[jamsat-news:3580] [ans] ANS-350 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

[Mark D. Johns via ANS]

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-350

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.

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service
Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

* November/December 2018 Apogee View Posted
* AO-85 Operation Guidelines
* AMSAT Engineering Team Moves Forward
* Recurring Donations Feature Added to AMSAT.org
* Support AMSAT Using Your IRA
* Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* Fox-1E and Co-Passenger Amateur Radio Frequencies
* ELaNa XIX Launch Delayed
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* AMSAT Award Announcements
* Dragon/NanoRacks Delivers Cubesats to ISS
* Apollo 8 50th Anniversary Special Event
* Amateur Satellite News From South Africa
* Satellite Shorts From All Over


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-350.01
ANS-350 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 350.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE YYY
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-350.01

November/December 2018 Apogee View Posted

The November/December 2018 edition of Apogee View, an update on
AMSAT's activities from AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, has been
posted to the AMSAT website: https://www.amsat.org/apogeeview/

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
AO-85 Operation Guidelines

AO-85 is back in transponder mode and open for use with a few
conditions. Please do not use the satellite while in eclipse. If the
footprint of the satellite does not touch any part of the ground that
is in daylight, the satellite is in eclipse. (Also, many tracking
programs will indicate when a satellite is in eclipse -- Ed.) This
will give us a little extra battery life, and extend the satellite’s
usable life.

Please also do not “kerchunk” the satellite while in eclipse.
I know this has been done to increase the number of telemetry packets
received, but it is no longer acceptable. Thank you for your under-
standing and cooperation.

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Engineering Team Moves Forward

Last week’s ANS bulletin carried the news that AO-95/Fox-1Cliff is
exhibiting an anomaly that will prevent it from being commissioned
and opened to the amateur community. Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice-
President Engineering writes that, while efforts to recover AO-95
continue, the engineering team is focused on upcoming missions:

"The AMSAT Engineering team has been discussing the problem, possible
causes, and working on leads ever since the Fox-1Cliff/AO-95 anomaly
became known.  Certainly, many of us are unhappy at not succeeding in
making everybody else happy, but right now, with no readily apparent
reason or reasons for the behavior, there is nothing further to report.

"The situation has gone from a commissioning to being a challenge, and
we're on it. We are looking at data from a number of sources, as well
as our past experiences with the other Fox-1 satellites during their
journey from their construction to orbit.  Ideas such as employing a
mega-QRO station to see if it can be heard by the bird have been on
the table for several days but there are others of course, and I don't
plan to report or discuss every thought we have in working this unless
and until it is something of merit or actionable. As you probably know,
our resources are limited and it's all volunteered time.  Most if not
all of our remaining Fox-1 engineers are also involved in the GOLF-TEE
project so I have asked them to give that first priority with their
available volunteer time in order to keep the schedule.  AO-95 is in
orbit now and we can vary the amount of attention on her as resources
allow in order to achieve both goals.

"If the results of our investigation point to a possibility of recovery
be it partial, full, or some workaround method, we would all like to
see her working as much as the rest of you and that is one of the
drivers for the investigation of the anomaly. But perhaps the most
important driver is that there are lessons to be learned for the
betterment of future missions.  I expect us to continue to look for
the cause or causes until we have results or reach a dead end because
of the inability to take the lid off and look inside AO-95.

"I will certainly be keeping everyone posted when we have something
new to report so in the meantime please carry on and enjoy the birds!"

"On behalf of all of the volunteers who make up AMSAT Engineering, I
would like to thank you all for supporting us. Your understanding of
the risks involved and continued support through words and also by
just getting on the birds and having fun, or capturing telemetry to
help us monitor, troubleshoot, and make the next satellites better, is
most gratifying!"

[ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY for the above information.]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Recurring Donations Feature Added to AMSAT.org

Would you like to donate to AMSAT and/or ARISS but can only afford a
little at a time? Even small amounts help, especially as they add up
over time! You can now use AMSAT’s recurring donations on the new
donation portal at https://www.amsat.org/donations/

This is a great way for everyone to donate $5-10 a month over time to
make a significant contribution.

Thank you for helping keep amateur radio in space.

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support AMSAT Using Your IRA

United States residents over age 70-1/2 may distribute up to
$100,000 annually from their Individual Retirement Account
(IRA) directly to qualifying charities, like the Radio Amateur
Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), without first having to declare
the distribution as income. That means your income will not
increase, enabling you potentially to remain in a lower tax
bracket for income taxes and possible Medicare premium surcharges.
Donating directly from your IRA to AMSAT could have more tax
advantages for you than a direct personal donation, depending
on your personal tax situation.

To make this kind of donation, first contact the custodian of
your IRA plan (e.g., the bank, mutual fund, brokerage, insurance
company, etc.) that manages your IRA, and instruct that you wish
to make a donation to AMSAT directly from your IRA.

The check from the custodian must be made payable to the Radio
Amateur Satellite Corporation. Your custodian will then send
you a 1099 form showing you, as the owner of the IRA, did not
receive the income for your personal use. Most custodians will
have you complete a direct donation form, and will mail the
check directly to AMSAT.

AMSAT greatly appreciates any size donation from your IRA. Please
call the AMSAT Office at 301-822-4376 for help with any information
or mailing instructions required by your IRA custodian.

AMSAT strongly encourages those interested in supporting AMSAT
through an IRA to consult with their attorney, accountant, and
tax preparer or financial advisor to determine the implications
and impact of such a gift on your personal situation.

Thank you for supporting AMSAT!

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation is an IRC 501(c)(3) organiza-
tion (tax identification number 52-0888529).

[ANS thanks https://www.amsat.org/support-amsat-using-your-ira/
for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution

The following satellites from the SpaceX Falcon 9 SSO-A 12-03-2018
launch that have been identified to date by either Space-Track or by
detailed doppler analysis.
Thanks again to Nico Janssen,PA0DLO, for the satellite ID updates for
this week.

MinXSS 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43758
HAWKEYE 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43765 (per SPACE-Track,commercial)
AO-95 - NORAD CAT ID 43769
FLOCK 3S 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43770 (per SPACE-Track,commercial)
PWSat 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43775
MOVE-II - NORAD CAT ID 43780
SNUSat 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43782
ITASat 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43786
Unknown Satellite - NORAD CAT ID 43787 (Downlink: 435:500 Mhz)
EAGLET 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43790
ESEO - NORAD CAT ID 43792
CSIM - NORAD CAT ID 43793
HAWKEYE 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43794 (per SPACE-Track,commercial)
SKYSAT C12 - NORAD CAT ID 43797 (per SPACE-Track,commercial)
RANGE A - NORAD CAT ID 43798
HAWKEYE 3 - NORAD CAT ID 43799 (per SPACE-Track,commercial)
SKYSAT C13 - NORAD CAT ID 43802 (per SPACE-Track,commercial)
JO-97 - NORAD CAT ID 43803
Suomi 100 - NORAD CAT ID 43804
Al Farabi 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43805

The above list of SSO-A satellites has been included in the AMSAT-NA
TLE Distibution this week with the exception of the following non-
amateur radio satellites which have NOT been included:

HAWKEYE 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43765 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur)
FLOCK 3S 1 -NORAD CAT ID 43770 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur)
HAWKEYE 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43794 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur)
SKYSAT C12 -NORAD CAT ID 43797 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur)
HAWKEYE 3 - NORAD CAT ID 43799 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur)
SKYSAT C13 -NORAD CAT ID 43802 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur)

Note: The Falcon 9 SSO-A 12/3/2018 launch includes 64 spacecraft (15
microsats and 49  cubesats). The 20 objects above are those objects
out of a total of 55 listed by Space-Track.org that have, so far, been
identified with reasonable confidence.

We continue to wait for the remaining satellites to separate enough
for doppler analysis to confirm their identity. I will continue to add
satellites as they are identified.

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fox-1E and Co-Passenger Amateur Radio Frequencies

AMSAT's RadFXSat-2/Fox-1E is among the satellites onboard the ELaNa
XX launch set for March 2019. According to
http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/ here are the amateur radio frequencies
for the launch:

CACTUS-1 - Capitol Technology University, Laurel, Maryland
No amateur radio payload found.

CAPE-3 - University of Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana
145.825 MHz AX.25 1K2 digipeater
435.325 MHz 1K2 FSK data with bursts to 100 KHz

EXOCUBE-2 - California Polytechnic University, San Louis Obispo, Calif.
437.270 MHz AX.25 GMSK PSK variable rates to 38K4

INCA - New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico
437.125 MHz 200 kbps MSK

MicroMas-2b - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, Mass.
No amateur radio payload found.

MiTEE - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
437.800 MHz 9K6 FSK AX.25

PICS - Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
No amateur radio payload found.

PolarCube - University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
No amateur radio payload found.

Q-PACE - University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
2412.500 MHz 1M25F1D modulation

RadFXSat-2 - Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
Uplink:    145.890 - 145.860 MHz LSB/CW
Downlink:  435.760 - 435.790 MHz USB/CW
Telemetry: 435.750 MHz 1K2 BPSK

TechEdSat-7 - NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett, California
No amateur radio payload found.

[ANS thanks http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/ for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
ELaNa XIX Launch Delayed

“With a worsening weather system on the way, Rocket Lab is now target-
ing no earlier than 0400 UTC, Sunday 16 December for the #ELaNa19
launch on Electron. We'll let the weather clear completely to give us
a solid green window.”

NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 mission was to
be launched from Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch site, Launch
Complex 1, on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula on Thursday, Dec. 13. The
Rocket Lab Electron A will carry 13 cubesats, and a number of the
satellites carry amateur radio payloads.

See https://tinyurl.com/ychudkyu

Satellites to be launched on ELaNa XIX include:
• ALBUS – NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
• CeREs – NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
• CHOMPTT – University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
• CubeSail – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• DaVinci – North Idaho STEM Charter Academy, Rathdrum, Idaho
• ISX – SRI International/ California Polytechnic University
• NMTSat – New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
• RSat – United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
• Shields-1 – NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
• STF-1 – West Virginia University / NASA IV&V

[ANS thanks Terry Osborne ZL2BAC for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Satellite Operations

East Coast Rove, Part Duex (EM91/92, FM02, FM03/13, FM04/14, EM84/94,
EM75/85, EM76/86) – December 15-17, 2018
Robert, KE4AL, will head out to complete the second half of his East
Coast rove, December 15-17.  Stops include the EM91/EM92 gridline,
FM02, and FM03/FM13 gridline on Saturday. Sunday will start out on the
FM04/FM14 gridline, followed by EM84/EM94 gridline, EM75/EM85 gridline,
and EM76/EM86 gridline.  Specific pass schedule posted at
https://twitter.com/KE4ALabama/status/1070888100337979392.
You can follow Robert during the trip on aprs.fi (KE4AL-9) and on his
Twitter page https://twitter.com/KE4ALabama.

Oahu (BL01, BL11) – December 28 thru January 1, 2019,2018
Gabe, AL6D willbe heading to Oahu, Hawaii, at the end of the year.
Plan is to operate from BL01 and BL10, linears and FM. Trip is
dependent on availability of cockpit jumpseat, so subject to
cancellation. Keep an eye on the @AL6D_Alaska Twitter for further
updates https://twitter.com/AL6D_Alaska

Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – January 12, 2019
David, AD7DB, will be in the area of Kettleman City, Calif. near a
convergence of four grids, operating on FM satellites.
Grids (maybe gridlines) will depend on the satellite passes. Operation
expected from 1700 UTC through 2300 UTC. Updates will be on Twitter as
the time approaches: https://twitter.com/ad7db

Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Awards Announcements

+ On December 10 Matt, NJ4Y completed his Worked All States - Satellite
  with a QSO with AL6D visiting Hawaii. The contact was between Florida
  and Hawaii via FO-29. Matt wrote, "I found a great spot with a -1°
  horizon in EL97, freezing cold but we made it!! Thats WAS on Sats
  for me from FL!"  (Matt Stevens, NJ4Y via Twitter)
  [Editor's Note: Those of us in Minnesota have no sympathy at all for
   what Floridians term as "freezing cold."]

+ Congratulations to David, WN9Q, for earning AMSAT Rover Award #038.
  And to Billy, KM6NJL, for @amsat Rover Award #039. Keep on Rov'in!
  https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dragon/NanoRacks Delivers Cubesats to ISS

Last weekend, Dragon, the spacecraft from the sixteenth SpaceX
contracted resupply mission, berthed with the International Space
Station carrying educational experiments, CubeSats, and industry
science research from NanoRacks customers into orbit. Included were
five CubeSats to be deployed from the Company’s commercially
developed CubeSat Deployer on the Space Station. These CubeSats are:
     Delphini-1, Aarhus University
     UNITE, University of Southern Indiana
     TechEdSat-8, NASA Ames, San Jose State University
     CATs (two identical CubeSats), Johns Hopkins University Applied
      Physics Lab
For more information, see:
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=53481

[ANS thanks spaceref.com for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Apollo 8 50th Anniversary Special Event

Several NASA Amateur Radio clubs will mark the 50th anniversary of
Apollo 8 on December 21 – 27, concluding the year-long NASA on the
Air activity, which celebrates NASA’s 60th anniversary. Special
event operation will be on various bands and modes, and partici-
pating stations will self-spot on the DX cluster as well as via
Facebook and Twitter.

