AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-075

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:

• Falcon 9 CRS-3 Launch Delay and KickSat Update
• FUNcube-1 Transponder Test March 22
• Canadian AMSAT Delegate to the ARISS Working Group Appointed
• Central States VHF Society Conference Call for Papers
• GOT GRIDS Award #1 Issued
• 40th Eastern VHF-UHF-MW Conference
• UK Spectrum Proposal Will Impact Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services
• Spread the Word About the ARRL Teachers Institute

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-075 01 ANS-075 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 075 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 16, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-075 01

Falcon 9 CRS-3 Launch Delay and KickSat Update

Zac Manchester KD2BHC has released this update on KickSat which will carry 104 tiny Sprite satellites into a 325×315 km 51 5 degree inclination orbit The launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS 3 mission is planned for somewhere between March 30 and April 2

The launch will be from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and you can watch it live on NASA TV, which will also be streaming online on Ustream

Here’s a rough sequence of events:

 Falcon 9 launch (0:00)
 Falcon 9 upper stage separation (+0:03)
 Dragon capsule separation (+0:10)
 KickSat deployment from Falcon 9 upper stage (+0:16)
 KickSat powers on and begins transmitting telemetry (+1:06)
 Sprite deployment (+16 days and 16 minutes after launch)

The Sprites will be deployed by a timer exactly 16 days after KickSat is deployed from the launch vehicle The timing was arranged with NASA to avoid interference with ISS operations

Once KickSat turns on its radio, you should be able to pick it up with very basic Ham radio gear It will be transmitting telemetry packets in AX 25 format on 437 505 MHz with 1200 baud AFSK modulation I’ll post KickSat’s orbital elements here and on the project wiki, which will also have more information on setting up a receiving station As always, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions

Thanks for your support!

[ANS thanks Zac, KD2BHC, for the above information]

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FUNcube-1 Transponder Test March 22

When in sunlight FUNcube-1 is normally in “Educational Mode” (transponder off with high power beacon) but on Saturday, March 22, 2014 at approximately 0930 UT the FUNcube team are planning to switch to “Amateur Mode” (transponder on with low power beacon) for at least one whole orbit

The aim of the switch on March 22 is to check the effect on the satellite of continuous “Amateur Mode”, especially battery temperature

FUNcube website http://www funcube org uk/

FUNcube Yahoo Group http://amsat-uk org/funcube/yahoo-group/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

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Canadian AMSAT Delegate to the ARISS Working Group Appointed

Barry Baines, WD4ASW, President-Radio Amateur Satellite Corp (AMSAT-NA) announced that Stefan Wagener, VE4NSA/VE4SW, has agreed to serve once again as the Canadian AMSAT delegate to the ARISS Working Group Stefan comes highly recommended by Maurice-André Vignault,VE3VIG/VE2MA, the former Canadian AMSAT delegate who recently decided to step down

Stefan has been an active amateur radio operator for over 30 years, both in Europe (DG1GWS) and North America He held a call in the US (KC8NSA) while in the States starting in 1989 and since 2001 has been living in Winnipeg, Manitoba using VE4NSA/VE4SW Stefan became a Canadian citizen in 2009

Stefan's interests in amateur radio in space and ARISS are reflected in his extensive participation in these areas As an AMSAT-NA member, he has served as an Area Coordinator, helping local amateurs in Manitoba become involved in satellite communications He also organized the direct ARISS school contact that took place at a Winnipeg school in July 2007 The contact took place at Maples Collegiate and was the first ARISS school contact to take place in Manitoba with the school using Stefan's call (VE4NSA) He is currently serving with a local Winnipeg High School (VE4ISS) on an ARISS ground station and STEM outreach He also has interest in amateur television, serving as sysop for a Yahoo! Group focusing on Ham TV

Professionally, Stefan holds a PhD in microbiology and has worked for the Public Health Agency of Canada and currently for the Canadian Grain Commission His has assisted the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and European Space Agency (ESA) on planetary protection issues and policies as a "biorisk" and "biocontainment" specialist

ARISS is a critical program for amateur radio and AMSAT and finding enthusiastic, capable volunteers who want to help to make a difference is important to the future of ARISS I believe you will find Stefan to be a valuable addition to the team

[ANS thanks Barry Baines, WD4ASW, President AMSAT-NA for the above information]

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Central States VHF Society Conference Call for Papers

The Central States VHF Society's 48th Annual CSVHFS Conference will be held on 25-27 July, 2014 in Austin, Texas For details see the conference web pages at:

http://www csvhfs org/2014conference/index html

The CSVHFS is soliciting papers, presentations, and poster displays for on all aspects of weak-signal VHF and higher amateur radio applications, designs, and techniques You do not need to attend the conference, nor present your paper, to have it published in the Pro- ceedings Posters will be displayed during the two days of the Con- ference

Suggested topics include: + Antennas + Test Equipment and measurement techniques + Construction of equipment + Operating including Contesting, Roving, and DXpeditions + RF power amps + Propagation + Pre-amplifiers + Digital Modes (WSJT, JT65, etc ) + EME + Regulatory topics + Software-defined Radio (SDR) + Digital Signal Processing (DSP)

More information regarding submission can be found at: http://www csvhfs org/2014conference/2014callforpapers html or contact Tom, K5TRA at csvhfs2014@gmail com

[ANS thanks the Central States VHF Society for the above information]

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GOT GRIDS Award #1 Issued

Congratulations to Glenn, AA5PK for being the first to complete the requirements for the GOT GRIDS? Award #1

Effective January 1, 2014 your CW/SSB amateur satellite contacts can be used to earn the new Got Grids? award To qualify you must log one contact in each of the 10 grid fields of the lower 48 United States: CN, CM, DN, DM, DL, EN, EM, EL, FN, FM Only two-way contacts completed via a linear transponder satellite can be used for this award This award will be effective January 1, 2014, all contacts must be made on or after this date

The web page for this award can be found at: http://www starcommgroup org/gotgrids html

Send your log to Rick Tillman, WA4NVM or Damon Runion, WA4HFN for checking, along with your call, name, and current mailing address to either: wa4nvm@comcast net or wa4hfn@comcast net This award is sponsored by the Star Comm Satellite Group so do not send your logs to AMSAT

This award is free If you would like to make a donations to the AMSAT satellite program please send it to: AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave Suite 600, Silver Spring MD 20910

[ANS thanks Damon Runion, WA4HFN for the above information]

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40th Eastern VHF-UHF-MW Conference

The 40th Eastern VHF-UHF-MW Conference will be held April 11-12-13, 2014 at the Baymont Inn and Suites, 20 Taylor St , Manchester, CT 06042

Conference information and online registration is available at: http://www newsvhf com/vhfconf html

The discounted Room Rate is $69 dbl, $99 suite Contact the Baymont Inn: 860-643-5645 for your reservations Tell them "VHF Conference" to get the discounted rate There remain a limited amount of rooms available--many have been sold already

Registration $25 before April 1, $30 after April 1 and at the door Banquet $28 Must order banquet before April 1

Last Call We are still looking for your interesting presentation! Please email Paul Wade, W1GHZ W1GHZ@arrl net

This conference is sponsored by: North East Weak Signal Group (NEWS) For further information check the web page or e-mail Mark, K1MAP: map1@mapinternet com

[ANS thanks Mark Casey, K1MAP for the above information]

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UK Spectrum Proposal Will Impact Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services

The UK communications regulator Ofcom has published a consultation setting out proposals for addressing technical issues related to the forthcoming award of 190 MHz of spectrum at 2350-2390 MHz, 3410-3480 MHz and 3500-3580 MHz It is expected that these frequencies will be used for 4G mobile services using Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Ofcom say In certain circumstances, LTE has the potential to cause interference to applications/devices using spectrum in adjacent frequency bands

Ofcom has assessed the impact for both licensed and licence-exempt uses of the release and adjacent spectrum

The Amateur Service is covered in section 9 page 73 and the Amateur-Satellite Service in section 12 page 87 (12 25-12 30) of the consultation document

With regard to the Amateur-Satellite Service Ofcom refer to the ITU-R frequency filing database as a source of information National administrations rather than individuals are responsible for submitting this information and it is suspected that not all administrations have been doing so which may lead to usage being understated

Regarding the impact on 2400 MHz Ofcom says:

12 29 In our consultation on amateur usage we acknowledged that the 2400-2450 MHz band could experience an increase in background noise as a result of the release and set out advice for amateurs planning continued use of these bands

12 30 We consider that there is no need for further detailed analysis of the impact of the release on the amateur satellite service as there is a 10 MHz separation between this use and release band and there should be no issue greater than the in-band ISM interference

It is presumed that in 12 30 Ofcom are saying they expect the interference to 2400 MHz from the LTE release band will not exceed that of a WiFi router operating on the desired frequency The weak signal segment 2400-2402 MHz is not used WiFi but will clearly suffer interference from the new LTE band

Consultation document http://stakeholders ofcom org uk/binaries/consultations/pssr-2014/summary/pssr pdf

The consultation closes on May 15 2014, you can respond online via the consultation page at http://stakeholders ofcom org uk/consultations/pssr-2014/

Read the joint response to the Aug 9, 2013 Ofcom: Spectrum Sharing Consultation http://amsat-uk org/2014/01/12/ofcom-spectrum-sharing-consultation/

[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA, for the above information]

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Spread the Word About the ARRL Teachers Institute

Integrate Science and Math with Engineering and Technology by Exploring Wireless Technology

ARRL, the national association for amateur radio, has just announced the schedule for two sessions of its Introductory Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology (TI-1) to be offered during the summer of 2014 Now in its 11th year, the ARRL Teachers Institute is a four-day, expenses paid, intensive professional development opportunity for educators who want to receive training and resources to explore wireless technology in the classroom Topics include basic electronics, radio science, microcontroller programming and basic robotics ARRL will also offer an advanced Teachers Institute (TI-2) on Remote Sensing and Data Gathering The linked article from the March issue of ARRL’s journal, QST, includes the schedule and description of offerings this summer

Please visit the ARRL website at: www arrl org/teachers-institute-on-wireless-technology for more details

Go to www arrl org/teachers-institute-application for information about applying and to download an application Application deadline is May 1

[ANS thanks Debra, K1DMJ, for the above information]

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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, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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