Month: August 2021

ANS-241 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Aug. 29

by

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

  • AMSAT-EA GENESIS satellites may launch September
  • Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)
  • 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held (Repost)
  • Satellite Contact Achievements and Records
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-241 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 Aug 29

AMSAT-EA GENESIS satellites may launch September

Spain’s national amateur radio society, the URE, report two AMSAT-EA GENESIS satellites are expected to be launched on September 2, 2021.

A translation of the URE post reads:

The GENESIS-L and GENESIS-N satellites, designed and built by AMSAT-EA in collaboration with students from the European University and ICAI, will be launched, in a first attempt, on September 2, once the American company Firefly has carried out the static test of the Alpha launcher, this being the last step before its launch. The vehicle is ready for takeoff on its platform from Vanderberg Air Force Base in California and carries, for this inaugural flight, many other satellites from various organizations and universities.

The GENESIS are digital repeating satellites of ASK and CW and also carry Applied Ion Systems’ AIS-gPPT3-1C experimental ion thrusters.

The working frequencies of the satellites are as follows:

GENESIS-L
145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: CW, ASK 50 bps
436.875 MHz downlink CW, ASK 50 bps, am2sat callsign

GENESIS-N
145.888 MHz uplink, Modes: CW and ASK 50 bps
436.888 MHz downlink CW ASK 50 bps, am3sat callsign
The description of the telemetry and the mode of operation of its repeaters can be found in the following links:

Link to telemetry transmissions description (in English)
https://www.amsat-ea.org/app/download/12293076/AMSAT+EA+-+GENESIS+transmissions+description.pdf

Source URE https://www.ure.es/satelites-genesis-de-amsat-ea-2/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information and the translation]

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                   Join the 2021 President’s Club!
          Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
                 This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
                           Donate today at
           https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
                       You won’t want to miss it!
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Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)

The 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Registration is now open for the event at https://launch.amsat.org/Events Student registrations are available at $40, and General registration is at $75. Registration for the Saturday evening Symposium Banquet is an additional $55. Full details are available at the registration website.

The Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245, adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and only steps away from the METRO Blue Line’s American Blvd. stop. Nearby shopping and tourist attractions include Mall of America, SEA LIFE at Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe, and the Minnesota Zoo.

The Symposium includes presentations, exhibit space, and the AMSAT Annual General Meeting. The preliminary schedule is presented at https://launch.amsat.org/event-4414716

The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will be held before the Symposium, October 28-29, at the same hotel.

Those attending may make hotel reservations by calling the hotel directly at (952) 854-9000 or (877) 424-4188 (toll free). The group name is Amateur Satellite Group.

Platinum and Titanium members of the AMSAT President’s Club receive free admission to the Symposium and receive a complimentary lunch with the President on Saturday afternoon. Please email [email protected] to arrange registration.

Presenters are invited to participate at the Symposium and/or submit a paper to the Symposium Proceedings. Read the Call for Papers at https://www.amsat.org/2021-amsat-symposium-proceedings-call-for-papers/ for more information.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

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     Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
    and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
           AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
                  Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
           https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

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2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held

The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on June 15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated and their candidate statements can be found at link that follows:

Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO

In accordance with our Bylaws, AMSAT must hold an election, even though we have four nominations for four open Director positions. As such, we will host electronic voting on our Member Portal this year, at no cost to the organization. Voting is now open and will close on September 15, 2021.

When members click on the poll link, they will see their ballot (poll question). After choosing from the possible options, click the Submit button to cast your vote. Unlike many online polls, the results of all votes cast, up to the point of your vote, will not be displayed. AMSAT members can only vote once. If you click the poll link again after already voting, a vote submitted message will be displayed. As four seats on the Board of Directors are up for election this year, all four candidates will be seated on the Board when the voting period concludes on September 15, 2021.

To read candidate biographies see:
https://launch.amsat.org/2021-BoD-Election

AMSAT members may access their ballots at:
https://launch.amsat.org/Sys/Poll/25943

[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]

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AMSAT’s GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA’s ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!

                  https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

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Satellite Contact Achievements

Congratulations Toshio Arai, JM1LRA, and Junta Ohsone, 7L1ETP, on receiving the 55th and 56th 73 on 73 Awards by AMSAT-UK issued for working 73 unique stations on AO-73. Both operators completed the requirements for the award exclusively using CW. (posted via Twitter)

A new distance record has also been claimed on AO-73 (FUNcubeUK). A65GC worked F4DXV at 02:37 UTC on 20-Aug-2021 – a distance of 5,313 km.

A new distance record has been claimed on AO-27. @N5LEX in FN11nq65 worked @F4DXV in JN04it22 on 18-Aug-2021 at 20:46 UTC. https://amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM AMSAT Director & Executive Vice President for the above information]

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

    Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
            Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
           from our Zazzle store!
        25% of the purchase price of each product goes
            towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
              https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

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ARISS News

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

As of 08/26/2021 the next scheduled contact is yet to be determined. Current Status of ISS Stations:
​
Columbus Module radios:
IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS – Configured. Supporting cross band repeater (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down). Next mode change is to packet operation (145.825 MHz up & down) in late September.​
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 03. OFF Sep. 02 about 18:10 UTC. Back ON Sep. 04 about 13:45 UTC.
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 09.
Power down for upcoming US EVA on Sep. 12.
Supporting USOS scheduled voice contacts, packet and voice repeater ops.

