Saturday, February 08, 2020

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-040

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:

* Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, Elected AMSAT President
* Phoenix CubeSat Upcoming Deployment
* New ISS Tour Video Goes Inside Cygnus NG-12
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
* HuskySat-1 Gains Enthusiastic Following
* Robert Bankston, KE4AL, Proposes amsatLink Project
* 10 US Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
* AMSAT at Yuma (Arizona) Hamfest, 14-15 February 2020
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-040.01
ANS-040 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 040.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2020 Feb 09
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-040.01

Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, Elected AMSAT President

At a special meeting held via teleconference, the AMSAT Board of
Directors elected Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, President. Coleman previous-
ly served as a member of the Board of Directors from 2017-2019 and
also served as AMSAT's Secretary during this time. He has also volun-
teered in several other capacities for AMSAT, including chairing the
2016 AMSAT Space Symposium held aboard the cruise ship Carnival
Liberty.

Coleman’s first introduction to amateur radio in space was with SAREX
and Mir. An interest in setting up an AX.25 BBS and nodes led to him
trying out the Mir Personal Message System (PMS) and digipeater to
make contacts in the early 1990s. It wasn’t until a visit from a
friend in 2011 that Coleman was bitten by the OSCAR bug and began his
AMSAT journey chasing operating awards.

Having held other leadership roles in his community, nonprofits, and
critical infrastructure, Coleman’s desire is working with constituents
to improve organizational processes and align them with strategic
goals. Professionally, Coleman works in the industrial process con-
trol sector as both a consultant and business development manager. He
resides in the North Texas area with his spouse and two children.

[ANS thanks the AMSAT Board of Directors and AMSAT President Clayton
Coleman, W5PFG for the above information]

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Phoenix CubeSat Upcoming Deployment

Several CubeSats are scheduled to be deployed from the ISS into orbit
on 12 Feb. Among them is the Phoenix CubeSat, which is a 3U CubeSat
developed by Arizona State University to study the effects of Urban
Heat Islands through infrared remote sensing. Following deployment,
the Phoenix operations team would appreciate as much help as possible
with identifying the spacecraft and verifying that it is operational.

Phoenix is scheduled for a deployment time of *8:30 UTC* on 12 Feb.

Please note that two CubeSats being deployed on this date operate on
the same frequency. Both Phoenix and QARMAN share the frequency of
*437.35 MHz*, and both utilize an AX.25 9600 baud protocol with GMSK
modulation. Both CubeSats will also be deployed within 1.5 hours of
each other, and will therefore be close to each other in orbit. Please
be mindful of this situation, and if you have any doubt about the Cube-
Sat that you are receiving, please get in touch with Sarah Rogers,
Project Manager, Phoenix CubeSat, sroger13 [at} asu.edu with any ques-
tions or concerns.

To read more about the Phoenix CubeSat, it's transmitter characteris-
tics, and how you can decode the signal, please see the website at
http://phxcubesat.asu.edu/content/amateur-operations!

[ANS thanks Sarah Rogers, KI7OOY, 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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New ISS Tour Video Goes Inside Cygnus NG-12

A  video by astronauts Luca Parmitano and Andrew Morgan posted on the
European Space Agency YouTube channel on January 26th, 2020 shows Luca
going inside the Cygnus NG-12 vehicle, which took cargo, as well as
several satellites, including HuskySat-1, to the ISS.

Even more relevant to HuskySat-1 and the the amateur radio satellite
community, Luca mentions the "delivery system" they planned to install
on the vehicle before it was released, which happened on January 31st.
HuskySat-1 was deployed from the delivery system later that day. Luca
says he thinks it's really cool that the delivery system provides
another way to gain access to space, and I couldn't agree more.

The Cygnus tour begins at 24:42 into the video, and the delivery
system is mentioned at 26:57.

This link to the video goes directly to 24:42:

https://youtu.be/Snn1k_qEx20?t=1482

[ANS thanks John Brier, KG4AKV, for the above information]

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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution

The following satellite's NORAD CAT ID has been changed in this week's
AMSAT TLE distribution:
OCULUS-ASR is now object NORAD CAT ID 44348

The following satellites have been deleted from this week's AMSAT TLE
distribution:
OBJECT H - NORAD CAT ID 44346 (non-amateur satellite TEPCE, decayed
   February 1,2020)
OBJECT J - NORAD CAT ID 44347 (non-amateur satellite FALCONSAT-7)
TBEX-A   - NORAD CAT ID 44356 (non-amateur satellite)

The following Amateur Radio satellite has been added to this week's
TLE distribution:
HuskySat 1 - NORAD CAT ID 45117 (Cygnus NG-12 Spacecraft deployment,
1/31/2020).
(Thanks to Nico Janseen, PA0DLO, for satellite identification.)

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

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HuskySat-1 Gains Enthusiastic Following

Initial reports indicate considerable interest among amateurs in
tracking and capturing data from the newly deployed HuskySat-1. The
satellite, designed at the University of Washington, was launched to
the ISS by Cygnus NG-12 on November 2, 2019. It was deployed to a
higher orbit from the ISS by Cygnus on January 31, and began telemetry
transmissions on 435.800 MHz.

HuskySat-1’s 1,200 bps BPSK beacon is active and decodable with the
latest release of AMSAT’s FoxTelem software. FoxTelem is available at
https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem

HuskySat-1 is a CubeSat, and will demonstrate onboard plasma propul-
sion and high gain telemetry for low Earth orbit that would be a pre-
cursor for an attempt at a larger CubeSat designed for orbital inser-
tion at the Moon.

HuskySat-1 is expected to carry out its primary mission before being
turned over to AMSAT for activation of a 30 kHz wide V/U linear trans-
ponder for SSB and CW.

Initially it looked like object 2019-071G was HuskySat-1, but our
friends at the 18th Space Control Squadron published data on addi-
ional objects in recent days, and there is considerable evidence
suggesting that HuskySat-1 is actually one of those instead.
Element sets for objects 2019-071H and 2019-071J are now distributed
in nasabare.txt as candidates for the "Real" HuskySat-1.

Usually element sets are good for a week or more, at least for ham
purposes where we have fairly wide beam widths. The exception is the
ISS, the only spacecraft we have in nasabare.txt that maneuvers, and
we keep its element sets "fresh" by applying updates from Johnson
Spaceflight Center several times per day. Husky-Sat 1 will be testing
a thruster early in its mission, and endeavors to demonstrate a delta-
V of 100m/sec or more.  This could cause the accuracy of element sets
to degrade more quickly than usual.

[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT IT Team Leader for the above
information]

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Robert Bankston, KE4AL, Proposes amsatLink Project

amsatLink is a proposed three-phased program to ultimately establish a
constellation of nanosatellites, linked in a peer-to-peer voice commun-
ications network for amateur satellite service. As a wireless ad hoc
network, future satellites can be added to the network and ground
stations, moving in and out of a nanosatellite node’s footprint, can
easily join and exit the network.

The proposal is to create an IEEE 802.11 wireless ad hoc network, op-
erating within the FCC Part 97 amateur radio frequency allocation of
the 2.4 GHz microwave band. Individual satellite and ground nodes would
connect directly, dynamically, and non-hierarchically to as many other
nodes as possible and cooperate with one another to create one virtual
network that can efficiently route data from/to clients.

While the idea of cross-link communication between satellites is not
new, amsatLink hopes to continue the efforts of NASA’s PhoneSat, EDSN
constellation, and NODES missions, by expanding the network to include
ground-based nodes, demonstrating the use of voice over internet pro-
tocol communications, and organizing nodes into clusters, where each
cluster consists of one nanosatellite node and any visible ground nodes.

amsatLink will continue NASA’s design philosophy by utilizing commer-
cial-off-the-shelf hardware and keeping the design and mission objec-
tives as simple as possible. Estimated total hardware cost per satel-
lite is less than $5,000. Proposed ground stations will also use off
the shelf equipment with a total estimated cost of less than $150.

For more details, see https://ke4al.github.io/amsatLink/  Robert seeks
further discussion of this proposal among AMSAT members.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, 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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10 US Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to
announce the schools and host organizations selected for the second
half of 2020.  Of the proposals submitted during the recent proposal
window, 10 were accepted to move forward in the selection process for
a scheduled amateur radio contact with a crew member on the ISS. The
primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science,
Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise
their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space
exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.

The schools and host organizations are now engaged in the next step of
the acceptance process. When ready, they will be put in the scheduling
queue for a contact during the July to December 2020 time period. Al-
though ARISS expects to schedule all 10 during this period, changes to
NASA crew availability might force some delays to the next time period.

The schools and host organizations are:

     Estes Park Elementary School
     Estes Park, CO

     Green Bank Elementary School
     Green Bank, WV

     Tecumseh Public School
     Tecumseh, OK

     RSU #21
     Kennebunk, ME

     JFK High School
     Denver, CO

     Oregon Charter School
     Mill City, OR

     Newcastle High School
     Newcastle, WY

     Tarwater Elementary School
     Chandler, AZ

     Kopernik Observatory
     Vestel, NY

     Salem-South Lyon District Library
     South Lyon, MI

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

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AMSAT at Yuma (Arizona) Hamfest, 14-15 February 2020

AMSAT will be at the Yuma Hamfest, which is also serving as the 2020
ARRL Southwestern Division Convention, on Friday and Saturday, 14-15
February 2020. The hamfest will be at the Yuma County Fairgrounds,
along 32nd Street, across the street from Yuma International Airport
and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, south of Interstate 8. More about
the hamfest is available at:

http://www.yumahamfest.org/

WD9EWK will be on the satellites during the hamfest, demonstrating
satellite operating. If you hear WD9EWK on a pass, please call and join
in the demonstration. The hamfest site is in grid DM22, in Arizona's
Yuma County. QSOs made during the hamfest will be uploaded to Logbook
of the World, and QSL cards are available on request (please e-mail
WD9EWK directly with the QSO details).

Patrick will tweet updates from the hamfest using the @WD9EWK Twitter
account. If you do not use Twitter, you can see the tweets in a web
browser at:

http://twitter.com/WD9EWK

In addition to the WD9EWK demonstration, AMSAT member Dave Bartholomew,
AD7DB, will give a presentation "Getting Started on FM Satellites" on
Saturday (15 February) morning at the hamfest. Dave's presentation is
scheduled for 10:20 a.m.

[ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, for the above information]

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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

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:

    February 14-15, 2020, Yuma Hamfest and ARRL Southwest Division
         Convention, Yuma, AZ (see details above)
    February 15, 2020, Cabin Fever Reliever Hamfest, Saint Cloud, MN
    March 6, 2020, Irving Hamfest, Irving, TX
    March 14-15, 2020, Science City, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ
    March 21, 2020, Midwinter Madness Hamfest, Buffalo, MN
    March 21, 2020, Scottsdale (AZ) Amateur Radio Club Hamfest
    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 VP-User Services, for the
above information]

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

Satellite Shorts
    Feb 15  CN78  ADODX  FM and Linear (@ad0dx)
    Mar 14-15  DN26/36  KC7JPC  Linears (and possibly FM)

#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

Key West and Boca Grande Key (EL94, EL84+) February 9-11,2020
    Clayton, W5PFG, will be in Key West, Florida (EL94) February 9
    through the 11, 2020.  Monday, February 10, 13:15-17:30 UTC, Clay-
    ton will operate FM & SSB satellites from EL84xm, Boca Grande Key.
    Listen for W5PFG near these dates for additional Florida grids,
    such as EL79, EL89, EL99, EL86, EL96, & EL95. Keep an eye on Clay-
    ton’s Twitter feed for announcements https://twitter.com/w5pfg

Del Carmen Island (EK48cp)  February 9, 2020
    Ismael, XE1AY, will operate from Del Carmen Island (DL87th) on Sun-
    day 9 February, using the callsign 4A2L (see QRZ).  Ismael only
    expects to operate FM satellites for a couple of hours.  In addi-
    tion, they plan to operate CW, SSB, and FT8.

Isla Perez, Mexico (EL52, EL50, EL51) February 11 – 17, 2020
    Members of Radio Club Puebla DX will be active as 6F3A from Isla
    Perez, Mexico, between February 11-17. The operators mentioned are
    Patricia/XE1SPM (Team Leader), Ismael/XE1AY, Eduardo/XE2YW and
    Ricardo/XE1SY. Activity will be on 80/40/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters,
    and include the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 15-16). QSL via XE1SY.
    Ismael, XE1AY, reports that he doing CW and the satellites, and
    will also TX from EL50 and XE1AY/mm from EL51.

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/ad0dxhttps://twitter.com/dtabor, and
    https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5

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

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services, for the
above information]

Operators Alex/VE1RUS and Pierre/VE3TKB will once again be active as
   VY0ERC from the Eureka Weather station between now and March 28th.
   This station is operated by the Eureka Amateur Radio Club [probably
   the most northerly located amateur radio club in the world] from
   Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. The suggested bands are 40 and 20 meters
   (possibly 80m), as well as FM satellites (from ER60, EQ79) using
   SSB, the Digital modes (FT8 and RTTY) and very slow CW. Activity
   will be limited to their spare time. QSL via M0OXO, OQRS or direct.
   For updates, see:  https://twitter.com/vy0erc

[ANS thanks The Ohio/Penn Dx Bulletin for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ After setting a record for the longest single spaceflight in history
  by a woman, NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth on Feb.
  6, along with Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian
  space agency Roscosmos and Luca Parmitano of the European Space
  Agency. Koch launched March 14, 2019. Her first journey into space
  of 328 days is the second-longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astro-
  naut and also places her seventh on the list of cumulative time in
  space for American astronauts. Full story: https://bit.ly/386BTrc
  (ANS thanks spaceref.com for the above information)

+ SpaceX has been garnering all the headlines when it comes to satel-
  lite constellations. Their Starlink system will eventually have thou-
  sands of tiny satellites working together to provide internet access.
  But on Thursday, Feb. 6, OneWeb launched 34 satellite from the Bai-
  konur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz launch vehicle. Eventually,
  OneWeb intends to have as many as 5,000 satellites in orbit.
  (ANS thank universetoday.com for the above information)

+ An industry report forecasts demand for 14,000 to 20,000 new satel-
  lites to be launched in the next decade. The report suggests that
  launch slot availability will be a challenge for satellite operators,
  and that delays due to longer lead times and additional costs will
  put pressure on research, commercial, and military operators.
  (ANS thanks satmagazine.com for the above information)

+ NASA declared the Spitzer Space Telescope’s 16-year mission complete
  on Thursday, Jan. 30 after sending final commands for the spacecraft
  to enter hibernation as it drifts farther from Earth. The Spitzer
  Space Telescope, one of NASA’s original four “Great Observatories,”
  studied the most distant galaxy ever observed in the universe,
  gathered data on the characteristics of planets around other stars,
  and detected a new ring around Saturn.
  (ANS thanks spaceflightnow.com for the above information)

+ Finnish amateur photographers have discovered a new auroral form.
  Named 'dunes' by the hobbyists, the phenomenon is believed to be
  caused by waves of oxygen atoms glowing due to a stream of particles
  released from the Sun. In the study, published in the journal AGU
  Advances, the origins of the dunes were tracked to a wave guide
  formed within the mesosphere and its boundary, the mesopause.
  (ANS thanks astrowatch.net for the above information)

+ The JAMSAT general meeting and space symposium will take place at the
  Tokyo, Odaiba, Science Museum on March 14 and 15.
  (ANS thanks JAMSAT for the above information)

+ Bob Atkins KA1GT has documented his recent observations of interfer-
  ence to 1296 EME from the Galileo navigation satellites' E6 mode.
  Read Bob's article at https://bobatkins.com/radio/galileo-1296.html
  (ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information)

+ Minutes of the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors meeting are now avail-
  able at https://www.amsat.org/minutes-of-the-board-of-directors/
  The December 2018 Annual Financial Review report is also now avail-
  able at https://www.amsat.org/audit-and-other-financial-reports/
  (ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information)



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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,

K0JM at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans