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:
* QARMAN and Phoenix CubeSats Deployed from ISS
* AMSAT
Files Comments Opposing Deletion of 3.4 GHz Band
* NEMO-1 Buoy Report
*
GNU Radio Conference - Tickets and Call for Papers
* U.S. Naval Academy's
PSAT3 Scheduled to Launch in Mid-March
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE
Distribution
* "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Available with
Membership
* ARISS Radio Telebridge Stalwart Gerald Klatzko, ZS6BTD, SK
*
Upcoming ARISS Contacts
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other
Events
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All
Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-054.01
ANS-054 AMSAT News Service Weekly
Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 054.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON,
MD.
DATE 2020 Feb 23
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID:
$ANS-054.01
QARMAN and Phoenix CubeSats Deployed from ISS
The von
Karman Institute in Belgium (VKI) reports the successful de-
ployment of the
QARMAN satellite from the International Space Station
on Wednesday, 19
February. QARMAN is one of several cubesats that were
scheduled for
deployment this week.
Also, Arizona State University reports that its
Phoenix CubeSat was
successfully deployed from the ISS as scheduled at 9:35
UTC Wednesday.
Roughly 30 minutes after deployment, its beacon was heard for
the first
time at an amateur radio ground station located in
Indonesia.
VKI also reports successful reception and decoding of
telemetry from
QARMAN. It is important to note that both of these satellites
are using
the same frequency, 437.35 MHz, for telemetry transmissions, and
that
they are in very similar orbits. Both satellites also follow the
AX.25
protocol at 9600 baud, with GMSK modulation. It will take some
trial
and error before each spacecraft’s TLEs can be
confirmed.
Operators of these satellites are actively seeking
observations from
amateurs. Please report to:
https://community.libre.space/c/satellites-observations
ANS
is awaiting reports regarding the other satellites that were
scheduled for
deployment on Wednesday, as listed below:
CubeSat Downlink (MHz) Uplink
(MHz) Scheduled Deployment Time (UTC)
RadSat-u 437.425 437.425
7:10
CryoCube 2261.00 2082.004 12:55
AztechSat-1 437.3
437.3 12:55
SOCRATES 914.7 914.7 14:30
Argus-02
437.29 437.29 16:00
HARP 468.0 450.0
16:00
SORTIE 468.0 450.0 17:40
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK,
VKI, and Arizona State for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT
Files Comments Opposing Deletion of 3.4 GHz Band
AMSAT has filed comments
on the Federal Communications Commission's
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
which proposes to delete the 3.3 - 3.5
GHz (9 cm) amateur band, including the
3.40 - 3.41 GHz amateur sat-
ellite service allocation.
In the
comments, AMSAT opposes the deletion of this allocation and em-
phasizes the
necessity of adequate microwave spectrum for future ama-
teur satellite
projects, including AMSAT's GOLF program and the Lunar
Gateway.
AMSAT
further notes that the most desirable allocations for use as up-
links are
the allocations between 2.4 and 5.67 GHz. These allocations
total 80 MHz. The
most desirable allocation for downlink use is the
10.45 - 10.50 GHz
allocation, totaling 50 MHz. As many of the proposed
uses include amateur
television and high-speed data transmission with
satellites in high earth
orbit or lunar orbit, these allocations may
quickly become inadequate. AMSAT
also notes that the 2.4 and 5.67 GHz
allocations are widely used for ISM and
consumer devices, such as WiFi
and Bluetooth-enabled devices. The 3.4 GHz
allocation is shared be-
tween amateur use and other non-federal and federal
licensees, but is
free from the unpredictable interference of consumer
devices.
While acknowledging that the 3.4 GHz amateur satellite service
allo-
cation is not currently used by any amateur satellites and that it
is
unsuitable for worldwide communication since it is not available in
ITU
Region 1, AMSAT identifies a number of potential future uses for
the band as
worldwide usage of the other available allocations in-
creases. These
potential uses include a future amateur satellite in
geostationary orbit
above the Americas.
In the comments, AMSAT also noted several non-amateur
satellite uses
of the broader 3.3 - 3.5 GHz amateur service allocation,
including its
wide use in mesh networking, EME communications, and
contesting.
The full text of the comments as filed can be downloaded
at
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-054-FCC
Interested
parties may file reply comments on or before March 22,
2020 at https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/ The proceeding is
WT Docket No. 19-
348.
[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, Executive Vice
President. for the ab-
ove
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NEMO-1
Buoy Report
AMSAT ARGENTINA launched the NEMO-1 buoy into the Atlantic
sea on Jan-
uary 30th at noon, using the callsign LU7AA. It was transported
70 km
east of Mar del Plata by the fisherman's ship 'Porteño', from
Sandokan.
The buoy, which emits in WSPR mode at 14095.6 KHz and FM VHF in
APRS
mode, navigated drifting free for 12 days traveling about 1100
kilo-
meters, until on February 11th it was sighted and taken out of
the
water by the tuna vessel 'Juan Pablo II'.
The captain of the ship,
Rinaldi Yaco, considered that the buoy was
sailing semi-sunk and decided to
rescue it, informing Amsat Argentina
of that event.
The NEMO-1 then
traveled eight more days aboard the tuna vessel, con-
tinuing its mission of
data capture and broadcasting, until on Feb-19
it arrived at the port of Mar
del Plata, where colleagues from the Mar
del Plata Radio Club picked it up
and kept in custody.
A group of AMSAT-LU is traveling to recover NEMO-1.
The buoy will be
reconditioned and a new launch is planned. It will be tried
to take it,
on this occasion, to more than 200 km offshore, so that it will
con-
tinue to navigate freely, reaffirming the commitment and
contribution
of radio amateurs to QRPp propagation research also helping
navigation
and the community.
AMSAT ARGENTINA especially thanks the
Captains and crews of the
'Porteño', the 'Juan Pablo II' ships and the Mar
del Plata RClub in
the persons of its Secretary, Jose Luis Hermida (LU9DHJ)
and Jorge
Garelli (LU5EOR) for the help provided and to the more than 100
'trav-
elers' in NEMO-1, who supported this project helping to carry it
out.
http://amsat.org.ar?f=ce
Adventure
photos: http://amsat.org.ar?f=buoy
[ANS
thanks LU7AA, AMSAT Argentina 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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GNU
Radio Conference - Tickets and Call for Papers
GNU Radio is used by
spacecraft and ground station developers around
the world. GRCon is the
annual conference for the GNU Radio project
and community. GRCon20 will be
held September 14-18, 2020 in Charlotte,
N.C.
The GNU Radio Conference
celebrates and showcases the substantial and
remarkable progress of the
world’s best open source digital signal
processing framework for
software-defined radios. In addition to pre-
senting GNU Radio’s theoretical
and practical presence in academia,
industry, the military, and among
amateurs and hobbyists, GNU Radio
Conference 2020 will have a very special
focus: Speed, latency, delay,
and timing!
Enjoy our racing theme
throughout the conference, featured in our con-
tests and a high-octane
Thursday night dinner. Papers and presentations
on theme will be recognized
at the conference with an award.
But wait, there’s more! We’ll be
co-located and coordinated with the
TAPR Digital Communications Conference.
It’s the weekend immediately
preceding GRCon20. Find out more at: https://tapr.org/?page_id=68
Registration
and an online and mobile-friendly schedule will be posted
at https://www.gnuradio.org/grcon/grcon20/
Developers
and users from the GNU Radio Community are invited to pre-
sent projects,
presentations, papers, posters, and problems at GRCon20.
Submit talks, demos,
and code! Please share this Call widely. To sub-
mit your content for the
conference, visit the dedicated conference
submission site at: https://pretalx.gnuradio.org/grcon20/cfp
First
round closes 17 April 2020. If accepted, your content will be
immediately
scheduled. Notifications go out 26 June 2020.
Final round closes 1
September 2019. Submissions received between 18
April 2020 and 1 September
2020 are accepted space permitting, and
notifications will be sent out on a
rolling basis.
Those with questions or need assistance with submitting
then please
write grcon@gnuradio.org
[ANS thanks
Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, AMSAT Board Member, for the
above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S.
Naval Academy's PSAT3 Scheduled to Launch in Mid-March
The U. S. Naval
Academy's PSAT3 payload is scheduled to launch in mid-
March from the Pacific
Spaceport Complex - Alaska in Kodiak, AK.
PSAT3 is functionally
equivalent to NO-104 (PSAT2), but does not in-
clude PSK31 functionality. It
carries a 145.825 MHz APRS digipeater
and SSTV downlink
capability.
PSAT3 will not be a free-flying satellite. It will remain
attached to
the upper stage of the launch vehicle. Consequently, the mission
dur-
ation will be limited to a few months, when the rocket body will
de-
orbit.
More information about PSAT3 can be found at
http://aprs.org/psat3.html
[ANS
thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, and the IARU for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes
to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
The following Amateur Radio satellite has
been added to this weeks
AMSAT TLE Distribution:
SwampSat-2 NORAD CAT ID
45115 (Deployed from Northrop Grumman NG-12
Cygnus 2-3-2020.)
(Thanks to
Nico Janseen, PA0DLO, for satellite identification.)
Sadly, AO-85
(Fox-1A) has been declared at end of mission. But, I
think I will retain
AO-85 in the TLE distribution for a while just in
case there are some last
comments from our friend. (Remember AO-7?)
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD,
AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the
above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Free
Digital Copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Avail-
able for New
or Renewing Members
While HuskySat-1 completes it's scientific mission,
check out the best
resource for learning how to work through linear
transponder sat-
ellites (and other types of amateur satellites). For a
limited time,
AMSAT is making the "Getting Started With Amateur Satellites"
book
available as a download with any paid new or renewal
membership
purchased via the AMSAT Store. This offer is only available
with
purchases completed online, and for only a limited time. A
perennial
favorite, Getting Started is updated every year with the
latest
amateur satellite information, and is the premier primer of
satellite
operation. The book is presented in PDF format, in full color,
and
covers all aspects of making your first contacts on a ham
radio
satellite.
Please take advantage of this offer today by visiting
the AMSAT store
at https://www.amsat.org/shop/ and selecting
any membership option.
While there, check out AMSAT's other items, including
the M2 LEOpack
antenna system, Arrow antennas, AMSAT shirts, and other swag.
Be sure
to view your cart before going to checkout. If you add a
membership
and then go directly to checkout, you'll never see an option to
add
your free gift.
If you have trouble selecting your free gift,
please see this YouTube
video to see the steps necessary. https://youtu.be/oRqk5Am-UzE
[ANS
thanks the AMSAT Office for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS
Radio Telebridge Stalwart Gerald Klatzko, ZS6BTD, SK
When the
International Space Station (ISS) orbit is not favorable for
a direct Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) con-
tact with a particular
school or location scheduled to speak with an
astronaut, ARISS radio
telebridge stations bridge the gap. Gerald
Klatzko, ZS6BTD, of Parklands,
South Africa, one of the “regulars”
during the earlier years of the ARISS
program, died on February 1 at
age 95.
Klatzko served as an ARISS
radio telebridge station in South Africa
for many years until he retired.
ARISS telebridge stations establish
the direct ham radio link and feed
two-way audio into a telebridge
line for delivery to the contact site. John
Sygo, ZS6JON, described
Klatzko as “always bright and cheerful and a great
operator,” who made
major contributions to the amateur service.
“He
was one of the first to experiment with slow-scan television,”
Sygo said.
“For many years, he assisted NASA to link astronauts with
their families
using amateur radio links from Mir, the Space Shuttle,
and the International
Space Station. For over 2 decades he was the co-
producer and presenter of
Amateur Radio Mirror International.”
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above
information]
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Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2
LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a
portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio
in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
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Upcoming
ARISS Contacts
ARISS lets students worldwide experience the excitement of
talking
directly with crew members of the International Space Station. A
con-
tact is scheduled with the Kittredge Magnet School, Atlanta, GA,
direct
via KQ4KMS. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS,
and
the scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan, KI5AAA. The contact is go
for:
Monday, 2020-02-24 at 18:23:55 UTC (31 degrees elevation).
A
contact is also scheduled with the Celia Hays Elementary School,
Rockwall,
Texas, direct via W5SO. The ISS callsign is presently sched-
uled to be
NA1SS, and the scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan, KI5AAA.
The contact is go
for: Tuesday, 2020-02-25 at 17:35:18 UTC (31 degrees)
Watch for live
stream at https://live.myvrspot.com/st?cid=NWM5NW
The
ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/
Note that all
times are approximate. It is recommended that you do
your own orbital
prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before
the listed
time.
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, of the ARISS operation team for
the
above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hamfests,
Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Want to see AMSAT in action
or learn more about amateur radio in space?
AMSAT Ambassadors provide
presentations, demonstrate communicating
through amateur satellites, and host
information tables at club meet-
ings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires,
and other events.
Current schedule:
March 6, 2020, Irving Hamfest,
Irving, TX
March 14-15, 2020, Science City on University of Arizona,
Tuscon
March 21, 2020, Midwinter Madness Hamfest, Buffalo, MN
March 21, 2020, Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, Arizona
March 28,
2020, Tucson Spring Hamfest, Tucson, AZ
March 29, 2020, Vienna Wireless
Winterfest, Annandale, VA
May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur Radio Assn
Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ
May 8-9, 2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott,
AZ
May 15-17, Hamvention, Xenia, OH
June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Con,
Plano, TX
A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download:
AMSAT
Intro Brochure. This color brochure is designed to be printed
double-
sided and folded into a tri-fold handout.
To include your
upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration,
please send an email to
ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL,
AMSAT Vice President - User Serv-
ices, 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
#SnowBirdRove (EL79) – February 1-29, 2020
Joe, KE9AJ, will cross the border into Florida, seeking climatical
asylum
in EL79 for the entire month of February. Since he will be
there for an
extended period, with both FM and linear gear, keep an
eye on Joe’s
Twitter feed for specific pass announcements:
https://twitter.com/KE9AJ
There
is a possibility that Joe may have to make a pit stop in EM54
and EM53 on
his way down South on February 1st. Monitor Twitter
for
updates.
Culebra Island, PR (FK78) February 22-23, 2020
Radio
Operadores del Este, Inc, KP3E will be returning to Culebra
Island
February 21-23. Listen for Rafael, KP4RV, on FM satellites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xSbPgIyhtA&feature=youtu.be
Vidalia,
LA (EM41) February 28 – March 1, 2020
Brian, KG5GJT, will will be
operating from the bank of the Missis-
sippi River in Vidalia, La.
(EM41), where Jim Bowie was seriously
wounded in the Sandbar Fight on
September 19, 1827. This will be
vacation style, so keep an eye on
Brian’s Twitter feed for updates:
https://twitter.com/KG5GJT
DN26/36
Mar 14-15 KC7JPC Linears (and possibly FM)
Big Bend National Park
(DL88) March 16-17, 2020
Ron AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will
operate from Big Bend
National Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details
will be added
here, as they come available, but you are more than welcome
to keep
an eye on their individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx
https://twitter.com/dtabor, and https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5
#NevadaMayhem
part 1: Central Nevada (DM19) March 21, 2020
David, AD7DB, will venture
deep into Central Nevada to specifically
activate grid DM19 on Saturday
March 21. This is actually down a
side road from “The Loneliest Road in
America.” Hardly any hams
even live in that grid. It’s for sure that few
ever activate it.
On the way there, Friday March 20, he will try to also
activate
some or all of: DM06, DM16, DM07, DM08, DM17 and DM18. Going
home
Sunday March 22, he will try to visit them again. This will be
on
FM satellites only. Internet and cell coverage may be very poor
up
there, but for updates check Twitter:
https:/twitter.com/ad7db
Please submit any additions or corrections to
ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice
President - User Serv-
ices, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite
Shorts From All Over
+ Students in the Husky Satellite Lab at the
University of Washington
have confirmed via their Facebook page that they
have been commanding
HuskySat-1 to various transmitter power levels and
beacon intervals.
Some amateurs tracking the bird, which carries a linear
transponder
to be activated later, had feared that the varying levels were
a
sign of problems. But this is part of the experimentation. The
Husky-
Sat team has been providing updates on their operations on
their
Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UWCubeSat/posts/
You should not need a Facebook account to view that link.
(ANS thanks UW
CubeSat Team for the above information)
+ NASA will accept applications
for its next astronaut class March 2
to 31. Applicants must be U.S.
citizens with a master's degree in a
STEM field and two years of relevant
professional experience. To
sign up, see: https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts
(ANS thanks NASA HQ News for the above information)
+ International
Astronomical Youth Camp will take place in Spain from
12 July to 1 August
2020. The camp typically hosts around 65 parti-
cipants, aged between 16-24
years old. The IAYC’s main aims are to
promote knowledge on astronomy and
related sciences in a unique, in-
ternational atmosphere. Participants work
on a research project of
their own choosing over the course of the three
weeks, culminating
in a final report. See https://www.iayc.org/ for details.
(ANS
thanks Carys Herbert, IAYC Leaderteam, for the above informa-
tion)
+ The ARISS-UK Team have announced that the Electromagnetic Field
2020
event is to host an ARISS contact during the weekend of July
23-26.
The event will be held at Easton Manor Deer Park, near Ledbury
in
Herefordshire, UK. Information and event tickets available at:
https://blog.emfcamp.org/2020/02/14/ticket-sales-dates/
(ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information)
+ The maiden flight of
the Long March-5B rocket carrying a trial ver-
sion of China's
new-generation manned spaceship is expected to take
place in April,
indicating the imminent start of construction of
China's space station. The
rocket, the prototype core capsule of the
space station, and the
experimental manned spaceship are undergoing
tests at the Wenchang Space
Launch Center on the coast of south
China's island province of Hainan. https://bit.ly/2VcjXrO
(ANS thanks Space
Daily for the above information)
+ A new version of the game of "chicken"
is evolving in outer space.
According to Gen. John Raymond, the U.S. Space
Force Chief, Russian
"inspector" satellites are threatening the tenuous
stand-off stabil-
ity between adversarial spacefaring nations. Since
Novemeber, the
U.S. Space Command has been tracking a satellite known as
Cosmos-
2542 which ejected a smaller, nested satellite referred to as
Cosmos-
2543. The Russian satellites have been actively maneuvering near
USA
245, a classified military imaging satellite.
(ANS thanks Space
Daily for the above information)
+ Amazon has patented a mechanism for
throwing satellites into space
with a multi-drone-guided whip, mounted on a
boat. See details at:
https://bit.ly/37KWPmL Note, though, that
Amazon (and other tech
companies) have a history of patenting things that
they’ll never
actually build, such as Amazon’s underwater fulfillment
centers:
https://bit.ly/2Tf7DV9 Has
April Fool come early?
(ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above
information)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/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,
K0JM at amsat dot
org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing
list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