Service Module radios:
Kenwood D710E – STATUS – Radio usually off.​ ​
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 03. Off Sep 02 about 18:10 UTC.
Power down for upcoming RS EVA on Sep. 09.
Power down for upcoming US EVA on Sep. 12.
Supporting ROS scheduled voice contacts and SSTV.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at  https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

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    AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an Amateur
    Radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
            be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

   Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

KX9X: Time to rove again! @Nancy_N9NCY  & I are heading back up to Minneapolis for a few days. Will activate the EN36/46 grid line on Sunday 8/29 on linear & FM sats. Pop ups while driving up 8/28 & back 9/2 possible. More info soon!

KB3IAI will be in FM26 on the coast from August 29th – Sept 5th. No set schedule, FM and SSB.

VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

The 2021 HamXposition is  taking place September the 11th and 12th, in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The convention has a new home at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center. If you would like to volunteer at the booth contact Phil Smith w1eme at amsat.org.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
October 29-31, 2021
Crowne Plaza AiRE
3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245.
Complete information and registration at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SYMPOSIUM.

RRRA Hamfest & ARRL Dakota Division Convention
Saturday, September 25, 2021, RRV Fairgrounds Hartl AG Building, 1805 Main Ave West, West Fargo, ND 58078
https://rrra.org/cal/2021/09/25/rrra-hamfest-arrl-dakota-division-convention

2021 Wyoming ARRL Section Convention
Saturday, October 9, 2021, Event Center at Archer, 3921 Archer Pkwy, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
https://wyhamcon.org/site

Updates may be found at: https://www.amsat.org/other-events/

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online presentations scheduled for the following clubs:
Sonoma (CA) ARC
STARS – Easy Coast
Fairlawn NJ
Portland OR
Longmont CO
SW Florida
Contact Clint at http://www.work-sat.com or by phone at 909-999-SATS (7287) to arrange a presentation.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, and Clint Bradford, K6CLS for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ At Space Symposium (https://www.spacesymposium.org/), Aerospace Corp proposed a new form factor alternative to CubeSats: DiskSats. These disks could be 1 m in diameter and 2.5 cm thick, allowing enough surface area for 200 watts of solar panels. On a CubeSat, this would require deployables. “The point of DiskSat is that it complements cubesats for missions that consist primarily of electronics that need higher power.” A stack of 20 plates is also easier to launch on a small launch vehicle than 20 CubeSats. It feels like this borrows a lot from Starlink’s form factor, and potentially, its deployment mechanism. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

+ At SmallSat (https://smallsat.org/), Florence Tan from NASA mentioned that NASA’s SMD has been shifting from very small CubeSats to 6U+ CubeSats, ESPA-class spacecraft, and constellations. Roger Walker from ESA mentioned a similar trend of moving from 3U to 6U and then 12U CubeSats for operational science missions, facilitated by accurate COTS pointing and propulsion.(ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

+ BryceTech just released their very thorough Smallsats by the Numbers Report, which they define as satellites under 600kg. 1,282 spacecraft launched in 2020, of which 94% were smallsats, representing 43% of the total upmass—of these, 937 were Starlink or OneWeb. A whopping 40% of all smallsats launched in the last 10 years launched in 2020. See also this interesting Tableau report on the uses, locations, and life-spans of satellites. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information.)

+ Space station spacewalk postponed by astronaut medical issue: A planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station Tuesday was postponed after NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei was diagnosed with a pinched nerve, which NASA described as a “minor medical issue.” Vande Hei planned to head outside the space station Tuesday with Japanese crewmade Akihiko Hoshide for a nearly seven-hour spacewalk to install a support bracket and modification kit that will enable the attachment of upgraded solar arrays set to arrive on a future cargo mission. The astronauts also planned to replace a floating point measurement unit, a device that measures the electrical charging potential of the space station solar arrays. NASA announced the postponement of the spacewalk Monday, describing Vande Hei’s condition as a “minor medical issue” and not a medical emergency. Additional detail at: https://bit.ly/3mCJSXc (ANS thanks Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now for the above information.)

+ Launch of lunar CubeSat moved from Virginia to New Zealand:  The launch of a miniature trailblazer probe for NASA’s planned Gateway lunar space station has been moved from Rocket Lab’s new launch pad in Virginia to the company’s spaceport in New Zealand, officials recently announced. NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, mission will test deep space navigation and communications technology in the vicinity of the moon. CAPSTONE will also demonstrate maneuvers to enter and operate in a near rectilinear halo orbit, an elliptical orbit around the moon that will be home to the Gateway, a critical piece of NASA’s architecture to return humans to the lunar surface. The Gateway is a mini-space station NASA intends to use as a staging point for crewed lunar landings later in the 2020s. Additional info at:https://bit.ly/3BjP8mP (ANS thanks Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now for the above information.)

