[jamsat-news:3591] [ans] ANS-041 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
JoAnne K9JKM via ANS
ans ＠ amsat.org
2019年 2月 10日 (日) 09:32:50 JST
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-041
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:
* AO-85 Turned Off Due to Return of Eclipses and Poor Battery Condition
* Es'hail-2 / QO-100 Teleport Inauguration Day - February 14
* New Telemetry Decoder for FalconSat-3
* AMSAT VP Educational Relations Leads Villanova University CubeSat Club
* US Schools/Groups Move Into Phase 2 of ARISS Selections
* Application Window Opens for European ARISS School Contacts
* REMINDER - ARISS/NOTA Slow Scan TV Event Runs Until February 10
* ISS Packet Operations Resume on 145.825 MHz
* Ham Talk Live Podcast ARISS Update With Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
* KG4AKV's SpaceComms YouTube Channel - Building a Groundstation
* FUNcube Dashboard Summary Update
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for January 2019
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* AMSAT-Francophone Satellite Design and Operation Survey
* Early Bird Registration Opens for Cal Poly Cubesat Training
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-041.01
ANS-041 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 041.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE February 10, 2019
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-041.01
AO-85 Turned Off Due to Return of Eclipses and Poor Battery Condition
At 1114 UTC February 6, 2019, AO-85 was commanded OFF until further
notice, due to return of eclipses and poor battery condition as
noted by Mark Hammond, N8MH, control operator.
Beginning in December, 2018 AO-85 had issues with the batteries
dropping precariously low during eclipse. The Engineering and the
Operations Teams think it's likely the batteries suffered degrada-
tion due to heat during previous periods of no eclipses.
This made it difficult to keep the satellite available for use with-
out further endangering the batteries. On December 19 the nominally
3.6v battery pack was down to 2.8v at the end of the eclipse which
is dangerously low.
In an effort to extend the usable life of the satellite, both the
IHU and the transmitter were turned off at this time which ceased
all transmissions, including the beacons every two minutes in both
sunlit and eclipsed parts of the orbit.
AO-85 was turned back on during the next period of no eclipse, full
sun illumination which began on January 24, 2019. The repeater was
enabled for regular use. AO-85 occasionally reset due to low volt-
age on it's batteries and operated in SAFE MODE.
February 4 marked the end of the recent full illumination period
with periodic eclipses. The battery condition began to deteriorate
again. The satellite health will be tracked with periodic telemetry
transmissions when commanded by a control operator.
The next full illumination periods without eclipses for AO-85 will
be June 7-19, 2019 and the next in early September, 2019.
During this time it is important to leave AO-85 tracked in your
FoxTelem setups, in order for us to gather telemetry and keep tabs
on the situation. If you do happen to hear a Veronica beacon, or
either the normal repeater or the COR/no telemetry repeater, please
let the amsat-bb list know, or send an email to ko4ma ＠ amsat.org
The Data-Under-Voice (DUV) telemetry is decoded and uploaded to the
Fox Data Warehouse with the Fox Telem software available on the AMSAT
web: http://www.amsat.org/tlm/leaderboard.php?id=0&db=FOXDB
Stations not equipped to receive and decode the telemetry can monitor
the latest reports at: http://www.amsat.org/tlm/health.php?id=1&port=
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we try to make
the most of the situation. Please consider supporting the AMSAT GOLF
project with your membership, and one-time or recurring donations
at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/
or https://www.amsat.org/donate/
[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations, and Mark
Hammond, N8MH, AO-85 control operator for the above information]
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Es'hail-2 / QO-100 Teleport Inauguration Day - February 14
Following the successful launch of Es'hail-2, the new Es'hailSat
teleport will be inaugurated on February 14, 2019.
This will also be the occasion to officially put the two amateur
radio transponders of Qatar OSCAR-100, the first geostationary
P4-A satellite from Qatar, into operation. The opening ceremony
will be held by His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah,
former Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar. A71AU is also the chairman
of the Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) and initiator of the
first Qatari amateur radio satellite.
A team of the P4-A team of AMSAT-DL, consisting of the chairman
Peter Gülzow, DB2OS, Achim Vollhardt, DH2VA and Thomas Kleffel,
DG5NGI, is on its way to Qatar to set up and commission the P4-A
ground segment at the ground station of Es'hailSat. In addition
to LEILA and the DVB-S2 DATV system, this also includes a club
station for SSB radio operation under the callsign A71A. A backup
station is installed at QARS in Doha. The ground station of the
AMSAT-DL at the observatory Bochum is also ready for reception
and transmission. Later, radio operation via Qatar-OSCAR 100
will also be carried out here under the callsign DL50AMSAT.
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During commissioning, AMSAT-DL expressly requests that you
refrain from any transmission attempts! Only after the offi-
cial release ceremony on 14 February will the transponders
be released for general radio operation by radio amateurs
worldwide. AMSAT-DL appeals to patience and to the Ham Spirit:
any disruptions during commissioning and on the opening day
could result in further postponements of the official release
of the transponders by QARS!
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The SCC in Qatar, as well as Bochum in Germany, are carrying out tests
to measure both transponders and to calibrate the ground systems.
Please also note the beacons sent in the NB transponder. On opening
day a video of Es'hail-2 will be broadcast in an endless loop in DVB-S2
format on the DATV beacon of the WB Transponder.
Furthermore, as defined in the Operating Guidelines for the NB trans-
ponder and WB transponder, please observe the band boundaries of the
NB transponder as defined by the upper and lower beacon! A later
adaptation and possible extension upward may be considered after
commissioning is completed.
Access the full article with photos on the AMSAT-DL website:
https://amsat-dl.org/en/eshail-2-qo-100-teleport-inauguration
Stations finding themselves out of the footprint of QO-100 or
those who have not had the opportunity to acquire 10 GHz down-
link receiving capability can join in the action using on-line
WebSDR resources:
+ In co-operation with AMSAT Deutschland, the British Amateur
Television Club will be operating a WebSDR for the narrowband
segment, and a Spectrum Viewer for the wideband (DATV) segment.
The Goonhilly Earth Station is supporting the project, providing
hosting for the Ground Station facility at their world-famous
site in Cornwall, UK: https://eshail.batc.org.uk/
+ The IS0GRB Es'Hail2 (QO-100) SAT 26E WebSDR receiver, located
in Dolianova, South Sardinia island, Italy, JM49OJ, operated
by Roberto, IS0GRB, using a 100cm parabolic dish can be
accessed at: http://websdr.is0grb.it:8901/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information]
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New Telemetry Decoder for FalconSat-3
Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ, who is the author of AMSAT's FoxTelem
software, has written software for a new Ground station for
FalconSat-3.
Thompson wrote, "If you had an initial go with WISP without success
or if you have never tried to decode FalconSat-3, now is a good time
to try."
The new FalconSat-3 ground station software requires much less setup
than WISP and does not require a hardware TNC since this will work
with a soundcard TNC. Or, if you didn't try to listen to FalconSat-3
because you don't have a station that can transmit commands to the
spacecraft, then read on. We still need your help to decode telemetry.
Thompson continues, "In particular we would like to encourage people
to download the Telemetry and forward it to an AMSAT telemetry server.
Currently more telemetry is generated than we can download with AMSAT
Operations ground stations. Receive only stations can contribute to
that as well as stations equipped to transmit to FalconSat-3 and
request files."
You can see telemetry uploaded so far here:
http://tlm.amsatfox.org/tlm/FalconSat-3
There are details about the spacecraft, how to install the software
and how it works in the manual available if you download the software
and is also posted online at:
http://www.g0kla.com/pacsat/pacsat_ground_manual.pdf
You can download the software at www.g0kla.com/pacsat/index.php.
Chris has written some blog posts and thoughts about the software
for anyone interested which are linked from the download page.
In conclusion, Thompson noted, "I would call this a beta release. If
you have suggestions or bug fixes please log them online at:
https://github.com/ac2cz/Falcon/issues or send an e-mail to:
chrisethompson ＠ gmail.com
The software is open source. All the details are here:
https://github.com/ac2cz/Falcon/
The telemetry processing and display leverages common code from
FoxTelem in a library here: https://github.com/ac2cz/libTelem/
[ANS thanks Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ for the above information]
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AMSAT VP Educational Relations Leads Villanova University CubeSat Club
Villanova University's College of Engineering has formed a new
student organization has formed this year — the CubeSat Club.
Dr. Alan Johnston, KU2Y, associate teaching professor of Elec-
trical and Computer Engineering, is the faculty advisor working
alongside the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), a not-
for-profit group that has been building and launching ham radio
satellites for fifty years. Dr. Johnston volunteers with AMSAT
as the Vice President for Educational Relations. The CubeSat Club
is aimed at introducing students to CubeSats and satellite tech-
nology.
Some of the club’s projects include:
+ Building a hand-held satellite antenna out of common materials
(wood and a tape measure) and tracking and receiving real satel-
lite signals.
+ Setting up a satellite ground station as part of an automated
open source world-wide network known as SatNOGs.
+ Building a CubeSat Simulator, a low-cost satellite emulator
based around a Raspberry Pi computer, a 3D printed frame, that
runs on real solar panels and batteries. The simulator is an
educational tool for learning about and demonstrating the basic
functions of a CubeSat.
Short-term, the club is working to support CubeSat-related under-
graduate projects at Villanova and build a working-knowledge of
the field. For example, the club is supporting the development of
a CubeSat mini-project for the ECE-1205 ECE Freshman Projects
course later this spring. Club members are planning to do a Cube-
Sat related Capstone Design Project as well.
A long-term goal is to participate in an actual CubeSat mission
to space, perhaps in partnership with another university or organ-
ization.
Access the full article on the villanova.edu website at:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-041-Villanova-CubeSat-Club
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM for the above information]
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For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members
will receive a free digital copy of
"Getting Started with Amateur Satellites"
Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at
https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/
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US Schools/Groups Move Into Phase 2 of ARISS Selections
February 5, 2019 - The ARISS-US Team (Amateur Radio on the Inter-
national Space Station) is pleased to announce schools or organi-
zations submitting proposals have been selected to advance to the
next stage of planning to host amateur radio contacts from July
to December 2019. The contacts will be with International Space
Station (ISS) crew members using the ARISS equipment on the ISS.
A review team of teachers from the ARISS-US Education Committee
selected proposals after the recent proposal window closed. The
groups will go forward to Phase 2, developing an amateur radio
equipment plan to host a scheduled ARISS contact.
ARISS's primary goal is to engage people in science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) activities, and involve them in pur-
suits related to space exploration, amateur radio, communications,
and associated areas of study and career options. After a recent
ARISS contact, Joanne Michael, KM6BWB, at Meadows Elementary
School in Manhattan Beach, CA, stated, "ARISS is such an incredible
opportunity for students to gain a once-in-a-lifetime experience
and real-world skills that they can use the rest of their lives.
What a wonderful program!"
ARISS anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling
opportunities for these US host organizations. The candidates
must now complete an equipment plan that demonstrates their abil-
ity to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment plan
is approved by the ARISS technical team, the final selected
schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability
and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities.
The schools and organizations are:
+ 24th World Scout Jamboree West Virginia
+ Council Rock High School South Holland, PA
+ Galileo STEM Academy Eagle, ID
+ Golden Oak Montessori Castro Valley, CA
+ Lakeside Elementary School West Point, UT
+ Loudoun County Space Dreamers Ashburn, VA
+ Pearsall High School Air Force Jr. ROTC Pearsall, TX
+ Santa Barbara Public Library Santa Barbara, CA
+ Sonoma County Library Rohnert Park, CA
+ Traverse Area District Library Traverse City, MI
+ University of Colorado Amateur Radio Club Boulder, CO
+ Woodridge Middle School High Ridge, MO
+ Young Scientists Program at USC Los Angeles, CA
About ARISS
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a coop-
erative venture of international amateur radio societies and the
space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS).
