AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-364

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information 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://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 dot org

In this edition:

• AMSAT CW Activity Day January 1, 2019 In Memory Of W3XO
• Soyuz Flight Deploys Amateur Radio Satellites
• In-Orbit Test (IOT) of Es’hail-2 AMSAT P4-A transponders
• Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 27, 2018
• Ham Talk Live Podcast Featuring KO4MA
• Multiple Flight Projects Selected by International Space Station U S National Laboratory
• AMSAT Awards Update
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• Satellite Shorts from All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364 01 ANS-364 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364 01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD December 30, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364 01

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AMSAT CW Activity Day January 1, 2019 In Memory Of W3XO

You are cordially invited to participate in AMSAT's third annual CW Activity Day It will be held from 0001 to 2400 UTC on January 1,2019

This year's event is being held in memory of AMSAT past president Bill Tynan, W3XO Bill operated primarily SSB, but would always come back to my CW call Bill's experience reminds us that one need not be a CW specialist to enjoy the mode

CW Activity Day rules are very simple: there aren't any Just operate CW through any amateur radio satellite Straight keys and "bugs" are encouraged, but not required The important thing is to get on the air and have fun, as Bill did

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

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Soyuz Flight Deploys Amateur Radio Satellites

The Soyuz flight on December 27th carrying a pair of Kanopus V remote sensing satellites also deployed two German Orbital Systems D-Star ONE satellites: D-Star ONE - Sparrow and D-Star ONE - iSat Beacons have been successfully received These satellites carry a D-STAR parrot repeater that will be available for use by amateur radio operators The uplink is 437 325 MHz and the downlink is 435 525 MHz

The flight also deployed the UWE-4 1U CubeSat carrying an electric propulsion experiment and a 70cm 9k6 AX 25 digipeater The uplink and downlink frequency is 437 375 MHz The digipeater will be active after the Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP)

More information on the launch and other payloads deployed can be found at http://russianspaceweb com/kanopus-v5-v6 html

[ANS thanks Russian Space Web, German Orbital Systems and the IARU for the above information]

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In-Orbit Test (IOT) of Es’hail-2 AMSAT P4-A transponders

AMSAT-DL notes that the In-Orbit testing (IOT) of the P4-A ham radio transponders on Es’hail-2 have started

In a statement regarding the status of the transponders for amateur radio use AMSAT-DL said, "However: Please be reminded, that under no circumstances uplink attempts should be done! Like everyone, we are very excited by the received signals so far and we do appreciate any monitoring and receiving reports from the amateur radio community We are happy to see how much interest and enthusiasm this satellite already created in our community "

And continuing, "Any unsolicited transmissions will delay the commis- sioning and maybe even worse, might influence our good relation with Es’hailSat during this project

When a new satellite is launched, a number of tests are performed to verify that the stress loads imposed by the launch have not affected the on-board systems An RF in-orbit test (IOT) is conducted to verify the performance of communication payloads These operations are typic- ally performed by the manufacturer of the satellite, in this case by MELCO engineers These operations also include both AMSAT P4-A trans- ponders on-board Es’hail-2 Such acceptance tests are part of the commercial contract and usually consists of Power, Frequency and other measurements like: Gain transfer, EIRP, In-Band and Out-Band response, receive & transmit antenna cross-polarization isolation, antenna gain, Gain-to-temperature ratio (G/T), Gain adjustments, TWT settings, Spacecraft spurious signal search, intermodulation, LO and beacon frequency stability and much more…

When all IOT tests are successful performed, the satellite will be moved to it’s final position at 26°E and handed-over to it’s owner Es’hailSat

Please understand that AMSAT-DL is not authorized to give any details of the above operations in advance

[ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information]

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Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 27, 2018

The identification of the 64 satellites launched by SpaceX SSO-A mission on December 3, 2018 continues As noted last week, the consensus is that the spacing between unidentified satellites is STILL not to a point where positive identification is possible In the past, two weeks after launch has been the time when distance between cubesats increases enough to identify most individual sat- ellites But, this time, we must wait for more separation