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Amateur Satellite News From South Africa

AMSAT SA has announced that parallel to its analogue Kletskous Cube-
Sat, the group is working on a digital project featuring a Software
defined transponder. Called AfriCUBE, the CubeSat will use the same
space frame as KLETSKOUS. Anton Janovsky is current building a proto-
type transponder. AMSATSA is inviting persons interested in becoming
part of the development team to send their details to:
admin ＠ amsatsa.org.za.

Meanwhile the development and final construction of the AMSAT SA
KLETSKOUS is plagued by electronic component obsolescence. This
forces unwanted design changes to be made to ensure that when the
time comes to construct the final launch unit, the main components
are still available.

The KLETSKOUS team decided to freeze the design of KLETSKOUS and
purchase a quantity of devices to proactively mitigate future obso-
lesce. This decision will also speed up the process of putting a
final satellite on the table.  "Every time we change designs to
mitigate for the discontinued components, it is like starting the
design afresh, often creating new problems that have to be solved",
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP said. "By freezing the design, in other
words making a final decision on the main specialised devices to be
used, we will be able to speed up the process of putting a flight
ready unit on the table."

KLETSKOUS is not a textbook design. Most of the sub-components that
will make up KLETSKOUS are designed and being built by the volunteer
team. "We do not have the finances to go out and purchase sub-units
and simply wire them up.", Coetzee said.

[ANS thanks http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Montana State University is asking for big ear antennas to
  listen for a pass or two for their RadSat-G 3U cubesat
  deployed from the ISS. The downlink frequency is 437.425 MHz
  9k6 GMSK AX25 with 3 bursts every 2 minutes. For tracking pos-
  sible NORAD IDs include 43550 (object NX); 43553 (object PB);
  or 43554 (object PC) (Montana State University)

+ AMSAT SA has issued a call for papers to be presented at the
  2019 AMSAT SA Space Symposium to be held in Gauteng on 16 March 2019.
  Send a synopsis of a paper proposal to admin ＠ amsatsa.org.za. The
  theme of the conference is "Space Science with Amateur Radio."

+ Stephen 2E0SSM recently did a talk at the Lincoln Shortwave Club
  about working amateur satellites and he has now published an article
  on his website explaining the things Stephen had to learn when he
  first started. His guide is available at:
  http://mcbainsite.co.uk/working-amateur-radio-satellites/
  (ANS thanks southgatearc.org for the above information)

+ An ARISS contact was completed with Kenilworth School and Sixth Form,
  Kenilworth, United Kingdom, direct via GB4KHS on Friday, Dec. 14.
  The astronaut was Serena Aunon-Chancellor, KG5TMT. The contact may
  be viewed on YouTube at https://tinyurl.com/y7kmml4y  The ARISS-US
  program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 - Nov. 30,
  2018 has now closed.  The next window should go open in the spring
  of 2019. The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ (ANS thanks
  Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information)

+ A robotic lander and rover lifted off Friday, Dec. 7 from China’s
  Xichang space center, kicking off a journey that will culminate in
  an attempt in early January to touch down on the far side of the
  moon for the first time. For more, see: https://tinyurl.com/yar5plhz

+ Voyager II, launched in 1977, has left the solar system!
  https://tinyurl.com/ydahmnhl

+ A detailed explanation of the challenges facing the SSO-A launch
  that included a number of amateur radio cubesats has been published
  by Wired magazine at: https://tinyurl.com/y9nbl9xz

+ Est-ce que tu parles français? TV News report videos about the
  ARISS contact between ISS astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor,
  KG5TMT and students in Thiviers, France on December 10 can
  be seen at http://www.ariss-f.org/ariss-24-contact-etabli/+

+ 2018 Microwave Update conference proceedings are available on the
  homepage:  http://www.microwaveupdate.org/  Conference videos are
  available at: https://tinyurl.com/y7tr8v8d



---------------------------------------------------------------------

/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 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,

K0JM at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans