AMSAT News Service ANS-022

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT North America, 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.

In this edition:

* Reno, Nevada to Host 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium Oct 27-29
* Diwata 2's payload includes amateur radio
* AMSAT News From South Africa
* JAMSAT Symposium in Kyoto on 11-12 March, Presenters Requested.
* Kenwood features ARISS in February 2017 Two Page QST Ad
* AMSAT Phase 4 Weekly Engineering Report
* US Naval Academy HFsat Receives IARU Frequency Coordination
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-022.01
ANS-022 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 022.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
January 22, 2017
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-022.01

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Reno, Nevada to Host 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium Oct 27-29

AMSAT NA announces that the 2017 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held on Friday through Sunday, Oct 27, 28, 29, 2017 in Reno, Nevada.

Location will be at the Silver Legacy Resort , 407 N Virginia Street, in Downtown, Reno.

The Silver Legacy is a 4 star Resort/Hotel/Casino which is an iconic 42-story hotel with its massive round dome and spires centered in downtown. The Silver Legacy is typically lit green at night and is
referred to by many as the "Emerald City" of Reno. In support of the University of Nevada Wolf Pack, the Silver Legacy will sometimes turn blue.

Some of the perks include
* Free parking for attendees.
* Free transportation to and from the airport (10 minutes shuttle ride).
* Complimentary WiFi.
* The Silver Legacy has 8 restaurants and 8 different retail shops.
* Large selection of additional restaurants and casinos (El Dorado, Circus Circus, and the rest of downtown Reno) are in close proximity and within walking distance.
* Multiple alternate activities and attractions are in the Reno area.
  Nevada Museum Of Modern Art
  National Automobile Museum
  Fleischmann Planetarium (UNR Campus)
  National Bowling Stadium
* If you are staying longer in the Reno area, there are several other points of interest close by, including Virginia City and Lake Tahoe.

2017 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting

The annual AMSAT Space Symposium features:
* Space Symposium with Amateur Satellite Presentations
* Operating Techniques, News, & Plans from the Amateur Satellite World
* Board of Directors Meeting open to AMSAT members
* Opportunities to Meet Board Members and Officers
* AMSAT-NA Annual General Membership Meeting
* Auction, Annual Banquet, Keynote Speaker and Door Prizes !!

Several members from The Sierra Nevada Amateur Radio Society (SNARS) as well as many other local radio amateurs will be participating in helping with this event.

Additional information about the 2017 AMSAT Symposium will be posted on the AMSAT web site,
www.amsat.org as it becomes available.

[ANS thanks Joe Spier, K6WAO, Frank Kostelac, N7ZEV, Linda Kostelac, KC7IIT, and the AMSAT-NA Office for the above information]

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Diwata 2's payload includes amateur radio

THE whole world is again set to witness come 2018 a third-world country launching into space another microsatellite -- this time with an amateur or ham radio included in the payload.

An amateur radio is a communication technology that allows its operators to talk or send messages to other people, especially first responders, planners and government agencies whose own communications have been knocked out, in time of disasters and emergencies.

Diwata 2 -- the Philippines' second microsatellite that is currently being developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Hokkaido University, and Tohoku University in Japan -- has this technology, along with a telescope and cameras.

Its predecessor, the Diwata 1, was launched into orbit last April 2016 and has been sending pictures to DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (Asti); the latest photo posted on PHL-Microsat Program's website shows the swollen Pinacanauan River, as well as agricultural areas damaged by flood after Tropical Cyclone Lawin (Haima) made landfall in Peñablanca, Cagayan on October 19, 2016.

The PHL-Microsat said that as of January 13, the "Diwata 1 has circled the world approximately 4,083 times, taking images not just of the Philippines but also of other parts of the Earth."

"We will download the images every time the Diwata 1 passes by the Philippines," said Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano Jr., program leader of PHL-Microsat and acting director of DOST-Asti, in an interview with SunStar.

As to the amateur radio included in the payload of Diwata 2, Marciano said it is a very important feature of the second microsatellite, especially that the country is prone to natural disasters and calamities.

"So when the satellite passes over in time of disaster, you can get a ham radio and send messages to another person in other areas in the country, and even give updates on evacuation using ham radio," he told fellows of the 20th Lopez Jaena Community Journalism Workshop held in UP Diliman last November 2016.

The Philippines has more than a thousand amateur radio operators nationwide. Most of them are members of the Philippine Amateur Radio Association.

Aside from the amateur radio, Diwata 2 has a Spaceborne Multispectral Imager (SMI) with liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) for environmental monitoring; high precision telescope (HPT) for
rapid post-disaster assessment; and enhanced resolution cameras (instead of wide and middle field cameras used in Diwata 1).

"Medium and wide cameras will be replaced by enhanced resolution cameras but there will still be the HPT and SMI with LCTF... Three cameras, plus an amateur radio as part of the payload," Marciano told SunStar.

He said 11 Filipino scholars are working on the Diwata 2.

"Mas dumami pa, because we now have 11 scholars. They are in Japan, working with the two universities (Hokkaido and Tohoku)," said Marciano.

There were only nine Filipino scholars who assembled the Diwata 1.

"They are considered as scholars because they are under the DOST scholarships, and building the microsatellites is part of their studies," added Marciano.

He said that at present, they are working on the engineering model. "We are now in the design phase. We are working on the blocks. They are being done here locally and they will be tested in Japan."

The DOST targets to launch the Diwata 2 in the first half of 2018, but Marciano said the launching will also depend on the availability of the launching facility.

"The target overall for the completion of the flight model is in December 2017," he said.

Except for the amateur radio and enhanced resolution cameras, Diwata 2 will hover 400 kilometers above the Earth's surface just like Diwata 1. It also weighs 50 kilograms, the size of a room air
conditioner.

