[jamsat-news:3092] ANS-197 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-197

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:

* 2012 AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting Comes to Orlando
* AMSAT-UK Monitoring UK Space Agency Reform of the Outer Space Act
* Successful ARISS School Contacts Reported
* Cuba to Alaska Contact Successful via FO-29
* Official Opening of the RSGB National Radio Centre
* NASA TV to Cover Three Hams Docking at ISS
* Five CubeSats Ready for July 21 JAXA HTV-3 Launch
* HORYU-2 Telemetry Resumes Operation
* 50th Anniversary of Telstar-1
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-197.01
ANS-197 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 197.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 15, 2012
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-197.01


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


2012 AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting Comes to Orlando

AMSAT announces the 2012 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held on 
Friday, October 26th through Sunday, October 28th. The Symposium 
weekend 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

+ Meet Board Members and Officers

+ Annual General Membership Meeting

+ Annual Banquet-Keynote Speaker and Door Prizes

CALL FOR PAPERS
---------------
This is the second call for papers for the 2012 AMSAT Annual Meeting
and Space Symposium to be held in Orlando, Florida on the weekend of
October 26-28, 2012 at the Holiday Inn, Orlando Airport Hotel.

Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presenta-
tions are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite
community:

+ Papers for publication in the Proceedings

+ Symposium Presentations

+ Poster Presentations

+ Equipment and Operating Demonstrations

We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible,
with final copy to be submitted by October 1 for inclusion in the
printed proceedings.

Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV, at
n8fgv at amsat.org.

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
------------------
To help you plan your trip to Orlando the 2012 Symposium Committee
has posted a high-level schedule of the weekend's events.

Preliminary 2012 Symposium Schedule

Thursday 25 October 2012
------------------------
AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting  8am - 9pm

Friday 26 October 2012
-----------------------
AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting  8am - Noon
Trips to SkyCraft  9am - Noon
AMSAT Symposium  1pm - 5pm

Saturday 27 October 2012
------------------------
Symposium  8am - 3pm
AMSAT General Meeting 3:30pm
AMSAT Banquet  6:30pm - 10pm

Sunday 28 October 2012
----------------------
7:30am AMSAT Area Coordinator's Breakfast
Local trip of Interest  TBD

Monday 29 October 2012
----------------------
Special trip to Kennedy Space Center  8am-6pm
The trip will include a round trip bus from the hotel and entrance
to the Space Center. The cost will be about $100. This is a wonderful
experience for those that haven't been and for those that have been
multiple times. We need to get an idea  of how many will participate
to select the correct bus. Contact Martha if interested

Watch the AMSAT Symposium Web Pages for the latest information:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2012/index.php

[ANS thanks the 2012 Symposium Committee and 2012 Syposium Proceed-
 ings Editor Dan Schultz, N8FGV for the above information]


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


AMSAT-UK Monitoring UK Space Agency Reform of the Outer Space Act

A posting on the UK Space Agency Web Site, announced, "Reform of 
the Outer Space Act 1986: Consultation". Graham Shirville, G3VZV 
commented, "Whilst they only relate to UK legislation, both the 
Consultation Document and the Impact Assessment Document cover a 
lot of interesting ground, technical, legal and statistical. Well 
worth a review in my opinion. These proposals make the Space Act 
more 'cubesat friendly'"

Both of these documents can be accessed on the UK Space Agency web:
http://tinyurl.com/UK-Space-Act (www.bis.gov.uk)

The AMSAT-UK web summarizes the scope of the new Consultation:

This is in response to the Government Growth Review published in 
March 2011, in which the Government set out its wish to reform the 
Outer Space Act 1986 by introducing an upper limit on liability 
for UK operators.

The Outer Space Act covers all UK satellites irrespective of size, 
from tiny low cost educational CubeSats up to large commercial £500 
million satellites.

The key aspects of the consultation are the proposals to waive the 
capped liability and insurance requirement for in-orbit operation 
of any satellite that meets the criteria of a CubeSat and to remove 
the requirement for unlimited indemnity from satellite operators.

The existing Outer Space Act imposes heavy additional costs (>£50,000
per annum) on those wishing to launch small educational CubeSats. The 
additional costs act as a major deterrent and to-date no such UK Cube-
Sat has been launched.

Graham concludes, "Rest assured that AMSAT-UK will be responding!"
More news will be posted as available. The UK Space Agency says that
responses are due by August 31, 2012.

