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]
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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]
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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]
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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
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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]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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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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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]
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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]
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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.
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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]
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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
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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]
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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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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
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/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
