Saturday, November 16, 2019

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-321

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation 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 commun-
icating 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:
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

In this edition:

* Happy 45th Birthday AMSAT-OSCAR 7!
* 19th Anniversary of ARISS Operations
* PO-101 (Diwata-2) QSLs Available
* IARU Update Regarding Amateur Satellite Allocations
* AMSAT Member Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, Youth Excellence Award
* G4BAO 23cm-45 W-PA Available as Public Domain
* Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 14, 2019
* Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.01
ANS-321 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2019-Nov-17
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-321.01

Happy 45th Birthday AMSAT-OSCAR 7!

At 17:11 UTC on November 15, 1974 a Delta-2310 rocket lifted off from
SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, sending AO-7 into orbit along
with NOAA-4 and Intasat. Details about the launch and initial tele-
metry reception can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7Launch

After nearly 7 years of service, AO-7 was thought to have reached the
end of its life in June 1981 due to battery failure. A retrospective
detailing its exemplary record was published in the AMSAT Satellite
Report, available at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7Record

Though it was thought to be lost in 1981, there are reports that the
Polish Solidarity movement used AO-7 to pass messages in 1982 while
Poland was under martial law. An article, in Polish, with the details
is available at https://tinyurl.com/AO-7-Poland

Twenty years later, on June 21, 2002, G3IOR reported that he heard an
old-style CW beacon from an unknown OSCAR satellite near 145.970 MHz.
This was soon identified as AMSAT-OSCAR 7. The original AMSAT-BB post
with news of the discovery is archived at
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO7BB

Despite some pre-launch predictions that the CMOS logic circuits on-
board "wouldn't last 3 weeks," AO-7 remains operational and well-used
while in sunlight. It is the oldest operational satellite, in any
service, in orbit. https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ao-7/

To celebrate AO-7's 45th birthday, AMSAT will auction off a set of
gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab coat (size
42R) next week. Check AMSAT-BB or AMSAT's social media pages for
details on Monday morning.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Anniversary of ARISS Operations

On November 13, 2000, the ARISS amateur radio payload was turned on
and the first operations occurred over Russia and the United States.

Our ARISS team is working feverishly on the final certification of our
next generation radio system: the Interoperable Radio System. We thank
all those that have supported this development effort through team
support as well as donations!!  We continue to move closer to a planned
March 2020 launch of the hardware on SpaceX CRS-20.

[ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT Vice President for Human Space-
flight and ARISS International Chair for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

PO-101 (Diwata-2 QSLs) Available

The PHL Microsatellite Program, Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Institute, University of the Philippines operates PO-101.

The FM transponder is available on a schedule published by the team on
the PO-101 Users Group on Twitter (@Diwata2PH) and the PO-101 Users
Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/880769575655081

PO-101 Operations (FM)
Uplink:   437.500 MHz - 141.3 Hz PL Tone
Downlink: 145.900 MHz

QSL Cards will be provided through email every month to users who sub-
mit their QSO information via PO-101 using the Google form posted at:
https://forms.gle/XZnjRGNSC2jSF51j6

Users may also upload your contact recordings or videos with PO-101
here: https://forms.gle/pV5DgBQeWf1fjqmu9

[ANS thanks the PO-101 Diwata2-PH team for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

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

          The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
     Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
        DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store.  Get yours today!
           https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------

IARU Update Regarding Amateur Satellite Allocations

The second week of the World Radiocommunication Conference reports
on the status of two issues affecting the amateur satellite service.
In a report written by Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, first is an agenda item
currently under review during this WRC-19 session; second is planning
for future pressure on frequencies for the amateur satellite service.

Current WRC-19
--------------
While it does not directly affect us - work at WRC-15 saw to that -
we are following an agenda item that seeks spectrum for telemetry,
tracking and command in the space operation service for non-GSO
satellites with short duration missions (Cubesats, among others).
We would like a solution to be found to cut down on the misuse of
the very limited amateur-satellite spectrum for commercial applica-
tions. Discussions are focusing on spectrum near 137 MHz (down)/149MHz
(up) but reaching agreement is proving to be very difficult.

Future - WRC-23
---------------
With the spectrum from 8.3 kHz to 275 GHz fully allocated and some
bands above 275 GHz already identified for particular uses, any pro-
posal for new allocations involves sharing with one or more incumbent
services. The pressures for spectrum access to accommodate new uses
for commercial purposes are intense; for an established service such
as ours, any WRC that does not reduce our own useful spectrum access
is a success.

The idea of including the amateur two meter band in a study of non-
safety aeronautical mobile service applications has not resurfaced.
However, the IARU is concerned with a proposed item for WRC-23 entit-
led: "Review of the amateur service and the amateur-satellite service
allocations to ensure the protection of the radionavigation-satellite
service (space-to-Earth) in the frequency band 1240-1300 MHz."

Our regulatory status is already clear. The amateur service is secon-
dary in this band and the amateur-satellite service is permitted to
operate in the Earth-to-space direction on a non-interference basis in
the band 1260-1270 MHz. In the international Radio Regulations this is
all the protection a primary service such as radionavigation-satellite
requires; implementation is up to individual administrations.

The one well-documented case of interference to a Galileo receiver
that prompted this proposed agenda item occurred more than five years
ago and was quickly resolved by the administration concerned. There
have been no known interference cases to user terminals.

An amateur service allocation of 1215-1300 MHz was made on a primary,
exclusive basis in 1947, later downgraded to secondary to accommodate
radiolocation (radar) and narrowed to 1240-1300 MHz. The radionaviga-
tion-satellite service was added in 2000. As a secondary service ama-
teur radio has operated successfully in the band for many years.
Given the relatively modest density and numbers of amateur transmis-
sions in the band, we view the Galileo-oriented proposal for an agen-
da item as disproportionate.

The IARU recognizes the concern and does not want the amateur service
to affect the operation of the Galileo system in any way. It has al-
ready updated its operational recommendations for amateur stations in
Region 1. If necessary, further recommendations may be developed and
rolled out globally.

In CEPT, two preliminary measurement studies of Galileo receiver
performance/vulnerability (from 2015 and 2019) are currently being
evaluated. Discussions can be more timely and focused within CEPT.
The IARU believes that this process already offers the potential
for a satisfactory solution and thus the issue does not warrant WRC
action and the commitment of ITU resources.

Posted on: http://www.iaru.org/news--events

[ANS thanks Dave Sumner, K1ZZ and the IARU 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/

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

---------------------------------------------------------------------

AMSAT Member Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, Youth Excellence Award

Congratulations to AMSAT member Dhruv Rebba, KC9ZJX, Newsline Young
Ham of the Year on his award as the first ever Youth Excellence Award
in collaboration with McLean County (Bloomington-Normal, IL) Indian
Association (MCIA) for the year 2019.

The MCIA invited nominations for individuals from Asian Indian youth
in Bloomington-Normal who have gone above and beyond in community ser-
vice and individual attainment. Dhruv's award was based on attaining
the goals of the Youth Excellence Award:

1. To celebrate exemplary behavior among young people in Blo-No's
   Asian Indian Community
2. To encourage and motivate young people in the pursuit of Excellence
   & Creativity in the Performing Arts, Community Leadership, Sports,
   Academics, Innovation etc. to name a few
3. To push one's own self-imposed boundaries and become better ver-
   sions of oneself
4. To encourage young people to be positive role models/ambassadors
   and mentors in their communities
5. To foster a spirit of volunteerism and public service among youth

Dhruv received his award during the MCIA Diwali Dinner 2019 in
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.

[ANS thanks and congratulates Dhruv's and his father, Hari Rebba
 and the McLean County Indian Association for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for November 14, 2019

The following Amateur Radio satellite has decayed from orbit and has
been removed from this week's TLE distribution:

NO-83(BRICSAT-P) - NORAD CAT ID 40655 - Decayed 11/07/2019 at approx.
19:49 UTC

Thanks to Alan Biddle, WA4SCA for decay date estimate.

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

G4BAO 23cm-45 W-PA Available as Public Domain

This repository contains details of the G4BAO 45 Watt 23cm Power
Amplifier published in RSGB RadCom Magazine in June 2009 and later in
the book " Microwave Know How for the Radio Amateur" by Andy Barter,
G8ATD.

This PA was sold for many years as a kit by the designer. The decision
has been made to not sell any further kits so the designs are now made
available here under the terms of an MIT license. It includes a copy
of the original article, Eagle board and schematic files, plus Gerber
files for the PCB, which must be made from Taconic 0.7mm RF35 sub-
strate.

The design can be accessed at: https://github.com/g4bao/23cm-45W-PA

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

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

Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA

Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA’s Required
Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!

Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals
over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000
per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without
increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or
accountant to make certain you are eligible.

AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific
organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and
operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to
encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT’s federal tax ID
is 52-0888529.

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule

Quick list of scheduled contacts and events as of 2019-11-15 02:00 UTC

+ Lakeside Elementary School, West Point, UT, telebridge via IK1SLD

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Mon 2019-11-18 19:01:06 UTC 30 deg
Watch for live streaming at www.ariotti.com starting about 15 minutes
before AOS

+ Istituto San Paolo delle Suore Angeliche, Milano, Italy and Istituto
Comprensivo Di Merone – Mons. A. Pirovano, Merone, Italy, telebridge
via W6SRJ

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Thu 2019-11-21 09:12:07 UTC 50 deg

+ MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov
Contact is go for 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC

A reminder that the deadline to submit proposals for ARISS contacts to
be scheduled between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 is coming up on
November 30, 2019. For more information visit https://www.ariss.org/

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS opera-
tion team members, for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

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

          Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
         25% of the purchase price of each product goes
           towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
             https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 – December 6, 2019
The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar
Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec-
ember 11th.  They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival
and just before they leave, not to mention that it’s wicked cold up
there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the
VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out-
side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc

EA9 Melilla (IM85) November 18-21, 2019
Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating from MELILLA as EA9/EA4NF from Nov-
ember 18 to 21, 2019. This very small Spanish territory located in
Northern Africa, which is a very rare GRID and is listed as one of the
Most Wanted SAT DXCC.  Updates and passes on Philippe’s Twitter:
https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT

New River Gorge National River, WV (EM98) November 21-24, 2019
Michael, N4DCW, is visiting New River Gorge National River (with sat
gear) and a swing through EM97 on his way home.  Watch for further an-
nouncements on Michael’s Twitter feed:  https://twitter.com/MWimages

Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd – 6th. Key
word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act-
ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner’s
Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85

Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a
holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got
away – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announce-
ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF

Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, 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/

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Dr. Alan Johnston, KU2Y, AMSAT VP Educational Relations will be
giving a presentation at the 110th Radio Club of America Awards
Banquet and Technical Symposium, held this year at the Westin Times
Square, New York City on November 23. The topic is “Designing the
AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: A Functional Satellite Model for the Class-
room”. For more information see: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-RCA

+ The Seattle Times featured an article about the University of
Washington's HuskySat-1 satellite. HuskySat-1 carries an AMSAT-
provided linear transponder. https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-UW

+ At 01:07 UTC on November 16, 2000, Phase 3D launched on an Ariane V
rocket from Kourou, French Guiana and became AMSAT-OSCAR 40. Likely
the most ambitious project ever completed by radio amateurs, the sat-
ellite unfortunately suffered an explosion in its propulsion system
during a burn of its primary motor on December 13, 2000. Though
damaged by the explosion, the satellite went on to provide worldwide
amateur radio communications until the main battery suddenly failed on
January 25, 2004. Though its life was unfortunately shortened, the
satellite did conduct a successful experiment that helped to validate
above-the-constellation use of GPS and influenced the design of the
current Block III GPS series of satellites. See
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-AO-40 for details on the experiment.

+ Proceedings of the Microwave Update 2019, held in Dallas, Texas
October 3-5, have been published as a PDF which includes a couple of
satellite related presentations. It is now available for free download
at http://ntms.org/files/MUD2019/MUD_Proceedings_2019.pdf
(via North Texas Microwave Society)

+ All the photos in the MUD Proceedings are in black and white. The MUD
GNR file is in color at http://www.ntms.org/
(via Zack W9SZ on the Microwave list)

+ All videos from the AMSAT-DL symposium Bochum are online.
Recorded from the wideband transponder by DB8TF
A playlist includes all videos from Saturday and Sunday:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Gtsa1KaEAgRc-dvWo44QQ
If you can, please translate Screen texts to other languages
and add to the video.
(Via AMSAT-DL)

+ On October 7, 8 and 9, 2019, the University of New Brunswick’s (UNB)
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and CubeSat NB
hosted the first of three Preliminary Design Review (PDR) meetings for
the Canadian CubeSat Project initiated by the Canadian Space Agency
(CSA). Radio Amateurs of Canada was present for the meeting. More
details at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-RAC
(Via RAC)

+ This page gives a statistical plot showing groups of satellites as
a plot of the semi-major axis of the orbit against orbital inclination
resulting in "families" and "clusters" in orbit.
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-321-Orbits

---------------------------------------------------------------------

/EX

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.

Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space,

This week's ANS Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
N8HM at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans