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[jamsat-news:2931] ANS-051 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-051

ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS 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.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:

ans-editor@amsat.org

In this edition:
* February 23 CubeSat Launch From Vandenberg AFB
* ARISSat-1 Update
* AMSAT India February 2011 Newsletter Published
* Satellite Operation From Canary Islands Special Event Station
* First Call for Speakers for AMSAT UK Colloquium 2011
* University Nanosat-6 Winner Announced
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* Four Successful ARISS Contacts Held this Week


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.01
February 23 CubeSat Launch From Vandenberg AFB

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.01
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.01

NASA will launch the Glory satellite, an Earth-observation satellite
from Vandenberg Air Force base, California on February 23 at 0809 UTC.
Secondary payloads include student cubesats from the University of
Kentucky, University of Montana, and University of Colorado.

KySat-1, University of Kentucky
-------------------------------
436.790 MHz Beacon and FM downlink
Commercial S-band downlink
http://ssl.engineering.uky.edu/missions/orbital/kysat1/about-kysat-1/

The primary mission objective for KySat-1 is educational outreach.
For educational purposes KySat-1 can be commanded via mobile ground
stations using amateur radio frequencies. Mobile ground stations will
be taken to schools around the state for children to have their first
direct interaction with a satellite. Grade K-12 students and their
teachers will be able to upload/download images and audio files, and
will also have the capability to command the satellite to take photos
using ground station software developed by the University of Kentucky
Space Systems Laboratory.

The KySat-1 Team is requesting amateur satellite operators listen for
the 436.790 MHz beacon after launch. Amateur stations who copy packets
or beacons are invited send their data (decoded packets, audio record-
ings, signal reports) to ssl@engr.uky.edu.

The FM modulated pseudo-CW beacon transmits every 5 minutes at 32 wpm.
The message that will be transmitted is "KYSAT-1 ...  followed by the
battery voltage to the tenth volt, and the processor temperature to
the hundredth degree C.

The FM modulated AX.25 encoded digital beacon transmits every 2.5 min-
utes. The digital beacon consists of a header, six binary-coded deci-
mal numbers separated by commas, and a 8 "bit" bitfield consisted of
eight ascii bytes showing either a "1" or "0". Full details of the
packet format:
http://ssl.engineering.uky.edu/missions/orbital/kysat1/operations/

Explorer-1 [Prime], University of Montana
-----------------------------------------
437.505 MHz Downlink 1200 bps KISS/Custom Non-Coherent FSK
Every 15 seconds worldwide
http://ssel.montana.edu/e1p/

The primary mission consists of critical space weather observations
for space weather forecasting and specification. The cubesat will
monitor the flux of trapped electrons in the horns of the inner and
outer radiation belts of the Van Allen radiation belts.

The E1P telemetry beacon consists of essential state of health infor-
mation and a quick look payload data product. The quick-look data con-
sists of one second averages of the intensity of energetic particles
encountered along the spacecraft trajectory as provided by our Geiger-
Mueller Counter.

A telemetry decoder can be downloaded from:
http://ssel.montana.edu/e1p/?page_id=8

Hermes, University of Colorado
------------------------------
437.425 MHz Downlink
http://spacegrant.colorado.edu/

The primary mission is to 1) Create modular and extensible satellite
subsystems; 2) Utilize S-Band frequencies to communicate at higher
data rates than those obtainable with Ultra-High Frequencies (UHF);
3) Characterize Hermes' orbital environment and satellite status to
validate models and design.

The primary communication system for the satellite is a UHF system that
transmits using a monopole antenna. The radio is a COTS Yaesu VX-7R which
transmits telemetry data using a TNC that was built by students.

[ANS thanks the University of Kentucky, University of Montana, and
  University of Colorado for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.02
ARISSat-1 Update

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.02
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.02

The ARISSat-1 satellite is still inside the ISS. Roscosmos has announced
that the satellite will be deployed during the next EVA in July of this
year. The US team is trying to get clarification from Roscosmos about the
"weak batteries" condition causing the satellite not to be deployed this
week. The news item can be found on the Roscosmos web site,
http://www.federalspace.ru/main.php?id=2&nid=11374 .

Roscosmos also announced that the satellite will be turned on inside the ISS
and use an external antenna on 12 April 2011. This is to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight. AMSAT will support
this event and issue certificates to those stations reporting reception of
the ARISSat-1 signals.

Tony Monteiro, AA2TX has an excellent article describing the ARISSat-1 power
system using the Russian Olan suit battery in the upcoming AMSAT Journal that
should be mailed to members next week.

[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.03
AMSAT India February 2011 Newsletter Published

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.03
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.03

AMSAT India Secretary Nitin, VU3TYG advises that their February 2011
news letter is available for download. A PDF copy has been posted at:
http://amsatindia.org/Newsletter/AMSATINDIA-News-February2011.pdf
AMSAT India newsletter archives can be found on-line at:
http://www.amsatindia.org/Newsletter

Content of the February 2011 Newsletter includes:
1. Update on the Technical talk held on January 30th
2. Update on the Cubesat Transponder project by AMSAT INDIA.
3. Azimuth Elevation Rotator - A Homebrew approach by VU2POP
4. News from AMSAT organizations worldwide

[ANS thanks AMSAT India Secretary Nitin, VU3TYG for the above
  information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.04
Satellite Operation From Canary Islands Special Event Station

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.04
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.04

EG8ISS in the Canary Islands will be active on both HF and the
Amateur Radio satellites between between February 12 through
March 11 from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.

Activity is to celebrate/publicize the first ARISS (International
Space Station) contact with one of the "Institute for Technological
Development and Innovation in Communications" (IDeTIC) facilities
on campus.

The special event station will be on the HF bands, 40-10 meters,
using CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK31 and SSTV. Also, activities are planned
for VHF (2m FM local and R7 repeater) and the satellites (AO-27,
SO-50, AO-51 and VO-52).

There is a special QSL card designed for this event that will be
automatically mailed to your QRZ.com address.

More info is available on the QRZ.com under EG8ISS. A Twitter page
is also available at: http://twitter.com/eg8iss

[ANS thanks Ted, K7TRK and the SouthGateARC News site for the
  above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.05
First Call for Speakers for AMSAT UK Colloquium 2011

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.05
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.05

This is the first call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2011
which will be held at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, UK from July 29 to
July 31, 2011. This is the same venue as in 2010.

AMSAT-UK invite speakers, about amateur radio, space and associated
activities, for this event.

Offers of talks should be sent ONLY to G4DPZ, via the following
routes:
e-mail: david.johnson AT blackpepper.co.uk
SnailMail: QTHR from www.QRZ.com

AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit
them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for specific subjects
will be included in the future call.

Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and
other information to G4DPZ.

[ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.06
University Nanosat-6 Winner Announced

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.06
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.06

The team from the Houghton, Michigan college won first place in this year's
University Nanosat Program (UNP) Nanosat 6 competition with their Oculus-ASR
nanosatellite .  The UNP competition was conceived in 1999 as a means to
"sustain and promote university research and education focused on small
satellites. This program was developed by the Air Force Office of Scientific
Research (AFOSR) in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratories Space
Vehicle Directorate (AFRL/RV).  For this 
competition a nansat is defined as 50kg
in mass (or less) and 50 x 50 x 60 cm or smaller.

The name Oculus comes from its operating as an 
"orbiting eye" for the Department
of Defense.  The DoD (and many other organizations) have a vested interest in
the observation and tracking of the many asteroids neighboring the earth.

According to the MTU Aerospace Enterprise team blog Oculus-ASR should launch in
2013.  The MTU nanosat has shape-shifting capabilities that are important to
ground-based observations and measurement.  Imaging of the asteroids and other
space objects will then be compared with ground-based observations too.  The
Oculus-ASR's work will be of great importance to the DoD's need to know what is
orbiting the earth and what those objects are doing.