There are no major changes to the previous AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution (Thursday, December 20, 2018) for the IDENTIFIED SSO-A launch objects at this time except for the following comments:

(1) There is a disagreement between this week's TLE distribution (Thursday, December 27, 2018) and the Space-Track data of the same date Space-Track shows PWSat 2 as OBJECT 43814, but detailed doppler analysis suggests that PWSat 2 is object 43775 or 43779 Hopefully this will be resolved in the coming week In the mean time, all three objects 43775, 43779, and 43814 are included in this week's distribution with PWSat 2 shown as CAT ID 43775

(2) Space-Track has decided that OBJECT 43769 is now FLOCK 3S 1 (a commercial satellite) OBJECT 43769 was the object that we had used last week for AO 95 So, we are now going to use OBJECT 43771 for AO-95 OBJECT 43771 is the other object we think may be AO-95 Remember these objects are still too close together so we must wait for more separation Patience!

(3) Also we are still awaiting greater separation for JO 97 (ex JY1Sat) JO-97 is shown as OBJECT 43803 but may be 43801 The downlink is 145 839085 MHz

(4) The following objects have been identified as non-amateur radio satellites and have been removed from this week's distribution: EXCITE - CAT ID 43758 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) KAZSTSAT - CAT ID 43783 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) FLOCK 3S 3 - NORAD CAT ID 43788 (identified by Space-Track, non- amateur) FLOCK 3S 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43821 (identified by Space-Track, non- amateur)

Thanks to Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, and Alan Biddle, WA4SCA, for this week's update details

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD for the above information ]

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Ham Talk Live Podcast Featuring KO4MA

If you missed the Ham Talk Live show featuring Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, on December 27 you can play back a recording of this episode at: https://www spreaker com/show/ham-talk-live then select Episode 146 - Making the Most of Satellite Time 27 Dec

Drew and Neil discussed getting the most out of satellite time They talked about what to say, when to say it, and other etiquette and protocol issues so that you can make the most of your satellite operation!

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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Multiple Flight Projects Selected by International Space Station U S National Laboratory

The International Space Station (ISS) U S National Laboratory today announced multiple flight projects stemming from a variety of scientific and educational concepts that are in development to launch to the orbiting national laboratory Each of the investigations selected for the ISS National Lab will benefit life on Earth by exploiting unique advantages of research in space These projects represent a diverse mixture of scientific objectives and interests from commercial partners, academic investigations, and education initiatives to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers Below is an overview of recently selected investigations by the ISS National Lab:

Blast Off! Story Time From Space: Engaging Young Learners in STEM and Literacy Twin Cities Public Broadcasting Service PI: Rita Karl and Patricia Tribe

Blast Off! is a multiplatform initiative dedicated to engaging young learners (ages 2-8) in reading and hands-on science Twin Cities PBS and Story Time From Space are developing Blast Off! as a pilot project for PBS This program has the potential to reach millions of viewers, providing information on living and working in space and on microgravity's effects on science This project is being done in partnership with the Story Time From Space educational program

[ANS thanks Spaceref com for this information ]

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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
continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio

 We have reached a great milestone with $16,695 raised
or about 10% towards our goal
 This would not have been
     possible without your outstanding generosity!!

      For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit:

 https://fundrazr
com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9

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AMSAT Awards Update

Here we are, the last half of 2018, in fact the end of 2018, I have been posting all the Rover Awards on my Twitter account and tagging @AMSAT I will include all the Rover Awards here for those that do not have Twitter

What will you be doing for AMSAT's 50th Anniversary in 2019 Stay tuned for some operating awards we have for you, AMSAT Members and

Non-AMSAT Members

AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO Mike Lozano, KI7WIB Harry Mueller, W1HMM Kirk Miller, W0KM Dennis Madarang, KD2QET Colbie Dison, KN4NIM Nathan Binder, BSA Troop 738 Jeffrey Howell, KO9P Alex Van Patten, KC3LPC Martin Gibson, VK2GIB Tom Zimmerman, W9TTY Michael Barry, KN4CFD Billy Penley, KN4MKB Bentley Skibell, WM1K Rich Olson, W9TIT Tom Snowden, KI7SNW

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AMSAT Communications Achievement Award Brad Brooks, WF7T, #585 Brennan Price, N4QX, #586 Michael Lozano, KI7WIB, #587

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AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award Brad Brooks, WF7T, #US209 Brennan Price, N4QX, #US210

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AMSAT Robert W Barbee Jr , W4AMI Award Charles Reiche, N3CRT, #96

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AMSAT Rover Award (New for 2018)

Rover Call ===== ======== 028 K4FTP 029 KB2YSI 030 N3CRT 031 N2WLS 032 K2MTS 033 AI6DO 034 KD8RTT 035 AD7DB 036 AB5SS 037 W9TWJ 038 WN9Q 039 KM6NJL 040 KM4LAO

To see all the awards visit http://www amsat org and click on Services then Awards

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

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

• Oahu (BL01, BL11) – December 28 to January 1, 2019 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 cancel- lation Keep an eye on the @AL6D_Alaska Twitter for further updates https://twitter com/AL6D_Alaska

• Azores (HM58) – December 30 to January 2, 2019 Pedro, CU2ZG, will spend the long New Year’s weekend in HM58 Pedro will operate holiday style on FM and linears Skeds are accepted and preferred, but keep in mind that being a family trip availability constrains might occur Confirmations via LoTW using plain CU2ZG will be uploaded the following week, and any direct QSL will get a proper reply Updates posted on Twitter and publicly viewable at https://twitter com/pdsousa

• Point Pelee National Park, Canada (EN81) – January 1, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, and Mike, W8LID plan to active Point Pelee National Park on New Year’s Day to kick of the Canadian National Parks on the Air (CNPOTA) event Keep an eye on their Twitter accounts for further updates: https://twitter com/ad0dx and https://twitter com/w8lid

• Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – January 5, 2019 Ron, AD0DX will activate the CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06 grid corner on January 5th Keep an eye on the @ad0dx Twitter feed for more updates https://twitter com/ad0dx

• Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – January 12, 2019 David, AD7DB, will be in the area of Kettleman City CA near a conver- gence of four grids, operating on FM satellites Grids (maybe grid- lines) 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

• Quartzfest Arizona (DM23) – January 19-27, 2019 John, N7JY, will be operating FM satellites on a holiday schedule He may also visit some adjoining grids There will likely be other hams operating from the event, located a few miles south of Quartzsite AZ QSL via LOTW, or you can send your card with SASE

• Las Vegas NV and Northwest AZ (DM25, DM26, DM36) – January 20-22, 2019 David, AD7DB, will be in Las Vegas at DM25/26 line, operating on FM satellites on a holiday schedule In addition, weather permitting, sometime on Monday 01/21/19 he will make a side trip to Beaver Dam AZ to activate from DM36aw Updates will be on Twitter as the time approaches: https://twitter com/ad7db

[ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts from All Over

• PW-Sat2 Sail Deployment PW-Sat2 has deployed its deorbiting sail experiment ahead of schedule See PWSat2 on Twitter for more information https://twitter com/PWSat2 (PWSat2 on Twitter)

• NJ4Y Worked All States Congratulations to Matt, NJ4Y for earning the ARRL Worked All States - Satellite award #367 Matt tweeted, "This is probably the toughest radio award I've ever worked towards, and one of my favorites Thanks especially to AC0RA, K8BL, and AL6D for my last 4 states over the past year, Oregon, Mississippi, Alaska, and Hawaii! (NJ4Y via Twitter)

• NPR Highlights Cubesats National Public Radio posted an article on December 26th entitled "What's Next for Tiny Satellites " The article may be found at https://tinyurl com/ANS-364-NPR

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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 additional 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 student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status

Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information

Happy New Year and 73, This week's ANS Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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