[ans] ANS-071 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

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

Date: March 11th 2012

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-071

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:

Howard Long, G6LVB featured speaker at the 2012 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet
AMSAT-NA Receives US Space Command Authorization for Keps Distribution
AMSAT-UK Announces Colloquium 2012 & Issues First Call for Speakers
New Satellite Group Formed in Cuba
India VO-52 Satellite Recovery in Progress
March 17 for AMSAT-LU Balloon Test Flight of LUSEX Satellite Systems
KB8VCO and W8ZCF ARISSat-1 SSTV Contact Featured in the Press
Echolink Satellite Nets Launched
Satellite Shorts From All Over
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-071 01 ANS-071 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 071 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 11, 2012 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-071 01

Volunteers are needed to help at the AMSAT booth at Dayton Gould *
WA4SXM, is looking for volunteers to help man the AMSAT booth dur- *
ing the 2012 Hamvention People are needed all 3 days for 2 hour *
shifts Please send the days and times you are available to help *
as well as how many shifts you are willing to work via e-mail to *
wa4sxm at amsat org *
Monitor http://www amsat org/amsat-new/hamvention/2012/Dayton php *
for the latest AMSAT at Dayton news and developments *

Howard Long, G6LVB featured speaker at the 2012 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet

TAMSAT/TAPR Banquet on Friday night, May 18 is one of the main AMSAT activities during the 2012 Hamvention at Dayton

AMSAT is pleased to announce that Howard Long, G6LVB will be the fea- tured speaker for the evening event Howard will be talking about his FUNcube Dongle, the 64 - 1700 MHz Software Defined Receiver This innovative USB device is the size of a thumbdrive and has an SMA ant- enna socket Multiple SDR control and display software programs can be used with the FUNcube Dongle

Banquet tickets will not be sold at the AMSAT booth during the Ham- vention so reservations must be made through the AMSAT Store: http://www amsat-na com/store/item php?id=100158 Tickets are $30 apiece

[ANS thanks Gould Smith, WA4SXM for the above information]

AMSAT-NA Receives US Space Command Authorization for Keps Distribution

AMSAT's Keeper of the Keps, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD wrote, "I am pleased to announce that AMSAT's request to re-distribute AFSPC Keplerian elements from SpaceTrack has been approved for the period April 1, 2012 to April 1, 2013 Our USSTRATCOM ODR (Orbital Data Request) to distribute the KEPs was approved on March 1, 2012 We are "good to go" for another year "

Thanks to the US Air Force Space Command, Perry Klein, W3PK and Paul Williamson, KB5MU for their help in this process

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

AMSAT-UK Announces Colloquium 2012 & Issues First Call for Speakers

The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held on September 14-16, 2012

The colloquium attracts an international audience from across Eur- ope as well as North America and the Middle East Attendees range from the builders of the CubeSats and Nanosats, those who communi- cate through them and beginners who wish to find out more about this fascinating branch of the hobby

It provides a rare opportunity to chat with satellite designers and builders, discussions frequently continue until the early hours of the morning

A Gala dinner is held on the Saturday evening along with the fund raising auction

AMSAT-UK invite speakers, about amateur radio space and associated activities, for this event They are also invited to submit papers for the Proceedings document which will be published at the same time but printed papers are not mandatory We normally prefer au- thors to present talks themselves rather than having someone else give them in the authors absence We also welcome unpresented papers for the Proceedings document

FIRST CALL FOR SPEAKERS

This is the first call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium 2012 which, due to the Olympic & Paralympic Games, will be held this year on the weekend of September 15-16, 2012 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, United Kingdom

This Colloquium will take place a few weeks before the planned launch of AMSAT-UKs FUNcube-1 satellite carrying a 435/145 MHz linear transponder for SSB/CW communications

AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about micro-satellites, CubeSats, Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event

They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on the AMSAT-UK web site We normally prefer authors to present talks themselves rather than having someone else give them in the authors absence We also welcome unpresented papers for the web site

We appreciate that it is not always possible to give a firm indica- tion of attendance at this stage but expressions of interest would be appreciated

