AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-239

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:

• RadFsSat/Fox-1B Integration With P-POD Complete & Waiting for Launch
• AMSAT-NA BoD Ballots Due At AMSAT Office By September 15, 2017
• AMSAT Office Closed Until September 6
• ARISS Crossband Repeater is NOT Active for General Communications
• Hamvention 2017 AMSAT Forum Videos Posted
• CubeSat Launch Initiative Announcement of Opportunity
• AMSAT 2017 Symposium Call for Papers
• NASA Tournament Lab USSOCOM CubeSat Challenge
• Russian Arctic DXpedition Plan Includes Satellite Operation

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-239 01 ANS-239 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 239 01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD DATE August 27, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-239 01

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RadFsSat/Fox-1B Integration With P-POD Complete & Waiting for Launch

Following successful integration into the P-POD last week, it has now been announced that the launch date of RadFxSat/Fox-1B is set for November 10, 2017

RadFxSat will fly with four other CubeSats in the ELaNa XIV mission on the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket launching NASA's JPSS-1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA

After successful deployment of the JPSS-1 primary payload, the ELaNa XIV CubeSats will be deployed RadFxSat should have an orbit lifetime of about seven years in the projected orbit: + 811 km x 440 km + i = 97 73 degrees + LTAN = 13:20:35

[ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT Vice-President Engineering for the above information]

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AMSAT-NA BoD Ballots Due At AMSAT Office By September 15, 2017

Ballots for AMSAT-NA's Board of Directors were mailed to members in good standing on July 15 Members are encouraged to complete their ballots and return them as soon as possible Ballots must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15 in order to be counted

This year AMSAT-NA will be electing four voting members of the Board of Directors These will go to the four candidates receiving the highest number of votes In addition, there will be one alternate chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received

The 2017 candidates, in alphabetical order by last name are:

Jerry Buxton, N0JY Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA Peter Portanova, W2JV Paul Stoetzer, N8HM

Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT Please take the time to review the candidate statements that will accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board You have the option to vote for up to four candidates

[ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information]

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AMSAT Office Closed Until September 6

The AMSAT Office is closed between August 25 and Sepetember 6 It will reopen on Wednesday, September 6th

[ANS thanks Martha for the above information]

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ARISS Crossband Repeater is NOT Active for General Communications

ARISS reminds amateur operators that the voice repeater aboard the ISS has not officially been activated for general radio contacts although some stations have reported successful contacts using 435 050 MHz FM as the uplink and 145 800 MHz FM as the downlink

Last week these satellites with amateur radio were deployed by the Russian crew during their EVA:

TOMSK TPU-120 (RS04S) 437 025 MHz FM voice announcements Tanusha-SWSU-1 (RS-6S) 437 050 MHz AX25 9K6 bps, FM voice announcements Tanusha-SWSU-2 (RS-7S) 437 050 MHz AX25 9K6 bps, FM voice announcements

The Russian team set up the ISS repeater as a crossband relay between 437 050 MHz and 145 800 MHz at the last minute because they were concerned about getting telemetry from their satellites, which might be spinning more than they had expected They are hoping the nearby receiver on ISS can capture and retransmit telemetry that is not being picked up on the ground

USING THE RADIO AS A VOICE REPEATER FOR GENERAL CONTACTS DOES INTERFERE WITH THE INTENDED MISSION OF SUPPORTING RELAY OF TELEMETRY FROM THE TANUSHA SATELLITES

Radio amateurs wishing to try receiving the Tanusha telemetry can find technical details on the Southwest State University Space Activity page at: http://eng swsu ru/space

When the ARISS voice repeater is active and authorized for general amateur voice contacts the uplink frequency is 437 800 MHz FM using the 145 800 MH FM downlink

[ANS thanks ARISS and the Russian Southwest State University for the above information]

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Hamvention 2017 AMSAT Forum Videos Posted

Matthew, NJ4Y reports that three of the 2017 Hamvention AMSAT Forum videos have been added to the AMSAT Youtube channel, with more to come next week

Visit the AMSAT Youtube channel at: https://www youtube com/user/AMSATNA For Hamvention video of the AMSAT Forum for:

• 2017 Hamvention AMSAT Forum - AMSAT Status Report by Barry Baines
• 2017 AMSAT Hamvention Forum - AMSAT Operations Update by Drew Glasbrenner
• 2017 AMSAT Hamvention Forum - AMSAT Engineeting Update by Jerry Buxton

[ANS thanks Matthew Stevens, NJ4Y for the above information]

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CubeSat Launch Initiative Announcement of Opportunity

Accredited education institutions, nonprofit organizations, and NASA centers can join the adventure and challenges of space while helping the agency achieve its exploration goals through the next round of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI)

Applicants must submit proposals by 4:30 p m EST, Nov 21

The CSLI provides CubeSat developers with a low-cost pathway to conduct research in space that advances NASA's strategic goals in the areas of science, exploration, technology development, education and operations The initiative allows students, teachers and faculty to gain hands-on experience designing, building, and operating these small research satellites

To date, NASA has selected 151 CubeSat missions, 49 of which have been launched into space NASA has offered a launch opportunity to 95 percent of those selected through previous announcements, with 44 scheduled for launch within the next 12 months The selected CubeSats represent participants from 38 states and 85 unique organizations across the country