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor,

Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ
kd4iz at frawg dot org

ANS-234 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Aug. 22

by

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

  • Contacts Completed Successfully Through AO-109
  • Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium
  • 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held
  • AMSAT Awards Update
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

 

ANS-234 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 Aug 22

Contacts Completed Successfully Through AO-109

Several amateurs have reported successful operation through the AO-109 satellite, even though the satellite’s power output has been determined to be less than 10 milliwatts.

Carlos Cardon, W7QL in DN40, completed a contact with Dave Beumer, W0DHB in DN70, on August 12 using FT4. They repeated with additional QSOs on August 15 and 18. Also on August 15, W7QL completed a contact with Alan Bowker, WA6DNR in CM87 using FT4. Further, W0DHB and Mark Johns, K0JM in EN35, completed an FT4 QSO through the satellite on August 18, and repeated with a second QSO on August 19.

Carlos noted, “Based upon our testing the past couple of days, I think FT4 QSOs should be consistently achievable on this satellite.”

These contacts have been an extension of digital mode experiments via satellite involving a larger number of stations, as reported earlier and in greater detail in the May/June 2020 issue of The AMSAT Journal.

The stations involved have been fairly typical satellite setups without exotic additions. W7QL reports “using my IC-9700 (in Data mode, full power) and LEO-Pack antenna, with SatPC32 and WSJT-X.” W0DHB, WA6DNR, and K0JM are using FlexRadio transcievers with transverters.

All report using 75-100 watts of transmit power to get signals through AO-109, although care is taken to reduce power to 1 or 2 watts when using digital modes on other linear satellites, such as RS-44. While FT4 activity is generally at the low end of the downlink passband on other linear satellites (5 kHz above the bottom passband limit), activity on AO-109 has been on a downlink frequency of 435.770 (5 kHz below transponder center).

Several other stations have reported experimenting with CW on AO-109. Take Tone, JK2XXK in PM85, completed a CW QSO with Tetsurou Satou,  JA0CAW in PM97, on May 1, and other contacts among Japanese amateurs have followed. John Papay, K8YSE, Doug Tabor, N6UA, and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, in addition to W7QL and W0DHB, have reported hearing or experimenting with CW on the bird in North America. K8YSE in EN91 and Stephan Greene, KS1G in FM18, reported a completed CW QSO on August 21.

Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station, has also been paying close attention to AO-109 signals. He notes, “All you need is to use AF from the built in sound cards of the 9700, directly into WSJT-X, over USB cable. Then, have the radio use USB-D and LSB-D modes. It will probably give you a little better signal to noise I think? Seeing 3 kHz of the transponder downlink is plenty. Doppler correction is important, especially around TCA. Tell SatPC32 under the CAT tab to do Intervals of “0 Hz” for SSB/CW and use a Speed of x5.”

[ANS thanks Carlos Cardon, W7QL, for the above information]

Join the 2021 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!

Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium

The 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Registration is now open for the event at https://launch.amsat.org/Events. Student registrations are available at $40, and General registration is at $75. Registration for the Saturday evening Symposium Banquet is an additional $55. Full details are available at the registration website.

The Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245, adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and only steps away from the METRO Blue Line’s American Blvd. stop. Nearby shopping and tourist attractions include Mall of America, SEA LIFE at Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe, and the Minnesota Zoo.

The Symposium includes presentations, exhibit space, and the AMSAT Annual General Meeting. The preliminary schedule is presented at https://launch.amsat.org/event-4414716

The AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will be held before the Symposium, October 28-29, at the same hotel.

Those attending may make hotel reservations by calling the hotel directly at (952) 854-9000 or (877) 424-4188 (toll free) or online by visiting crowneplazaaire.com. The group name is Amateur Satellite Group.

Platinum and Titanium members of the AMSAT President’s Club receive free admission to the Symposium and receive a complimentary lunch with the President on Saturday afternoon. Please email [email protected] to arrange registration.

Presenters are invited to participate at the Symposium and/or submit a paper to the Symposium Proceedings. Read the Call for Papers at https://www.amsat.org/2021-amsat-symposium-proceedings-call-for-papers/ for more information.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Being Held

The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on June
15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated and their
candidate statements can be found at link that follows:

Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO

In accordance with our Bylaws, AMSAT must hold an election, even though we
have four nominations for four open Director positions. As such, we will
host electronic voting on our Member Portal this year, at no cost to the
organization. Voting is now open and will close on September 15, 2021.

When members click on the poll link, they will see their ballot (poll
question). After choosing from the possible options, click the Submit button
to cast your vote. Unlike many online polls, the results of all votes cast,
up to the point of your vote, will not be displayed. AMSAT members can only
vote once. If you click the poll link again after already voting, a vote
submitted message will be displayed. As four seats on the Board of Directors
are up for election this year, all four candidates will be seated on the
Board when the voting period concludes on September 15, 2021.

To read candidate biographies see:
https://launch.amsat.org/2021-BoD-Election

AMSAT members may access their ballots at:
https://launch.amsat.org/Sys/Poll/25943

[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]

AMSAT’s GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA’s ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

AMSAT Awards Update

Here are the latest award updates for the first half of the year, plus a bit.

AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO

John Wedge, VA6WEG
Brandon Coon, KI5MJH
Davy Jacobs, ON8ZJ
Ryan Frederick, K7NZE
Peter Spinelli, N4YOT
John Hutchison, KI5NYZ
Allen Beard, K4WSD
David Johnston, WD6AOE

——

AMSAT Communications Achievement Award

Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #633
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #634
Dave Lane, KB0RFY, #635
Allen Beard, K4WSD, #636
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #637
Thomas Talley, K0CFI, #638

——

AMSAT Sexagesimal Satellite Communications Achievement Award

Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #190
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #191
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #192

——

AMSAT Century Award

Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #57
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #58

——

AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award

Martin Schuette, N9EAT, #US236
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #US237
Dave Lane, KB0RFY, #US238
Allen Beard, K4WSD, #US239
Wes Baden, NA1ME, #US240
Thomas Talley, K0CFI, #US241

——

AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award (1,000-4,000)

Ken Bodholt, KI7UXT #US104 upgraded to 4,000
Bernd Scholer, DL6IAN #US116 upgraded to 3,000
Michael Mark, VE4MM, #117 upgraded to 2,000
Stephen DeVience, N8URE, #US118
Larry Callahan, KF6JOQ, #US119

——

AMSAT Rover Award

Rover Call
===== ========
#57 ND9M/MM
#58 LA9XGA
#59 WI7P
#60 KF6JOQ

——

GridMaster Award

GridMaster Call
========== ========
#27 W9TWJ
#28 W5RKN
#29 KI7UXT
#30 K8YSE/7
#31 KB6LTY
#32 KC9ELU

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

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

Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

The next scheduled contact is with Carl Fuhlrott-Gymnasium, Wuppertal, Germany, direct via DN1CFG. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS. The scheduled astronaut is Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI. The contact is go for: Monday, 2021-08-23 07:54:53 UTC, 81 degrees maximum elevation over Germany.

The ARISS station is currently supporting packet operation (145.825 MHz up & down). Next mode change is to cross band repeater after the school contact on Aug 23 (after 08:05 UTC).​ The station will power down for upcoming U.S. EVA [spacewalk] on August 24. Shutdown scheduled for about 19:00 UTC Aug 23. Power up scheduled for 07:45 UTC Aug 25.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an Amateur
Radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

WL7T will be putting a number of Alaska grids on the air, August 21-27:
BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75, BP84, BP85

VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online presentations scheduled for the following clubs:
Sonoma (CA) ARC
STARS – Easy Coast
Fairlawn NJ
Portland OR
Longmont CO
SW Florida
Contact Clint at http://www.work-sat.com or by phone at 909-999-SATS (7287) to arrange a presentation.

The 2021 HamXposition is taking place September the 11th and 12th, in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The convention has a new home at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center. If you would like to volunteer at the booth contact Phil Smith w1eme at amsat.org.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
October 29-31, 2021
Crowne Plaza AiRE
3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245.
Complete information and registration at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SYMPOSIUM.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The previously announced schedule of FCC amateur radio application fees likely will not go into effect before 2022. FCC staff confirmed during a recent virtual meeting with Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs) that the agency is still working on the necessary changes to the Universal Licensing System (ULS) software and other processes and procedures that must be in place before it starts collecting fees from amateur applicants. Once it’s effective, a $35 application fee will apply to new, modification (upgrade and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call sign applications. (ANS thanks ARRL for the above information.)

+ AMSAT-DL reports the antenna used by DP0GVN in Antarctica for the QO-100 geostationary satellite amateur radio transponder is completely destroyed. According to the Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI), a severe winter storm hit Atka Bay (Antarctica) at the end of last week. Unfortunately, the satellite antenna for the geostationary QO-100 amateur radio satellite was also completely destroyed during the storm, despite the weatherproof radome, so no school contacts with DP0GVN can take place until further notice. AMSAT-DL and AWI hope to erect a new antenna early next year, in particular to continue the very successful contacts with schools. (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-DL for the above information.)

+ NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP, and astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will venture outside the International Space Station on Tuesday, Aug. 24, for a spacewalk to install a support bracket in preparation for future installation of the orbiting laboratory’s third new solar array. NASA will discuss the upcoming spacewalk during a news conference at 1800z (2 p.m. EDT) Monday, Aug. 23. Live coverage of the news conference and spacewalk will air on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. [Amateurs should be aware that all amateur radio transmissions are powered off during spacewalks.] (ANS thanks NASA for the above information.)

+ The Ingenuity helicopter on Mars has now completed its 12th flight, where it acted as a scout, looking ahead for dangerous terrain for it’s partner in crime, the Perseverance rover. The 4-pound autonomous rotocraft climbed over almost 10 meters (33 ft) high, and traveled a total of 450 meters (1,476 ft) in 169 seconds. It flew over the over an area dubbed the ‘South Seitah’ region of Mars, where Perseverance will explore. (ANS thanks Universe Today for the above information.)

+ Scientists have spotted a previously unrecognized feature of our Milky Way galaxy: A contingent of young stars and star-forming gas clouds is sticking out of one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms like a splinter poking out from a plank of wood. Stretching some 3,000 light-years, this is the first major structure identified with an orientation so dramatically different than the arm’s. (ANS thanks Space Daily for the above information.)

+ NASA is calling on all sixth through 12th-grade educators and students to submit experiments for possible suborbital flights as a way of gaining firsthand experience with the design and testing process used by NASA researchers. The NASA TechRise Student Challenge invites students to design, build, and launch experiments on suborbital rockets and high-altitude balloons. Each winning team will receive $1,500 to build their experiment and an assigned spot to test it on a NASA-sponsored suborbital flight. For details, see https://www.futureengineers.org/nasatechrise (ANS thanks NASA for the above information.)

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org

ANS-227 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Aug. 15

by

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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: [email protected]

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

  • Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)
  • IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites
  • AMSAT at the Northeast HamXposition – Call for Volunteers
  • MIR-SAT 1 Reaches STEM Objective
  • FT4 via the AO-73 CubeSat Demonstration Video
  • Weekly Changes for Keplerian Elements/TLE’s
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-227 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 Aug 15

Call For Papers For The 39Th AMSAT Space Symposium (Repost)

This is a call for papers for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Proposals for symposium 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 submitted by October 18 for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at [email protected]

[ANS thanks Dan Schultz N8FGV, Symposium Program Chair, for the above information]

Join the 2021 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!

IARU Coordinates Two New Satellites

Cape IV-GTO
A 100x100x20mm Picosat sponsored by the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. The first mission is to teach by doing to design, build, test, launch and operate satellite on orbit. The second mission is to reach out to high schools in the area to design and operate devices in orbit. This will train high school students in radio communications and encourage STEM activities. Proposing LoRa comms using 10.3 Fd1 18bps. Downlinks on 145.825 MHz, 145.990 MHz (spare) and 437.325 MHz have been coordinated. No launch info yet available but planning a 36000 x 200 km orbit. More info at https://ee.louisiana.edu/research/cape.

QubeSat
A 2U CubeSat sponsored by the University of California – Berkeley. The QubeSat mission is to research the effects of space environment on a quantum gyroscope based on NV–centers in diamond. These sensors could support better attitude determination systems for cubesats, including Amateur cubesats. The OpenLST uses the TI CC1101 packet structure, supported by the accompanying OpenLST software. This packet format can be decoded by anyone since it is well documented, so it could be useful to the amateur satellite community. Proposing a 2-FSK UHF downlink at 5k5 bps. A downlink on 437.740 MHz has been coordinated. Planning an Astra launch into a 500 km orbit in Dec 2021. More info from https://stac.berkeley.edu/project/qubesat.

[ANS thanks IARU and AMSAT-UK for the above information]

AMSAT at the Northeast HamXposition– Call for volunteers

It is the efforts of volunteers that make Hamvention’s a success for AMSAT.
The interaction with AMSAT members, satellite operators, designers, and builders make the whole experience a lot of fun.

The 2021 HamXposition is  taking place September the 11-12, 2021 in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The convention has a new home  at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center. If you would like to volunteer at the booth contact Phil Smith [email protected].

[ANS thanks Phil Smith, W1EME for the above information]

Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

MIR-SAT 1 Reaches STEM Objective

One of the main objective of the MIR-SAT 1 project is to promote STEM and HAM radio which is fully in line with the AMSAT Ambassador initiative.

Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is quite proud to announce that three schools in 3B8 have successfully capture the TLM of MIR-SAT 1 so far and that many others Educational institution are already equipped to succeed same soon.

The following certificate were issued today by the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society today,

– 3B8BBD
– AM_nml
– E29AHU
– JH4XSY
– OM7AAK
– FSGSSS (The first 3B8 school to obtain the Award, Forestside State Secondary School (Girls)
– 3B8FV
– LZ1NY
– PMLMB (The second 3B8 School to obtain the Award, Polytecnics Mauritius Ltd. Montagne Blanche)

Prof. Hassan Rafa State Secondary School of Terre Rouge were the second school to receive and decode the signals from MIR-SAT 1 but unfortunately without a permanent internet connection they did not upload the telemetry to SatNOGS thus not eligible for the Award, hopefully they will get it soon.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to them for providing TLM of MIR-SAT 1 to MARS through SatNOGS.

Note that MIR-SAT 1 is still in safe mode and under testing. MARS will advise when it will be available to Amateur use ASAP.

[ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU  for the above information]

FT4 via the AO-73 CubeSat Demonstration Video

Sweden’s AMSAT-SM has released a short video showing communications via the amateur radio satellite AO-73 (FunCube-1) using the popular digital mode FT4. This is a short video of FT-4 communication via satellite AO-73 with SDR-Console V3.1 and Icom IC-705. It is a part of a guide that will be published later on AMSAT-SM web https://www.amsat.se/

In the first part you will see the first screen with SDR-Console with Airspy Mini as receiver, audio is piped to WSJT-X. You will also see SDR-Console handle the TX Doppler correction for the IC-705 via “External radio”.