"The characteristics are the same. There will be chances na mag-abot sila doon, which is an advantage to us since it will mean that we can generate more images from them... The idea is they should be operated on the same constellation. They have to communicate with other satellites to provide us better images," said Marciano.

He explained that the country's microsatellites are not geostationary satellites, which have an altitude of 39,000 kilometers and are more expensive.

"Diwata 2 only has 400 to 600 kilometers altitude," he said, adding that because it is a microsatellite, it is only considered a secondary payload.

"Parang nakikiangkas lang tayo sa paglaunch (We are just hitching a ride), because it is very expensive to launch big satellites. You have to pay for the rocket," he told the Lopez Jaena journalism workshop fellows.

He also said in November that the challenge of Diwata satellites' orbit is they can only take images of a certain location if they passes by it.

"Diwata 1 passes every day, but it passes in different places, so there's a challenge of being in the right place at the right time," said Marciano.

Asked about the possibility of a launching failure, Dr. Marc Caesar Talampas, project leader in-charge of the microsatellite BUS development, said in a follow-up interview: "They undergo rigorous
testing before they will be launched into space. There is vibration test, radiation testing, etc. We have to comply with all the specifications."

"The failure is more on not responding, not on the launching. But so far, based on our experience with Diwata 1, the communication has been positive," added Marciano.

The government has allotted P2 billion per year for DOST's space technology program. This is on top of the P840 million that was already invested for the PHL-Microsat program.

"There's an increase in the availability of funding for research in space technology... In 2018, we will come up with a new (budget) proposal,"Marciano said.

[ANS thanks LAUREEN MONDOÑEDO-YNOT and SunStar Philippines for the above information.]

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AMSAT News From South Africa

** Turn your laptop into a 24 MHz to 1,7 GHz receiver. AMSAT SA is holding a half-day SDR Workshop in association with the South African Radio League at the NARC on 18 February 2017. This is a hands-on workshop where participants will install a VHF/UHF RTL dongle and
programme it to become a VHF/UHF receiver covering 24 MHz to 1,7 GHz. Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC, and Cor Rademeyer, ZS6CR, will present the Workshop. The Workshop fee includes the RTL dongle and a memory stick with all the required software as well as light refreshments. Register before 11 February 2017, all the details and registration form are available on www.amsatsa.org.za. Book early to avoid disappointment.

** The 2017 AMSAT SA Space Conference will be held on Saturday 20 May 2017 in Pretoria. This is the first call for paper proposals. The theme of the conference is "Conquering Space as an educational pastime." Proposals for papers should include a brief synopsis of the proposed paper. The closing date for proposals is 31 January 2017. Authors will be notified of acceptance of their paper by 15 February 2017. More details on www.amsatsa.org.za

[ANS thanks the SARL weekly news in English 2017-1-7 for the above information]

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JAMSAT Symposium in Kyoto on 11-12 March, Presenters Requested.

Mikio Mouri, JA3GEP, JAMSAT announces "We are going to held our AGM and JAMSAT Symposium in Kyoto next March.

"I hope to have some attendance from AMSAT-NA, even via Skype. We hope to hear some update of activities in US."

The meeting will be held at:  http://hotel-binario.jp/en/ The Hotel Binario Saga Arashiyama is located in the beautiful Arashiyama district of Kyoto and is perfect for sightseeing.

Date and Time of Symposium:
14:30-17:30JST(05:30-08:30UTC) March 11(Sat)
09:00-13:00JST(00:00-04:00UTC) March 12(Sun)

If anyone has an opportunity to join and present, please let Mikio know the appropriate time of your availability. He will keep the time slot for your presentation.

Mikio can be contacted via JBH02173 (at) nifty.com]

[ANS thanks Mikio JA3GEP for the above information.]

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Kenwood features ARISS in February 2017 Two Page QST Ad

Kenwwood features ARISS donations in its two page ad in the February 2017 QST. Check out the ad on pages 27 and 28.

During February the ARRL is running a special slider in their rotating banner, on their website home page, with an appeal for ARISS donations.

Also, The QST Cover story for February teases "Texas Students Take Amateur Radio to the Edge of Space"

The article "To the Edge of Space and Back with Ham Radio" by Chase Mertz, KG5KKX is featured on page 76.

Mertz highlights "Student engineers in the Eldorado Space Program design, build, and program instrument packages, sending them as high as 120,000 feet using a high altitude weather balloon."

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

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AMSAT Phase 4 Weekly Engineering Report

AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Radio prototype with Ettus Research B210 by John Petrich W7FU can be viewed at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oyAe21bWR4g&feature=youtu.be

[ANS thanks Michelle W5NYV for the above information.]

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US Naval Academy HFsat Receives IARU Frequency Coordination

The US Naval Academy has received IARU satellite frequency coordination for HFsat, a 1.5 U CubeSat with a 15 meter to 10 meter linear transponder with 30kHz bandwidth. The CubeSat will also carry an APRS digipeater on 145.825MHz.

HFsat is a project to demonstrate the viability of HF satellite communications as a backup communications system using existing ubiquitous HF radios that are usually a part of the communications suite on all small mobile platforms such has ham radio mobiles and portable operations frequently used by Amateurs in support of disaster and emergency response communications. The HFsat will be gravity gradient stabilized by its long full size 10 meter band
halfwave HF dipole antenna with tip masses.

A standardized CubSsat VHF communications card based on the popular Byonics MTT4B all-in-one APRS Tiny-Track4 module for telemetry, command and control is under development at the US Naval Academy. Standardizing the communications board makes it easy to add the HF Transponder mission into Naval Academy’s standard CubeSat bus without an all new start. HFsat will continue the long tradition of small amateur satellites designed by Aerospace students at the US Naval Academy. The students are working with Bill Ress, N6GHZ on the HF transponder card.

HF Uplink: 21.40 MHz, 30 kHz wide multi user bandwidth
HF downlink: 29.42 MHz, the 30 kHz wide downlink passband
VHF APRS DigiPeater: 145.825 MHz FM 1200 baud AFSK packet

Find additional information on-line at: http://aprs.org/HFsat.html (US Naval Academy)

http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/ (search for HFsat in the list of satellites that have been coordinated)

[ANS thanks the US Naval Academy and the IARU for the above information]

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ARISS News

+ A Successful contact was made between High School "Léon Blum", Le   Creusot, France  and Astronaut Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG  using Callsign   NA1SS. The contact began Mon 2017-01-16 11:53:17 and lasted about   nine and a half minutes. Contact was Telebridge via K6DUE. ARISS Mentor was Joseph F6ICS.

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-19  06:30 UTC

Quick list of scheduled contacts and  events:

South Street School, Danbury CT, telebridge via VK4KHZ. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD. Contact is a go for: Fri  2017-01-27 19:50:18 UTC

Swiss Space Center – EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, telebridge via W6SRJ. The ISS callsign is  presently scheduled to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut is Thomas  Pesquet KG5FYG. Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-01-26 11:06:29 UTC

ARISS  is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS  thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your  reports to aj9n@amsat.org or aj9n@aol.com.

Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.800  MHz.

The  following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: Arkansas,  Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas  Islands, and the Virgin  Islands.

QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html

ISS callsigns:  DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS,  RSØISS

Check  out the Zoho reports of the ARISS  contacts
https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415

Exp.  49 on orbit: Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD, Andrei Borisenko, Sergey  Ryzhikov
Exp. 50 on orbit: Peggy Whitson, Thomas Pesquet  KG5FYG, Oleg  Novitskiy

[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above  information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ APRS Symbol Look Up Table

  Kenneth Finnegan, W6KWF has created an easy to use lookup table for APRS symbol codes.

  "I've made a lookup table which has the symbol code, the primary  symbol, and the secondary symbol all on top of each other as opposed to the three adjacent tables on the aprs.org page:
  http://tinyurl.com/ANS-022-APRS-Table

  [ANS thanks Kenneth K6KWF for the above information.]

+ Colloquium Videos for 2009-2012 Posted on YouTube

  AMSAT-UK reports that thanks to Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG and @BATC online videos of talks given at AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2009-2012 are now posted at:
  https://www.youtube.com/user/AMSATUK/videos

  [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

+ June Page of the 2017 ARRL Calendar Features NPOTA Satellite Ops

  "Fernando Ramirez-Ferrer NP4JV, overlooks the vastness of Grand Canyon National Park (NP22) in Arizona as he makes contacts via the SO-50 Amateur Radio satellite. This was the sixth NPOTA unit he had activated via satellite." (Ruth V Ramirez, photo credit)

  [ANS thanks ARRL for the above information.]

+ UT1FG/MM is departing Finland ~1900 UTC (21 January) heading to  Mexico.

  Clean your antennas, de-wax your ears and remember to give others a chance to get through..

  [ANS thanks Jari OH2FQV, Via Twitter, 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,
This week's ANS Editor,
EMike McCardel, AA8EM
aa8em at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

Six Cubesats Successfully Launched on ISS

From JAXA Web and @JAXA twitter feed:

Six CubeSats were successfully deployed under command of the JAXA FCT on January 16. 154 CubeSats in total have been deployed from "Kibo."

Awaiting SpaceTrack.org to release kep elements for these six. I will have the Airspy up and running looking for signals.

CubeSats to Deploy from ISS 16 Jan 2017

ITF-2 CubeSat and Four Other Hamsats Set to Deploy from ISS

Toshihiro Kameda, JJ3GRX/W3GRX, of the University of Tsukuba's "Yui" satellite project in Japan, reports that the ITF-2 ("Imagine The Future") CubeSat is set for release from the International Space
Station (ISS) on Monday, January 16, at 0910 UTC.

The 1U ITF-2 was designed and built at the university. The Amateur Radio downlink is 437.525 MHz. Updated information will be announced on the AMSAT Bulletin Board at,
http://www.amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/ .

ITF-2 is the successor to the unsuccessful ITF-1, which launched in 2014 but was never heard.

Six CubeSats delivered to ISS by HTV-6 will deploy from ISS with new JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) at 16h Jan. New J-SSOD has four satellite install cases. One satellite install case has 3U space, so new J-SSOD can deploy twelve CubeSat at one time. Six CubeSats are installed as follows,

satellite
install     CubeSats
case

   #1        three 1U CubeSats  ITF-2, WASEDA-SAT3, FREEDOM
   #2        one 3U CubeSat     EGG
   #3        one 2U CubeSat     AOBA-VELOX3
   #4        one 3U CubeSat     TuPOD (including Tancredo1 and OSNSAT)

ITF-2, WASEDA-SAT3, AOBA-VELOX3, TuPOD and Tancredo1 operate on the amateur radio bands.

#1 and #2 will be deployed at 0900-0930z 16th Jan, #3 and #4 will be 1030-1100z.

AOBA-Velox III (2U Cubesat)   437.375 1200bps AFSK CW

ITF-2 (Imagine The Future) (1U Cubesat)   437.525 1200bps FM CW



TuPOD (Tancredo 1 and OSNSAT)             437.425 1200bps GMSK CW
Tancredo-1 (3U Cubesat)                              437.200 1200bps AFSK

WASEDA-SAT3 (1U Cubesat)                    437.290  1200bps PCM-FSK CW

Live broadcast will start at 0850z on YouTube JAXA channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4xq_rj0QiQ

[ARRL and JAXA and N5FPW for the above information]

AMSAT News Service ANS-015

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT North America, 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.

In this edition:

* RadFxSat (Fox-1B) Launch Date Moved to August 29, 2017
* AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2017
* ITF-2 CubeSat Set to Deploy from ISS
* Satellite Logging Updates Requested for ARRL LoTW
* College OSCAR Activity, Grow Future Membership
* 2017 Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference
* Frequency Plan of the PicSAT Project Validated by the IARU
* AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts from All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-015.01
ANS-015 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 015.01
 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE January 15, 2017
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-015.01

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RadFxSat (Fox-1B) Launch Date Moved to August 29, 2017

The launch date for RadFxSat (Fox-1B) has been moved to August 29, 2017. RadFxSat is one of four CubeSats making up the NASA ELaNa XIV mission, riding as secondary payloads aboard the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-1 mission. JPSS-1 will launch on a Delta II from Vandenberg Air
Force Base, California.

RadFxSat is a partnership with Vanderbilt University ISDE and hosts four payloads for the study of radiation effects on commercial off the shelf components.  RadFxSat features the Fox-1 style FM U/v repeater with an uplink on 435.250 MHz (67.0 Hz CTCSS) and a downlink on 145.960 MHz.
Satellite and experiment telemetry will be downlinked via the "DUV" subaudible telemetry stream and can be decoded with the FoxTelem software. RadFxSat construction and testing was completed in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the CubeSat is currently in clean storage at Fox Labs, waiting for delivery and integration which is now scheduled for June, 2017.

[ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT Vice President for Engineering for the above information]

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AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2017


AMSAT-UK is very happy to announce that the dates of the next AMSAT-UK Colloquium will be 14-15 Oct 2017. This year it will be incorporated into the RSGB Convention at the Kents Hill Park Convention Centre in Milton  Keynes. Exact details are currently being finalized with the RSGB and these will be notified when they are known.

If you have not been to Kents Hill before, it is very close to the M1 motorway and is near to Bletchley Park, where RSGB members have free entry. For overseas visitors it is convenient for planes to London Luton Airport (30-minute taxi ride) and also London Gatwick and Birmingham airports, both of which have direct train connections to Bletchley and/or Milton Keynes stations. These stations are approximately 10 minutes away by taxi.

[ANS thanks Jim Heck, G3WGM for the above information]

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ITF-2 CubeSat Set to Deploy from ISS

Toshihiro Kameda, JJ3GRX/W3GRX, of the University of Tsukuba's "Yui" satellite project in Japan, reports that the ITF-2 ("Imagine The Future") CubeSat is set for release from the International Space
Station (ISS) on Monday, January 16, at 0910 UTC.

The 1U ITF-2 was designed and built at the university. The Amateur Radio downlink is 437.525 MHz. Updated information will be announced on the AMSAT Bulletin Board at,
http://www.amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/ .

ITF-2 is the successor to the unsuccessful ITF-1, which launched in 2014 but was never heard.

Six CubeSats delivered to ISS by HTV-6 will deploy from ISS with new JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) at 16h Jan. New J-SSOD has four satellite install cases. One satellite install case has 3U space, so new J-SSOD can delploy twelve CubeSat at one time. Six CubeSats are installed as follows,

satellite
install     CubeSats
case

   #1        three 1U CubeSats  ITF-2, WASEDA-SAT3, FREEDOM
   #2        one 3U CubeSat     EGG
   #3        one 2U CubeSat     AOBA-VELOX3
   #4        one 3U CubeSat     TuPOD (including Tancredo1 and OSNSAT)

ITF-2, WASEDA-SAT3, AOBA-VELOX3, TuPOD and Tancredo1 operate on the amateur radio bands.

#1 and #2 will be deployed at 0900-0930z 16th Jan, #3 and #4 will be 1030-1100z.

Live broadcast will start at 0850z on YouTube JAXA channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4xq_rj0QiQ

[ANS thanks the ARRL and JAXA for the above information]

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Satellite Logging Updates Requested for ARRL LoTW

AMSAT has requested that BY70-1 be added as "BY70-1" in the next configuration file for the ARRL Logbook of the World (LoTW). AMSAT has also requested that this update be made no later than January 31st due to NPOTA QSOs that were made via the satellite.

AMSAT has also requested the addition of IO-86 as well as SAREX and MIREX for previous QSOs that occurred via the digipeater carried on various Space Shuttle missions and the Mir space station.

If anyone notices a satellite that was available for amateur operation that is not included in the LoTW configuration file, please let me know: Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net

Please also keep in mind that there may be a delay in requests being made for the addition of satellites to the LoTW configuration file while AMSAT awaits word of any potential OSCAR number request.


[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information]

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College OSCAR Activity, Grow Future Membership

In 2008-2009 we used to have regular College Satellite Nights, where clubs active in our area of interest would get on the birds at the same time and give out contacts. Please let me know if there is an interest again in doing this once per month and if the group minds allowing SO-50 to be the
venue.

It is important to our future that we grow our ranks through attracting younger hams. OSCAR operating at the college level can also be a huge advantage for attractive college students to the hobby.  Many of our technician course attendees at UF are there for that reason (we give two licensing courses a year).

Please help spread the word to those at your local universities, and to other college clubs.  There will be a College Student Amateur Radio Forum at HamCation HamFest in Orlando, Saturday Feb. 11.  Please let college student hams know of the event info.

The event is ARRL sponsored, part of CARI, the Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative.  The forum will take place at 3pm, and there is room for 50 college student attendees. There are more events planned for the day, including an evening social event for college students. We should also have
table space for the day for college clubs to distribute club info and to meet, greet, and network with alumni.  The table would be a good place for high school student hams to network in preparation for a life of amateur radio during the upcoming college years.

Questions can be directed to the moderator of the forum, UF Doctoral student Andy Milluzzi, KK4KWR - andy@gatorradio.org

For the latest of information see the CARI Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ARRLCARI/

[ANS thanks Dr. Jay H. Garlitz, AA4FL, FCC Trustee, W4DFU at Univ. of  Florida, since 2005, www.gatorradio.org. The Club Station of the Gator Amateur Radio Club, at UF since 1934, for the above information]

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2017 Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference

The Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference (ISSC) will be held at San Jose State University on May 1-2, 2017 in San Jose, California. The conference addresses interplanetary small satellites, including mission design, enabling technologies, science applications, and all other technical aspects of  these missions. You can find out more details about the conference at ttp://www.intersmallsatconference.com/

This year we are expecting over 200 people to attend the conference. This year’s keynote speakers will be announced soon. The conference will feature a suite of talks and attendees from JPL, NASA and other space agencies, universities, and companies from around the world to work on developing
this important new direction for small spacecraft missions.

The Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference also gives an exciting chance for organizations to sponsor an exhibitor table or a booth. A table is $270 (includes one registration) and a booth is $540 (includes two  registrations). Prices are guaranteed until January 31, when they may increase.

Registration will be available soon on our website, but please email us at exhibitors@intercubesat.org
for information and to reserve your spot. Tables and booths will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis when registration payments are received.

Please also consider submitting an abstract to represent your organization.Abstracts are due on February 15, 2017. I hope you'll be able to join us in beautiful San Jose. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions.

[ANS thanks the ISSC Committee (via the cubesat.org mailing list) for the above information]

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Frequency Plan of the PicSAT Project Validated by the IARU

AMSAT-F (AMSAT Francophone) announced on January 8 the IARU validated the proposed frequency plan for the PICSAT satellite project of the Paris Observatory.

The satellite will offer capabilities for telemetry data transmission:
AX25 - 9k6 BPSK, and an FM transponder.

Uplink   : 145.910 MHz FM
Downlink : 435.925 MHz FM

AMSAT-F and Réseau des Émetteurs Français (REF), the national non-profit organization for amateur radio enthusiasts in France, will  provide active technical support for this project.

For more information :
IARU Coordination: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=536

Link budget estimated: https://perso.lesia.obspm.fr/picsat/files/2016/12/PicSat_IARU_Coordination.pdf

Project page: http://lesia.obspm.fr/PICSAT.html

REF-Info: http://ref-info.ref.org/projet-picsat-de-lobservatoire-de-paris/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-Francophone for the above information]

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AMSAT Events

Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country.  Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with
AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations).

*Saturday, 14 January 2017 – Thunderbird Hamfest 2017 in Phoenix AZ
*Friday and Saturday, 20-21 January 2017 – Cowtown Hamfest in Forest Hill, TX
*Thursday, 26 January 2017 – presentation for Arizona Repeater Association  in Tempe AZ
*Saturday, 4 February 2017 – Palm Springs Hamfest in Palm Springs CA
*Friday-Sunday, 10-12 February 2017   Orlando HamCation in Orlando, FL
*Friday and Saturday, 17-18 February 2017 – Yuma Hamfest in Yuma AZ
*Friday-Sunday, March 31, April 1 & 2, 2017, NVCON in Las Vegas, NV

[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]

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ARISS News

Successful Contacts

*  A combined telebridge via K6DUE with students at Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium was successful Thu 2017-01-12.

*  A direct contact via W6FOG with students at the World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear, AZ. & Quartzsite in Motion, Quartzsite, AZ. was successful Wed 2017-01-11.

*  A direct contact via K4JMC with students at Rainbow Middle School in Rainbow City, AL. was successful Wed 2017-01-04.

*  A direct contact via F1IMF with students at Collège Mathilde Marthe Faucher, Allassac, France was successful Wed 2017-01-04.

*  A direct contact via F4KJV with students at Primary School Georges Wallers, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (59), France was successful Sat 2016-12-31.

*  A direct contact via IK1SLD with students at Ecole Communale de Saint Sylvestre, Saint Sylvestre, France was successful Wed 2016-12-21.


Upcoming Contacts

* A telebridge via K6DUE students at the Léon Blum High School, Le Creusot, France, is presently scheduled for Mon 2017-01-16 11:53:17 UTC 60 deg. The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG.

Le Creusot is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by large metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom. In the 19th century, iron ore mines and forges around Le Creusot generated a business in steel, railways, armaments, and shipbuilding.

The lycée Léon Blum (Le Creusot-71) together with the lycée international Charles de Gaulle (Dijon-21) and lycée Pierre Paul Riquet (Saint-Orens-31) were selected after a call for projects in March 2015 by the CNES Youth Education department for the PROXIMA mission. The project is named CERES (after the name of ancient roman goddess of agriculture). Thomas will grow some seeds in space as part of the CERES educational experiment. A special cargo of mustard, lentil and radish seeds was sent to him on the Space Station. He should water them and take pictures at regular intervals to study how the seeds grow in space. Students of the two partner high schools and a local elementary school are also participating to the list of  questions.

Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled.

[ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

South East VHF Society Conference Charlotte NC April 28-29

The SVHF Society will hold their convention in Charlotte, NC this year on April 28 and 29 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Charlotte Airport,  2600 Yorkmont Road, Charlotte, NC 28201.

We have arranged rooms at $95; you can call 800-222-TREE and ask for this rate under the name "South East VHF Society". Early registration guest room rate of $89 is offered  for reservations made by January 31, 2017. If you plan to attend, please call now to reserve your room at this lower rate
before the end of January.

Registration information will be posted soon on the web site (http://svhfs.org) so watch for the sign up details. The conference fee for pre-registration is $30, Friday's Luncheon is $15, and Saturday's banquet is $40.

[ANS thanks Gary Greene, W2ZV, SVHF Society conference committee member for
the above information]

AMSAT CW Activity Day reports

As of 8 January, only two of the participants in AMSAT CW Activity Day have posted reports to amsat-bb.  While there is no requirement to do so, if you participated, please consider posting one while it's still fresh in your mind.  You can post a list of stations worked, satellites used, "Soapbox" comments, suggestions for next year's event, or what have you.

[ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information]

DXpedition Teams Make Satellite Plans

FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON. Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon (NA-032, DIFO FP-002 WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between July 4-18th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY (but primarily SSB and RTTY). He will generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring 12/10m). He will be active in the IARU HF Contest (July 8-9th), NA QSO Party-RTTY (July 15-16th) and the CQ VHF Contest [6M only] (July 15-16th). QSL via KV1J, direct or by the Bureau. Also eQSL and LoTW. For more details and updates, check out his Web page at: http://www.kv1j.com/fp/July17.html

PLEASE NOTE: Eric mentions, "I will also be on the analog Satellites when the WX is good enough to operate from outside."

YN, NICARAGUA. A team of four operators, sponsored by Texas DX Society, will be operating near Granada beginning March 20th and ending March 27th. Operators mentioned are Keith/NM5G (YN2MG), Ken/KD2KW (YN2KW), Bill/K5WL (YN2WL) and Marty/W5MF (YN2MF). The group plans to participate in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 25-26th) as YN2KW and station, as a Multi-Op/Single-Transmitter/All-Bands/Low-Power entry. Outside of the contest, operators will use their own callsigns on CW, SSB, RTTY and other Digital modes. They will also have equipment to make some satellite contacts as time and weather permit. QSL YN2KW via N5ET, all others call signs listen for instructions, but probably the same route.

[ANS thanks the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1299 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,
This week's ANS Editor,
Joe Spier, K6WAO
k6wao at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

Monitoring the 2017 Presidential Inauguration

The Capitol Hill Monitor (CHM) scanner group has posted their 8th CHM inaugural scanning guide and our most detailed ever by Ron Perron, David Schoenberger, Mike Peyton and edited by Alan Henney with contributions from Chris Parris, Larry Van Horn, anonymous and as noted. You can share your discoveries on the Scan-DC email list or on the DC Zello incident notification channel. The 12 page pdf document is available at http://henney.com/chm/0117/chm0117.pdf.

New International Call Sign Handbook 5th Edition Now Available on Amazon

Ask any radio monitor what information they consider important during any monitoring session, and usually two items will top their list: frequencies and call signs. If you can hear activity on a particular frequency, unless you can fully identify the participants transmitting on that frequency, you can’t fully appreciate or document the traffic you are hearing.

With millions of radio stations furnishing a variety of communication services throughout the world, it is necessary that their transmissions carry distinctive call signs or identifiers. Call signs have a four-fold purpose: They may identify the nationality of the station, the agency operating a particular station, the type of station, and the identity of each individual station being heard on the monitored frequency.

The need for station identifications/call signs can easily be illustrated here in the United States, which leads all other countries in the use of the radio spectrum, that now has some 85 different kinds of radio services operated by the government, military and civilians entities, providing air, sea, land and space communication services. There are hundreds of thousands of stations on the air and call signs and other forms of identification help the radio monitor sort through the various stations that are heard.

A call sign is defined as any combination of alphanumeric characters or phonetically pronounceable characters (trigraph), which identifies a communications facility, a command, an authority, an activity or unit. To aid the radio monitor in their listening endeavors, the International Call Sign Handbook series of books/e-books has been published.

Teak Publishing is pleased to announce their latest Kindle e-book -- the fifth edition of International Call Sign Handbook by Amazon Bestselling author Larry Van Horn, N5FPW. This e-book represents the most comprehensive collection of military and government station identifications ever published for the radio listening hobby. It is the result of year’s research, study and monitoring the HF/VHF/UHF radio spectrum, by the author. Many different radio monitoring disciplines have been used to compile the listings in this book. If you monitor the HF, VHF or UHF radio spectrum, there is something in this book for you.

The information presented in this book has also been gathered through personal 

correspondence, material published in the former Monitoring Times magazine, various radio publications, newsletters, public domain government and private internet web sites, but most have been gathered the old fashioned way via on-the-air monitoring. In addition, we have received generous support and contributions from many individuals in the radio hobby.

In addition to international and military/government tactical call signs, other types of identifiers such as Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) and Mode-S aircraft addresses have been included in this e-book. There is a chapter that had basic introductory material, as well as chapters devoted to call sign / words used by the Department of Defense including the US. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. There are sections that cover the various Military Auxiliary Radio Services and the U.S. Air Force Civil Air Patrol auxiliary service.

There is also a chapter that covers call signs and ALE identifiers for the U.S. Coast Guard service. Sections in that chapter include a Coast Guard aircraft fleet list, miscellaneous U.S. coast guard calls, and also their international call signs.

Another large chapter covers various U.S. Government call signs. Sections in this chapter include the U.S. Custom and Border Patrol COTHEN radio system and ALE address list, plus call signs from the following department and agencies - Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Communications Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), General Services Administration (GSA), Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD), Miscellaneous Listings, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Communications System (NCS), and U.S. Marshal Service (USMS) service.

One of the larger chapters is devoted to an international / worldwide call signs list. We have a sampling of government and military call signs from 75 counties and international agencies.

The latest craze in aircraft military is decoding Mode-S/ICAO24 radio signals and is included in this book. Our list in this edition covers primarily government / military aircraft and introductory material on Mode-S monitoring.

The last chapter of this book contains a large list of resource information, useful in interpreting the individual entries listed in the book. Sections on U.S. Navy ship/squadron classifications; U.S. Coast Guard cutter designators; a massive list of abbreviations and acronyms that appear in the book; a comprehensive country abbreviation list; and the latest Table of Allocations of International Call signs from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are included in the last chapter on the e-book.

The Teak Publishing 5^th International Call Sign Handbook is now available for purchase worldwide from Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQWYDPX. The price for this e-Book edition is US$7.49. This book is being released internationally. Amazon customers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France Spain, Italy, Japan, India, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Australia can order the e-Book from Amazon websites directly servicing these countries. All other countries can use the regular Amazon.com website.

You do not need to own a Kindle reader to read Amazon e-book publications. You can read any Kindle book with Amazon’s free reading apps. There are free Kindle reading apps for the Kindle Cloud Reader, Smartphones (iPhone, iTouch, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry); computer platforms (Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 and Mac); Tablets (iPad, Android and Windows 8), and, of course, all of the Kindle family of readers including the Kindle Fire series. A Kindle e-book allows you to buy your book once and read it anywhere. 

You can find additional details on these apps at this link on the Amazon website at www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771.

For additional information on this and other Teak Publishing radio hobby books, monitor the company sponsored Internet blogs – The Military Monitoring Post (http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/), The Btown Monitor Post (http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/) and The Shortwave Central (http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/) for availability of additional e-books that are currently in production.

Information on other publications by the author is available on the author’s page at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00G1QMO4C.

New Winter 2016-2017 International Shortwave Broadcast Guide Now Available

Looking for a great holiday gift to give to your radio geek? Do you listen to shortwave radio broadcast? Do you like following international events as they happen, listening to music from other countries or like to learn about other cultures and history? 

In order to hear these types of radio programs and much more you need an accurate and updated guide to shortwave broadcast stations, times and frequencies for these broadcasts. And that important guide is now available for sale on all of the Amazon International websites.

Teak Publishing is pleased to announce the release of the Winter 2016-2017 International Shortwave Broadcast Guide (ISWBG) electronic book by Amazon bestselling author Gayle Van Horn, W4GVH. This all important semi-annual information resource is your electronic guide to the world of shortwave radio listening.

Shortwave radio listeners are routinely entertained with unique perspectives to events, music, culture, history, and news from other countries that you won’t see or hear on your local or national broadcast channels. Shortwave radio broadcast aren’t restricted by country borders or oceans, and can propagate thousands of miles, reaching millions of listeners worldwide, in over 300 different languages and dialects. These worldwide transmissions are monitored on internationally assigned radio frequencies between 1700 kHz and 30 MHz.

There are even broadcasts from the dark side, transmitted from broadcasters known as clandestine or clanny stations. Clandestine broadcasters are wrapped in mystery and intrigue, and they usually exist to bring about some sort of political change to the country they are targeting. Programming may largely be half-truths or sometimes even outright lies, but it is essentially propaganda for their cause.

Listeners who live in the United States can easily hear shortwave broadcast stations from Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, New Zealand, North/South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, and many other counties if you have an inexpensive shortwave radio receiver, and you know when and where to listen!

If you want to get in on the action, then this Amazon electronic book is your ticket the travel the world via radio. The ISWBG is our exclusive 24-hour station/frequency guide to “all” of the known longwave, selected mediumwave and shortwave radio stations currently broadcasting at time of publication. This unique radio hobby resource is the “only” radio hobby publication that has by-hour station schedules that include all language services, frequencies and world target areas.

New in this seventh edition of the ISWBG is an Introduction to News and Entertainment Programming on Shortwave Radio by Spectrum Monitor columnist Fred Waterer; a feature on Online Radio: The crossroads of old and new technology by former Monitoring Times columnist Loyd Van Horn W4LVH; and comprehensive radio listeners Crash Course on Shortwave Radio Propagation by Tomas Hood NW7US, contributing editor to CQ magazine and Spectrum Monitor columnist.

There is also an expanded special feature on Who’s Who in the shortwave radio spectrum by former Monitoring Times editor and feature writer Larry Van Horn N5FPW. This story covers services and frequencies outside the regular broadcast and amateur radio bands, and includes our new, exclusive Hot HF 1000+ non-broadcast frequency list. The final feature article in this edition is Getting Started in Shortwave Radio, a primer, by Spectrum Monitor managing editor Ken Reitz KS4ZR.

Also new in this edition is increased frequency and station coverage of longwave broadcasters, selected medium wave broadcast frequencies used by international broadcasters, and all known international standard time and frequency stations transmitting worldwide.

The International Shortwave Broadcast Guide (Winter 2016-2017 edition) is now available for purchase worldwide from Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2RRXV2. The price for this latest edition is US$7.99. Since this book is being released internationally, Amazon customers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France Spain, Italy, Japan, India, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Australia can order this electronic book (e-Book) from Amazon websites directly servicing these countries. All other countries can use the regular Amazon.com website.

This new e-publication edition is a much expanded version of the English shortwave broadcast guide that was formerly published in the pages of the former Monitoring Times magazine for well over 20 years. This one of a kind e-book is published twice a year to correspond with shortwave station’s seasonal time and frequency changes.

Don’t own a Kindle reader from Amazon? Not a problem. You do not need to own a Kindle to read Amazon e-book publications. You can read any Kindle book with Amazon’s free reading apps on literally any electronic media platform.

The Kindle app is available for most major smartphones, tablets and computers. There is a Kindle app available for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch; Android Phone; Android Tablet; PC; Windows 8; Mac Kindle Cloud Reader; Windows Phone; Samsung; BlackBerry 10; BlackBerry; amd WebOS. This means with a free Kindle reading apps, you can buy a Kindle book once, and read it on any device with the Kindle app installed*. You can also read that same Kindle book on a Kindle device if you own one.

You can find additional details on these apps by checking out this link to the Amazon website at www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771.

For additional information on this and other Teak Publishing radio hobby books, monitor the company sponsored Internet blogs – The Military Monitoring Post (http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/), The Btown Monitor Post (http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/) and The Shortwave Central (http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/) for availability of additional e-books that are currently in production. You can learn more about the author by going to her author page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Gayle-Van-Horn/e/B0084MVQCM/.

The International Shortwave Broadcast Guide will have wide appeal to shortwave radio hobbyists, amateur radio operators, educators, foreign language students, news agencies, news buffs, or anyone interested in listening to a global view of news and major events as they happen.

Whether you are an amateur radio operator or shortwave radio enthusiasts, and want to get in on the action outside of the ham bands, then this new electronic book from Teak Publishing is a must in your radio reference library.

-30-

Here are some of the public comments from radio hobbyists who purchased previous editions of the International Shortwave Broadcast Guide Amazon e-book.

VERY Useful Guide! By Dave in Ohio

Being rather new to the SW DXing, I needed a guide. Most of them were pretty pricey so I decided to give this one a try. When it arrived, I didn't have a lot of time to review it, just glanced at it and was a little upset. I had expected something with page after page of countries with their frequency listings, much like other guides I'd heard about. This one seemed to have a lot of articles about SWL and only in the back did I find frequency listings. But the next day I had about an hour to sit and review the book on my Kindle and I discovered how clever Ms. Van Horn had been in her formatting. I realized that the last thing I needed was just a list of frequencies. The gem of the book is the section that divides the day into UTC hours and what frequency in which country is likely to be on the air at that time. After all, what good does it do me to know that Radio Slobovia broadcasts on 1305 if I have no idea of when to listen for them? (The book also contains a long listing by frequency for identifying those broadcasts that you stumble upon.) I've looked around the articles towards the beginning of the book and the ones I've read are well written and interesting. I strongly recommend that the new readers of Ms. Van Horn's guide use the table of contents to skip around and become familiar with the format. Very useful book at a good price. Ms. Van Horn has herself a new fan ) 

Essential reference for SWLs By Hundedrek

Gayle knows international SW like few others. She used to write a monthly column and directory in the late, lamented Monitoring Times mag. A big reason why I I subbed to it for years. This guide continues the tradition. The Kindle version is more convenient to use. Now that so many international broadcasters are streaming their programming, Gayle's guide is even more valuable.

Gayle does us a great service by publishing this Shortwave Radio Guide By Tampa

A needed re hash of previous books. Gayle does us a great service by publishing this Shortwave Guide. Many on ships have stopped using short wave as they do not have radio distribution systems for the crews as Satellite takes over. Many ships have wired hanging out of portholes as a result and all kinds of antennas stuck around the ships creating hazards so they can listen to their home countries. CBC has shut down Radio Canada to save money OMG #Stupid. Clandestine Radio is on the Rise and this book lists and explains. That in itself is interesting. Should be of interest to any #SWL or #HamRadio people.

Shortwave LIVES!!!!!! By Walter C. Thurman

The Van Horns are shining stars in the Shortwave Radio and MilComms World.... this read is helpful for us DIE HARD shortwave listener's and Ham Radio folks alike. THANK FOR WHAT YOU GUYS DO!!!!! N0RDC

Great Useful (and highly affordable) Data For SWLs By Randy S.

Gayle's monthly Monitoring Times roundup of shortwave broadcast schedules was always tremendously useful. With the demise of the magazine itself it's nice to see that her massive database (and the years of work on it) aren't going to waste. And at the price (less than the cost of a monthly issue of the magazine) it makes for a fine bargain and is well worth it for shortwave-broadcast listeners with e-reader capability. The twice- yearly updates will keep the project relevant and useful.

Solid for HF listening! By Mr geocacher

Very useful for identifying what you hear on HF. Lot's of good tidbits for listening hints too.

Shortwave Broadcast Guide by Kindle Customer

Since Monitoring Times is no longer in publication, this guide is required for the dedicated shortwave listener. There is information provided that I have found no where else. It will be a welcome addition to any listener's equipment. Gayle Van Horn has been publishing this research for many years and the followers are numerous, from beginners to professionals. The author's work is accurate, concise and thorough. If you have a shortwave radio, you need this publication as much as a set of earphones. There is none better.

Very Good Source for Shortwave Stations Broadcast Schedules by Kenneth Windyka

I've got to admit up front that I don't have a strong interest in this part of the hobby. HOWEVER, Gayle Van Horn makes it easy to determine what one can hear on the short wave bands during a particular time period (in GMT time sorted format). I also like the internet reference available, so that one can listen to programs via the internet even if its' not possible via the shortwave radio.

NJ Shortwave listener hears International Frequencies with new guide help by Stanley E Rozewski, Jr.

This e-book is complete and accurate in presenting a low cost SW frequency guide and important must read topics for the new or experienced user. I liked the easy reading format, and understandable frequency guide. I will order the second edition next year.

This is my go-to-first reference by Mary C Larson

When I turn on the shortwave receiver and want to find out what's on and where to look, Van Horn's handy frequency guide is a smart place to begin. The format is not unlike the one Monitoring Times (R.I.P.) used each month. Presumably, updated ISBGs will be published twice per year, but you can check for the updates on her blog, (mt-shortwave.blogspot.com).

Good value by DrP

This is an excellent well-written book that is very affordable when compared to encyclopedic guides, e.g., the WRTH. Much the same information is included. The first part is a nice introduction to SW listening pitched to the beginner. Included is an informative section on purchasing a radio spanning low-end <$100 models up through the most advanced transceivers. The bulk of the book contains a list of world-wide SW broadcasters, organized by frequency band. This makes it ideal for browsing one band at a time, but much less so if you want to search for broadcasts from a particular country.

I like this one by Charles

I have only had a brief chance to scan through this book. From what I have seen of it I will enjoy getting in to it.

Excellent Shortwave Introduction and Program Guide by Don K3PRN

Excellent, very reasonable guide to shortwave radio. As a long time shortwave listener, the listing of all shortwave stations by UTC time is very useful to me. I had previously a shortwave website that listed only English broadcasts rather than an all station listing with the language that will be broadcast. I would highly recommend this e book for all new shortwave listeners and those that interested in a very portable listing of all stations by UTC. I only hope that this will be updated twice a year for many more years.

Good Product by Radio Freq 

Since Monitoring Times stopped publishing shortwave radio schedules, there has been a dearth of resources for radio-heads. This guide nicely fulfills gap. It is very comprehensive.

It is nice someone is dedicated to SWL by Robert K. Mallory 

Very concise and well organized. Not much to choose from these days, it is nice someone is dedicated to Shortwave Radio Listening