Submissions should be sent ONLY to G4DPZ, via the following routes:

e-mail: david dot johnson at blackpepper dot co dot uk

Postal address at http://www qrz com/db/G4DPZ

AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to sub- mit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ Invitations for any papers on specific subjects will be included in the future call Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other infor- mation to G4DPZ

[ANS thanks Dave Johnson, G4DPZ and AMSAT-UK for the above information]

New Satellite Group Formed in Cuba

Hector Martinez, CO6CBF reports that the Cuban Amateur Radio Federa- tion (FRC) has created its first official Satellite Group

Hector said that himself, Raydel CM2ESP, and Pavel CO7WT worked to form the group and made the request to the FRC headquarters The re- quest was approved on March 3, 2012 The official name is Grupo de Radioaficionados para Operaciones Satelitales (GROS)

The principal mission is to promote amateur radio by satellites in Cuba and motivate Cuban hams to operate on the satellites

Grupo de Radioaficionados para Operaciones Satelitales is planning their first meeting in Havana City, Cuba

[ANS thanks Hector Martinez, CO6CBF for the above information]

India VO-52 Satellite Recovery in Progress

Mani, VU2WMY, Secretary & Station-In-Charge at the Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC in India reported that on March 6 the ISRO Satel- lite Centre recovered operation and control of HAMSAT VO-52 This satellite had been heard during expected passes since February 28

Mani wrote, "I can share at this moment is 'HAMSAT VO-52' is in 'Excellent Health' after recovery operations Right now, it is under observation The decision in regards to switching 'ON' the transpond- er is pending clearance from ISRO This decision expected soon The user community will be informed well in advance about the transponder switching "

ISRO Announces Plan to Turn on Dutch Transponder

On March 8, Mani, VU2WMY, reported that news had been received from Mr T Parimalarangan, HAMSAT VO-52 Operations Director at ISTRAC/ISRO that, "After 'In-Orbit Maintenance Operations' the decision to turn 'ON' Transponder No 2 i e The Dutch Transponder made by William Leijenaar PE1RAH on March 8 during orbit # 37006 over India "

Dutch Transponder Activation on Hold for One Week

Unfortunately, we are sorry to inform that the 'Expert Committee'
overseeing the VO-52 (HAMSAT) performance has advised to extend the
'Observation Period' by an other week

Hence, the decision to switch on the transponder # 2 is now put 'ON
HOLD' till further notice Inconvenience caused to the users is
regretted

This latest decision is just only a postponement and nothing to worry
about the health of the spacecraft We re-assure you all that VO-52 is
very strong and in a 'Perfect Health' condition

Once the Dutch transponder is switched on it will use the following frequencies:

Uplink frequency: 435 250 MHz Downlink frequency: 145 900 MHz Beacon: CW at 145 859330 MHz (145 86 MHz) Output level of Beacon Carrier: 18 dBm

ISRO invites a 'Critical Comparative Signal Report' between the Indian and Dutch transponder would be of great help for further evaluations and necessary actions for the maintenance the trans- ponder in good and healthy condition for better services and also, the inputs would be very valuable to the respective transponder designers Please send your feedback to tprangan@istrac org

Summaries from stations monitoring for VO-52 can be entered and viewed on the Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page: http://oscar dcarr org/

[ANS thanks Mani, VU2WMY, Secretary & Station-In-Charge at the Upagrah Amateur Radio Club for the above information]

March 17 for AMSAT-LU Balloon Test Flight of LUSEX Satellite Systems

AMSAT-Argentina announced they are planning to test systems of the LU Satellite EXperiment (LUSEX) satellite during a high altitude balloon flight up to 100,000 feet This is scheduled for March 17 at 1500 UTC Direct reception of the balloon flight is estimated to extend to 400 miles from the City of Junin, west of Buenos Aires, Argentina (See http://www amsat org ar/junincubr jpg for estimated coverage map )

The payload will feature several radio and telemetry experiments:

