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[jamsat-news:3088] ANS-183 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-183
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 at amsat.org
*******************************************************************
* Remember to send in your 2012 AMSAT Field Day Satellite Summary *
* Sheet to kk5do@amsat.org or kk5do@arrl.net by July 9, 2012 *
* Field Day Rules and Sheets are linked at http://www.amsat.org. *
*******************************************************************
In this edition:
* AMSAT Journal In the Mail
* Call For Articles - Author's Guide to the AMSAT Journal
* 13 Original Colonies Special Event Includes Satellite Operations
* Canada Scouts ARISS Contact Successful
* CQ Magazine Worked All Zones - Satellite Award
* Chinese Amateur Satellite Group Shows CAS-2 Satellite Model
* Soyuz to Fly 3 Hams Up, 3 Hams Staying, 3 Hams Coming Home
* KiwiSAT Hoping for Launch mid-2013
* Five CubeSats Ready for July 21 JAXA HTV-3 Launch
* AMSAT News Podcasts Available to Download and Listen
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-183.01
ANS-183 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 183.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 1, 2012
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-183.01
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AMSAT Journal In the Mail
AMSAT Journal Editor Ed Long, WA4SWJ said this week the next issue
of the Journal is at the print shop and will be in the mail soon.
With this issue we note that Ed is retiring as the Journal editor.
Doug Loughmiller, W5BL will take over the reins of the Journal. Ed,
thank-you for your years of hard work on the Journal! Doug, we look
forward to working with you!
There has been a delay in publishing the Journal. AMSAT President
Barry Baines, WD4ASW noted, "The reasons for not getting the Journal
published on time is not due to the transition of editors, but due
to lack of materials for publication. Please read the associated
call for articles news item in this ANS ... and send Doug your mater-
ials!"
Here are some of the features of the upcoming Journal:
+ Satellite Export Controls - Progress Report
+ FUNcube Project Update
+ Spotlight on VUSAT OSCAR 52 (VO-52)
+ 2011 AMSAT BoD Meeting, Symposium & General Meeting
AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, San Jose, CA
+ AMSAT Activities at the 2012 Greater Houston Hamfest
+ Museum Ships Weekend 2012 - A Record Breaking Year
+ Updates of AMSAT's on-going development of launch opportunities
including Fox-1 aiming for early 2013.
o AMSAT co-development and acceptance into three satellite pro-
grams in the NASA Edison small satellite flight demonstration
mission.
o AMSAT partnership with Auburn University and The University of
Alabama on a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant application.
Keep an eye on your mailbox for your next issue of the AMSAT Journal!
[ANS thanks Ed Long, WA4SWJ; and Barry Baines, WD4ASW for the above
information]
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Call For Articles - Author's Guide to the AMSAT Journal
You are invited to share your amateur radio in space ideas and ex-
periences with fellow satellite operators.
The AMSAT Journal, a bi-monthly publication of AMSAT-North America,
brings you the latest information in satellite mission planning,
satellite-related hardware design and construction, satellite-related
software design and implementation, and amateur radio earth station
construction.
AMSAT Journal Editor Doug Loughmiller, W5BL noted, "Publishing a
quality publication is hard work, much like building a satellite
itself, it requires a team working together to insure that the pub-
lication reaches the membership in a timely manner which contains
informative and useful content. In my view the Journal should ad-
dress a number of topics on a regular basis. I would like to enlist
the services of individuals who would be willing to serve as a col-
umn coordinators for each of the topics", including:
+ Organizational news
+ Spacecraft Engineering Topics
+ Spacecraft Operational Topics (Command and Control, mission
analysis etc.)
+ Spacecraft Utilization (What's on the birds, what are we learning?)
+ Hands-On Projects for ground station applications
+ Educational News
+ Amateur Radio Astronomy
+ EME
+ High Altitude Balloon Flights
+ General Space Science Topics.
Your articles are especially welcome. Simply type out your ideas on
your computer and send them in. Your article will be "cleaned up"
and formatted for you during the editorial processing of the AMSAT
Journal. Send your article to the AMSAT Journal e-mail box via:
journal@amsat.org.
There is no need to do any special formatting on your submission
because the final layout format is driven by the magazine's type
setting software. All you need to include is:
+ Your text in MS-Word or plain text format
+ Graphics in as high pixel resolution possible saved in separate
files (jpg, gif, tiff).
An MS-Word file with embedded graphics is the most difficult format
to typeset. Separate text and graphics files work the best.
If you have any questions, or need some help feel free to contact
the editor at the AMSAT Journal at journal@amsat.org.
The AMSAT Journal is looking forward to hearing from you soon!
[ANS thanks Ed Long, WA4SWJ; Doug Loughmiller, W5BL; and Barry
Baines, WD4ASW for the above information]
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13 Original Colonies Special Event Includes Satellite Operations
The 2012 13 Colonies Special Event has been operating since July 1
but there is still time to work them since they plan to be on the
air through July 5. Operators will be on the satellites again this
year for the special event.
Recognizing that the 4th comes in the middle of the week (Wednesday)
please keep in mind that there may be fewer operators available on
the work days so, PLEASE BE PATIENT!
Please send your QSL requests directly to each operator.
STATE SE CALL STATION & OPERATOR
------ -------- -------------------
NY K2A WB2OQQ Pete
VA K2B NL7VX Steve
RI K2C N1MIW Larry
CT K2D WA8SME Mark
DE K2E KB2M Jeff (SSB Birds)
DE K2E W3FIS Paul (FM Birds)
MD K2F WA3SWJ Bruce
GA K2G N3TL Tim
MA K2H KB1PVH Dave
NJ K2I KB2M Jeff (Here when not in DE)
NC K2J W4MPS Marc
NH K2K NE1H Bob
SC K2L K4YYL Art
PA K2M KB3WSW Elizabeth
Link to the satellite page with the list of operators and additional
information: http://www.13colonies.info/Satellites.htm
The main page with all the time and date information is:
http://www.13colonies.info/
[ANS thanks Dave, KB1PVH for the above information]
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Canada Scouts ARISS Contact Successful
On Saturday, June 23, Scouts Canada, Nova Scotia Council in Dart-
mouth, Canada called on-orbit astronaut André Kuipers, PI9ISS during
an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact
via telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia.
The contact was held as part of a space event with Scouts of various
ages in conjunction with groups earning their Science Badge awards.
Over 150 were in attendance. The contact was Webcast and the present-
ation was captured for retransmission by Aliant IPTV Atlantic during
July/August and for development of an edited CD for distribution to
interested parties.
There was excellent media coverage including 3 television stations
and two newspapers. A 20 minute radio interview was held with "The
Rick Howe Show" on Friday, June 22 on Amateur Radio - ARISS and Field
Day Operations. In addition, an article is being prepared for period-
icals: Royal Astronomical Society, Halifax Public Libraries, Radio
Amateurs of Canada.
[ANS thanks the ARISS Status Report for June 25, 2012 for the above
information]
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CQ Magazine Worked All Zones - Satellite Award
Sponsored by CQ Magazine, the Worked All Zones award program is one
of the longest running in Ham Radio, having its start prior to WWII.
CQ Magazine explains the details of this award on their website:
The WAZ program, while it involves the use of "DX Entities", does
not rely on any particular "Entity's" status as a country. The WAZ
award is geographically focused, which is where it's challenge lies.
The CQ Worked All Zones (WAZ) Award and its variations are issued to
any licensed amateur station presenting proof of contact with the
appropriate number of CQ zones of the world. (The CQ Zones map and
additional zone information is posted on the CQ web site.)
The Worked All Zones - Satellite award has been available for con-
tacts made since January 1, 1989. While opportunities to contact
many of the DX zones were more numerous when HEO satellites were
active, your confirmed contacts back to 1989 would qualify you to
apply for this award now.
The Satellite WAZ Award requires that the applicant submit QSL cards
from at least 25 zones. The Satellite Award requires that the appli-
cant submit QSL cards from at least 25 zones. Endorsement stickers
are issued at the 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40 zone levels. The
Satellite Award is not band specific, you may apply QSO's from mul-
tiple bands. The Satellite WAZ certificate will indicate the number
of zones that are confirmed when the applicant first applies for the
award.
Applications and Cards for this award must be submitted to the WAZ
Award Manager, Floyd Gerald, N5FG (n5fg@cq-amateur-radio.com)
You can find all of the details of the CQ Magazine Worked All Zone
Award on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/CQ-WAZ-Award (CQ Web Site).
