[ans] ANS-008 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

From: "[RADIOCOMM LIST]" <list.admin@aus-city.com>

Date: January 8th 2012

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-008

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 Goes Silent
FUNcube - Launch Details and Time Frame Finalized
DNEPR Launch Includes Triton-1 and Triton-2 Amateur Satellites
FUNcube Dongle Presentation Video
SKN on OSCAR 2012 Best Fist Nominations Due
Ham Radio Builder List Begins
Creation of AMSAT-Francophone
Budapest University Masat-1 Telemetry Decoder Software Released
NASA Summer Internships for Students
Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-008 01 ANS-001 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 008 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD January 8, 2012 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-008 01

ARISSat-1/KEDR Goes Silent

Reception reports indicate that ARISSat-1/KEDR has stopped trans- mitting on Wednesday, January 4, 2012 The last full telemetry captured and reported to the ARISSatTLM web site at 06:02:14 UTC on January 4 were received from ground stations as the satellite passed over Japan

See: http://www arissattlm org/live (full telemetry display) See: http://www arissattlm org/mobile (condensed telemetry)

Telemetry reports showed that the temperature aboard ARISSat-1/KEDR had been rising as atmospheric drag began to affect the satellite Final temperatures received via ARISSatTLM reported this data:

IHU 75 ° C / 167 0 ° F PSU 76 ° C / 168 8 ° F RF 88 ° C / 190 4 ° F Control Panel 61 ° C / 141 8 ° F Experiment 64 ° C / 147 2 ° F

Tracking data from Space Command gave a Predicted Decay Time 0700 GMT +/- 3 Hours on January 4 Telemetry report narrows the impact time window to about 4 hours The predicted decay location is 12 7° S, 354 3° E, an open part of the South Atlantic, well west of Angola Send reports to the amsat-bb If you heard the satellite, even briefly, after 0600 UTC This will help confirm the actual impact point

Stations receiving telemetry from ARISSat-1 at any time over the last few months, please forward all of your CSV telemetry files to telemetry AT arissattlm org

Konstantin, RN3ZF sent a reception report of his copy of the 0842 UTC pass that, "the telemetry was absent, voice messages were not legible, very silent and interrupted Most likely, I saw last minutes in the life of the satellite "

Dee, NB2F reported, "Nothing heard from ARISSat-1/KEDR on any fre- quency during the first USA pass at 16:00 UTC, January 4 "

ARISSat-1/KEDR was deployed from the International Space Station on August 3, 2011 during during EVA-29 on by Cosmonaut/Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev

The satellite carried a student experiment from Kursk State University in Russia which measured atmospheric density Students from around the world provided the voices for the FM voice announcements

The amateur radio payload aboard ARISSat-1/KEDR achieved many "firsts" for amateur radio in space:

First flight test of AMSAT Software Defined Transponder which trans- mitted simultaneous:
- FM voice downlink cycling between student messages, spoken telemetry and SSTV from cameras on the spaceframe
- 16KHz bandwith linear transponder,
- CW beacon with telemetry and callsigns of radio amateurs noting their significant contributions to amateur radio in space
- Robust, forward error corrected 1K rate BPSK downlink with sat- ellite telemetry and Kursk experiment telemetry
Development and release of the ARISSatTLM software for PC and Mac platforms enabled amateur stations worldwide with reliable reception of the BPSK telemetry, CW telemetry, display on the station's com- puter, and automatic upload of received data via the internet to the ARISSat engineering team
A new Integrated Housekeeping Unit was developed and successfully flown
A new Power Management System was developed and successfully flown

AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW noted, ARISSat-1/KEDR marked a new type of satellite which has captured the attention of the national space agencies around the world for the unique educational opportunity we have been able to design, launch, and operate By designing an edu- cational mission aligned with NASA's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics goals amateur radio operators around the world have been able enjoy a new satellite in orbit "

ARISSat-1/KEDR Project Manager, Gould Smith, WA4SXM said, "Dozens of amateur radio volunteers, AMSAT, ARRL, NASA, and Energia teamed up for this successful mission to bring you the most unique and innovative amateur radio satellite mission Congratulations to all who made ARISSat-1 successful!"

The Official ARISSat-1/KEDR web page: http://www arissat1 org/ See DK3WN SatBlog for last signal report received by Tetsu san, JA0CAW in Japan: http://www dk3wn info/p/?p=25125

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

FUNcube - Launch Details and Time Frame Finalized

An agreement has now been reached with ISIS Launch Services BV, who are based in Delft in the Netherlands, for them to provide a launch of the FUNcube-1 CubeSat

It is anticipated that FUNcube-1, which has been created by a team of volunteer radio amateurs and other specialists over the past two years, will be launched with a number of other spacecraft from a DNEPR rocket sometime in the third quarter of 2012 The flight is planned to take place from the Yasny launch facility which is in southern Russia near to the Kazakhstan border The spacecraft needs to be completed by the end of July 2012, ready for shipping from the Netherlands to Russia

The orbit is still to be defined precisely but it is expected to be nearly circular and approximately sun synchronous This will ensure that the spacecraft has the necessary solar illumination and that it will appear at regular times for educational outreach activities at schools and colleges

The FUNcube-1 spacecraft will transmit signals that can be easily received directly by schools and colleges for educational outreach purposes This telemetry will give details of the spacecraft's health - battery voltages and temperatures and from this it will be possible to determine its spin rate and attitude by plotting simple graphs Additionally, experimental data and messages can be displayed in an attractive format and provide stimulation and encouragement for stu- dents to become interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in a unique way

The target audience for this project is students at both primary and secondary levels and a simple and cheap "ground station" - actually it looks just like a USB dongle, for schools to use, has already been developed

In addition to providing educational outreach for schools and colleges around the world, the spacecraft will also provide a U/V linear trans- ponder for radio amateurs during local "night", at weekends and during holiday periods

The IARU amateur satellite frequency coordination panel has announced new frequencies for the FUNcube-1 satellite to take into account other payloads on the same launch The new frequencies are:

FUNcube-1 New Frequencies

Uplink 435 080 - 435 060 MHz Downlink 145 960 - 145 980 MHz Beacon 145 955 MHz CW and BPSK

The production and testing of the spacecraft itself has already been funded via a legacy and other sources It will however really help the project if radio amateurs and other interested supporters could contribute something towards the cost of the actual launch itself With this in mind a special donation scheme has been setup using the Virgin Giving charity donation website

All donations received from UK tax payers can be "Gift Aided" which will add 20% to the value of your donation

More information about this exciting project will be made available over the coming months at the FUNcube website

Journalist David Meyer interviewed Jim Heck G3WGM for his article on FUNcube-1 Read the article at: http://tinyurl com/7nr9sec (www zdnet co uk)

FUNcube Giving: http://tinyurl com/funcubegiving/

FUNcube: http://www funcube org uk/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and the FUNcube Team for the above information]

DNEPR Launch Includes Triton-1 and Triton-2 Amateur Satellites

AMSAT-UK reported this week that the same DNEPR launch in the third quarter of 2012 carrying FUNcube-1 will also have additional amateur satellite payloads aboard

Triton-1

Comprising of a 3U CubeSat, the Triton-1 mission is a radio science mission which aims to test an experimental advanced AIS (Automatic Identification System) receiver

Telemetry decoding software will be made available which will allow radio amateur operators to listen to periodic downlink broadcasts containing housekeeping telemetry, payload telemetry as well as re- ceived AIS messages Telemetry downlinks will be 9k6 RC-BPSK on VHF (145MHz)

The satellite also includes two similar secondary amateur radio pay- loads, being two single channel mode U/V (435-145MHz) FM to DSB transponders

After the Triton-1 three month science mission is complete plans are to have the satellite continue in the Amateur Satellite Service for as long as possible

The following downlink frequencies have been coordinated for Triton-1:

Main Downlink 145 815 MHz Backup Downlink 145 860 MHz Uplink frequencies will be announced by the project team once the satellite becomes available for amateur operations

