Paul Stoetzer

AMSAT Board of Directors 2021 Election Results

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With the election period now ended for the 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors I am pleased to announce that the following members have been duly elected to serve a two-year term on the Board:

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

These join the existing Board members who have a year left in their current terms.

I present to you the new AMSAT Board of Directors:

  • Mark Hammond, N8MH
  • Bruce Paige, KK5DO
  • Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
  • Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
  • Robert Bankston, KE4AL
  • Jerry Buxton, N0JY
  • Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO

Congratulations to the new Board of Directors and sincere thanks to each for stepping up to lead the organization into the future of amateur radio in space!

73,

Jeff Davis KE9V
Secretary
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

ANS-248 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for Sep. 5

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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-248

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’s GENESIS Satellites Lost in Firefly Alpha Launch Failure
  • MESAT1 Submitted for IARU Coordination
  • AO-7 to Enter Full Sunlight Period
  • Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Recognizes ARISS Organization
  •  VUCC Awards-Endorsements for September 1, 2021
  • Call for Papers for the AMSAT Space Symposium
  • Registration Open for AMSAT Space Symposium
  • Voting Period for 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Closes September 15th
  • ARISS News
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-248 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 Sep 05

AMSAT-EA’s GENESIS Satellites Lost in Firefly Alpha Launch Failure

Firefly’s first launch attempt for their Firefly Alpha rocket ended approximately 2.5 minutes after liftoff on Thursday evening when an anomaly resulted in the loss of the vehicle. Among the payloads lost were AMSAT-EA’s GENESIS-L and GENESIS-N amateur radio satellites.

Felix Paez, EA4GQS, from AMSAT-EA said “we are very proud of all the team work and very grateful for this opportunity Firefly has granted to us.” He added, “in January we will launch with SpaceX through Alba Orbital, our FM repeaters Hades and EASAT-2. We will keep you posted.”

Other payloads lost on the mission are listed at https://firefly.com/firefly-aerospace-announces-dream-payload-participants/

[ANS thanks for Felix Paez, EA4GQS, and Firefly 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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MESAT1 Submitted for IARU Coordination

The University of Maine’s WiSe-Net Lab has applied for IARU coordination for their 3U CubeSat, MESAT1.

MESAT1 will carry an LTM-1 transponder, provided by AMSAT, that will serve as a linear transponder for amateur radio operators to use for recreation and practice in addition to supporting telemetry and command with the satellite systems. This operation will provide education and training in the radio arts for students at the University of Maine, as they monitor onboard systems and receive telemetry and data from the onboard sensors, including remote sensors. MESAT1 also provides an opportunity for AMSAT to further characterize and test the capabilities of the LTM-1 in orbit, and to gain more flight heritage for the device. The LTM-1 is a 30 kHz wide V/u linear transponder with a 1k2 BPSK beacon.

MESAT1 will also carry an L-band GlobalStar transmitter with a carrier frequency of 1616.25 MHz. This will be used along with the onboard GPS receiver, to provide back to the team early mission TLEs. These will be published on our website as well as on Space Track, to allow our ground station as well as hams worldwide to accurately point antennas and access the LTM-1.

MESAT1 is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in June 2022 into a 555 km SSO.

More information is available at https://umaine.edu/wisenetlab/mesat1/

[ANS thanks the IARU for the above information]

AO-7 to Enter Full Sunlight Period

AO-7 will enter a period of full illumination on September 9, 2021. This full illumination period will last until April 11, 2022.

While in full illumination, the satellite’s 24 hour timer will automatically switch between operation in Mode A (145 MHz uplink / 29 MHz downlink) and Mode B (432 MHz uplink / 145 MHz downlink).

The Mode A transponder uses a 145.850 – 145.950 MHz uplink and a 29.400 – 29.500 MHz downlink. Unlike the Mode B transponder, the Mode A transponder is non-inverting. QSOs have been made using small portable 10m antennas for the downlink, but a full size dipole or directional antenna works best.

[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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Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Recognizes ARISS Organization

Kathryn Lueders, Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA has posted a statement recognizing Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) for its accomplishments in promoting STEM initiatives through amateur radio:

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) networks enable #NASA to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers – even from 350 kilometers above Earth. In addition to connecting the science community on Earth with the groundbreaking research studies and experiments aboard the International Space Station, SCaN enables the space station to act as a unique platform for global STEM outreach and education efforts. For over 20 years, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, a non-profit supported by SCaN, has connected classrooms on Earth with astronauts aboard the space station, allowing students to engage directly with astronauts in real-time. Using ham radio equipment installed on the space station and a ham radio station on the ground, students are able to establish a direct radio connection with the space station and ask the crew questions about living in space and what it takes to become an astronaut. In preparation for their ARISS contact, the students explore a variety of #STEM studies, including space exploration, radio communication, and wireless technologies. With tens of thousands of student participants each year, the ARISS program plays an important role in inspiring the Artemis Generation and encouraging students to pursue STEM careers. Learn more about the ARISS program and how you can bring space into your classroom here: www.ariss.org

[ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR, for the above information]

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for September 1, 2021

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

Congratulations to Dave Chasey N9FN on achieving the AMSAT GridMaster Award.

CALL August September
N8RO11001105
WI7P858859
AA8CH750775
K9UO653675
WD9EWK655667 (DM43)
KE8FZT500550
KB9STR431508
KS1G451484
W8LR453479
AK8CW451456 (DM37)
HP2VX406425
VE4MM350361
KN2K300350
EA2AA300346
K5ZM277326
K8BL278283
KC1MMC150230
RA3DNC156200
VE3KY150182
N2NWK New173
KD9NGV100151
KE7RTB100150
W5ERX New133
DL6GBM100114
VY2HF New103
AA8CH101102 (EN84)
CM2ESP New101
JK2XXK New100
LA9XGA New100
WA5RR New100

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]

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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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Call for Papers for the AMSAT Space Symposium Proceedings

This is the first 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 n8fgv at amsat.org.

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

Registration 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). 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]

Voting Period for 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election Closes September 15th

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 visit:
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]

ARISS News

The next scheduled ARISS contact is TBD.

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.

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. 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. 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

VE7KPM: CN78, 3-6 September – the 4th & 5th being the big operating days. Might be on the night of the 3rd, and bit on the morning of the 6th.

VE3KY will be returning to FN26 for a three day holiday style operation on Sept 16, 17 and 18. I will operate both linear and FM birds and will hopefully try to update operating times and passes on twitter @busman49.

K8BL: I’ll be going back to FN01, 02 & EN92 soon. Looking to do FN14 this Fall.

VE1VOX: I’ll be operating holiday style Sept 4,5,6 from FN63, FN64. FM only using VE1VOX..

W2, UNITED STATES (Special Event/We Will Never Forget). Members of the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club (GSBARC)[W2GSB] and the Northeast Wireless Radio Club [NW2C] will activate the special event callsign W2T from Fort Totten Park (Army Base) Queens, NY, on September 11th, between 10 am EST to 8 pm EST. Activity is to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center. Operations will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, satellites and the Digital modes. Please visit the QRZ.com W2T page after the event to get a downloadable certificate only.

TI200, COSTA RICA (Special Event). Members of the Radio Club of Costa Rica (TI0RC) will be active as TI200I from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, between September 1-30th. Activity is to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Costa Rica. Operators mentioned are Carlos/ TI2CC, Gus/TI2ALF, Carlos/TI2BSH, Eugenio/TI2CCC, Charlie/TI5CDA, Luis/TI2CLX, Gregory/TI2GBB, Hugo/TI2HAS, Javier/TI2JS, Rob/TI3RCS, Eduardo/TI2SD, Victor/TI2VVV, Alfonso/TI3ATS, Jon/TI5JON, Juan “JC”/TI5VMJ, Kamal/N3KS/TI5, Adrian/TI2LCO, Juan/TI2JCY, Francisco/TI2OKY and Minor/ TI2YO. Activity will be on all HF bands using CW, SSB, FT8, RTTY, PSK31 and the Satellites. QSL via LoTW. For QSL and certificate info: [email protected]

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, and the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1529 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.

Northeast HamXposition – Sep 10-12, 2021, Marlborough, MA
https://hamxposition.org/

AMSAT will have a booth at the event. Additionally, the following forums on Saturday will be of interest to AMSAT members and those interested in amateur satellites.

AMSAT and Satellite Status Forum
Burns Fisher, WB1FJ
Burns’ presentation will talk about what is currently going on with AMSAT, including the new on-line membership portal and on-line distribution of The AMSAT Journal, as well as the current state of AMSAT satellites and new satellites that we are working on.
Time: 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM
Room: Princess Room

Getting Started With Amateur Satellites
Robert Hayes, KB1SWZ
Bob will share tips for the beginner to get started with the “easy” FM satellites.
Time: 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM
Room: Princess Room

An ISS Crew Contact: Planning, Execution & Learnings Along the Way
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Prepare to blast off for an Amateur Radio experience of a lifetime! The ARISS program provides a way that Amateur Radio operators can work with schools and youth groups to talk to an astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) using Amateur Radio. Fred will share all the steps needed to secure, prepare for and perform an ISS contact along with a school or youth group. Topics covered include proposal development to secure a contact, education planning around Amateur Radio and other STEM activities, and preparing and testing an Amateur Radio Ground Station to communicate with the ISS. The talk includes video from actual ISS contacts made between schools and astronauts on the ISS.
Time: 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM
Room: Salon A

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

+ Hiroyuki Ishida, 7N1PFW, has received the 57th 73 on 73 Award. He completed the requirements for the award exclusively using CW. This award is issued for working 73 unique stations on AO-73 since September 1, 2014. To apply, send a list of your stations worked to n8hm at arrl.net (Thanks to Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, 73 on 73 Award Sponsor)

+ JARL has released the FO-29 operation schedule for September. It can be found at https://www.jarl.org/Japanese/3_Fuji/fuji3-202108.htm

+ JAMSAT has released the FO-99 operation scehdule for September. It can be found at https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p=1605

+ JAXA will launch its Epsilon rocket for the 5th time on October 1st. JA1OGZ has posted a summary of the satellites with amateur payloads on the launch at https://twitter.com/ja1ogz/status/1433236305970794499

+ Congratulations to Dave Chasey, N9FN, on receiving the 33rd AMSAT GridMaster Award. The GridMaster Award is issued to amateurs who work and confirm QSOs via satellite with all 488 grid squares in the continental United States. More information at https://www.amsat.org/gridmaster/ (Thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards)

+ An acrylic GridMaster desk plaque is now available on the AMSAT store for GridMaster Award recipients. https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-gridmaster-acrylic-desk-plaque/

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

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-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]

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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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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]

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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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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]

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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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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/

———————————————————————

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