[ANS thanks CQ Magazine WAZ Award Manager Floyd Gerald, N5FG for
the above information]
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Chinese Amateur Satellite Group Shows CAS-2 Satellite Model
This year the Chinese Amateur Satellite Group (CAMSAT) was a special
guest in the AMSAT-DL booth at the HamRadio Fair in Friedrichshafen —
HamRadio 2012.
CAMSAT had a model of their next amateur radio satellite, CAS-2 which
is planned as the next generation after their first CAS-1 (aka XW-1,
HO-68) satellite. HO-68 carried a linear transponder and proved very
popular with radio amateurs world-wide.
The May 20 announcement came to light that CAMSAT and students at the
Qian Youth Aerospace Academy are now working on the next satellite
CAS-2. The announcement indicates that two separate CAS-2 satellite
structures are being built – A1 and A2.
The launch of CAS-2 is planned for 2014 into a 1000 km orbit with an
inclination of 12 degrees. This orbit means it may not be receivable
in those countries at high latitudes.
It is understood that most of the room in CAS-2 will be taken up by
the primary (non-amateur) payload and it has only been possible to
fit a single channel FM amateur transponder in the satellite.
Further information in Google English can be seen at:
http://tinyurl.com/CAMSAT-CAS-2-Satellite
A photo on the AMSAT-UK web (http://www.uk.amsat.org/8665) shows Fan
Shaomin, BA1EO with the CAS-2 model.
A group picture taken at Ham Radio 2012 in Friedrichshafen and a pic-
ture of the engraved glass plaque that CAMSAT presented to AMSAT-DL
can be seen on the AMSAT Deutschland Facebook page.
[ANS thanks CAMSAT, AMSAT-DL, and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Soyuz to Fly 3 Hams Up, 3 Hams Staying, 3 Hams Coming Home
Three Expedition 32 crew members to the International Space Station
are scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-05M from the Baikonur
Space Center in Kazakhstan on July 15.
The Expedition 32 crew members are NASA astronaut Suni Williams
KD5PLB, cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko RK3DUP and Japanese astronaut
Aki Hoshide KE5DNI. The trio has been passing tests at the Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, outside of Moscow.
They will join Expedition 31's NASA astronaut Joe Acaba KE5DAR
and cosmonauts Gennady Padalka RN3DT and Sergei Revin RN3BS on
board the orbiting outpost.
Meanwhile, fellow Expedition 31 members cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko
RN3DX and NASA's Don Pettit KD5MDT and Andre Kuipers PI9ISS returned
to Earth on July 1.
A back-up ISS crew was also confirmed on Friday. It includes Cana-
dian astronaut Chris Hadfield KC5RNJ/VA3OOG, NASA astronaut Tom
Marshburn KE5HOC and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko (no call at this
time).
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information]
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KiwiSAT Hoping for Launch mid-2013
News from New Zealand, received via AMSAT-UK reports the development
of the amateur radio satellite KiwiSAT is completed and it is now
ready for a LEO launch. See: http://www.uk.amsat.org/8686.
KiwiSat carries a 435 or 1268 MHz to 145 MHz linear transponder for
SSB/CW operation:
+ Transmit Power: 2 Watts PEP.
+ Beacon frequency: 145.885 MHz
+ Uplink: (U-Band) 435.265 to 435.235 MHZ LSB or
+ Uplink: (L-Band) 1268.880 to 1268.850 MHz LSB
+ Down link: 145.850 to 145.880 MHz USB
The KiwiSAT website says the team have been in discussion with ISC
Kosmatras for a DNEPR launch. They hope the satellite will be launch-
ed mid-2013. On June 18, 2012, the KiwiSAT team released a status up-
date which can be read at http://www.kiwisat.org/status.html
In addition to the transponder KiwiSAT also carries an Attitude Deter-
mination And Control (ADAC) experiment developed by students at Massey
University.
See also:
KiwiSAT http://www.kiwisat.org/
AMSAT-ZL http://www.amsat-zl.org.nz/
[ANS thanks the KiwiSat Team, AMSAT-ZL, and AMSAT-UK for the above
information]
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Five CubeSats Ready for July 21 JAXA HTV-3 Launch
Viet Nam's F-1 CubeSat team announced on June 23 they have passed
flight safety review and are cleared to be included in JAXA HTV-3
mission to the ISS. F-1 arrived at Japan's Tsukuba Space Center
where it and four companion CubeSats (RAIKO, WE WISH, FITSAT-1 and
TechEdSat) will be integrated with the J-SSOD small satellite dep-
loyer before leaving for the Tanegashima launch pad.
After arriving at the ISS aboard the JAXA HTV-3 ISS resupply mis-
sion, the J-SSOD deployer will be integrated to the Japanese Exper-
iment Module, also known as Kibo. They will be deployed with the
Kibo robotic arm planned for the September, 2012 timeframe.
The five CubeSats on this mission include:
+ Raiko
+ We Wish
+ FITSat 1
+ F-1 Vietnam Student CubeSat
+ TechEdSat
RAIKO - Wakayama University, Japan
----------------------------------
http://www.astro.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/RAIKO/ (Japanese)
This 2U CubeSat includes experiments for:
+ Earth photography with a fish-eye lens camera
+ Photo tracking during deployment from ISS to measure relative
motion.
+ Experimental star sensor
+ Membrane deployment experiment for de-orbit
+ High speed data communication experiment by Ku-band
communication equipment:
o Orbit determination experiment by Doppler frequency
measurement of Ku-band beacon.
o Mobile ground station and global cooperation for reception
FITSAT-1 - Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Japan
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml
The main mission of this 1U CubeSat will be a demonstration of high
speed data transfer from a satellite. A second experiment aboard the
satellite involves an attempt at visual tracking from the ground of
the high-output LED flash to investigate the possibility of optical
communication with satellites. The light from this flash will be re-
ceived by the ground station equipped with a telescope with photo-
multiplier linked to a parabolic antenna tracking the 5.8GHz downlink.
Frequencies announced for FITSAT-1:
CW Beacon 437.250 MHz,
FM Data 437.445 MHz,
High speed data 5840.00 MHz.
WE WISH - Meisei Electric Co., Ltd., Japan
------------------------------------------
http://www.meisei.co.jp/news/2011/0617_622.html
The WE WISH mission is to investigate monitoring of the global envi-
ronment from space with the use of an upper atmosphere measurement
experiment. This includes GPS technology, and technical proof of con-
cept of a micro infra-red camera.
F-1 Vietnam Student CubeSat
---------------------------
Vietnamese students in Hanoi plan to orbit the country's first sat-
ellite, their amateur radio CubeSat F-1 with the callsign XV1VN. The
satellite will carry a low resolution C328 camera and two Yaesu VX-3R
transceivers using 145.980 and 437.485 MHz.
+ VX-3R1, 437.485 MHz FM downlink:
o Solar cell power only, operates in sunlight only
o Output power: max 0.3W, half-wave dipole antenna
o Morse code beacon (10 chars) using PWM CW every 30 seconds
+ VX-3R2, 145.980 MHz FM downlink:
o Rechargeable battery, operates in dark and sunlight
o Output power: max 1.0W, half-wave dipole antenna
o AFSK 1200bps, half duplex, one AX.25 packet every 30 seconds
TechEdSat - San Jose State University
-------------------------------------
http://ncasst.org/techedsat.html
http://www.uk.amsat.org/5018
TechEdSat is a 1U CubeSat built by San Jose State University in part-
nership with NASA Ames Research Center and AAC Microtec. It's mission
is to evaluate Space Plug-and-play Avionics (SPA) designed in Sweden
by AAC Microtec, and to perform a communications experiment utilizing
the Iridium and Orbcomm satellite phone network.
TechEdSat has received IARU frequency coordination for its downlink
on 437.465 MHz.
[ANS thanks the CubeSat teams, AMSAT-UK, and Mineo Wakita JE9PEL for
the above information]
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AMSAT News Podcasts Available to Download and Listen
The Houston AMSAT Net, hosted by Andy W5ACM, meets every Tuesday
evening at 8PM Central Time (UTC-5). They read the ANS bulletins
and any late breaking amateur satellite news that has come out
since the weekend ANS news cycle.
The net is streamed live on the AMSAT Echolink Node and via an MP3
stream. The audio is also available as a podcast from the current
net including an archive of past net podcasts.
