Jonathan's Space Report
No. 772
[Corrected] 2019 Dec 8
Somerville,
MA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note:
Apologies - I sent the wrong file out first time; this is the correct
one.
International Space
Station
---------------------------
Expedition 61 continues.
On
Nov 20 the J-SSOD No. 12 deployer, delivered on HTV 8, was moved outside the
Kibo airlock with the JEM RMS robot arm. Three cubesats were
ejected: RWASAT-1, built by the University of Tokyo in collaboration with
Rwanda's Ministry of Trade and Industry; NARSSCube-1 from the Egyptian Space
Agency; and AQT-D from the University of Tokyo which is testing a water
thruster.
On Nov 22 Parmitano and Morgan carried out spacewalk EVA-60,
the second in the series to
repair the cooling system of the AMS-02 particle
physics experiment.
The Quest airlock was depressurized from 1200 to 1835
UTC, and the hatch was opened at 1201 UTC and closed at 1833 UTC. The
astronauts made cuts in cooling pipes, depressurizing the
old cooling system
and preparing for installation of the new pump.
On Nov 29 the Progress
MS-12 cargo ship undocked from the Pirs module at
1025 UTC, performed a
deorbit burn at 1339 UTC and entered the
atmosphere over the South Pacific at
1411 UTC. Its debris impacted the
ocean at about 1419 UTC.
On Dec 2
Parmitano and Morgan carried out spacewalk EVA-61. The airlock was
depressurized
from 1127 to 1733 UTC. They carried the 158 kg Upgraded Tracker
Thermal Pump Systme
(UTTPS) to the AMS-02 experiment and installed it there,
connecting fluid lines.
On Dec 5 SpaceX launched Dragon CRS-19 on its way
to the ISS. The Falcon 9 first stage landed
on the OCISLY droneship.
In
Dragon's trunk are:
HISUI (Hyperspectral Imager Suite) for Japan's Ministry
of Economy, Trade and Industry;
to be installed at EFU 8 on the JEM
Exposed Facility. Mass about 600 kg; I believe it
was developed by Japan
Space Systems.
Li-Ion battery/Adapter Plate, to replaced one that failed
after installation.
In the cabin are:
RiTS (Robotic Tool Stowage), a
box that can store both of the RELL leak locators, to
be EVA-installed
outside ISS.
Cubesats CIRiS (Utah State), CryoCube-1 (NASA KSC), QARMAN
(Von Karman Inst,, Belgium),
SORTIE (Astra LLC/UNMC), EdgeCube (Sonoma
State U), MakerSat 1 (NW Nazarene U), and
AztechSat-1 (UPAEP, Puebla,
Mexico).
Dragon was captured by the Canadarm-2 at 1005 UTC Dec 8 and berthed
on the Harmony nadir port
at 1247 UTC.
The Dragon's Falcon 9
second stage remained in orbit for several hours
and then restarted to make a
20s duration out-of-plane deorbit burn to
reenter southwest of Australia.
This was to simulate a GEO 3-burn
deployment mission. My estimate is that
after separation from Dragon at
1739 UTC, it was in a 204 x 378 km x 51.6 deg
orbit until about 2225 UTC
when it made a 1.8 km/s burn to about -31 x 280 km
x 58.5 deg,
reentering in the target zone shortly after 2300 UTC, having
completed 3
orbits of the Earth. Unfortunately it was not cataloged and no
TLEs are
available for it; the old rule was that things that completed one
orbit
should get a catalog number but this rule is no longer being
followed.
On Dec 6 Roskosmos launched Progress MS-13 from Baykonur. It is
expected
to reach ISS on Dec 9.
On Dec 5 at 1840 UTC the S.S. Roger
Chaffee (Cygnus NG-11) lowered its
orbit from 462 x 469 km to 212 x 376 km;
on Dec 6, probably about 1620
UTC, it was deorbited over the south Pacific
with impact near 140W 45S
at about 1655 UTC. NG-11 arrived at ISS Apr 19 and
left on Aug 6,
spending time demonstrating extended
operations.
Beidou
-------
China launched two more Beidou
navigation satellites on Nov 23. Beidou 50 and 51
are satellites M19 and M20
in the Beidou-3 medium Earth orbit series.
Meanwhile, Beidou 49 has been
found in its target inclined geosynchronous orbit
(IGSO).
Kosmos-2542
-----------
Russia launched a Soyuz-2-1V on
Nov 25. The Blok I second stage reached
a 289 x 364 km x 97.9 deg orbit; the
Volga third stage then fired to
reach a 367 x 857 km x 97.9 deg orbit and
deployed its payload, probably
to be codenamed Kosmos-2542. The Volga then
appears to have deorbited
within 24 hours. On Dec 6 the payload released a
subsatellite reported
by the Russian press as a satellite-inspector; this
will probably be
codenamed Kosmos-2543.
Ariane
VA250
------------
Arianespace flight VA250 used launch vehicle Ariane
5 L5108. The
payloads were TIBA-1, a 5600 kg AirbusDS Eurostar 3000 Ka-band
satellite
for the Egyptian Space Agency, and Inmarsat GX5, a 4007 kg
Thales
Alenia Spacebus 4000B2 Ka-band satellite for Inmarsat's Global
Xpress
fleet.
