naturally amateur radio
satellites – starting with OSCAR-6. In 1975, Pat was a founding
member and sometime Chairman of AMSAT-UK along with other stalwarts
such as Roy Stevens G2BVN, Arthur Gee G2UK and Richard Limebear G3RWL
and had a strong interest in not only the OSCAR series but also
especially the RS satellites from the then Soviet Union. Starting in
late 1973, Pat produced the first editions of OSCAR News as a typed
newsletter providing essential orbit tracking information for the new
OSCAR-6 satellite (at a time before easy access via the internet!) and
contributed more timely updates and observations via the AMSAT-UK 80-
metre net each Sunday morning – along with a news round-up each month
transmitted by G3RWL. Pat attended and contributed to the early AMST-
UK Colloquia at Surrey. In June 21, 2002 Pat surprised the AMSAT
community by detecting CW signals from the long-believed defunct
OSCAR-7 satellite whose batteries had failed in 1981 but came back to
life after the batteries eventually went open circuit enabling
operations in sunlight to this day! Pat was passionate about amateur
radio, amateur satellites and the environment; he contributed
much over his long life to each of these and will be sadly missed. ”

Professionally, Pat was a biochemist, retired from the University of
East Anglia.  He had also served as a magistrate in the Norfolk
courts, the youngest in England at the time.  No mention of Pat would
be complete without noting his decades of work in cleaning up the
beaches and waters of his beloved Norfolk.  He leaves his wife Norma,
a noted landscape artist.

[ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS for the above information]

———————————————————————

AMSAT Phase4 weekly report – User Input for Remote Operation

AMSAT’s Ground Station Lead Michelle Thompson, W5NYV has posted
the video for the Phase4 weekly report at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvuadtqp_k0

Remote operation is one of the most talked about and most
requested feature in amateur radio.

Remote operation enables performance improvements (one can put
the radio closer to the antenna and put the antenna in the best
possible location), allows more comfortable and flexible
operating positions (operate from your iPad by the pool), and
dramatically increases potential coverage area (remote stations
can be located where they provide more public service).

Remote operations are a great way to learn about radio, network-
ing, reliability, and protocols. They are a big educational win.
The problem is easily defined and arguably the performance can
be easily measured, but there is plenty more to be done to
improve the current state of the art in remote operations.

We want to define what we’re doing for remote operations that
doesn’t reinvent the wheel or hold us back.

Linux has several time-tested tools and applications. There are
some proprietary solutions. There’s a lot of DIY remote opera-
tions. A lot of you have experience setting up remote operations.

Here’s where we want to start.

+ What works? What is solvable? What is not currently solvable?

+ What should necessarily be included in Phase 4 Ground radios
for successful remote operations?

Steve Conklin (https://twitter.com/sconklin) is our linux plat-
form lead and is very interested in getting this right. Please
help him with your feedback and input.

[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NYV for the above information]

———————————————————————

ARISS News

Recent Contacts

Colegio Nueva Concepcion, San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina, direct
via LU1KCQ
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Joe Acaba KE5DAR
Contact was successful: Thu  2017-09-28 17:51:00 UTC 37 deg

Heart of America Council Boy Scouts of America, Kansas  City, MO,
telebridge via W6SRJ
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be  NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA
Contact was successful: Sat 2017-09-23 12:03:49 UTC 26 deg

Boston Red Sox Outreach to School Groups, Boston, MA, telebridge via
W6SRJ
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA
Contact was successful: Thu 2017-09-14 15:03:58 UTC 56 deg

Beenleigh State High School, Beenleigh, Queensland,  Australia,
telebridge via K6DUE
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA
Contact was  successful: Mon 2017-09-11 12:58:34 UTC 77 deg

Meadows Elementary School, Manhattan Beach, CA, direct via KM6BWB
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA
Contact was successful: Fri 2017-09-08  17:05:30 UTC 67 deg (***)
Live streamed at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRsKV6gBmGU

West Virginia University, Lane Dept. of Computer Science & Electrical
Engineering, Morgantown, WV, direct via W8CUL
The ISS callsign was scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA
Contact was successful Mon 2017-09-04 15:50:05 UTC 79 deg

Upcoming Contacts:

Kugluktuk High School, Kugluktuk Nunavut, Canada, telebridge via
IK1SLD.
The ISS callsign is  presently scheduled to be IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli  IZØJPA
Contact is a go for Option #5: Tue 2017-10-03 15:32:57 UTC 30 deg

[ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]

———————————————————————

Satellite Shorts From All Over

High Altitude Test Flight Scheduled for AMSAT SA Kletskous CubeSat

South Africa AMSAT wrote, “We have some exciting news! Our
Kletskous CubeSat is scheduled to fly on BACAR High Altitude
Balloon flight on the 21 October 2017.”

The AMSAT SA Kletskous team is putting the final touches on
the CubeSat to be tested on the BACAR flight this October.
The team is integrating the electrical power system (EPS),
the stabilizer board, the on-board computer system, the
transponder and antennas into the new space frame. No
solar panels will be flown on balloon flight configuration.
Kletskous will only be powered by its batteries.

BACAR is scheduled to be launched at 9am from an airfield
near Secunda, South Africa which is south east of Johannesburg.
Kletskous is one of many payloads to be flown.

The transponder frequencies are as follows:
Uplink:    435,135 – 435,165 MHz
Downlink:  145,850 – 145,880 MHz

Kletskous is a crowd funded project. Please become part of the
project by donating to the Kletskous fund. Details and regular
updates can be found on www.amsatsa.org.za. All donors are
acknowledged on the website.

[ANS thanks AMSAT SA for the above information]

Australis Oscar 5 recalled at a book launch

(From the WIA-The Wireless Institute of Australia with additional
audio and interviews at https://vimeo.com/191605076)

Australia’s first ‘home grown’ satellite was built in 1966, then sent
to the USA for launch, but unfortunately this did not take place until
January 1970 on a Delta rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Australis Oscar 5, or AO-5, was the product of a keen group of
enthusiasts from Melbourne University, together with a number of
local radio amateurs, and the WIA providing some assistance, finance,
and guidance.

The late Bill Rice VK3ABP, who was the Victorian tracking co-ordinator
and long-time Amateur Radio magazine editor, recalls those days in an
audio played on the VK1WIA broadcast. In it he told of how the
satellite reached the USA ready for launch, but had to wait until 1970
after AMSAT the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation was  formed,
taking over from the then defunct OSCAR Association.

The satellite did not have a translator, noted Bill VK3ABP, but its
telemetry was the most advanced for an amateur satellite of the time.
It could be turned on and off by ground stations, and this was mostly
done by Les Jenkins VK3ZBJ.

A book on those times was launched recently, before a number of guests
including the WIA, in the building where the Melbourne University
Astronautical Society met to discuss the possibility of a satellite
and building it.

In introducing the author was Richard Tonkin, who built the satellite
along with a very talented radio amateur Les Jenkins VK3ZBJ (sk). Mr
Tonkin noted that a professor told a student to “stop this silly
satellite stuff”. The team which realized no-one had built a satellite
in Australia, just got on with it.

Book author Dr Owen Mace talked about how fitting the room was for the
launch because it had been used by the satellite team.

At the time, sophisticated electronic measurements were necessary on
the satellites stabilization system, and access to a laboratory at the
university helpful.

WIA Historian Peter Wolfenden VK3RV says many radio amateurs were
involved, a few on the design side, others associated with command and
many with tracking it during its six week life. These included Les
Jenkins VK3ZBJ, Michael Owen VK3KI, David Rankin VK3QV, Ray Naughton
VK3ATN, and Bill Rice VK3ABP – all silent keys.

There were also many local Australian, Japanese, New Zealander and
Malaysian coordinators, and some recordings were taken of the AO-5
telemetry.

A fuller story is being prepared for publication in the WIA journal
Amateur Radio magazine.

Meantime, University of Melbourne students are now well advanced to
build a nano-satellite, with the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA)
assisting in the IARU frequency and other coordination processes.

Through the Melbourne Space Program affiliated with the University of
Melbourne, the nano-satellite is due to be handed over in November and
launched in early 2018.

Also there has been a strong link on space matters with National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but now it has been
formally announced Australia will have its own space agency.

An event which mostly went unnoticed was in Adelaide last Wednesday
it was a presentation called ” How we built Australia’s first
satellite” again by Richard Tonkin and Dr Owen Mace.

Those who were lucky enough to have been notified heard how two young
University students in the 1950’s, fascinated with space, built Australia’s first satellite.

[ANS thanks the Wireless Institute of Australia VK1WIA News October 1,
2017 for the above information]

———————————————————————

/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.

73,
This week’s ANS Editor,
Joe Spier, K6WAO
k6wao at amsat dot org

_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

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