Bruce KK5DO web page at http://www.amsatnet.com/ has the links to
the podcasts (and live streaming information). Click on the "Listen
to Live or Past Nets" link on the left side of the web page to find
the links to the podcasts.
If you go to the iTunes store and search podcasts there for either
kk5do, amsat or houston amsat net, you will find the same podcast
able to be streamed right to your iPhone/iPad/iPod. Also, if you
have an iPhone and you have downloaded the Echolink app, you can
listen to the net live on Tuesdays at 8PM Central.
[ANS thanks Andy, W5ACM and Bruce, KK5DO for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Amateur Radio Club K4BFT received good media coverage at Field Day
this year operating near the Alabama Space and Rocket Center. Their
satellite station has several shots in the article in the link below,
including SatPC32. There were 3 local TV stations and 1 local news-
paper that visited the Satellite Station this year. See:
http://photos.al.com/huntsville-times/2012/06/ham_field_day_9.html
(via Tim, N8DEU)
+ Hams like big antennas no matter what the operating mode. You'll
enjoy the two videos "Moonbounce Swiss Style" when Sam Jewell G4DDK
and John Worsnop G4BAO were shown round the HB9Q amateur radio moon-
bounce (EME) shack by Alex Artieda HB9DRI. Watch it at:
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2012/moonbounce_swiss_style.htm
+ Listen to some dramatic music, watch a fast-paced video and see a
few animated high-fives in the SpaceX video and the latest views of
Dragon crew capsule:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rFn8044mkvc
+ The latest updates to the CQ Newsroom has news of the STRaND-2 sat-
ellite program and the ARISS volunteer initiative, along with ama-
teur radio news. You can read this online at:
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/
+ The Antenna Column by Kent Britain, WA5VJB in the Spring, 2012
issue of CQ VHF Magazine (http://www.cq-vhf.com) discusses "Herring-
bone Log Periodics plus Another AMSAT LEO Antenna." Select the link
'Click here for a look inside!' and you will find the link to a
preview version of the magazine article.
+ Paul, 2M1EUB is making mobile satellite DX contacts from Scotland.
He reports being to work K3SZH on FO-29. He plans to be on the air
from Scotland until around July 8-9.
+ Wyatt, AC0RA worked Bill OM3BD/NZ5N in Slovakia on AO-7 at a dis-
tance of over 7800 kms. Bill wrote, "The QSO was remarkably easy,
we talked to each other for over a minute with strong sigs. I was
expecting maybe 15 seconds of a signal way down in the noise, but
this was no sweat at all, and it was just our first attempt. This
suggests that significantly longer distances are possible. The AO-7
orbit seems a bit different this summer, my North America windows
are longer and extend deeper into the USA."
+ NASA/JPL posted an amazing video highlighting the incredible engin-
eering feat it will be to land the Curiosity Rover onto the surface
of Mars. Watch it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s&feature=player_embedded
+ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, invites
you to try out their new, on-line game, called “Build it Yourself:
Satellite!” This is a Flash-based game, a learning tool for students
and adults that plays in your browser window. See:
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/build.html
+ ARISS International Team meeting was held on Tuesday, June 19. Min-
utes have been posted: http://ariss.rac.ca/arisstel2012-06-19.htm
+ Plan Ahead! To celebrate Venezuelan Navy Day, members of the Grupo
DX Caracas will be active as YW5B from La Blanquilla Island between
July 11-16. Activity will be on 160-2 meters using CW, SSB, Satel-
lites, FM and the Digital modes. (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1065)
+ The next Hudson Valley Satcom net dates are on Thurs day July 5
and July 19 at 8PM EDT (UTC-4 UTC) on the 146.97 MHz MBARC Repeat-
er (PL 100). The echolink connection has been experiencing prob-
lems so you are invited to send an e-mail to N2OXV at arrl.net to
make sure that the N2EYH-L EchoLink node is available if you plan
to join via this route. (Stu, WA2BSS)
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
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/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information. And with that please keep in mind the time a neutron
goes into a cafe and asks the waiter, "How much for lunch?" The
waiter replies, "For you, no charge." Just outside, two atoms are
walking down the street and they run in to each other. One says to
the other, "Are you all right?" "No, I lost an electron!" "Are you
sure?" "Yeah, I'm positive!"
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
K9JKM at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans