AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-350

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:

• November/December 2018 Apogee View Posted
• AO-85 Operation Guidelines
• AMSAT Engineering Team Moves Forward
• Recurring Donations Feature Added to AMSAT org
• Support AMSAT Using Your IRA
• Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
• Fox-1E and Co-Passenger Amateur Radio Frequencies
• ELaNa XIX Launch Delayed
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• AMSAT Award Announcements
• Dragon/NanoRacks Delivers Cubesats to ISS
• Apollo 8 50th Anniversary Special Event
• Amateur Satellite News From South Africa
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-350 01 ANS-350 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 350 01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD DATE YYY To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-350 01

November/December 2018 Apogee View Posted

The November/December 2018 edition of Apogee View, an update on AMSAT's activities from AMSAT President Joe Spier, K6WAO, has been posted to the AMSAT website: https://www amsat org/apogeeview/

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

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AO-85 Operation Guidelines

AO-85 is back in transponder mode and open for use with a few conditions Please do not use the satellite while in eclipse If the footprint of the satellite does not touch any part of the ground that is in daylight, the satellite is in eclipse (Also, many tracking programs will indicate when a satellite is in eclipse -- Ed ) This will give us a little extra battery life, and extend the satellite’s usable life

Please also do not “kerchunk” the satellite while in eclipse I know this has been done to increase the number of telemetry packets received, but it is no longer acceptable Thank you for your under- standing and cooperation

[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA for the above information]

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AMSAT Engineering Team Moves Forward

Last week’s ANS bulletin carried the news that AO-95/Fox-1Cliff is exhibiting an anomaly that will prevent it from being commissioned and opened to the amateur community Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice- President Engineering writes that, while efforts to recover AO-95 continue, the engineering team is focused on upcoming missions:

"The AMSAT Engineering team has been discussing the problem, possible causes, and working on leads ever since the Fox-1Cliff/AO-95 anomaly became known Certainly, many of us are unhappy at not succeeding in making everybody else happy, but right now, with no readily apparent reason or reasons for the behavior, there is nothing further to report

"The situation has gone from a commissioning to being a challenge, and we're on it We are looking at data from a number of sources, as well as our past experiences with the other Fox-1 satellites during their journey from their construction to orbit Ideas such as employing a mega-QRO station to see if it can be heard by the bird have been on the table for several days but there are others of course, and I don't plan to report or discuss every thought we have in working this unless and until it is something of merit or actionable As you probably know, our resources are limited and it's all volunteered time Most if not all of our remaining Fox-1 engineers are also involved in the GOLF-TEE project so I have asked them to give that first priority with their available volunteer time in order to keep the schedule AO-95 is in orbit now and we can vary the amount of attention on her as resources allow in order to achieve both goals

"If the results of our investigation point to a possibility of recovery be it partial, full, or some workaround method, we would all like to see her working as much as the rest of you and that is one of the drivers for the investigation of the anomaly But perhaps the most important driver is that there are lessons to be learned for the betterment of future missions I expect us to continue to look for the cause or causes until we have results or reach a dead end because of the inability to take the lid off and look inside AO-95

"I will certainly be keeping everyone posted when we have something new to report so in the meantime please carry on and enjoy the birds!"

"On behalf of all of the volunteers who make up AMSAT Engineering, I would like to thank you all for supporting us Your understanding of the risks involved and continued support through words and also by just getting on the birds and having fun, or capturing telemetry to help us monitor, troubleshoot, and make the next satellites better, is most gratifying!"

[ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY for the above information ]

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Recurring Donations Feature Added to AMSAT org

Would you like to donate to AMSAT and/or ARISS but can only afford a little at a time? Even small amounts help, especially as they add up over time! You can now use AMSAT’s recurring donations on the new donation portal at https://www amsat org/donations/

This is a great way for everyone to donate $5-10 a month over time to make a significant contribution

Thank you for helping keep amateur radio in space

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM for the above information]

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Support AMSAT Using Your IRA

United States residents over age 70-1/2 may distribute up to $100,000 annually from their Individual Retirement Account (IRA) directly to qualifying charities, like the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), without first having to declare the distribution as income That means your income will not increase, enabling you potentially to remain in a lower tax bracket for income taxes and possible Medicare premium surcharges Donating directly from your IRA to AMSAT could have more tax advantages for you than a direct personal donation, depending on your personal tax situation

To make this kind of donation, first contact the custodian of your IRA plan (e g , the bank, mutual fund, brokerage, insurance company, etc ) that manages your IRA, and instruct that you wish to make a donation to AMSAT directly from your IRA

The check from the custodian must be made payable to the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation Your custodian will then send you a 1099 form showing you, as the owner of the IRA, did not receive the income for your personal use Most custodians will have you complete a direct donation form, and will mail the check directly to AMSAT

AMSAT greatly appreciates any size donation from your IRA Please call the AMSAT Office at 301-822-4376 for help with any information or mailing instructions required by your IRA custodian

AMSAT strongly encourages those interested in supporting AMSAT through an IRA to consult with their attorney, accountant, and tax preparer or financial advisor to determine the implications and impact of such a gift on your personal situation

Thank you for supporting AMSAT!

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation is an IRC 501(c)(3) organiza- tion (tax identification number 52-0888529)

[ANS thanks https://www amsat org/support-amsat-using-your-ira/ for the above information]

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Updates to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution

The following satellites from the SpaceX Falcon 9 SSO-A 12-03-2018 launch that have been identified to date by either Space-Track or by detailed doppler analysis Thanks again to Nico Janssen,PA0DLO, for the satellite ID updates for this week

MinXSS 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43758 HAWKEYE 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43765 (per SPACE-Track,commercial) AO-95 - NORAD CAT ID 43769 FLOCK 3S 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43770 (per SPACE-Track,commercial) PWSat 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43775 MOVE-II - NORAD CAT ID 43780 SNUSat 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43782 ITASat 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43786 Unknown Satellite - NORAD CAT ID 43787 (Downlink: 435:500 Mhz) EAGLET 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43790 ESEO - NORAD CAT ID 43792 CSIM - NORAD CAT ID 43793 HAWKEYE 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43794 (per SPACE-Track,commercial) SKYSAT C12 - NORAD CAT ID 43797 (per SPACE-Track,commercial) RANGE A - NORAD CAT ID 43798 HAWKEYE 3 - NORAD CAT ID 43799 (per SPACE-Track,commercial) SKYSAT C13 - NORAD CAT ID 43802 (per SPACE-Track,commercial) JO-97 - NORAD CAT ID 43803 Suomi 100 - NORAD CAT ID 43804 Al Farabi 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43805

The above list of SSO-A satellites has been included in the AMSAT-NA TLE Distibution this week with the exception of the following non- amateur radio satellites which have NOT been included:

HAWKEYE 1 - NORAD CAT ID 43765 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) FLOCK 3S 1 -NORAD CAT ID 43770 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) HAWKEYE 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43794 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) SKYSAT C12 -NORAD CAT ID 43797 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) HAWKEYE 3 - NORAD CAT ID 43799 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) SKYSAT C13 -NORAD CAT ID 43802 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur)

Note: The Falcon 9 SSO-A 12/3/2018 launch includes 64 spacecraft (15 microsats and 49 cubesats) The 20 objects above are those objects out of a total of 55 listed by Space-Track org that have, so far, been identified with reasonable confidence

We continue to wait for the remaining satellites to separate enough for doppler analysis to confirm their identity I will continue to add satellites as they are identified

[ANS thanks Roy Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

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Fox-1E and Co-Passenger Amateur Radio Frequencies

AMSAT's RadFXSat-2/Fox-1E is among the satellites onboard the ELaNa XX launch set for March 2019 According to http://www amsat org uk/iaru/ here are the amateur radio frequencies for the launch:

CACTUS-1 - Capitol Technology University, Laurel, Maryland No amateur radio payload found

CAPE-3 - University of Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana 145 825 MHz AX 25 1K2 digipeater 435 325 MHz 1K2 FSK data with bursts to 100 KHz

EXOCUBE-2 - California Polytechnic University, San Louis Obispo, Calif 437 270 MHz AX 25 GMSK PSK variable rates to 38K4

INCA - New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 437 125 MHz 200 kbps MSK