In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the
Center for the Advancement of Science in space (CASIS) and National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of
ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via
amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in
classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts,
students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space,
space technologies, and amateur radio.
For more information, see: www.ariss.org.
Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS)
Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
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Application Window Opens for European ARISS School Contacts
http://www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts
Europe, Africa and the Middle East
----------------------------------
ARISS Contact Applications for Europe, Africa and the Middle East
are being accepted between February 1 to March 29, 2019. Schools
and Youth organizations, interested in setting up an ARISS radio
contact with an astronaut onboard the International Space Station,
are invited to submit an Application and an educational project.
The school selection will take place in May 2019. The space con-
versation will tentatively be scheduled in the period extending
from January to June 2020. The Application is to be addressed by
email to: school.selection.manager ＠ ariss-eu.org
ARISS Contact Applications (United States)
------------------------------------------
The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 to
Nov. 30, 2018 has now closed. The next window should go open in
the spring of 2019.
Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia
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Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS
contact by filling out an application and following the instruct-
ions which can be accessed at:
http://www.ariss.org/submit-a-contact-proposal.html
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
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REMINDER - ARISS/NOTA Slow Scan TV Event Runs Until February 10
ARISS is running another of their popular Slow Scan Television (SSTV)
experiment events. Transmissions which began on Friday, February 8
initially experienced technical difficulties. The ISS crew identified
a problem and fixed it. As of Saturday, February 9 stations around
the world were reporting good signals from the ISS. Transmission of
eight NASA On The Air (NOTA) and four ARISS commemorative SSTV
images are planned to run through Sunday, February 10 at 18:30 UTC.
Once received, Images can be posted and viewed by the public at
http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php
You can receive a special SSTV ARISS Award for posting your image.
See details at https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/
[ANS thanks ARISS and NASA on the Air for the above information]
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ISS Packet Operations Resume on 145.825 MHz
ARISS reports that the replacement packet module was installed
by the ISS crew during their off duty time last weekend. APRS
and UI message digipeating have been reported on the usual
145.825 MHz frequency. The packet log and user activity map can
be found at: http://www.ariss.net/
AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign
to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades
on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to con-
tinue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We
have reached a great milestone with $16,795 raised or about
10% towards our goal. This would not have been possible with-
out your outstanding generosity!!
For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit:
https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9
[ANS thanks Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, and ARISS for the above information]
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Ham Talk Live Podcast ARISS Update With Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
If you missed the January 31 Ham Talk Live show featuring Frank
SBauer, KA3HDO, discussing the latest news of ARISS operations
on the ISS you can play back a recording of this episode at:
https://www.spreaker.com/show/ham-talk-live then select
Episode 151 - ARISS Update With Frank Bauer, KA3HDO.
Neil and Frank talked about the latest news on the equipment,
SSTV, and plans for the future. Plus, you can learn all about
Space Bees!
Ham Talk Live is also available as a podcast on nearly all podcast
sites: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, SoundCloud, and iHeart
Podcasts; and it's also available on YouTube.
[ANS thanks Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, and Ham Talk Live for the above
information]
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KG4AKV's SpaceComms YouTube Channel - Building a Groundstation
John Brier, KG4AKV, has updated his SpaceComms YouTube channel with
three videos showing how he built his amateur satellite ground station
at his QTH. The videos, originally presented as a livestream, take
viewers through his process to build a satellite ground station with
a Yaesu G-5500 az/el rotor, M2 LEO pack antenna, and an Icom IC-910H
transceiver.
+ Video 1 - Satellite ground station build - background!
https://youtu.be/9Hz4bWVByDw
+ Video 2 - Satellite ground station build - buying stuff and more!
https://youtu.be/9zTnsQgFMIU
+ Video 3 - Satellite ground station build - surveying ro install
https://youtu.be/4pp5WZRNb8Y
You can subscribe to the John's SpaceComms YouTube channel to receive
notices when new videos are posted:
https://www.youtube.com/SpaceComms1?sub_confirmation=1
[ANS thanks John Brier, KG4AKV, for the above information]
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FUNcube Dashboard Summary Update
Each satellite carrying a FUNcube payload has a dedicated dashboard
and the FUNcube team has updated the one page summary of those dash-
boards, their current version number and a dedicated download link.
