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:
- Virtual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting – Oct. 30, 2021
- UVSQ-SAT FM repeater ON September 26
- Temporary Shutdown of AO-92 and FalconSat-3
- ARISS Seeks Hosts for Ham Radio Contacts with Space Station Crew
- Proposal to Ban All 300-2000 MHz Transmissions on Far Side of the Moon
- FO-29 Operation Schedule for October 2021
- Space Station Crew to Relocate Soyuz
- ARISS News
- Upcoming Satellite Operations
- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
- Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-269 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 Sept 26
Virtual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting – Oct. 30, 2021
Due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, AMSAT has changed plans for its 39th Annual Symposium and General Meeting from an in-person event to a virtual event.
This is a chance for “Amateur Radio in Space” enthusiasts from all corners of the globe to learn more about AMSAT’s Strategic Plan, GOLF program, CubeSat Simulator and other exciting developments taking place in the amateur satellite world.
AMSAT will host its 2021 AMSAT Virtual Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting on Zoom for its members on Saturday, October 30th from 9:00am CDT – 5:00pm CDT (UTC-5). The event will be a combination of pre-recorded video segments along with live question and answer sessions.
Registration for members is required and is available on AMSAT’s Member Portal, launch.amsat.org. Registration is free and registered attendees will receive a digital copy of the AMSAT Symposium Proceedings, entered into the Symposium prize drawings, and be able to participate in discussions during each question and answer session.
The 2021 AMSAT Virtual Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be available to the general public on AMSAT’s YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/RTvcceM7Tz0 at no cost.
Final papers for the Symposium Proceedings must be submitted by October 18, 2021 to Dan Schultz, N8FGV, n8fgv at usa dot net. Symposium presentations should be limited to 15 minutes of pre- recorded video. Video presentations must be submitted by October 18, 2021 to Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, n8hm at arrl dot net. We ask that presenters be available to take questions via Zoom following the airing of their pre-recorded video.
Tentative Schedule
9:00am CDT – Opening Remarks
9:15am CDT – 2:00 pm CDT – General Presentations
2:00pm CDT – 3:00 pm CDT – AMSAT Education / CubeSat Simulator
3:00pm CDT – 4:00 pm CDT – AMSAT Engineering
4:00pm CDT – 5:00 pm CDT – 2020 AMSAT Annual General Meeting
Questions regarding the Symposium can be directed to info at amsat dot org.
[ANS thanks the Symposium organizers for the above information]
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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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UVSQ-SAT FM repeater ON September 26
The LATMOS team has programmed the UVSQ-SAT satellite to go into transponder mode on Sunday, September 26, 2021 starting at 12:00 UTC. The transponder will be active for 11 consecutive hours.
From September 25th 12:00 UTC, an ASCII message will be broadcast to announce that the transponder mode will be activated. To decode the message, you can use the UVSQ-SAT Decoder software: ApplicationUVSQsatDecoder/src/site/markdown/UserManual.md · 21-ecr-uvsqsat · xtof / JOSAST · GitLab (electrolab.fr)
Frequencies used :
Telemetry :
437.020 MHz – BPSK – GR3UH 9k6
FM Transponder :
Uplink frequency: 145.905 MHz
Downlink frequency: 437.020 MHz
More information on the satellite: UVSQsat (amsat-f.org) and project : UVSQ-SAT (ipsl.fr)
[ANS thanks Christophe Mercier, Président AMSAT-Francophone, for the above information]
Temporary Shutdown of AO-92 and FalconSat-3
AO-92 has started to change its behavior after a number of weeks powered on. In particular, the IHU has come back on and switched to safe mode. This is likely due to low voltage during eclipse when it should be drawing very little if no one uses it.
N8MH also reports that he is turning off FalconSat’s transmitter for a while due to low voltage.
The AMSAT Ops team is going to shut both down for a while in hopes they will recover.
AO-91 still seems to be ok!
[ANS thanks Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Engineering Team, for the above information]
ARISS Seeks Hosts for Ham Radio Contacts with Space Station Crew
Starting on October 1, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will accept applications from US schools, museums, science centers, and community youth organizations — individually or working together — interested in hosting amateur radio contacts with crew members on the International Space Station (ISS). Contacts will be scheduled between July 1 and December 31, 2022. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw a sizeable number of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.
The deadline to submit is November 24. Proposal information and more details, including expectations, proposal guidelines, and a proposal form are on the ARISS-US website. An ARISS introductory webinar session will be on October 7 at 8 PM ET (2400 UTC). Sign up via Eventbrite.
Each year, ARISS provides tens of thousands of students with opportunities to learn about space technologies and communications through amateur radio. Crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will participate in scheduled amateur radio contacts. These contacts are approximately 10 minutes long and allow students to interact with the astronaut through a question-and-answer session.
The program offers learning opportunities by connecting students to orbiting astronauts through a partnership that includes ARRL, AMSAT, and NASA, as well as other amateur radio organizations, and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan, and Europe. The program’s goal is to inspire students to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and Amateur Radio.
“Educators overwhelmingly report that student participation in the ARISS program stimulates interest in STEM subjects and in STEM careers,” ARISS said in announcing the contact opportunities. ARISS says enthusiasm sparked by a school contact also may lead to an interest in ham radio among students and to the creation of ham radio clubs in schools. Some educators have even become radio amateurs after experiencing a contact with an ISS crew member.
ARISS is celebrating 20 years of continuous amateur radio operations on the ISS. Contact ARISS-US for additional information.
[ANS thanks ARISS and ARRL 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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Proposal to Ban All 300-2000 MHz Transmissions on Far Side of the Moon
Discussions about spectrum allocation, familiar to amateurs and to Global Navigation Satellite Systems designers and manufacturers on Earth, are now taking place regarding the lunar environment.
The online journal, “Inside GNSS” reports on the proposal to ban all radio transmissions between 300 MHz and 2000 MHz in the area designated the Shielded Zone of the Moon (SZM), this would also be applicable to Mars.
The spectrum would instead be used for radio astronomy operations, this would mean the Amateur Satellite Service allocations at 435 MHz and 1260 MHz would no longer be available to spacecraft in Lunar orbit such as Lunar-OSCAR 93 and Lunar-OSCAR 94 (Longjiang-1 and 2), see https://amsat-uk.org/2018/05/19/dslwp-satellites-lunar-orbit/
The Inside GNSS story says: The Space Frequency Coordination Group (SFCG) also has defined frequency bands allocated in the lunar region. These Radio Regulation and Recommendations therefore apply to the lunar GNSS frequencies, since a GNSS system made of lunar orbiters will cover all the far side of the Moon, and therefore must not create harmful interference on future radio astronomy observations in that zone.
The ITU Radio Regulation defines the SZM as follows: “The shielded zone of the Moon comprises the area of the Moon’s surface and an adjacent volume of space which are shielded from emissions originating within a distance of 100,000 km from the center of the Earth”. Because Mars is regularly in the SZM, the specific Radio Regulation protecting radio astronomy in the SZM is therefore also applicable to Mars.
Read the full story at https://insidegnss.com/the-shielded-zone-of-the-moon-protecting-radio-astronomy-from-rf-interference/
[ANS thanks Southgate ARC 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!
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FO-29 Operation Schedule for October 2021
JAMSAT has announced the following FO-29 operation schedule for October 2021. The satellite will be switched on while over Japan on the following dates and times (UTC). The transponder will remain on until the satellite’s low voltage safety trigger shuts it down. Thus, the transponder may or may not be active by the time the satellite is over North America or other areas of the globe.
2 00:40- 10:58- 12:42- 23:45-
3 10:00- 11:45-
8 23:30-
9 09:48- 11:33-
10 00:20- 10:38- 12:23-
16 00:05- 10:23- 12:07- 23:10-
17 11:14- 12:57-
23 00:41- 10:58- 23:45-
24 10:03- 11:48-
29 23:31-
30 09:47- 11:33-
Source: https://www.jarl.org/Japanese/3_Fuji/fuji3-202108.htm
[ANS thanks Hideo Kambayashi, JH3XCU, 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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Space Station Crew to Relocate Soyuz
Three residents of the International Space Station will take a short ride aboard a Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft Tuesday, Sept. 28, relocating the spacecraft to prepare for the arrival of the next set of station crew members. [Amateurs should be aware that all amateur radio operations aboard the ISS are switched off during docking and space walk operations — Ed.]
Expedition 65 flight engineers Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP, of NASA and Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos will undock from the station’s Earth-facing Rassvet module at 1221z. They will dock again at the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module at 1300z This will be the first time a spacecraft has attached to the new Nauka module, which arrived at the station in July.
Live coverage of the maneuver will begin at 1200z on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
The relocation will free the Rassvet port for the docking of another Soyuz spacecraft, designated Soyuz MS-19, which will carry three Russian crew members to the station in October. Soyuz commander and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and spaceflight participants Klim Shipenko and Yulia Peresild are scheduled to launch to the station Tuesday, Oct. 5, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
This will be the 20th Soyuz port relocation in station history and the first since March 2021.