NASA will make selections by Feb 16, 2018, and selection does not guarantee a launch opportunity Selected experiments will be considered as auxiliary payloads on agency launches or for deployment from the International Space Station beginning in 2018 through 2021 U S non-pro?t and accredited educational organizations are responsible for funding the development of the small satellites

For this round of the initiative, NASA is particularly interested in participation from organizations in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 12 states not previously selected These states are: Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming

CubeSats are part of a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites CubeSats are built to standard dimensions of 10x10x11 centimeters, which are called units or U They can be 1U, 2U, 3U, or 6U in size, and typically weigh less than 3 pounds (1 33 kilograms) per U A 6U CubeSat typically has a mass of about 26 5 pounds (12 to 14 kilograms) The final mass of a CubeSat depends on the selected deployment method

Small satellites like CubeSats play a valuable role in the agency’s exploration, technology, educational, and science investigations, including planetary exploration, Earth observation, and fundamental Earth and space science They are a cornerstone in the development of cutting-edge NASA technologies like laser communications, satellite-to-satellite communications and autonomous movement

For additional information about NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative, visit: http://go nasa gov/CubeSat_initiative

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]

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AMSAT 2017 Symposium Call for Papers

This call for papers is for the 2017 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 27, 28, 29, 2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort, Reno, Nevada

Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy to be submitted by October 6 for inclusion in the printed proceedings Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz N8FGV at n8fgv at amsat org

[ANS thanks Dan, N8FGV, for the above information]

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NASA Tournament Lab USSOCOM CubeSat Challenge

Do you have an idea that could advance the state of current CubeSat technologies and payloads and demonstrate applications that may benefit any of the USSOCOM missions? Propose new or innovative CubeSat payload technology/use concepts that can be demonstrated to support USSOCOM missions within 12-24 months Seven $5,000 prizes will be awarded in the following categories: 4 - 3U Winners, 2 - 6U Winners and 1 - People's Choice Award

Make sure to follow the competition to find out how you can get involved: https://herox com/cubesat-challenge

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is the Unified Combatant Command charged with manning, training, and equipping the various Special Operations Component Commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Armed Forces Core Activities within the scope of Special Operations Forces (SOF) include: Direct Action, Special Reconnaissance, Unconventional Warfare, Foreign Internal Defense, Civil Affairs Operations, Counterterrorism, Military Information Support Operations, Counter-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Security Force Assistance, Counterinsurgency, Hostage Rescue and Recovery, and Foreign Humanitarian Assistance

One of the guiding tenets of SOF is that most special operations require non-SOF assistance As such, USSOCOM is seeking global ideas on how to advance CubeSat capabilities Specifically, USSOCOM is conducting this crowdsourcing challenge to solicit concepts that advance the state of current CubeSat technologies and payloads and demonstrate applications that may benefit any of the USSOCOM missions Concepts should be viable for a prototype demonstration within 12-24 months These concepts will advance how CubeSats can be utilized to support Special Operations Forces (SOF) missions

Example areas that are relevant to USSOCOM missions are (not an exhaustive list): + Next-generation CubeSat and/or sensor technologies + Advanced communications; including full orbit Command & Control and data exfiltration + Electro-Optical (EO)/Infrared (IR) sensing and imaging + Multi/Hyper spectral sensor technology + Propulsion capabilities to modify or maintain orbits + Advanced On-Orbit data processing + Multi-function payloads + Tagging, Tracking and Locating capabilities

[ANS thanks NASA and the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for the above information]

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Russian Arctic DXpedition Plan Includes Satellite Operation

Members of the Russian Robinson Club (RRC) continue planning for their next Arctic operation Look for RI1F to be active from Victoriya Island (EU-190) They will will leave Murmansk sometime late September (27th), and they are expected to operate between October 1-7th This island group has never been activated before By the way, these islands count for DXCC purposes as Franz Josef Land Activity will be on 160-10 meters, including the WARC bands, VHF and UHF Operations will be on CW, SSB, the Digital modes, EME (dates are October 3-7th) and the satellites

They plan to operate from two different sites (one HF and EME; one VHF/UHF) The complete break down can be see on QRZ com

Currently, 12 operators have been named: Igor/UA9KDF (Team leader), Yury/ UA9OBA (RRC President), Andrey/UA9LDD (CW op), Valery/UA0ZC (CW/SSB op), Vladimir/R9LR (SSB/CW op), Sergey/UA9KB (CW op), Artemy/UA9KAM (Photo, video, SSB op), Andrey/RT9K (Mechanic, cook, SSB op), Victor/RW0BG (CW/SSB op), Mikhail/UA1QV (CW/SSB op), Valery/RA9J (CW/SSB op) and Vladimir (Son of UA9LDD; CW/SSB op)

Pilot station is Igor, RA3CQ QSL via ClubLog's OQRS or by the Bureau QSL Manager is Alexandr, RX9KM Watch QRZ com for updates Their Web page is still under construction at: http://legendsarctic com

[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No 1328 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 And with that, please keep in mind the tale of the two antennas got married – the wedding was lousy, but the reception was outstanding

73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM k9jkm at amsat dot org

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