AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-167

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

In this edition:

• HAM Video for the ISS Announced by ARISS
• AMSAT Videos from Dayton Hamvention
• AMSAT Area Coordinator Kevin Smith, N3HKQ, now SK
• RECENT AMSAT AWARDS
• Fox-2 MPPT Team Selected In TI Design Contest
• AMSAT Field Day 2013 - One More Time
• Wilse Morgan WX7P (ex-KL7CQ) SK
• ARISS News
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-167 01 ANS-167 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 167 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD DATE June 16, 2013 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-167 01

HAM Video for the ISS Announced by ARISS

ARISS-Europe Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF has drafted an overview of a new "Ham Video" DATV downlink system on S-Band being developed for placement on the International Space Station later this year The equipment is being developed by Kayser Italia under contract with the European Space Agency using a Canon XF-305 camera provided by NASA The equipment is currently slated for deployment to the ISS on Japan Space Agency's HTV-4 in August 2013 HTV is Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle for resupplying the International Space Station

Gaston's paper provides an overview of both the equipment that is being placed on the ISS as well as discusses ground station requirements The ESA contract calls for Kayser Italia to provide five ground stations for placement in Europe that will be "chained" to provide overlapping video reception coverage, with the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) serving as a central server site for receiving video from these ground stations and making it freely available to others via the internet It is hoped that amateurs will support other ground station "chains" in other countries as multiple stations are needed to provide up to 15 minutes of video in support of school contacts

Gaston's paper with block diagram and photographs of key components will be available soon on the AMSAT website (www amsat org)

[ANS thanks ANS thanks Gaston Bartels, ON4WF for this information for the above information]

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AMSAT Videos from Dayton Hamvention

A series of videos taken during the AMSAT Forum during The Dayton Hamvention have been released

• AMSAT ARISS Program Status, by Frank KA3HDO - 2013 Dayton Hamvention http://www youtube com/watch?v=Hju20svHK5k

• AMSAT Education and You, by Mark N8MH - 2013 Dayton Hamvention http://www youtube com/watch?v=eXzCRiNaTXw&feature=youtu be

• AMSAT Status Report, by Barry WD4ASW - 2013 Dayton Hamvention http://www youtube com/watch?v=hGj5_wjomzI&feature=youtu be

• FUNcube Satellites, by Howard G6LVB - 2013 Dayton Hamvention http://www youtube com/watch?v=9NSD39MNKe0&feature=youtu be

• Fox Classroom Experiments, by Spence WA8SME - 2013 Dayton Hamvent http://www youtube com/watch?v=kl8HCBEGv4Q

• Fox-1 Status Update, by Tony AA2TX - 2013 Dayton Hamvention http://www youtube com/watch?v=Gub5182mowg

You can view these videos, collectively, and lots of other AMSAT video content by going to:

www amsat org and click on "AMSAT YOUTUBE CHANNEL" or by going to www youtube com/AMSATNA

[ANS thanks AMSAT Steve N9IPand Andrew KO4MA,for the above information]

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AMSAT Area Coordinator Kevin Smith, N3HKQ, now SK

Kevin Smith, N3HKQ, age 59, passed away suddenly Monday night, 10 June He had successfully battled a blood disorder for several years, but was stricken Monday morning

Kevin was an AMSAT Area Coordinator for many years and co-chaired the team that hosted the 2007 AMSAT Symposium in Pittsburgh, PA Prior to that, he was a key player in executing an ARISS contact from Upper St Clair (PA) High School An enthusiastic member of the Wireless Association of the South Hills (WASH) local club, Kevin was always upbeat and positive, and looked forward to the satellite contacts at Field Day, even after the loss of AO-13 and AO-40, and to VHF/UHF operating He worked hard at the easy contacts, developing ingenious lightweight hand-held antennas and means of controlling two radios to make it all work for the one satellite contact He moved on to the microwaves, building a 10 GHz kit when he could have bought the completed DownEast Microwave transverter, and was working on one of the W1GHZ transverters for 2 4 GHz A few weekends ago, several WASH members did some work on his VHF/UHF antennas, and Kevin was looking forward to the VHF contest this past weekend `He is known to have made at least one 2-meter QSO