Triton-2

Comprising of a 3U CubeSat, the Triton-2 mission is a radio science mission which aims to test an experimental advanced AIS (Automatic Identification System) receiver

After the Triton-2 three month science mission is complete plans are to have the satellite continue in the Amateur Satellite Service for as long as possible The satellite includes two secondary amateur radio payloads:

A single channel mode U/V (435-145 MHz) FM to DSB transponder
A single channel mode U/S (435-2400 MHz) FM to FM transponder

Downlink frequency details will be published shortly Uplink fre- quencies will be announced by the project team once the satellite becomes available for amateur operations Power budget permitting, both payloads may be switched on at the same time

In addition to Funcube, Triton-1, and Triton-2 this DNEPR rocket will launch UKube-1, Delfi n3Xt (also carrying a linear amateur U/V linear transponder), Trio-Cinema 1 & 2 and other spacecraft using frequencies in the amateur satellite service

AMSAT-UK published the story at: http://www uk amsat org/3434

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

FUNcube Dongle Presentation Video

The AMSAT-UK FUNcube Dongle is a VHF/UHF (64-1700 MHz) Software Def- ined Radio (SDR) on a USB Dongle Howard Long G6VLB traveled from London to the 2011 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) in Baltimore to address the group on this project He details the trials and tribulations behind designing and manufacturing what turned out to be an extremely popular product

The primary aim of the FUNcube Dongle is to interest young students in science, satellites and radio The FUNcube itself is a satellite that will be launched specifically to be monitored by all those dongles that have been sold

Watch 2011 DCC FUNcube Dongle: http://www uk amsat org/2012/01/02/funcube-dongle-presentation-video/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

SKN on OSCAR 2012 Best Fist Nominations Due

Many thanks to all who participated in AMSAT's Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2012 If you have not already done so, please take a moment to nominate someone you worked for Best Fist Remember, your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard, only of those you worked Send your nomination to w2rs@amsat org

This year's event is dedicated to the memory of Don Brown, W1JSM, who passed away in 2011, aged 90 Don was a longtime, enthusiastic VHF/UHF and satellite operator, and one of our most frequent Best Fist winners

Those nominated will be recognized in an ANS bulletin in early Feb- ruary, and in The AMSAT Journal

[ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS for the above information]

Ham Radio Builder List Begins

If you are currently a ham radio builder, or interested in becoming one, the Hamradio-builder mailing list has been created with you in mind

Diane Bruce, VA3DB says of the list, "A recent look at some old 73 Magazines brought to mind the simple projects this magazine produced So my thought was to do something similar, but meant for the web in- stead of dead tree I am not talking a full fledged magazine, but a website where we can put simple beginner type articles, with copious photos and good instructions We hope it will become a bit like Maker Magazine but for the radio amateur "

A few of us have written and edited amateur radio articles She is proposing for the moment that we clean up or write a few articles
suitable for beginners to start the content for this community

List members have already proposed topics on homebrew test equipment, and antennas Amateur satellite operators have skill and many ideas, construction projects, and techniques to get beginners on-the-air at VHF, UHF, and microwave frequencies

The project is just getting started If you are interested in joining this community you can sign up for the list at: http://diana db net/mailman/listinfo/hamradio-builder

[ANS thanks Diane Bruce, VA3DB for the above information]

Creation of AMSAT-Francophone

A new amateur radio satellite organization, AMSAT-Francophone, was formed in December, 2011

Following the disappearance of AMSAT-France a few months ago, some of the members who originally created AMSAT-France 16 years ago, thought it was still necessary to have a structure for the French amateur space activities and have created AMSAT-Francophone

Among its aims are:

Development of amateur satellites, technology and systems useful for the construction and / or use of amateur satellites
Participation in national and international collaborations on non-commercial projects in space,

The AMSAT-Francophone website in Google English is at: http://tinyurl com/AMSAT-Francophone - or in French - at: http://www amsat-f org/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

Budapest University Masat-1 Telemetry Decoder Software Released

Dr Bandi Gschwindt HA5WH, Project Director of the Masat-1 CubeSat, the first Hungarian satellite, built in Hungary by students at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, reports that their satellite is expected to be launched on the Vega maiden flight in early February Masat-1's website is at: http://cubesat bme hu/?lang=en

They are looking for hams to help with the reception of telemetry data on 437 345 MHz at 625/1250 bps baud rate GFSK, especially in the first two weeks after launch Call sign is HA5MASAT The ama- teur radio webpage is at: http://cubesat bme hu/radioamatoroknek/?lang=en You can register on that page Telemetry decoder software can be downloaded at http://cubesat bme hu/kliens_szoftver/?lang=en

Planned orbit will be 300/1500 km, inclination 70deg and launch will be by ESA from Kourou

[ANS thanks Dr Bandi Gschwindt, HA5WH and Perry Klein, W3PK for the above information]

NASA Summer Internships for Students

NASA is accepting applications for summer internship positions among several NASA Centers around the country Applications for summer in- ternships will be accepted until 2/1/2012

Students can view opportunities and apply for them all in one place To start, the prospective student should go to: http://intern nasa gov/ then Student Opportunities tab then select Internships which will bring you to the OSSI:SOLAR page describing the program

Using the Search Tab on the OSSI:SOLAR page selecting Goddard in Maryland, Internship, Summer 2012, Engineering - Electrical Eng , or Engineering - Computer Eng , and a keyword search using "PICetSat" reveals an opportunity titled "PICetSat Module Development " which will develop a high-altitude balloon experiment module and related ground station components This internship is open for Junior, Sen- ior, and Masters level students A description of this particular internship opportunity can be found at: http://simsat net/Internship-PICetSatModuleDevelopment-PKilroy pdf as sponsored by Pat Kilroy, N8PK, an AMSAT member and engineer at NASA in Greenbelt, Maryland

The application process must be completed at the NASA intern web site Students do not specify a specific internship program when they submit an application The NASA Education community will de- termine which internship programs you are eligible for according to the information you provide in your application

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

ARISS volunteer Dave Jordan, AA4KN will give a presentation on the ARISS program during the Kings Point Amateur Radio Club (KPARC) monthly meeting on January 9 at 2 pm ET The club is located in Sun City Center, Florida
AMSAT area coordinator Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his 'Working Amateur Satellites With Your HT' session at the Gwin- nett Amateur Radio Society's TechFest 2012 on January 14, 2012 ALL are welcome to attend!

Saturday, January 14, 2012 - 11AM EST Gwinnett Medical Resource Center 655 Duluth Highway (GA120) Lawrenceville GA 30046 Event Web site: http://tinyurl com/GARS-2012 Attendees should download Clint's four-page tutorial and radio programming data from: http://www work-sat com
The AO-27 web page is back: http://www ao27 org/AO27/index shtml
Links to an entire series of videos, "When We Left Earth" posted by Space Documentaries, covering most of the NASA missions begins at this link: http://www youtube com/watch?v=Wu6UrXEhbzY&feature=related
All 20 videos from the 3-day TAPR Digital Communications Conference in September 2011, held in Baltimore have been posted on-line They are all on the web, full length, and in high definition! All are available to watch at http://www ARVN TV and at YouTube: http://www youtube com/TAPRDigitalVideo The videos are free to watch, but they were not free to make ARVN is asking viewers to make a contribution, anything from $1 50 up (details on their web page)
The Gridmapper feature on QRZ com allows you to see the grid square on a Google map of the station you are looking up A six character square is outlined (John, K8YSE)
The January issue of Sat Magazine includes Cubesat coverage about RAIKO, FITSAT-1, WE WISH, PRIME, the Vega CubeSats, QB50 and the AMSAT-India 435/145MHz Linear Transponder Download your copy of Sat Magazine at http://www satmagazine com/2012/SM_Jan_2012 pdf (Trevor M5AKA)

/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 And with that, please keep in mind you can remember the value of Pi (3 1415926) by counting each word's letters in "May I have a large container of coffee?" The billionth digit of Pi is 9 but we don't have a sentence that long

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

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