Vande Hei and Dubrov are scheduled to remain aboard the station until March 2022. At the time of his return, Vande Hei will have set the record for the longest single spaceflight for an American. Novitskiy, Shipenko, and Peresild are scheduled to return to Earth in October aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft.
[ANS thanks NASA 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.
A contact was successfully completed on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 18:05z between astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI, and Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC, via a multi-point telebridge through IK1SLD. Congratulations to the Children’s National Hospital students and Akihiko!
Another contact was successfully completed on Friday, Sept. 24 at 10:43z between astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI, and SPDW Voortrekker Movement, Oranjeville, South Africa, direct via ZS9SPD. Congratulations to the SPDW Voortrekker Movement students and Akihiko!
A contact is scheduled for Monday, 2021-09-27 at 08:55z with Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS, and the scheduled Cosmonaut is Pyotr Dubrov.
A contact is scheduled for Saturday, 2021-10-02 at 12:40z with Lycée Pierre Paul Riquet, St Orens De Gameville, France and CSUT University Space Center of Toulouse, Toulouse, France. This will be a multi-point telebridge via IK1SLD. The ISS callsign is presently TBD, and the scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG.
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
K8BL will be going back to FN01, 02 & EN92 soon. He is looking to do FN14 this Fall.
2M0SQL will be operating as GB2KDR at the Keith and Dufftown Heritage Railway at Dufftown Railway Station (IO87) as part of Railways on the Air (https://rota.barac.org.uk/) on Saturday and Sunday, September 25 & 26. He expects to be on LEO Linear and FM sats throughout the weekend will try to announce pass info on Twitter @2m0sql
Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]
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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT will host its 2021 AMSAT Virtual Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting on Zoom for its members on Saturday, October 30 from 9:00am CDT – 5:00pm CDT (UTC-5). [See complete article above.]
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.
AMSAT Exhibit at 2021 Radio Expo
Sunday, September 26, 2021
Boone County Fairgrounds
Belvidere, Illinois
http://www.chicagofmclub.org/
2021 Wyoming ARRL Section Convention
Saturday, October 9, 2021
Event Center at Archer
3921 Archer Pkwy
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
https://wyhamcon.org/site
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Peter Goodhall, 2M0SQL, in IO87jp, and Dana Rushton, VE1VOX, in FN85ii set a new QSO Distance Record for UVSQ-SAT of 4,224 km Sept. 12, 2021 at 13:22z. Also, Bernd Scholer, DL6IAN, in JN49gb90, and Joe Werth, KE9AJ, in EN50fn57, set a new AO-7 Mode A QSO Distance Record of 7,248 km on Sept. 17, 2021 at 17:44z. Congratulations! (ANS thanks Dana Rushton, VE1VOX, and Peter Goodhall, 2M0SQL, for the above information)
+ NASA invites learners of all ages, including students and teachers who recently returned to the classroom environment, to register for a special event ahead of the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb STEAM Day: A Learning Journey Together is a virtual, interactive event that will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 30. Register at: https://go.nasa.gov/WebbSTEAMDay (ANS thanks NASA for the above information)
+ Three Chinese astronauts safely returned to Earth on Friday, Sept. 17 after completing the first crewed mission aboard the Tianhe space station module. Commander Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo touched down inside the designated landing zone near Dongfeng in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, at around 05:34z. The Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center declared the Shenzhou-12 a “complete success.” (ANS thanks SpaceNews.com for the above information)
+ UK stations must have Electromagnetic Field (EMF) assessments in place for operation above 110 MHz from 18th November 2021. Some RSGB guidance on EMF is here: https://rsgb.org/main/technical/emc/emf-exposure/ (ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information)
+ The head of NASA’s space operations division said this week an unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule to the International Space Station, delayed from August by valve problems, will likely not launch until next year. Boeing’s Starliner test flight was supposed to launch last month to the International Space Station on a final demonstration of the crew capsule before it flies with astronauts. But managers scrubbed a launch attempt Aug. 3 after some of the valves inside the Starliner service module failed to open during a pre-flight checkout. (ANS thanks SpaceFlightNow.com for the above information)
+ A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft filled with more than 4,600 pounds of supplies and valuable scientific experiments bound for NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility is set to leave the International Space Station on Thursday, Sept. 30. NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app will broadcast the spacecraft’s departure live, beginning at 12:45z (8:45 a.m. EDT). (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