Kevin is survived by his wife Peg, married son, Michael, and married daughter, Jen His obituary may be found at, http://obituaries triblive com/listing/226203/Kevin-Smith/ In lieu of flowers, Kevin's family suggests memorial donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the MDS Foundation, or to Be the Match

[ANS thanks Jim Sanford, WB4GCS for the above information ]

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RECENT AMSAT AWARDS

Here is our latest induction into some of the AMSAT awards community There is a pretty good batch since the last report in April

The following have entered into the Satellite Communicators Club for making their first satellite QSO Jim Whitfield, K5JAW

The following have earned the AMSAT Communications Achievement Award Alessio Vacondio, IK4IDY, #555

The following have earned the South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award Joseph Fouquet, N5JF, #US185

The following have earned the AMSAT Sexagesimal Award George Carr, WA5KBH, #163 Zeljko Ulip, 9A2EY, #164 Alessio Vacondio, IK4IDY, #165

The following have earned the AMSAT W4AMI Award Alessio Vacondio, IK4IDY, #80

The following have earned the AMSAT W4AMI 5000 Award Doug Papay, KD8CAO, #30

[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information]

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Fox-2 MPPT Team Selected In TI Design Contest

AMSAT sponsored a senior design project at the Rochester Institute of Technology this academic year The students included senior EE majors: Bryce Salmi KB1LQC Brent Salmi KB1LQD Ian MacKenzie KB3OCF and Dan Corriero

The project was to develop an MPPT circuit that could be used on a future Fox-2 (3U) CubeSat The students completed a working prototype which was on display in our engineering booth at Dayton last month

With my agreement and encouragement, the students entered this project into Texas Instruments' 2013 Analog Design Contest for university students See: http://tinyurl com/mf6nzhr

I am happy to pass along the great news that the AMSAT MPPT project was selected as one of the top 10 semi-finalists and the students were invited on an all-expenses paid trip to TI's contest summit to be held July 21-23 in Dallas where the final winners will be announced

Congratulations to the Fox-2 MPPT team!

[ANS thanks Tony AA2TX for the above information]

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AMSAT Dayton Volunteers Thanked / Asked for Feedback

First and most important, I want to thank each of you for your assistance at the 2013 Dayton Hamvention

I'm thrilled with our presence at Dayton this year In my opinion, it went well because of the efforts of the 40+ volunteers who assisted in so many different ways You made a difference

As I'm wrapping up my Dayton notes, I'm looking for suggestions How can AMSAT make our presence next year at Dayton more effective?

Was there anything we did that made things more difficult for the hams who stopped at the booth?

What can we do to attract more potential members and communicate the excitement we feel about building, launching, and operating satellites?

Thanks again for all of your help It was truly a privilege working with you!

73,Steve N9IP

Contact Dave with your feedback - seb at wintek dot com

[ANS thanks Steve N9IP for the above information]

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AMSAT Field Day 2013 - One More Time

Every year AMSAT promotes a satellite version of Field Day during the ARRL annual operating event which is held on the 4^th weekend in June This year Field Day will take place from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 22, 2013 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 23, 2013

SaudiSat-Oscar-50 will be the only operational FM transponder satellite this year If you are considering only FM voice operating for your AMSAT Field Day focus the single uplink/downlink channel will be extremely challenging As in prior years, this intense congestion on FM LEO satellites drives the limitation in the rules allowing their use to one-QSO-per-FM-satellite This includes the International Space Station You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice You will also be allowed one digital QSO with the ISS or any other digital, non-store-and-forward, packet satellite (if operational)

If you have worked the satellites on Field Day in recent years, you may have noticed a lot of good contacts can be made on the linear transponder satellites including VO-52, FO-29, and AO-7 During Field Day the transponders come alive like 20 meters on a weekend The transponders on these satellites will support multiple simultaneous SSB or CW contacts

The AMSAT Field Day 2013 event is open to all Amateur Radio operators Amateurs are to use the exchange as specified in ARRL rules for Field Day The AMSAT competition is to encourage the use of all amateur satellites, both analog and digital

For the complete listing of the AMSAT Field Day Rules please refer to the documents posted on-line at:

http://www amsatnet com/2013fd docx

http://www amsatnet com/2013fd pdf

[ANS thanks AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information]

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Wilse Morgan WX7P (ex-KL7CQ) SK

Wilse Morgan, WX7P (formerly KL7CQ) passed away June 13 in Rice, Washington He is survived by his wife, Gimmie AL7LB

An ARRL Life Member, Wilse was an Assistant Section Manager for Eastern Washington and was very active on satellites, PSK31, DXing and contesting In 2009 he was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame

During his 20 year tenure in Alaska as KL7CQ, he taught courses in Amateur Radio at the University of Alaska and at Anchorage Community College, graduating more than 800 licensed hams As a Volunteer Examiner, Wilse was involved in the very first VEC exam in the nation and was the first VE certified by the local FCC office in Anchorage

For more information http://www arrl org/news/view/wilse-morgan-wx7p-ex-kl7cq-sk http://www sdxa org/ http://www sdxa org/?p=3321

[ANS thanks AMSAT The ARRL and Patrick, WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above information]

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ARISS News

Succesful Contacts

• A Succesful contact was completed with Belarus State Universtity, Minsk, Republic of Belarus Contact began 2013-06-04 21:00 and lasted about 9 minutes and 30 seconds Contact was direct

• A succssful contact was completed with participants at Astronomy Camp, Tucson, AZ and Christopher J Cassidy, KF5KDR, on 08 June The event began at 19:55 UTC The duration of the contact was approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds The contact was telebridged between NA1SS and VK4KHZ The contact was audible over portions of Australia and adjacent areas The contact was conducted in English

Astronomy Camp is a week-long residential program held at Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Catalina Observatories near Tucson, Arizona Several thousand teenagers from 49 states and 20 countries have attended the program since 1988, participating in an informal education program involving hands-on activities in astronomy and related subjects The camp also operates workshops for adult leaders in Girl Scouts, USA

The ARISS contact dovetails well with the camp's projects involving radio astronomy The students engage in experiments with electromagnetic energy, construct crystal radios, and tour the radio telescope facilities at Kitt Peak, including climbing into the antenna structure

Upcoming Contacts

Liceo Scientifico Galileo Galilei, Catania, Italy, telebridge via VK4KHZ Contact is a go for: Sat 2013-06-22 14:57:26 UTC 41 deg

ARISS is requesting listener reports for the above contacts Due to issues with the Kenwood radio that are not fully understood at present, the Ericsson radio is going to be used for these contacts ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance

Current occupants of the ISS include Exp 35/36 on orbit Pavel Vinogradov RV3BS Aleksandr Misurkin Christopher J Cassidy KF5KDR

Exp 36/37 on orbit Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Karen L Nyberg Luca Parmitano KF5KDP

Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 823 Each school counts as 1 event Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 806 Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 44

A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file http://www amsat org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews rtf

[ANS thanks ARISS, Dave AA4KN, and Charlie AJ9N, for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

• APRS Messenger Android app now released http://tinyurl com/l2tes3v

• World QRP Day Monday 17 June

  Monday 17 June, is World QRP Day Switch off the amplifier, turn down the power on your rig and try QRP power How many kilometres per watt can you achieve You will be amazed at what you can achieve with QRP Best is, aim an antenna skyward and connect via a satellite using 5 watts or less

• According to Frank, K4FEG, Look for AO-7 to be in Mode "B" the entire duration of Field Day

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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

73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA http://amsat org/mailman/listinfo/ans