Month: June 2014

Possible ISS Voice Contacts on Field Day

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ariss_logoARISS NEWS RELEASE   no. 14-02
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
David Jordan, AA4KN – ARISS Public Relations

Current discussions between the ARISS team and NASA suggest the possibility of voice contacts with the International Space Station (ISS) during Saturday’s ARRL Field Day activities this coming weekend.

In a June 23 email, Kenneth Ransom, the ISS Ham Radio payload developer, stated “I have received a response from astronaut (Reid) Wiseman that he is willing to try and work some stations on Saturday. Pass times begin very soon after the start of Field day.” Wiseman would operate under the call sign, NA1SS. Should Alex Gerst participate, he would use the call sign, DP0ISS.

If voice operation does occur, It will likely take place from the Columbus (COL) module using the standard Region 2 uplink frequency of 144.49 MHz and 145.800 MHz for downlink. It’s expected that the packet system will be operational on 145.825 MHz during periods when the crew is not available.

It’s not clear whether any of the Russian crew would participate from the Russian module, but if so, they would be directed to use 437.550 MHz for any contacts using the call sign RS0ISS. The COL would also be available to their crew using the VHF frequencies above, if Wiseman is not operating.

Listed below are approximate pass times and a chart showing ISS passes for the Field Day weekend. The pass times shown are not definite, scheduled times with the crew. They may or may not be able to support these times. And, updates to this tentative plan will be released as they become available.

Saturday, June 28:

Click for full size image. Each segment starts and ends when the U.S. coastline is on the horizon of the ISS.
Click for full size image. Each segment starts and ends when the U.S. coastline is on the horizon of the ISS.
  • N. America (18:11-18:33 UTC)
  • Hawaii (19:36 – 19:47 UTC)
  • N. America (19:48-20:10 UTC)

 

2014 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced

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The 2014 candidates, in alphabetical order by last names are:

Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Tom Clark, K3IO
Steve Coy, K8UD
Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
Frank Griffin, K4FEG
Bryan Klofas, KF6ZEO
Lou McFadin, W5DID
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM

Normally there would be 3 full Board seats open this year, plus 2 alternates.  However, with the passing of Tony Monteiro, AA2TX (SK), there will be an additional full Board seat open to fill the remainder of his term. This means that the top three recipients of votes will have two-year terms, the fourth most vote recipient will serve as full member for one year, and the fifth and sixth highest vote recipients will serve as first and second alternate respectively.

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Dnepr Launch with 37 satellites on June 19th

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jun19dnepr
Dnepr Space Head Module, courtesy of ISIS Launch Services

ISC Kosmotras has launched another Dnepr from the Yasny facility in Russia. This launch carried an astounding 37 individual satellites to orbit, eclipsing the record set just last November by the previous Dnepr launch (including AMSAT-UK’s FunCube-1 aka AO-73). The Dnepr is a converted R-36M ICBM, now retasked to launch satellites instead of nuclear warheads. Launch was Thursday, June 19th, 2014 at 19:11:11 UTC.

While a complete listing of the satellites onboard can be found at http://www.zarya.info/Calendar.php and http://www.spaceflight101.com/dnepr-launch-updates—2014-cluster-launch.html , we have compiled a list of the amateur and amateur related payloads below:

Satellite (Click Link) Downlink Mode Uplink Mode
ANTELSat 437.575 1k2 FSK/AFSK, SSTV 145.86
437.280 CW 145.xx
2403.000 500k GFSK/MSK
DTUSat-2 2401.835 1k2-38k4 MSK data 1268.9 9k6 CPFSK
 DUCHIFAT-1 145.980 1k2 BPSK or DSB voice 435.XXX
NanosatC-Br1 145.865 435.XXX
PACE 437.485 1k2 AFSK/CW
PolyITAN 437.675 1k2 AFSK/CW
POPSAT-HIP1 437.405 1k2-9k6 CCSDS
QB50p1 (FUNCube-3) 145.935-.965 transponder 435.035-.065 transponder
145.815 1k2 BPSK/CW
QB50p2 145.880 1k2 BPSK/CW
145.840 9k6 FSK
UniSat-6 437.425 9k6 GMSK 437.425 9k6 GMSK
BugSat-1 437.445 9k6 GMSK
Aurora-Tabletsat 435.550
436.100
437.050 D-STAR Parrot Repeater

The Unisat-6 team has published preliminary keps that should provide approximate tracking for the first few days at most. Be advised to listened before and after the pass times these keps predict.

UNISAT-6
1 00000U 00000    14169.02083330  .00000831  00000-0  10000-3 0 00009
2 00000 097.9760 063.7300 0060000 225.6000 206.7270 14.69750000000017

OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1

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Lituanicasat-1-frequencies
Lituanicasat-1-frequencies

In a message to the LituanicaSAT-1 team, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced, “LituanicaSAT-1 has met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number. My findings from information provided to AMSAT-NA and IARU officials confirm this to be true. Accordingly, under the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I do hereby assign LituanicaSAT-1 the designation LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78, or LO-78. I, and all of the amateur radio satellite community, wish LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78 a long and successful mission.”

On behalf of the LituanicaSAT-1 team, Simon Kareiva, LY2EN replied, “It is my honor and pleasure to accept this assignation. Our team is focused to keep LO-78 operational for the benefit of amateur radio as long, as it is possible for a small cubesat. Thank you very much, Simon LY2EN.”

The LituanicaSAT-1 team has announced activation of the FM transponder. A general rule to find out if the transponder is working at the moment is to monitor the beacon frequency on 437.275 MHz. If you can hear CW FM beacon it means that transponder is off, if you cannot hear it –  the transponder is on. The transponder frequencies are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS.

[ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator for the above information]