Crossband FM Repeater Uplink 435 950 MHz FM (123 Hz tone) Downlink 145 950 MHz FM
SSTV Downlink 145 950 MHz FM ROBOT-36 in real time, showing the view from the balloon every 5 minutes during ascent/descent, longer interval at high alti- tude Video will also be recorded and recovered at the end of the flight
APRS Data APRS 1200 baud packet on 144 930 MHz, and 145 950 MHz
Telemetry Downlink 145 950 MHz If the crossband repeater is in use a warning bip at 40 seconds will indicate telemetry is coming, which is sent if the repeater is not in use If the repeater continues to be busy then 2 bips will indicate APRS packets will be sent

CW telemetry (modulated FM on 145 950 MHz) will be sent every 5 minutes with the following sequence: CQ LU7AA, sequence number, external and internal temperatures °C and battery voltage
User Telecommand Experiment The 435 950 up / 145 950 down crossband repeater will accept user DTMF command to return a signal report Sending B* on the uplink will return S5 (average signal strength) or P10 (S9+10 signal strength) modulated CW tones on the 145 950 MHz FM downlink

APRS trajectory will update every minute, including speed, height, external and internal temperatures and 7 2v battery voltage This can be monitored directly on 144 930 MHz for stations in range It will also display at: http://aprs fi/?call=lu7aa-11 The APRS symbol will display as a balloon during ascent, and as a glider during parachute descent The AMSAT-LU APRS Igate LU7AA-10 on 144 930 and 430 930 MHz will be active Maps for UI-View APRS tracking can downloaded from http://www amsat org ar

Stations making a contact via the balloon payload may qualify for a certificate See http://www amsat org ar/certsat html for details

AMSAT-LU thanks the members of Radio Clubs of Junin, QRM Belgrano, APRS Group, Don Bosco Ramos Mejia School, gliders Clubs of Zarate, Junin and Cañuelas, and the twelve Amsat-LU members development team Reports from radio amateurs during previous flights are appreciated and they look forward to your reports during the March 17 flight

Photos and reports of prior flights can be viewed on-line at: http://www amsat org ar/lu4aao/experimento_globo_y_parapente htm

The LU Satellite EXperiment web page is at: http://lusex org ar

[ANS thanks AMSAT-LU for the above information]

KB8VCO and W8ZCF ARISSat-1 SSTV Contact Featured in the Press

The Cincinnati (Ohio) Press web featured a story about the successful SSTV contact via ARISSat-1 between Farrell Winder, W8ZCF and his son, Jeff Winder, KB8VCO

The Winders teamed together and after many, many tries were success- ful in sending and receiving a picture of Farrell Winder's automobile license plate

The Winders used two computers, two radios, and two rotatable outside antennas on towers to aim and to pinpoint the satellite antenna Con- ditions were challenging as the satellite was traveling at 18,000 MPH at an altitude of 225 miles, which provided a window of opportunity of only up to about nine minutes while its footprint was passing within range of Cincinnati

The successful end result was a lot of hard-earned fun and excitement to work with very small signals from outer space and overcome the setback caused by the missing antenna on ARISSat-1

The picture the Winders sent and received is apparently one of the only complete pictures sent and received Two other operators tried a similar undertaking, but received just portions of pictures

Since ARISSat-1 had no propulsion system to sustain altitude it enter- ed the Earth's atmosphere on Jan 4, 2012 and disintegrated

The story can be read on-line at: http://tinyurl com/ARISSat-Cincinnati

[ANS thanks Farrell Winder, W8ZCF and Jeff Winder, KB8VCO for the above information]

Echolink Satellite Nets Launched

New Echolink SAT-CHAT Net

Vince Waelti, K9TSU has established a new, open net, the "Sat-Chat" on the AMSAT server on EchoLink This net meets at 1900 Central US Time (UTC-5) every Saturday evening Everyone is invited to check in Also links to -L and -R systems for on-air repeater coverage are wel- come Vince can be reached at k9tsu(at)hotmail(dot)com if you have any questions

Hudson Valley SatCom Net on Echolink

Stu Ballinger, WA2BSS says the next Hudson Valley SatCom net will meet on-air (146 97 MHz Mt Beacon Repeater) and on the Echolink node N2EYH-L on March 15 at 2000 Eastern US time (UTC-4)

Houston AMSAT Net on Echolink

The Houston AMSAT Net meets on the Echolink AMSAT server every Tuesday evening at 2000 Central US Time (UTC-5) Checkin to the net is taken via Echolink if you are not in radio range of Houston

[ANS thanks Vince Waelti, K9TSU; Stu Ballinger, WA2BSS; and Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

Watch the CQ Magazine Newsroom (http://www cqnewsroom blogspot com/) for more coverage of amateur radio in space Recent coverage on CQ's Newsroom blog included: NASA to Launch Fox-1 Cubesat http://tinyurl com/CQBlog-Fox (cqnewsroom blogspot com)
Vega Rocket Launches Nine Satellites http://tinyurl com/CQBlog-Vega (cqnewsroom blogspot com)
Watch AMSAT's Lou McFadin, W5DID interview on HamRadioNow by Gary Pearce, KN4AQ on Southgate ARC's web: http://tinyurl com/LouMcFadin Lou describes the features of the ARISSat-1 satellite, using the operational model at the AMSAT booth at the Orlando HamCation
Paul, 2E1EUB says his next mobile satellite operations as 2M1EUB from his van will be starting March 24 for 7 days from the east coast of Scotland Main operations are planned for AO-7 Mode A/B and other satellites as available Paul will post his latest infor- mation on amsat-bb and also on the lookup at QRZ com for 2M1EUB
This is a reminder to consider making your donation to help AMSAT-UK build the FUNcube Project, an amateur radio satellite that features a 435 to 145 MHz Linear Transponder for SSB/CW operation the Virgin Giving charity donation website http://tinyurl com/funcubegiving/ A donation link is also at http://www uk amsat org/
DQ0STRATEX is a special event call on the occasion of the strato- spheric balloon project (StratexB) planned for March 2012 by the local DARC clubs Duelmen (N28) and Luedinghausen (N29) They plan to fly an amateur radio load, consisting of an APRS beacon opera- ting on 144 800 MHz and a FM speech beacon operating on 430 375 MHz to the stratosphere on March 24 around 1600 UTC from the airport at Borkenberge near Luedinghausen Hams from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Bremen will also fly an experimental ADS-B receiver DQ0STRATEX plans to be active on all bands and all modes between now and January 31, 2013
If you ever wondered if the astronauts on the ISS could see you shining a light at them you'll get your answer here On March 4, about 65 amateur astronomers were in position at the Lazano Observ- atory in Springbranch Texas (near San Antonio) They turned on searchlights and waited as the ISS was set to make an appearance in the sky Astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT had no trouble seeing the flashes Watch the video at: http://tinyurl com/ISS-Flash (UniverseToday com)
NASA invites you watch the 2012 Exploring Space Lectures held at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D C live on the web:

Big Bang for the Buck: Cosmology from WMAP March 22, 2012, at 8 p m EDT (UTC-4) http://www nasm si edu/events/eventDetail cfm?eventID=3725

The Little Satellite That Could April 11, 2012, at 8 p m EDT (UTC-4) http://www nasm si edu/events/eventDetail cfm?eventID=3726

Gamma Ray Bursts and the Birth of Black Holes May 16, 2012, at 8 p m EDT (UTC-4) http://www nasm si edu/events/eventDetail cfm?eventID=3727

Seeking Planets Like Earth June 5, 2012, at 8 p m EDT (UTC-4) http://www nasm si edu/events/eventDetail cfm?eventID=3728
NASA announces the release of the ISSLive! app for iPhone, iPad and Andoid This innovative, interactive app provides a novel way to learn about the International Space Station while on the go

The ISS Live! app delivers live streaming data from the Interna- tional Space Station Users can take a virtual 3-D tour of the Mission Control Center and the space station, and view mission control console displays with real-time data Interactive educa- tional lessons using the data, as well as crew and science time- lines with individual crew member, social media and international science experiment details are also available via the app

To learn more and find links to download the ISSLive! app, visit http://spacestationlive jsc nasa gov where you will find the icons for the iPhone App Store and the Android Market (iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc , registered in the U S and other countries Android is a registered trademark of Google Inc
- NASA Education Express Message -- March 8, 2012
Here is an interesting video with the caption, "Is this the best video footage ever of photos taken from the International Space Station? ISS astronaut and Expedition 29 commander Mike Fossum seems to think so " Fly over the earth at: http://www universetoday com/93828/the-best-iss-video-ever-you-decide/ The video is a series of time lapse photos of Earth at night as seen from the ISS
The 16th Annual SVHFS Conference will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina April 20-21 In addition to the technical activities the conference will feature a keynote address by ARRL President, Kay Craigie, N3KN at lunch on Saturday The banquet speaker will be 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Dr Joe Taylor, K1JT See http://www svhfs org/ for more details and to register
March 13-22 marks the next GLOBE at Night sky survey for students and citizen scientists Information how to participate, sky charts, and software applications can be found at: http://www globeatnight org
Although the New Space Fence radar is still 5 years away from full operation Lockheed Martin has posted a cool video of the prototype at http://tinyurl com/SpaceFence (youtube) UniverseToday has post- ed an article with more details and associated links at: http://tinyurl com/UniverseTodayRadar (UniverseToday com)
Check out the article written by a teenage ham, "How to Work the Amateur FM Satellites" by Vince Waelti, K9TSU, posted at: http://www eham net/articles/27718 Congratulations Vince on your publication

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report March 5, 2012

1 School Contacts

Dilworth Elementary School in San Jose, California had an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, March 5 at 18:33 UTC The ARISS contact is part of a comprehensive education plan which will pique students' interest in Science Tech- nology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held with ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands on Tuesday, March 6 at 13:11 UTC via station ON4ISS in Belgium The radio activity is part of an educational program around André Kuipers' mission Spaceship Earth which targets children who are 10-14 years of age Part of this program consists of mission assignments Kuipers gives to Dutch school children The winners of each challenge will be invited to the radio contact Other activities include lessons and experiments

ESA Awards ARISS Contact to Winners of Competition

Students from three schools, the American School of the Hague, the International School of Amsterdam and the British School in the Neth- erlands, took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Sta- tion (ARISS) contact on Monday, February 27 via station IK1SLD in Italy This ARISS contact with astronaut André Kuipers was offered as a prize by the European Space Agency (ESA) to those schools who submitted the best suggestions for experiments or demonstrations that could be per- formed in microgravity on board the ISS using common everyday items The youth were given lessons on radio signals and communications which involved local radio ham experts

Atlanta, Georgia Youth Radio ISS Astronaut

On Friday, March 2, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Sta- tion (ARISS) contact was held between astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT on the ISS and Parkside Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia The radio link was provided by station K6DUE in Greenbelt, Maryland Questions were asked concerning the education and training needed to become an astronaut and about how space affects one's appetite and sleep The contact was part of a comprehensive education plan using NASA related activities to pique students' interest in Science, Technology, Engin- eering and Math (STEM) Audio was carried live on the NASA TV hour East Atlanta Patch posted an article on the contact http://eastatlanta patch com/articles/parkside-elementary-to- international-space-station-over#video-9240102

Pettit Chats with Greek Students via ARISS

Students attending the 5th Geniko Lykeio Katerinis in Katerini, Greece experienced a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, March 2 The youth spoke with Don Pettit about the experiments onboard the ISS and asked how he communicates with his family during his mission The contact com- plemented lessons covering astronomy and amateur radio with special attention given to the ISS regarding its role in humanity and science, its orbit and the every day life of the astronaut ISS courses were based on ESA's education tool "ISS Education Kit " Five hundred were in attendance and another hundred connected to the internet to view the streaming video Media coverage included two television stations

Amateur Radio Newsline Covers ARISS

On March 2, Amateur Radio Newsline report #1803 carried an article about the recent ARISS contact held during the John Glenn Event in Perth, Australia The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of John Glenn's orbit of the Earth, when the population of Perth turned on its lights and Glenn observed the city was visible from space, lead- ing to Perth's nickname, "City of Lights " To view, "Ham Radio in Space: Amateur Radio Celebrates John Glenn over Perth Australia," see: http://www arnewsline org/storage/scripts/nsln1803 txt

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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

And, with that please keep in mind that the Sun accounts for 99 8% of the Solar System's mass 1,300,000 Earths could fit inside of the Sun Jupiter is as big as the Sun's core 1,300 Earth's could fit inside of Jupiter

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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