MicroMas-2b - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, Mass No amateur radio payload found

MiTEE - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 437 800 MHz 9K6 FSK AX 25

PICS - Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah No amateur radio payload found

PolarCube - University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado No amateur radio payload found

Q-PACE - University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 2412 500 MHz 1M25F1D modulation

RadFXSat-2 - Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee Uplink: 145 890 - 145 860 MHz LSB/CW Downlink: 435 760 - 435 790 MHz USB/CW Telemetry: 435 750 MHz 1K2 BPSK

TechEdSat-7 - NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett, California No amateur radio payload found

[ANS thanks http://www amsat org uk/iaru/ for the above information]

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ELaNa XIX Launch Delayed

“With a worsening weather system on the way, Rocket Lab is now target- ing no earlier than 0400 UTC, Sunday 16 December for the #ELaNa19 launch on Electron We'll let the weather clear completely to give us a solid green window ”

NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 mission was to be launched from Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch site, Launch Complex 1, on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula on Thursday, Dec 13 The Rocket Lab Electron A will carry 13 cubesats, and a number of the satellites carry amateur radio payloads

See https://tinyurl com/ychudkyu

Satellites to be launched on ELaNa XIX include: • ALBUS – NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio • CeREs – NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland • CHOMPTT – University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida • CubeSail – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • DaVinci – North Idaho STEM Charter Academy, Rathdrum, Idaho • ISX – SRI International/ California Polytechnic University • NMTSat – New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology • RSat – United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland • Shields-1 – NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia • STF-1 – West Virginia University / NASA IV&V

[ANS thanks Terry Osborne ZL2BAC for the above information]

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

East Coast Rove, Part Duex (EM91/92, FM02, FM03/13, FM04/14, EM84/94, EM75/85, EM76/86) – December 15-17, 2018 Robert, KE4AL, will head out to complete the second half of his East Coast rove, December 15-17 Stops include the EM91/EM92 gridline, FM02, and FM03/FM13 gridline on Saturday Sunday will start out on the FM04/FM14 gridline, followed by EM84/EM94 gridline, EM75/EM85 gridline, and EM76/EM86 gridline Specific pass schedule posted at https://twitter com/KE4ALabama/status/1070888100337979392 You can follow Robert during the trip on aprs fi (KE4AL-9) and on his Twitter page https://twitter com/KE4ALabama

Oahu (BL01, BL11) – December 28 thru January 1, 2019,2018 Gabe, AL6D willbe heading to Oahu, Hawaii, at the end of the year Plan is to operate from BL01 and BL10, linears and FM Trip is dependent on availability of cockpit jumpseat, so subject to cancellation Keep an eye on the @AL6D_Alaska Twitter for further updates https://twitter com/AL6D_Alaska

Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – January 12, 2019 David, AD7DB, will be in the area of Kettleman City, Calif near a convergence of four grids, operating on FM satellites Grids (maybe gridlines) will depend on the satellite passes Operation expected from 1700 UTC through 2300 UTC Updates will be on Twitter as the time approaches: https://twitter com/ad7db

Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat org

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

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AMSAT Awards Announcements

• On December 10 Matt, NJ4Y completed his Worked All States - Satellite with a QSO with AL6D visiting Hawaii The contact was between Florida and Hawaii via FO-29 Matt wrote, "I found a great spot with a -1° horizon in EL97, freezing cold but we made it!! Thats WAS on Sats for me from FL!" (Matt Stevens, NJ4Y via Twitter) [Editor's Note: Those of us in Minnesota have no sympathy at all for what Floridians term as "freezing cold "]

• Congratulations to David, WN9Q, for earning AMSAT Rover Award #038 And to Billy, KM6NJL, for @amsat Rover Award #039 Keep on Rov'in! https://www amsat org/amsat-rover-award/

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

Dragon/NanoRacks Delivers Cubesats to ISS

Last weekend, Dragon, the spacecraft from the sixteenth SpaceX contracted resupply mission, berthed with the International Space Station carrying educational experiments, CubeSats, and industry science research from NanoRacks customers into orbit Included were five CubeSats to be deployed from the Company’s commercially developed CubeSat Deployer on the Space Station These CubeSats are: Delphini-1, Aarhus University UNITE, University of Southern Indiana TechEdSat-8, NASA Ames, San Jose State University CATs (two identical CubeSats), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab For more information, see: http://www spaceref com/news/viewpr html?pid=53481

[ANS thanks spaceref com for the above information]

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Apollo 8 50th Anniversary Special Event

Several NASA Amateur Radio clubs will mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8 on December 21 – 27, concluding the year-long NASA on the Air activity, which celebrates NASA’s 60th anniversary Special event operation will be on various bands and modes, and partici- pating stations will self-spot on the DX cluster as well as via Facebook and Twitter

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

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Amateur Satellite News From South Africa

AMSAT SA has announced that parallel to its analogue Kletskous Cube- Sat, the group is working on a digital project featuring a Software defined transponder Called AfriCUBE, the CubeSat will use the same space frame as KLETSKOUS Anton Janovsky is current building a proto- type transponder AMSATSA is inviting persons interested in becoming part of the development team to send their details to: admin@amsatsa org za

Meanwhile the development and final construction of the AMSAT SA KLETSKOUS is plagued by electronic component obsolescence This forces unwanted design changes to be made to ensure that when the time comes to construct the final launch unit, the main components are still available

The KLETSKOUS team decided to freeze the design of KLETSKOUS and purchase a quantity of devices to proactively mitigate future obso- lesce This decision will also speed up the process of putting a final satellite on the table "Every time we change designs to mitigate for the discontinued components, it is like starting the design afresh, often creating new problems that have to be solved", Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP said "By freezing the design, in other words making a final decision on the main specialised devices to be used, we will be able to speed up the process of putting a flight ready unit on the table "

KLETSKOUS is not a textbook design Most of the sub-components that will make up KLETSKOUS are designed and being built by the volunteer team "We do not have the finances to go out and purchase sub-units and simply wire them up ", Coetzee said

[ANS thanks http://www amsatsa org za/ for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

• Montana State University is asking for big ear antennas to listen for a pass or two for their RadSat-G 3U cubesat deployed from the ISS The downlink frequency is 437 425 MHz 9k6 GMSK AX25 with 3 bursts every 2 minutes For tracking pos- sible NORAD IDs include 43550 (object NX); 43553 (object PB); or 43554 (object PC) (Montana State University)

• AMSAT SA has issued a call for papers to be presented at the 2019 AMSAT SA Space Symposium to be held in Gauteng on 16 March 2019 Send a synopsis of a paper proposal to admin@amsatsa org za The theme of the conference is "Space Science with Amateur Radio "

• Stephen 2E0SSM recently did a talk at the Lincoln Shortwave Club about working amateur satellites and he has now published an article on his website explaining the things Stephen had to learn when he first started His guide is available at: http://mcbainsite co uk/working-amateur-radio-satellites/ (ANS thanks southgatearc org for the above information)

• An ARISS contact was completed with Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, Kenilworth, United Kingdom, direct via GB4KHS on Friday, Dec 14 The astronaut was Serena Aunon-Chancellor, KG5TMT The contact may be viewed on YouTube at https://tinyurl com/y7kmml4y The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct 1 - Nov 30, 2018 has now closed The next window should go open in the spring of 2019 The ARISS webpage is at http://www ariss org/ (ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information)

• A robotic lander and rover lifted off Friday, Dec 7 from China’s Xichang space center, kicking off a journey that will culminate in an attempt in early January to touch down on the far side of the moon for the first time For more, see: https://tinyurl com/yar5plhz

• Voyager II, launched in 1977, has left the solar system! https://tinyurl com/ydahmnhl

• A detailed explanation of the challenges facing the SSO-A launch that included a number of amateur radio cubesats has been published by Wired magazine at: https://tinyurl com/y9nbl9xz

• Est-ce que tu parles français? TV News report videos about the ARISS contact between ISS astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, KG5TMT and students in Thiviers, France on December 10 can be seen at http://www ariss-f org/ariss-24-contact-etabli/+

• 2018 Microwave Update conference proceedings are available on the homepage: http://www microwaveupdate org/ Conference videos are available at: https://tinyurl com/y7tr8v8d

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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 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor,

K0JM at amsat dot org

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