[jamsat-news:2993] Re: ANS-226 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-226

***[Keep watch with ANS for any late breaking details of ARRISat-1]***
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:
* ARISSat-1/KEDR at +10 Days: ON-ORBIT and OPERATIONAL
* BOD Ballot Reminder
* Send For Your ARISSat-1/KEDR Certificates
* 2011 AMSAT Space Symposium Call for Papers Continues & Satellite
Shorts
* 2011 AMSAT Symposium and Annual Meeting Registration Now Open 
* Reminder: The DARA Matching Gift Challenge Runs Until September 1
* ARISS Status - 8 August 2011
* AMSAT Contest
* ARISSat-1 Battery is failing faster than expected


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.01
ARISSat-1/KEDR at +10 Days: ON-ORBIT and OPERATIONAL

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.01
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.01

Hundreds of reception reports have been received since ARISSat-1/KEDR 
was deployed from the ISS. Full operational capability of the satel-
lite has been confirmed in the 10 days since the start of the mission 
on August 3.

The satellite's power system monitors the battery voltage and 
switches between High power mode (continuous transmission) when 
sunlight is charging the battery and Low power mode (40 seconds 
transmit/2 minutes idle) when in eclipse. Telemetry data shows 
that the ARISSat-1 Battery voltage is decreasing each eclipse 
period. It therefore is taking longer for the battery to charge 
up to 32.5V to allow the switch from Low Power to High Power when 
the satellite enters an illumination period.

Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO has plotted the battery min/max for the last 
8 days. The data shows that the battery voltage is decreasing at a 
faster rate than expected. Kenneth's graph can be found on the 
arissat1.org site under FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/3e5c2y8 (arissat1.org)


The effect of this is that ARISSat-1/KEDR remains in Low power mode
for a period of time after exiting eclipse. The team recommend that
users take advantage of the High Power mode as much as possible over 
the next few days.

435 MHz - 145 MHz Linear Transponder - OPERATIONAL
--------------------------------------------------
The linear transponder operates in Mode U/V (70 cm Up, 2m Down). It 
is an 16 KHz wide inverting passband. The convention is to TX LSB on 
the 435 MHz uplink and RX USB on the 145 MHz downlink. Several amateur

radio operators have been reporting successful contacts via the linear

transponder.

After the initial success with the linear transponder reported by 
KO4MA, K8YSE, KD8CAO, and JN1GKZ last week news of addition contacts
have been received from amateur radio operators worldwide:

+ Henk, PA3GUO uplinked an SSTV signal to the linear transponder and
  received the picture on the downlink. He posted a copy of the rec-
  cecived image at:
  http://www.pa3guo.com/pa3guo_arissat1_sstv_9aug2011_0258utc.jpg
  His station configuration was:
  Uplink HW: TS2000X, 435MHz, 5W RF power + 12 elements beam
  Uplink SW: MMSSTV + HRD (doppler control)
  Downlink HW: FunCubeDongle (SDR) + SP-2000 preamp + 2x6 elements
beam
  Downlink SW: MMSSTV + DK3WN Satcontrol (doppler/freq control) +
HDSDR
  
+ Andre, ZS2BK reported a successful two-way CW contact with Pierre,
  ZS6A on August 5.

+ Alex, VK5ALX reported a contact with Geoff, VK2ZAZ on August 6.

+ Bruce, VE9QRP was able to access the linear transponder with 40
watts 
  into a Lindenblad on TX and another omni on receive. Bruce
commented,
  "It's an amazing thrill to work our AMSAT SDX for the first time,
and
  my sense is that any VO-52 class station should be able to hear its
  downlink."

+ Luciano, PY5LF had a contact with Roland, PY4ZBZ and recorded it:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ2Gujm2vtc

145.950 MHz FM Downlink - OPERATIONAL

145.919 MHz CW Beacons - OPERATIONAL
------------------------------------
The CW transmissions include the satellite callsign ID RS01S, select 
telemetry, and callsigns of people actively involved with the ARISS 
program.

145.920 MHz SSB BPSK-1000 Telemetry - OPERATIONAL
-------------------------------------------------
AMSAT needs your telemetry from ARISSat-1/KEDR. Since there are no
"Whole Orbit Data" storage mechanisms onboard ARISSat-1/KEDR, your
submissions are the only way for AMSAT to collect the spacecraft
telemetry and KURSK experiment results.

+ Recorded file ARISSat-1/KEDR and Kursk telemetry CSV files (in the
  ARISSatTLM folder) can be sent as an e-mail attachment to:
  telemetry@arissattlm.org

+ If you are running ARISSatTLM and receiving the signal "live"
  from ARISSat-1/KEDR, please enable the telemetry forwarding option.

+ The latest telemetry can be seen LIVE on your computer or cell
  phone at: http://www.arissattlm.org/mobile

Peter Miller, W1AMJ, the Hartford Hobby Radio writer published a 
story about the deployment of ARISSat-1 in the Hartford Examiner
newspaper and at: http://tinyurl.com/4yo3l2m (Examiner.com)

NASA Education Office is getting the word out on ARISSat-1 in their
article, "Hammin' It Up": 
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/hammin-it-up_prt.htm

Also, the extensive list of ARISSat-1/KEDR media links in this week's
ARISS Status Report, in a bulletin below.

[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1/KEDR Team for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.02
BOD Ballot Reminder

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.02
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.02

Ballots for the AMSAT-North America 2011 Board of Directors election
have been mailed to all members. To have your vote count you must
return your ballot by mail to: 

AMSAT-NA
850 Sligo Ave #600
Silver Spring, MD, 20910

Ballots must arrive at the AMSAT Office by the close of business, 
September 15, 2011.

Four director's terms expire this year:

Barry Baines, WD4ASW
Alan Biddle, WA4SCA
Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
Tony Monteiro, AA2TX

Seven nominations have been received for the open seats. Listed
alphabetically they are:

Barry Baines, WD4ASW
Alan Biddle, WA4SCA
Steve Coy, K8UD
Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
Mark Hammond, N8MH
Tony Monteiro, AA2TX
Patrick E. Stoddard, WD9EWK

Select no more than four candidates on your ballot. The four candi-
dates receiving the highest number of votes will be seated as full 
Board members for two year terms. The two candidates receiving the 
next highest number of votes will be seated as alternate Board mem-
bers for one year terms.

[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.03
Send For Your ARISSat-1/KEDR Certificates

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.03
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.03

Send For Your ARISSat-1/KEDR Certificates

When you receive the downlink signal from ARISSat-1/KEDR you are
invited to send your report to the following e-mail boxes. You will
receive a PDF certificate by return e-mail.

Students and school groups are especially welcome! We look forward
to your report!

Your report must contain the following information:

1) The signal you received:
    a) the secret word*,
    b) an SSTV image, or,
    c) telemetry data

2) Your name or group name

3) The date/time of reception

4) Your e-mail address of where to send your certificate. You will
    receive a PDF certificate via email.

Here are the e-mail boxes to send your reports:

Secret word* contest to: secretword@arissat1.org
SSTV image to:           sstvreport@arissat1.org
Telemetry data to:       tlmreport@arissat1.org
(either digital or voice report of the data you received)

Received BPSK telemetry and .CSV files should continue to be
sent to: telemetry@arissattlm.org.

* Those who do hear the secret word or call sign please do not put
   it out to the world. That would ruin the contest for those still
   waiting for their station to be in range.

You can find the details of the ARISSat-1/KEDR radio frequencies,
links to telemetry decoding software and mission details on-line at:
+ http://www.amsat.org
+ http://arissat1.org

[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1/KEDR Team for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.04
2011 AMSAT Space Symposium Call for Papers Continues & Satellite
Shorts

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.04
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.04

The call for papers continues for the 2011 AMSAT Space Symposium 
to be held Friday, November 4th through Sunday, November 6th at 
the Wyndham San Jose Hotel, San Jose, California. 

Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presenta-
tions 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 submitted by October 1, 2011 for inclusion in the 
printed proceedings. 

Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV, at: 
n8fgv@amsat.org.
********************************************************
Local AMSAT Net in New York
The next2 dates for the "HV Satcom net is august 18 &
September 1;  & the time for the net is 8PM local and 0000UTC
Found on  Echo link node of "N2EYH-L"!
More info:  www.hvsatcom.org
                                            

[ANS thanks Dan Schultz, N8FGV & Stu Balanger, WA2BSS, for the above
information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.05
2011 AMSAT Symposium and Annual Meeting Registration Now Open

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.05
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.05

AMSAT announces the 2011 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held on Friday,

November 4th through Sunday, November 6th in San Jose, CA. Our annual 
gathering will feature:

+ Space Symposium with Amateur Satellite Presentations
+ Operating Techniques, News, & Plans from the Amateur Satellite World
+ Board of Directors Meeting open to AMSAT members (Nov. 3-4)
+ Meet Board Members and Officers
+ Annual General Membership Meeting
+ Annual Banquet-Keynote Speaker and Door Prizes

The 2011 Symposium hotel and registration web pages are now available 
on the AMSAT web site. You may register for the Symposium and Annual
Banquet at the AMSAT Store: 
http://www.amsat-na.com/store/SymposiumReg.php

Visit the Symposium and Annual General Meeting web page for details 
and the latest information:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2011/index.php

Symposium Registration including a copy of the Proceedings is:
+ $45 per person until September 19, 2011
+ $50 per person starting September 20, 2011
+ $55 per person at the door

The Saturday evening banquet is $45 per person. The Sunday morning
Area Coordinator's Breakfast is $15 per person.

The hotel selected is the Wyndham San Jose, close to the airport. The
AMSAT discount rate is $79.00+taxes per night. The reservation block
code when calling the hotel directly is "AMSAT". The hotel telephone
number is 408-453-6200. If you are making reservations on-line use 
1031FSJAM for the group code. The direct link to the hotel web page 
is: http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/SJCAP/main.wnt

If you are planning to book a room on dates other than November 2, 
3, 4, 5, you will have to call the hotel directly and ask for *in-
house reservations*. You can get the $79 rate 3 days before and 3 
days after the above dates but you cannot book the room on their 
website. Any problems, give Martha a call at the AMSAT Office:
301-589-6062.

[ANS thanks the 2011 Symposium Committee for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.06
Reminder: The DARA Matching Gift Challenge Runs Until September 1

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.06
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.06

Donate to AMSAT and DARA will contribute matching funds. The Dayton 
Amateur Radio Association (DARA) fund raising challenge for AMSAT 
continues until September 1, 2011. DARA will match $1.00 for every 
$3.00 donated up to $5,000.00. 

AMSAT kicked off the fundraising campaign at the Hamvention, where 
donations began count for the challenge. Please consider making a 
donation to AMSAT and have your effort multiplied. We appreciate 
DARA's support for AMSAT! 

Your donation will support our "Getting AMSAT Back Into Space"
campaign by providing needed funds for AMSAT Project Fox Cubesat
which will provide a 2M to 70cm FM transponder matching the per-
formance of AO-51.

+ On-line at the AMSAT Store:
  http://www.amsat-na.com/store/donation.php

+ You may click on the donation widget on our http://www.amsat.org
  web page.

+ You may call Martha at the AMSAT Office:
  From the US call toll free at: (888) 322-6728
  From all other locations call: (301) 589-6062
  and you can send a fax to:     (301) 608-3410

+ You can send donations by postal mail to:
  AMSAT-NA
  850 Sligo Ave #600
  Silver Spring, MD, 20910

[ANS thanks AMSAT Headquarters for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.07
ARISS Status - 8 August 2011

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.07
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.07



1. Scouts Experience Successful ARISS Contact 

Scouts attending Space Jam 5 held at the Octave Chanute Air Museum in
Rantoul, Illinois participated in an Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, August 6.
This was a telebridge contact via station WH6PN in Hawaii. Scouts put
18 questions about life in space to on-orbit astronaut Mike Fossum,
KF5AQG. Over 250 Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts as well as 100 scout
leaders attended the event.  Besides the several merit badge workshops
covering electronics, computers and others, activities included a
balloon launch (with an on-board repeater) and a ham radio station,
complete with satellite antennas. 

2. ARISSat-1 Deployed

ARISSat-1, an educational satellite that was developed by AMSAT (Radio
Amateur Satellite Corporation) in cooperation with the NASA Office of
Education ISS National Lab, Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) and RSC-Energia, was deployed on Wednesday, August 3
during Russian EVA-29.  The satellite contains an experiment developed
by Kursk State Technical University students in Russia.  Students and
others may listen to ARISSat-1 to hear the 24 greetings in 15
languages (secret words included), to receive and decode spacecraft
and experiment telemetry and to capture Slow Scan Television (SSTV)
images. (Certificates are available to those who report receiving
signals from the satellite. Visit the ARISSat Web site for more
information.) ARISSat activities provide an excellent opportunity to
pique children's interest in the areas of Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math (STEM).  

ARISSat-1 Web site:
http://www.arissat1.org/v3/

To view SSTV images:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/ 

NASA article, "Hammin' It Up"  
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/hammin-it-up_prt.htm


 [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.08
AMSAT Contest

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.08
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.08

AMSAT is happy to announce the ARISSat-1 Chicken Little Contest.  
This is your opportunity to calculate, or guess, when ARISSat-1 
falls out of orbit. This is defined as the time it crosses an 
altitude of 78 kilometers, which is considered to be the point of 
no return. While not part of the contest, the actual reentry may 
be visible depending on location. Reports are encouraged.   

As in the past, we will have three divisions:

+ Student category for Kindergarten through grade 8
+ Student category for High School, grades 9 through 12
+ All others will be in the adult category.  

In addition to individual students, we encourage classes or organ-
izations such as science clubs to make group submissions. Submissions 
are limited to one per person or group. Members of a group making a 
submission may not submit a second, individual entry.

+ Adults and individual students should include their name and amateur
  callsign if they have one. 

+ Individual students should also give their grade in school.  

+ Student groups should include the name of their group or class, 
  school, and which category they represent.  

+ Please give the UTC date in the format of day, month, year, hours, 
  minutes, and seconds.  

+ Finally, we would like to know your city, state, province or 
  region, and your country.

+ Submissions will close on 15 September 2011 at 23:59:00 UTC. 

The closest predictions in each category will be recognized for their 
achievement. Send your submissions to CHICKENLITTLE@ARISSAT1.ORG. 
Good luck!

[ANS thanks ARISSat-1/KEDR team for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-226.09
ARISSat-1 Battery is failing faster than expected

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 226.09
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 14, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-226.09


ARISSat-1 Battery is Failing Faster than Expected
 
The ARISSat-1 battery performed as expected during the first week of
operation. Lower voltages during eclipse began to show up in the
telemetry on 10 Aug 2011.  The voltages during eclipse have continued
to decline causing the satellite to reset and go into Emergency Power
Mode on 12 Aug. After reset, the satellite MET (Mission Elapsed Timer)
goes to 000, waits during the 15 minute TX delay, the power management
software checks the current voltage and power values and determines
what power mode to operate the satellite. The power mode is
re-determined at fixed intervals, especially during illuminated
periods to provide the most transmitted signals while protecting the
battery.
 
Additional information and explanation about the workings of the
ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf-V power system can be found on the arissat1.org
web site under the FAQ section.
 
The ARISSat-1 team is closely monitoring the situation and is pleased
with how well the power management software is controlling the battery
usage to prolong the lifetime of the battery and the satellite as much
as possible.
 
 [ANS Thanks Gould Smith, WA4SXM for the ARISSat-1 team]

/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,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F
Nb2f at amsat dot org



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