[ANS thanks AFRL and Michigan Tech News for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.07
Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.07
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.07

+ Robb, N0KGM has posted a two way video capturing a ham radio contact
   both with Doug Wheelock on the ISS and his home QTH at the same time
   at: http://vimeo.com/19854803

+ Roland PY4ZBZ has a very interesting web page showing reception
   and telemetry decoding of several satellites. This page also has
   a grid map showing the 36 wet grid squares with contacts with Yuri,
   UT1FG/MM during his ocean voyage around South America:
   http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satelite.htm#y

+ KA1SKY Ham Radio Station was dedicated on February 14, 2011 at
   the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Concord, NH in conjunc-
   tion with the Contoocook Valley Radio Club (CVRC) and the New
   England Amateur Radio Festival (NEAR-Fest). This includes an
   amateur radio station KA1SKY with full operational capabilities.
   KA1SKY has been heard operating the amateur radio satellites.
   (Nick, KB1RVT)

+ Photos of Commander Dimitri Kondratyev with the Kedr/Arissat sat-
   ellite connected inside the ISS on 10 February can be found at:
   http://www.federalspace.ru/main.php?id=293 (Andy, G0SFJ)

+ A video of Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) Amateur Radio station HB9MOON
   has been released showing a Moonbounce demonstration dedicated to
   the Google Science fair experiment, "How do you measure the dis-
   tance between Earth and the Moon?" The video is on the SouthGate
   site at: http://tinyurl.com/6kmr7nf

+ A new schedule was uploaded to AO-27 on February 5. Users of the
   AO-27 Java schedule lister should make sure they update their
   data files. The schedule lister is available for download at:
   http://sites.google.com/site/ao27satellitescheduler/
   (George, KA3HSW)

+ Dimitrios, SW1JGW has posted a video of VO-52 satellite reception
   using Genesis G59 software defined radio with a TenTec 1210 10M to
   2M transverter at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAIh2bOs34I

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.08
Four Successful ARISS Contacts Held this Week

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.08
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.08

On Thursday, February 10, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) contact was held between astronaut Paolo Nespoli,  IZØJPA and Istituto
Comprensivo Statale “E. Fermi – A. Oggioni,” Villasanta, Monza Brianza, Italy
via telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia.  During the ISS pass Nespoli
answered 19 questions and exchanged greetings with the youth.  An audience of
approximately 200 students and others were on hand for the contact and
afterwards, students sang the well known hit "Volare" which means "To fly."
Regional and local media and newspapers covered the event and streaming video,
provided by AMSAT-Italia, received 80 connections.

On-orbit astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH participated in an ARISS contact with
Lake Silver Elementary School students in Orlando, Florida on February 10 via
radio station LU8YY in Argentina. Coleman 
answered 14 questions as a large crowd
of students, parents and guests gathered for the event. The school put together
a comprehensive education plan to compliment this ARISS contact.

An ARISS contact was held between Lillestrøm videregående skole, Lillestrøm,
Norway and Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH on the ISS on 
Friday, February 11. Station W5RRR
in Houston, Texas handled the radio connection. Over 150 people assembled for
the event and listened as the astronaut fielded eight questions, mainly in
Norwegian. The contact was the highlight of a science and applied technology
curriculum.

National Institute for Astrophysics – Astronomical Observatory of Bologna,
Bologna, Italy took part in an ARISS contact on Saturday, February 12 via
telebridge station LU8YY in Argentina. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA
participated from the ISS, answering 16 
questions. Approximately 150 people were
present for the contact which occurred during the Bologna science festival,
“Scienza in Piazza,” held February 3 – 13. The festival focuses on schools,
promoting science through hands-on exhibitions and conferences and is backed by
the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Regional and local media and newspapers covered
the event.

The audio from all contacts was available on EchoLink and IRLP (Internet Radio
Linking Project).

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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 additional benefits. Application forms are
available from the AMSAT Office.

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KU4OS
ku4os at amsat dot org


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