In the second part you will see the second screen with WSJT-X connected to IC-705. The output was only one (1) to two (2) watts! You can see that WSJT-X is reading the Doppler corrected frequency. You will also see SDR-Console satellite tracking and PstRotator controlling the SPID RAS rotor. For more information see https://amsat-uk.org/.

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

AMSAT’s GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA’s ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

Weekly Changes for Keplerian Elements/TLE’s

The following satellite has been added to this week’s AMSAT TLE
Distribution:

FEES – NORAD Cat ID 48082 (Thanks to Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P for the
identification.)

Complete information on TLE Keplerian Elements and resources can always be found at
https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at  https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

+ Trans-Nevada: August 16-20, 2021
David AD7DB is planning a rove starting August 16 on FM satellites.
– Mon 8/16 DM09 in Reno area.
– Tue 8/17 DN00, DN10 & 11 later, near Lovelock and Winnemucca.
– Wed 8/18 DN10, DN20 & 21 later, near Elko.
– Thu 8/19 DN21, DN20 & 30 later, near Wells and Wendover.
– Fri 8/20 DN20 and 30, near Wendover.
The actual satellite passes and times are still being worked out but plans are for AO-91, AO-92, SO-50, AO-27 and PO-101.
Go to twitter.com/ad7db for the latest updates during the rove.

+ BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75, BP84, BP85: August 21-27,2021
Look for Taylor, WL7T as he is on the move in Alaska.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
October 29-31, 2021
Crowne Plaza AiRE
3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245.
Complete information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SYMPOSIUM.

2021 HamXposition
September the 11-12, 2021
Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center
Marlborough, Massachusetts

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ AMSAT-DL will hold its Satellite Symposium and General Assembly 2021 on August 28 in Bochum.  As it currently stands, this will be a face-to-face event. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-AMSAT-DL.

+ A student of ARISS educator Joanne Michael won an AIAA Kahn $10,000 scholarship. Joanne taught him hands-on science in kindergarten through fifth grade at Meadows Elementary in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District.  The young man is now enrolled at Stanford University.  He wrote, “I love finding out the mechanics of any device and gaining knowledge by hands-on experience. I cannot stand not knowing what lies beyond our reach in the universe. My goal is to take part in the Mars colonization plans as an engineer astronaut and help advance the astronautical-engineering world.”

+ Cubesat has announced next year’s CubeSat Developers Workshop on April 26–28, 2022.  Mark your calendar and get more information at www.cubesatdw.org/.

+ From 12 to 20 July 2021, ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Program teamed up with ESA experts in the field of Space Systems Engineering to run the second edition of the Space Systems Engineering Training Course . The goal was to offer university students an overview of the different aspects of Space Systems Engineering while also affording them the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through group exercises. Held fully online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in (virtual) attendance were 30 university students from 11 different ESA Member States and Canada. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-ESA.

+ The newly released SDR++ V1.0.0 software is featured on the YouTube SignalsEverywhere channel. SDR++ is an open source, cross platform, C++ based GUI general receiver program for various SDR’s including the RTL-SDR. The video shows it’s basic usage in action and highlights many of the features that SDR++ has. The producer notes that she is very impressed with SDR++, praising it as one of the best SDR applications released in a while. More information at tinyurl.com/ANS-227-SDR.

Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org

ANS-220 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Aug 8

by

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-220

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

  • Debugging AO-109: An Update
  • AO-92 Returned to Service for Daylight Operations Only
  • VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 1, 2021
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-220 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 Aug 08

Debugging AO-109: An Update

Introduction

At the end of our article in the May/June AMSAT Journal, we said “By the time you read this, AO109 may be opened for general amateur use.” The opening announcement, in fact, came on July 19, just shortly after the Journal was available. Very shortly after that, we started getting reports that some SatNOGS stations had seen telemetry signal from AO-109 as early as May 2021. Chris, G0KLA managed to partially decode one frame from SatNOGS. It was hard work and there were too many errors for our Forward Error Correction algorithm to fix, but by ignoring errors, we could see some data; however we had to guess which data was wrong.

We asked for more people to try to get telemetry, and we were pleased to receive 29 frames over several days from W7KKE, W7FWF, and K8DP. Thanks so much to all of them! Thanks to them we can now say a few more things about the AO-109 situation.

What we have seen and learned from telemetry

First the telemetry we have received confirms what we inferred from our earlier experiments:

• The antenna telemetry shows that they are open (more on that later)
• AO-109 is in transponder mode
• AO-109 does receive commands successfully, especially from a strong command station

In addition, telemetry shows some other anomalies that let us make better hypotheses for other behavior that we have seen.

• First the telemetry IS working, which tends to exonerate the telemetry modulator and software.
• The transmitter is sending telemetry with power output between 6 and 8 mW. You can compare this to our pre-launch testing which showed power output of somewhat over 100mW, as designed.
• The power amplifier current is higher than expected based on pre-launch testing.
• The min/max telemetry shows that the maximum power output since launch was about 440mW implying that the transmitter was likely working immediately after launch. (During the attempted early commissioning period, we tried both transponding, and increasing the telemetry gain, which could explain the relatively high power output.)
• It is even more clear seeing the telemetry downlink on a waterfall that the signal
strength varies cyclically. The period seems to be around 25 seconds.

After a discussion with Dan W9EQ, one of our transmitter engineers, we believe a reasonable hypothesis for the low power is that one of the dual power amplifier chips has failed shorted. This not only increases the current to the PA, but reduces the power available to the other PA chip. Dan also hypothesizes that running high power into a poorly deployed antenna might cause the blowout, although it is still hard to understand why we initially had no reception at all. Note that even if the 70cm antenna was not fully deployed, it does not cross over itself to make it electrically shorter even when stowed.

Since getting this telemetry, we commanded higher output from the telemetry modulator into the mixer and power amplifier, but saw essentially no change in the output power telemetry. According to W9EQ, this is to be expected with a shorted PA. (It may imply that 8mW is the highest to expect from the transponder as well).

As we hypothesized in the last paper, the cyclic strength of the telemetry beacon could be explained by the antenna being only partly released and blocked by the satellite part of the time as the satellite rotates. Similarly, if the receive antenna were only partly released, it would make commanding difficult for the same reason.

One further hypothesis: Carl, N3MIM proposed that the Nitinol wire used for our antennas was too cold to fully restore to its original shape after it was released. This could explain why both receive and transmit have problems, but does not explain why this satellite in particular should have problems that the other Foxes did not.

Vanderbilt University Experiment Data

As we said in the previous article, one of our goals is to provide data for the Vanderbilt University COTS radiation experiment. This experiment not only funded the AO-109 flight but also will, in the long term, provide great information for satellite builders who can only afford common off-the-shelf parts in their birds. We are happy to say that we have been able to provide some data for Vanderbilt. Of course, more data over a longer period will be that much better, but at least Vanderbilt is getting something.

Where is the data?

The data from AO-109 is on AMSAT server at the same location as all Fox data. You can see the entire dataset by using FoxTelem and downloading Fox-1E (the latest versions of FoxTelem do not require you to download all the other satellites.) You will see that despite having only 29 frames, there are a lot more health records than that in the WOD tab. This is because of AO-109’s new capability: Whole Orbit Data, which captures a full set of health data every 60 seconds, stores it in memory, and transmits several of these WOD data payloads in each frame. Similarly, Vanderbilt data is stored as WOD, so more science information than you might expect is also available.

In addition, you can see the AMSAT web page for AO-109 health at https://www.amsat.org/tlm/health.php?id=5&port=

Telemetry Reception

Unfortunately, it seems that it requires a fairly “hefty” station to receive AO-109 telemetry. A normal end-mounted M2 LEO Pack, for example, is not enough. Everyone we have seen who has been successful has had a longer yagi, a preamp, and short coax. One person felt that the ability to reverse circular polarity also helped. Several SatNOGS stations have received a signal, but so far we have not been able to cleanly decode any of them.

Both for Vanderbilt University and for our own engineering testing, we would really appreciate even a few frames of telemetry that any stations can receive. One way to do this is to use FoxTelem directly via a Fun Cube Dongle Pro Plus (FCDPP) and an antenna as mentioned above. Another way that we know works is to record the IF or AF from an ICOM 9700 that is being doppler corrected during an AO-109 pass. The best chance for useful frames may be to record IQ using SDR# or HDSDR with something like an FCDPP or Airspy SDR Dongle, and then playing it back into FoxTLM.

We continue to thank all of our supporters and data collectors around the world! Please keep trying!

[ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Flight Software, and Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station Operator, for the above information]

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Join the 2021 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

AO-92 Returned to Service for Daylight Operations Only

On August 1, 2021 at about 16:30 UTC, AO-92 was commanded into carrier operated repeater mode. In this mode, AO-92 operates as a simple FM repeater. The IHU and experiments are disabled and there is no telemetry transmitted.

As the battery condition is poor, please only use the satellite when it is illuminated by the sun. The satellite may shut off even while illuminated if the bus voltage drops below a point at which the transmitter cannot operator.

[ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station for the above information]

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for August 1, 2021

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period July 1, 2021 through August 1, 2021. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

Congratulations to Michael McCoy KC9ELU on acheiving the AMSAT GridMaster.

CALL July August

KO4MA 1783 1786
N8RO 1096 1100
NS3L 697 702
K9UO 631 653
N9FN 550 561
AF5CC 525 547
MI6GTY 461 462
WA4HFN 413 454
S57NML 291 409
DL6IAN 154 335
EA2AA 280 314
KQ4DO New 306
AB1OC 285 291
KE8RJU 101 256
NA1ME 225 250
N3CAL 204 214
N5EKO 152 207
KC5TT 100 135
WD9EWK (DM45) 127 135
W3FGP 100 130
K6SFO New 129
KB3IAI New 103
DL6GBM New 100
KE4IP New 100

If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I’ll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It’s a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing a lot of the work!

[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information]

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

AMSAT’s GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA’s ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

ARISS News

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

Notre Dame Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3ND

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG
Contact was unsuccessful: Tue 2021-08-03 11:10:15 UTC 77 deg (***)
ARISS is working to understand the issue. (***)
Watch for livestream at https://youtu.be/4uL-kHi1Bsw

1st Ono Group Hyogo Council Scout Association of Japan, Ono, Japan, direct via 8J3ONO (***)

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD
Contact is go for: Wed 2021-08-11 08:05:06 UTC 82 deg (***)

Next mode change is expected to take place in late August 2021.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an Amateur
Radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.
EA8/EA4NF: Phillippe will be on the Fuerteventura island and Gran Canary island SAT DXpedition. He will use Linear & FM satellites August 1-14, 2021. IL27, IL28, IL38
KE2QI: Will be roving FN44 Sunday. Both FM and linear. He will try to maximize the RS-44 apogee passes for Europe.
EN56, 57, 67: N8MR will be in EN57, EN67 and EN56 from Aug 7 thru Aug 14. Using an Icom 9700, Arrow antenna and SatPC32 to control uplink and downlink for Doppler.
EN12, EN13: W0AAE will be roving in the EN12-13 grids this upcoming week from August 1-6. He will be doing both linear and FM satellites
VE7KPM: CN78, upcoming. 9/2 approx.

Trans-Nevada Rove.

David AD7DB is planning a rove starting August 16 on FM satellites.

Mon 8/16 DM09 in Reno area.
Tue 8/17 DN00, DN10 & 11 later, near Lovelock and Winnemucca.
Wed 8/18 DN10, DN20 & 21 later, near Elko.
Thu 8/19 DN21, DN20 & 30 later, near Wells and Wendover.
Fri 8/20 DN20 and 30, near Wendover.
The actual satellite passes and times are still being worked out but plans are for AO-91, AO-92, SO-50, AO-27 and PO-101.
You can go to twitter.com/ad7db for the latest updates during the rove.

Wl7T – August 21-27:

BP44, BP45, BP46, BP47, BP54, BP55, BP57, BP58, BP59, BP64, BP65, BP75, BP84, BP85

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has online Zoom presentations scheduled in coming weeks with amateur groups in

New Jersey
Central New Hampshire
North Carolina
Conejo Valley CA
Sonoma County CA
Massachusetts
Antelope Valley CA

Contact Clint to arrange other events:
Clint Bradford K6LCS, AMSAT Ambassador; ARRL instructor
http://www.work-sat.com
Email: clintbradford AT mac DOT com
(909) 999-SATS (7287) – voicemail/message

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The newly revised, printable Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide is now available for AMSAT members at https://launch.amsat.org/Member_Resources

+ NU1U has posted a tutorial on YouTube for running WSJT-X and SatPC32 simultaneously with an Icom IC-9700 in order to make satellite QSOs using FT4. The video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhfUSRUP910

+ The first SSB QSO has been reported via AO-109. Doug Papay, K8DP, and John Papay, K8YSE, completed two QSOs via CW and two QSOs via SSB between EN62 and EN91 between July 31st and August 3rd.

+ On July 30th at 19:40 UTC, F4DXV and A65GC completed a record 5,300 km QSO via JO-97. This is the longest claimed QSO completed on any of the FUNcube transponders.

+ A new distance record has been set on the QO-100 narrowband transponder. PR8KW in GI27pn49rs worked YC5YC in OJ00rl66we at 23:06 UTC on 10-Jul-2021, covering a distance of 17,378 km. More records can be found at https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/

+ AMSAT Rover Award #60 was issued to Larry, KF6JOQ. For more information on the AMSAT Rover Award, visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/ (Thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards)

+ The ARRL has released TQSL config file version 11.15. This update allows QSOs on AO-109 and UVSQ-SAT (as UVSQ) to be uploaded. TQSL should prompt you to update your config file when launching the application.

+ Three videos from the AMSAT-SA Space Symposium, held July 10th, have been uploaded to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA7TGecJAILXTwm9HSQ4cw/videos. Other talks will be uploaded later (Thanks to AMSAT-SA and AMSAT-UK)

+ A video of John Brier, KG4AKV, operating portable via RS-44, filmed and edited by W4MPS, has been posted to YouTube at https://youtu.be/8xg5VLrcttU

+ The first call for papers has been issued for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 29-31, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza AiRE hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. Proposals for symposium 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 submitted by October 18 for inclusion in the symposium proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV at n8fgv at amsat.org.

+ Registration is open for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting, to be held Friday through Sunday, October 29-31, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota. Crowne Plaza AiRE is located at 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55245. For more information, visit https://www.amsat.org/39th-annual-amsat-space-symposium-and-annual-general-meeting/

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Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week’s ANS Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org