[ANS thanks Graham Shirville, G3VZV and AMSAT-UK for the above 
 information]


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


Successful ARISS School Contacts Reported

Nunavik Youth Connect With ISS
------------------------------
On July 4, youth attending the Cirqiniq Summer Camp in Kuujjuaq, 
Quebec (Nunavik), Canada spoke with on-orbit astronaut Joe Acaba, 
KE5DAR via an ARISS contact. Telebridge station K6DUE in Greenbelt, 
Maryland provided the radio connection. 

The contact was held in conjunction with a circus camp being offer-
ed to youth, ages 13 to 17, in Nunavik that was led by a group of 
instructors affiliated with Cirque du Soleil®. The campers learned 
tight-wire walking, aerial acrobatics and juggling among other 
skills and ended the session with a parade and community show. This 
year's theme was "Planets and the Universe." Local media covered 
the event.

STEM High School Aerospace Scholars, Houston, TX Connect With ISS
----------------------------------------------------------------
An ARISS school contact with participants at Women in STEM High 
School Aerospace Scholars, Houston, TX was successfully completed 
on July 10. The contact was a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. 

The group of high school juniors were participating in a summer pro-
gram called WISH, an acronym for Women in STEM High School Aerospace 
Scholars. The students were selected from responses to a national 
invitation to attend multiple robust lessons for six days at John-
son Space Center in Houston. The young women attended briefings, 
and engaged in competitive hands-on engineering activities related 
to space exploration and research.

The ARISS contact was incorporated into the learning activities 
early in the week while learning about space communication and wire-
less technology. 

A video of the contact has been posted on-line:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igM-2qegJWo&feature=player_embedded

The NASA Press release about the Women in STEM High School Aerospace 
Scholars program can be viewed on-line at:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/jun/HQ_12-209_WISH.html

[ANS thanks the ARISS Status Report and NASA for the above 
 information]


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


Cuba to Alaska Contact Successful via FO-29

Hector Martinez, CO6CBF in Cuba reported a successful satellite con-
tact Dale Pelzer, KL7R in Alaska via the FO-29 satellite. Cuban ama-
teurs cannot operate on AO-7 mode B so FO-29 is their only opportun-
ity for long range contacts.

Hector says the first 10 attempts via SSB were unsuccessful. Dale
drove around 4 miles from his home to a nearby hill, many times very
late at night. On Sunday, July 8 at 1920 UTC the two stations finally
connected via CW.

Dale's equipment includes a Yaesu FT-817 (only 5W semi-duplex) and 
ARROW antenna with preamplifier. Hector's equipment is mostly a home-
brew setup, 10 elements yagi on 2m and 18 elements yagi for 70cm with 
a homebrew preamplifier.

Hector will continue to look for new grids and long-range contacts 
via satellite. He invites interested stations to contact him via 
e-mail: co6cbf@frcuba.co.cu
 
[ANS thanks and congratulates Hector Martinez CO6CBF and Dale Pelzer
 KL7R for the above information]


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


Official Opening of the RSGB National Radio Centre

Wednesday, July 11, saw the official opening of the RSGB's National 
Radio Centre (NRC) at Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes.

The opening and unveiling of the plaque was undertaken by Mr. Ed 
Vaizey, MP. Mr Vaizey is the Minister for Culture, Communications 
and the Creative Industries and, as such, has overall responsibil-
ity for OFCOM. He stated that he fully supported the aim of the 
Centre in being able to enthuse and inspire children to become the 
engineers of the future.

Attendees included many of the sponsors together with Iain Standen, 
the Chief Executive of the Bletchley Park Trust plus, from overseas,
Dave Sumner K1ZZ, CEO of the ARRL and Ole Garpestad, LA2RR IARU 
Vice-President.

AMSAT-UK have supported the creation of this valuable educational 
outreach resource at Bletchley Park and have arranged for the pro-
vision and installation of a set of fully steerable VHF and UHF 
satellite antenna arrays. It is hoped that it may be possible to 
use the NRC as the FUNcube-1 Mission Control Centre during the 
Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) of the mission later 
this year.

National Radio Centre http://www.nationalradiocentre.com/

Pictures of opening http://www.uk.amsat.org/8841 

[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA; RSGB, and AMSAT-UK for the above
 information]


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


NASA TV to Cover Three Hams Docking at ISS

NASA Flight Engineer Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, along with Russian 
cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, and Japan Aerospace Explora-
tion Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI were launched aboard
a Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakh-
stan at 0240 UTC, July 15.

The three ham crew will arrive at the ISS on July 16, joining NASA 
Flight Engineer Joe Acaba, KE5DAR, and two Russian cosmonauts: Expe-
dition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, and Flight Engineer Ser-
gei Revin, RN3BS.

NASA TV’s scheduled coverage of the docking is as follows:

Monday, July 16
---------------
11:15 PM CDT (0415 UTC, July 17) -- Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M 
docking coverage begins (docking at 11:38 PM [0438 UTC, July 17]), 
followed by post-docking news conference from Mission Control in 
Korolev, Russia.

Tuesday, July 17
----------------
2:00 AM CDT (0700 UTC) -- Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M hatch 
opening and welcoming ceremony coverage begins (ceremony sched-
uled for 2:25 AM [0725 UTC]).

NASA TV can be viewed on-line at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]


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


Five CubeSats Ready for July 21 JAXA HTV-3 Launch

Five cubesats are scheduled to be launched on July 21 aboard the 
JAXA HTV-3 supply mission to the ISS. The satellites have been 
integrated with the J-SSOD small satellite deployer. The J-SSOD 
deployer will be integrated to the Japanese Experiment 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
  http://www.astro.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/RAIKO/ (Japanese)
  2U cubesat, photography, Ku-band beacon

+ We Wish
  http://www.meisei.co.jp/news/2011/0617_622.html
  Infrared camera for environmental studies

+ FITSat 1
  http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml
  High-speed data test, high power LED visual tracking
  CW Beacon 437.250 MHz, 
  FM Data   437.445 MHz, 
  High speed data 5840.00 MHz.

+ F-1 Vietnam Student CubeSat
  On-board camera for earth observation mission
  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
  http://ncasst.org/techedsat.html
  http://www.uk.amsat.org/5018
  Downlink on 437.465 MHz

[ANS thanks the CubeSat teams, AMSAT-UK, and Mineo Wakita JE9PEL for
 the above information]


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


HORYU-2 Telemetry Resumes Operation

On Tuesday, July 3, the amateur radio satellite HORYU-2 (call sign 
JG6YBW) recovered from a problem with stuck telemetry on its 437.375 
MHz telemetry downlink. The HORYU-2 Blog indicates the team are now 
attempting to take pictures using the on-board camera. Read the KIT 
HORYU Blog in Google English: http://tinyurl.com/HORYU-Blog

The free KIT HORYU-2 telemetry software can be downloaded from
http://kitsat.ele.kyutech.ac.jp/Documents/information_launch_english.html

A HORYU-2 online WebSDR receiver can be found at: 
http://sdr.opt.ro:8901/

HORYU-2 CW Telemetry Decoder by DK3WN:
http://tinyurl.com/SatSoftwareDK3WN/

HORYU-2, built by students from the Kyushu Institute of Technology, 
was launched by JAXA from Tanegashima Space Center on May 18 with 
the Observation Mission “SHIZUKU” (GCOM-W1). The SHIZUKU observation 
images acquired by AMSR2 have been released. See:
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2012/07/20120704_shizuku_e.html

[ANS thanks the HORYU-2 Team for the above information]


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


50th Anniversary of Telstar-1

Recently amateur radio satellite operators have commemorated the 
50th anniversary of the launch of the first two amateur radio sat-
ellites: OSCAR-1 on December 12, 1961 and OSCAR-2 on June 2, 1962.
Amateur radio was in space just four years after Sputnik-1, the
first satellite was put in orbit.

This past week, fifty years ago, on July 10, 1962 the first commer-
cial communications satellite, Telstar-1, was launched. Two days 
into its mission, it relayed the world's first transatlantic tele-
vision signal, from Andover Earth Station, Maine, to the Pleumeur-
Bodou Telecom Center, Brittany, France.

The satellite was spin-stabilized to maintain its desired orienta-
tion in space. Power to its onboard equipment was provided by a 
solar array, in conjunction with a battery back-up system. During 
the course of its operational lifespan, Telstar 1 facilitated over 
400 telephone, telegraph, facsimile and television transmissions. It 
operated until November 1962, when its on-board electronics failed 
due to the effects of radiation.

SpaceMart.com has published an article of Telstar's 50th anniversary:
http://tinyurl.com/Telstar-50th (www.spacemart.com)

[ANS thanks AMSAT, Project OSCAR, and SpaceMart.com for the above 
 information]

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


Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Look in the August 2012 issue of QST magazine for a satellite arti-
  cle, "Backpacking With Satellites", on page 65 by David Palmer,
  KB5WIA. Dave covers lots of portable satellite operating advice,
  portable equipment selection, trek planning, and includes several
  interesting photos.

+ Listen for Patrick, WD9EWK/VA7EWK on VO-52 at 0200 UTC July 17
  during his on-air satellite demonstration at the Tri-City Amateur 
  Radio Association meeting in Goodyear, Arizona. Additional demo-
  stration opportunities that evening may occur on SO-50 at 0300 UTC
  and one more VO-52 pass at 0335 UTC. All demonstration plans are 
  dependent on the weather. Patrick will try to update the AMSAT-BB 
  with the demonstration plans on Monday afternoon, as well as his 
  Twitter feed @WD9EWK (use http://twitter.com/wd9ewk if you aren't 
  on Twitter directly to view this feed).

+ Listen for David, XE3DX operating on SO-50 and AO-27 between 
  July 16 - 20 from EK48, EK49, EK69, EL50, EL51, EL61 and EL60 
  in Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo States in Mexico. He can
  be reached via e-mail at xe3dx@amsat.org

+ Listen for Norm, N3YKF operating from Peru. His trip begins on
  July 22. He says he has received the customs documents to bring
  amateur radio equipment. He plans to drive the Panamerica Sur 
  from Lima to Nazca, Peru, activating grid squares along the way.

+ Watch a video on the Vimeo site "Grand Finale 2010-11", by McLean 
  Fahnestock showing all 135 launches of the space shuttle program 
  at once: http://vimeo.com/27505192

+ To help you sound like the smartest ham on the band here are three
  videos that explain CERN's discovery of a Higgs-like particle:
  
  o Minute Physics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uh5mTxRQcg
  o BBC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzQpeqE_wLg
  o Physicist Michio Kaku on CNN:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTVT-MlRq6o
  o What’s a Higgs Boson, Anyway? on UniverseToday.com: 
      http://www.universetoday.com/96122/whats-a-higgs-boson-anyway/

+ The free publication SatMagazine includes an article covering 
  advances in CubeSat technology. "Advances In CubeSats Enable New 
  Apps" by Erik Mumm starts on page 56. Download the July/August 2012 
  SatMagazine at http://www.satmagazine.com/2012/SM_JulAug2012.pdf

+ In the quiet, peaceful setting of a storage bay in the northwest 
  corner of NASA's cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy 
  Space Center Spaceflight Now photographer Walter Scriptunas II used 
  the tranquil opportunity to shoot this gallery that captures the 
  space shuttle Atlantis in exquisite detail: 
  http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/120703gallery/

+ When you play NASA's "Rocket Science 101!", you will select your 
  favorite NASA mission and build a rocket to send the spacecraft 
  into orbit. Rocket Science 101 is available online at: 
  http://go.nasa.gov/Mn28Nt

+ Enjoy a 5 minute video commemorating the 50th anniversary of 
  NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WrGEU5irS8o

+ Jason Brand VK2FJAB, age 10, was interviewed for the morning 
  "Today" show on Channel 9 in Australia. He talks about amateur 
  radio and his Do-It-Yourself space projects. Watch it at:
  http://www.uk.amsat.org/8821

+ One of the interior decorating features often selected for the 
  well-equipped-shack includes a copy of the Electromagnetic Radia-
  tion Spectrum Poster. Unihedron, a manufacturer of portable tools 
  for physics and astronomy, offers you a link to download a personal
  PDF copy of the poster or purchase a full-size printed copy at: 
  http://unihedron.com/projects/spectrum/moreinfo.php

+ This image from the French Pleiades satellite shows the island of 
  Mont Saint Michel and its surrounding bay in northwest France. The
  photo was captured on May 3 at an altitude of about 700 km. See:
  http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=41338

+ Sometime this summer, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will 
  leap from the edge of space, attempting to not only break the 
  sound barrier with his body, but also break the record for the 
  longest freefall from nearly 37km altitude. View a video simula-
  tion at: 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VCqnQq86fkY

+ The next Hudson Valley Satcom net date will be on Thursday July 19 
  at 8PM EDT (UTC-4 UTC) on the 146.97 MHz MBARC Repeater (PL 100). 
  This net is also available on echolink on the N2EYH-L node if you 
  would like to join via this route. (Stu, WA2BSS)

[ANS thanks everyone 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. And with that, please keep in mind the discussion during
Field Day setup when one ham was admiring the new tent being erected
at an operating position. The owner remarked on the great deal he got
on the purchase of the tent getting it at half price. The ham said,
"Yes, it is a great deal!" The owner noted it was the year of his
discount tent. (Apologies to Richard The Third and Willy Shakespeare.)


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