See: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-041-FUNcubeSummaryPDF
Also included are the recommended warehouse settings for each satel-
lite as well as the “FUNcube Dongle Centre Frequency”. Note that the
frequency quoted is 20kHz offset from the published telemetry downlink
to allow for the zero hertz spike and close in phase noise that is
inherent on SDRs.
Currently, to view the telemetry for a particular satellite, it is
necessary to run the dashboard for that satellite. Any telemetry for
one of the other FUNcube satellites can be captured and forwarded to
the central data warehouse. For this reason, some users tend to run
all dashboards simultaneously using the same FUNcube Dongle. Users
should remember the that dashboard that was started last, is the one
that will control the frequency settings applied to the FUNcube Dongle.
All the dashboards are under continual development and a further plan-
ned development is to create a single dashboard that will service all
FUNcube Telemetry payloads simultaneously. Keep a look out for further
news on this unified dashboard in 2019.
Dave Johnson, G4DPZ, added, "If you have lost you authorisation code
for the dashboards, we now have a page on which you can request the
code to be sent to your registered email address:
http://data.badgersoft.com/recover-authcode
[ANS thanks Ciaran Morgan, M0XTD, and Dave Johnson G4DPZ for the above
information]
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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for January 2019
Ron, W5RKN has provided the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards
issued by the ARRL for the period January 1, 2019 through February 1,
2019. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
CALL 01 Jan 01 Feb
------ ------ ------
WC7V 1160 1199
N4UFO 725 729
AA8CH 406 451
W7QL 350 401
VE7CEW 356 386
N3GS 332 370
K5IX 227 250
K9UO 175 202
PU8RFL 146 151
PS8MT 145 150
PU8RJI 101 115
PT2AZ New 103
W6AAE New 102
If you find errors or omissions please contact Ron off-list at
W5RKN>@W5RKN>.com and he'll revise the announcement. This list was
developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for these two months.
It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your
call was not mentioned.
Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the
birds. They are doing most of the work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information]
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Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
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Upcoming Satellite Operations
+ Super Road Trip (Wyoming to Tennessee to Florida to Wyoming)
January 9, 2019 until he gets back home - Starting Jan. 9, RJ, WY7AA,
will be travelling from Wyoming to Tennessee to Florida, to New York
and back to Wyoming, staying approximately 10 days in each place and
activating grids whenever he can.
- First stop Tennessee – EM86, and will try roving to EM85, EL87, EL96.
- Next on to Florida – EL98, and will try roving to EL88, EL89, EL99.
- Next on to New York – FN02, and try try roving to FN01, FN03, FN11,
FN12, FN13
Travelling between each place, RJ will try to stop and work as he can,
but putting down miles will take priority most often. In addition, RJ
will be trying to operate mobile from time to time. FM birds for sure,
but will be trying to learn linears while on the trip. Specific pass
announcements will be posted to his Twitter feed:
(https://twitter.com/WY7AA) and to the AMSAT-bb reflector.
+ Eureka Nunavut (ER60, EQ79) – February 3, to March 29, 2019
Eureka ARC, VY0ERC, will be QRV from Eureka, NU (NA-008), February 3
until March 29, 2019. Time and weather permitting, they expect to be
initially on the FM satellites from ER60 and EQ79. AMSAT donated a
Yaesu FT-847 to the club station at VY0ERC. We appreciate this dona-
tion very much! It will be used for satellite communications including
SSB and FM this spring. Announcements will be posted on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/vy0erc.
+ Nevada (DM15, DM16, DM17, DM18, DM25, DM26, DM27, DM28, DM37, DM36)
February 8-11, 2019 - Casey KI7UNJ and Jonathan KI5BEX are planning
a joint roving trip to Nevada. Planned activations include the
DM15/16/25/26 grid corner Friday morning, the DM16/26 gridline Friday
afternoon, DM17/18 gridline Saturday morning, DM27/28 gridline Saturday
evening, DM27/37 gridline Sunday morning, and DM36/37 gridline Sunday
evening. This will be FM only. All contacts uploaded to LoTW upon
return. Check out @KI7UNJ Twitter feed for specific passes
https://twitter.com/KI7UNJ and follow them on aprs.fi KI7UNJ-7.
+ Southwest, TX (DM80, DM70, DM71, DL79, DL89) – February 10-14, 2019
Clayton, W5PFG will be operating satellites daily in vacation-mode
from grid DM80. As an added bonus, Clayton will operate a few passes
from grids DM71, DL79, and DL89. Those specific passes will be adver-
tised on Twitter @w5pfg. Remember, you don’t need to be a Twitter
user to see his feed. Just visit http://www.twitter.com/w5pfg to see
my Tweets.
+ 3A, MONACO (JN33) – February 15-18, 2019
Philippe, EA4NF, will be active as 3A/EA4NF from Monaco, between
February 15-18th. Priority will be given to FM and SSB Satellites to
get confirmed as much as possible this rare DXCC country to the ama-
teur radio satellite community. HF activity will be on 20 meters SSB,
but on the QRP mode (5w). QSL via LoTW.
+ Yuma Hamfest (DM22) – February 15-16, 2019
Patrick, WD9EWK, will have an AMSAT booth at the Yuma Hamfest in
southwestern Arizona on Friday and Saturday, 15-16 February 2019. This
year’s hamfest also serves as the 2019 ARRL Southwestern Division Con-
vention. The hamfest will be at the Yuma County Fairgrounds, along 32nd
Street between Pacific Avenue and Avenue 3E, and south of I-8 exit 3,
in Yuma. The fairgrounds is across the street from Yuma International
Airport and Marine Corps Air Station. More information about the ham-
fest is available from: http://www.yumahamfest.org/
During the hamfest, Patrick will have demonstrations of satellite oper-
ating from outside the main hall on the fairgrounds. If you hear WD9EWK
on passes during those two days, please feel free to call and be a part
of the demonstrations. Patrick may not be able to work every possible
pass from the hamfest, but hopes to work a variety of passes in FM, SSB,
and even packet. The hamfest site is in grid DM22. Contacts made with
WD9EWK will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, and QSL cards for con-
tacts made with WD9EWK will be available on request after the hamfest
(please e-mail me directly with the QSO details).
During the hamfest, he will use his @WD9EWK Twitter account to post
updates from the hamfest. If you do not use Twitter, you can still
see these updates in a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
+ Imperial Valley (DM12, DM22) – February 17, 2019
After the end of the upcoming Yuma Hamfest, Patrick, WD9EWK, plans to
make a drive west to the DM12/DM22 grid boundary along I-8 near the
west end of California’s Imperial Valley on Sunday, 17 February 2019.
He hopes to work passes for a few hours out there, with much cooler
weather than what he experienced last July when he was previously out
there. The DM12/DM22 grid boundary, at the town of Ocotillo, is in
Imperial County.
Patrick will use his @WD9EWK Twitter account to send updates. Even
without a Twitter account, these updates will be visible in a web
browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK His travel out to the DM12/DM22
line should be visible on APRS as WD9EWK-9: http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9
+ Isla del Culebra, Puerto Rico (FK78) – February 22-24, 2019
Radio Opordores del Este, KP3RE, is preparing for their Culebra IOTA
(NA-249) Expedition 2019. Satellite operations are planned for AO-91,
AO-92, SO-50, and IO-86.
+ Turks and Caicos Islands (FL31) – February 28 – March 9, 2019
Adrian, AA5UK, will be heading to Providenciales in the Turks and
Caicos Islands from Feb 28th through March 9th, 2019. He will be
operating holiday style on HF and Satellites as VP5/AA5UK from grid
FL31UU14. Focus will be on the linear satellites, with some FM act-
ivity depending on pile-up civility. Hope to work some European
stations as location favors the East. Pass announcements will be
made via Twitter: https://twitter.com/AA5UK and periodically via
amsat-bb.
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
2019 is AMSAT's 50th Anniversary!
Watch this space for announcements of special events coming in 2019
Get ready to help celebrate with us at the Hamvention
Symposium 2019 promises to be a special event
Stand by for 50th anniversary operating events and awards
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
AMSAT-Francophone Satellite Design and Operation Survey
AMSAT-F has launched an on-line survey to ask how current satellite
users operate and what would they expect from satellite designers.
Christophe Mercier, AMSAT-F President, wrote, "Satellite/nanosatellite
project managers often wish to use amateur radio frequencies for educa-
tional and outreach purposes. The amateur radio community thus offers
them a tremendous potential for monitoring their fragile conception.
They often ask what kind of amateur radio experience would be interest-
ing on board a cubesat or what services they could provide with their
communications systems. The answer can be simple: a transponder, but
these designers would like to bring novelty and innovation."
Access the AMSAT-F survey at:
https://framaforms.org/amsat-francophone-survey-1548716436
The results will be presented at the second AMSAT-F meeting, Rencontre
spatiale radioamateur on 9 and 10 March 2019 in Nanterre, France.
See: http://tinyurl.com/ANS-041-AMSAT-F-Meeting
The AMSAT-F web site can be accessed at: http://site.amsat-f.org/
(Google translate may be helpful)
[ANS thanks Christophe Mercier, AMSAT-F President for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Early Bird Registration Opens for Cal Poly Cubesat Training
Early Bird Registration for the Cal Poly CubeSat Training Course
is open now through February 28th. If you are interested in learn-
ing more about CubeSat development, mission success, and connect-
ing with experienced individuals, this training is for you!
For more information visit:
http://www.cubesat.org/cal-poly-cubesat-training-course-2019
Early Bird Registration for the 2019 CubeSat Developers Workshop
is also open. You can save on registration now through March 29th.
For more information visit:
http://www.cubesat.org/workshop-information/
If you are still interested in being an exhibitor or sponsor
there is still time to register. Exhibit space is filling up,
so if you are looking to exhibit at this year's Workshop we
recommend registering soon!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at
cubesat-workshop ＠ calpoly.edu.
Remember to join the CubeSat Workshop mailing list to stay
up to date on important dates, deadlines, and announcements:
http://www.cubesat.org/mailinglist/
[ANS thanks The CubeSat Workshop Team for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ NS3L in FN20hq completed a FM satellite contact with F4DXV in JN05ha
via AO-91 on February 4 at 1428Z. The distance was 5,982.672km. NS3L
wrote, "OK, Not a record for the books, but one of the best for me
ever on a FM satellite. 1.2 degree contact on AO-91" (NS3L via Twitter)
+ K7TAB in DM16 completed a contact with MI6GTY in IO64 via AO-7 on
February 8. The distance between the two stations was 7965.692 km
or 4949.65 miles. (MI6GTY via Twitter)
+ On February 9 N1CMD reported transatlantic QSOs via AO-91 with
EA4CYQ, EB1AO, G0ABI, CU3EQ.
+ Congratulations to José de Jesus, PS8ET for earning his WAB Sat - Work-
ed All Brazil Satellite (26 states + Federal District confirmed via
satellite.) (PS8ET via Twitter)
+ ORARI - Organisasi Amatir Radio Indonesia (Indonesia Amateur Radio
Organization) is celebrating the 5th Anniversary of ORARI Lokal
Jakarta Selatan. A video by Hasil Rekaman, "SSTV via Satellite IO-86
for Junior Amateur" oleh ORARI LOKAL JAKARTA SELATAN 2019 yang direkam
dari Ground Station (GS) OM Mubin-YB3MBN/1 AMSAT-ID is posted at:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-041-IO86-SSTV (Hint: hold your phone running
your favorite SSTV app to your computer speakers and copy the images
at home.)
+ A useful feature on the IARU website is the Link Budget Calculator
page found at: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/spreadsheet.htm
+ Read an article about the development and launch of Japan's NEXUS
satellite published in the The Asahi Shimbun newspaper:
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902070003.html
+ The 2019 ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) will
be held Friday through Sunday. September 20 – 22, at the Marriott
Detroit Metro Airport Hotel in Romulus, Michigan. Further details
are pending. (vis ARRL)
+ The SatMatch site at http://satmatch.com performs calculations of
satellite passes between observers based on their grid square. It
also displays the distance between observers in km on the overlap-
ping pass pages.
+ An ISO image for 'My Linux Live' for RAs v0.0.0-20190207 is
available for downloading at: https://nofile.io/f/mTwaUXD9YKO.
It now includes support DSLWP-B, LO-90 & LilacSat-2 with off-
line RX and more! Note that LO-90 is expected to decay by April 6,
2019 per DK3WN (http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?page_id=43437), so don't
wait to try out this interesting satellite! (Via @m6sig on Twitter)
+ Bookings for the AMSAT SA Space Symposium are now open. The Sympos-
ium will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at the Accolade Con-
ference Centre in Midrand, South Africa. The rate will be R400 per
person for AMSAT SA and SARL members and R600 for non-members. There
is an early bird rate of R350 for AMSATSA and SARL Members, if booked
and paid for by February 28, 2019. Accommodation is also available
at the hotel at R855 plus VAT. More details on www.amsatsa.org.za
+ CQ-DATV Magazine reports they now have a cumulative index of all
articles and authors that have been published in CQ-DATV since
issue 1 in all the usual formats. The index will be updated as each
new issue is published. The cumulative index can be accessed at:
https://cq-datv.mobi/indexit.php
+ Radio Amateurs of Canada is pleased to announce its support of the
Canadian National Parks on the Air (CNPOTA) event which will be
held from January 1 to December 31, 2019. All Radio Amateurs world-
wide will have an opportunity to operate portably from any of
Canada's 48 National Parks and 171 National Historic Sites (these
are ‘activators’). Amateurs around the world will be able to chase
these adventurous operators in an effort to confirm the most QSOs
(these are ‘chasers’). Activity for activators and chasers will be
tracked on a dedicated website and real-time leader board and other
statistics will be available throughout the year. Activators and
chasers will be able to compete for and collect online awards and
certificates created specifically for the event. Come join the
fun and plan to visit one of Canada’s beautiful Parks and Historic
sites next year! For more information about the event please visit
the Canadian National Parks on the Air website at: https://cnpota.ca/
+ The French National Aerospace Research Centre (ONERA) is requesting
assistance from the amateur satellite community to capture the last
telemetry frames from X-Cubesat launched in May 2017 by the polytech-
nic school in Palaiseau, France is expected to decay around Monday,
04/02/2019. The frequency is 437.020 MHz, AFSK 1k2, AX25. The pub-
lished TLE have been noted to be rapidly changing due to the deter-
iorating orbit. Please, send information directly to Jean Guérard,
at ONER) jean.guerard ＠ saf-astronomie.fr
(Received via Jean-Pierre F5YG)
+ The Hubble Space Telescope has taken the sharpest image of the
Andromeda Galaxy to date. Use your mouse wheel to zoom into the
galaxy on-line at:
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/zoomable/
+ Mission complete - NASA says MarCO cubesats go silent. Before the
pair of briefcase-sized spacecraft known collectively as MarCO
launched last year, their success was measured by survival: If
they were able to operate in deep space at all, they would be
pushing the limits of experimental technology. Now well past Mars,
the daring twins seem to have reached their limit. It's been over
a month since engineers have heard from MarCO, which followed NASA's
InSight to the Red Planet. At this time, the mission team considers
it unlikely they'll be heard from again. Read the full article at:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-041-MarsDaily-MarCO (via MarsDaily)
[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.
73 and remember to behave and to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
k9jkm at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
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