Tiba is the Arabic name for the ancient city known in
English as Thebes
and in ancient Egyptian as Waset. It's unclear why the
satellite's name
is always rendered in upper case in English
transliteration.
PSLV-C47/Cartosat-3
--------------------
ISRO
launched PSLV C47 from Sriharikota on Nov 27 to place the Cartosat-3 high
resolution
imaging satellite in sun-sync orbit. Cartosat-3's main camera has
a resolution of 0.25m.
The PS4 fourth stage also deployed the Meshbed 3U
cubesat, an antenna test satellite
for Analytical Space of Cambridge, MA, and
a dozen Planet SuperDove imaging cubesats.
GF-12
-----
China
launched the Shanghai-built Gao Fen 12 high resolution SAR radar satellite on
Nov 27.
Electron 10
-----------
Rocket Lab's tenth mission,
dubbed 'Running Out Of Fingers', was
launched from New Zealand on Dec 6. The
main payload was the 75 kg ALE-2
for Astro Live Experiences (Tokyo), which
plans to create artificial
meteors for entertainment. Several small
PocketQube payloads were also
put in orbit. The PQ sats are smaller than a 1U
cubesat; a 1P is 0.25
kg, 0.05m cube. The PQ deployers were developed by Alba
Orbital of
Glasgow, and ejected:
NOOR 1A and 1B, 3P satellites with
communications test payloads for Stara Space of Los Angeles, built by Alba
Orbital.
SMOG-P, a 1P from Budapest Univ. of Tech and Economics, mapping
radio-frequency `pollution' from terrestrial emitters
ATL-1, a 2P from ATL
Ltd of Csapas, Hungary, also with a spectrum monitoring payload.
FossaSat,
a 1P from Fossa Systems of Madrid.
TRSI-Sat, a 1P from Paul Kocyla of
Aachen, formerly of STADOKO and now operating as 'TRSI Club' and 'My
Radar'.
The first stage performed a controlled, instrumented reentry
and
impacted the ocean. The second stage reached a 180 x 409 km orbit
at
0827 UTC. At apogee at 0908 UTC, the kick stage fired to a 398 x 415
km
orbit and deployed ALE-2. It appears another small burn may have
been
done at 0916 UTC, with the PQs deployed to an orbit with a 50 km
lower
perigee at 0918 UTC.
KZ-1A
launches
---------------
On Dec 7 two Kuaizhou-1A rockets were
launched from Taiyuan within 6
hours. The first, KZ-1A Y2, placed the Jilin-1
GaoFen 2B imaging
satellite in 1000LTDN sun-sync orbit for Chuangguang
Satellite. The
second put six small satellites in 1600 LTDN sun-sync orbit:
HEDE-2A/2B
with AIS payloads for HEDE Aerospace's Tian Xingzhe
(Skywalker)
constellation; Tianyi-16 and 17 remote sensing satellites for
Tianyi
Research; and Tianqi-4A/4B with IoT relay payloads for Guodian
Gaokeji
YG.
Starlink flight 0
------------------
After
several months at 550 km the main group of flight 0 (2019-029)
satellites
have lowered their orbits to 530 km.
Satellites lowering orbit below 530
km constellation:
- Starlink 26 (44240/29F) is undergoing rapid orbit
lowering and is now at 455 km and falling.
- Starlink 46 (44246/29M),
previously stored in a 390 km orbit, is also
lowering and is now at 309
km, lower even than Starlink 67.
- Starlink 67 (44278/29AV) continues slow
decay in an elliptical 300 x 325 km orbit.
- Starlink 60 (44723/29AQ)
continues slow decay in a 416 x 425 km orbit.
Satellites in storage orbit
below 530 km constellation:
- Starlink 29 (44243/29J) in 440 x 448 km
-
Starlink 52 (44259/29AA) in 443 x 445 km
- Starlink 43 (44257/29Y) in 477 x
479 km
- Starlink 80 (44282/29AZ) in 492 x 497 km
- Starlink 48
(44289/29BG) in 507 x 508 km
Satellites lowering orbits toward 530 km
constellation:
- Starlink 37 (44252/29S), 41 (44277/29AU), 22 (44236/29B),
64 (44275/29AS) at 547 to 551 km and descending.
47 of 60 satellites are
in 530 km orbit:
- Starlink 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30-36, 40, 42, 44, 45,
49, 50, 51, 53-59, 61, 62, 62, 65, 66, 68-79, 81
Starlink flight
1
------------------
The flight 1 (2019-074) satellites, in a plane 36
deg east of the flight
0 batch, split into two groups on Nov 24, with 40
satellites ceasing
their ascent at 350 km and 20 satellites continuing to
ascend steadily -
passing 435 km as of Dec 8.
Satellites in the lower
group are:
1007-1017, 1019-1021, 1023-1037, 1040, 1044, 1047, 1048, 1049,
1051, 1052, 1057, 1059, 1060, 1068.
Satellites in the ascending group
are:
1022, 1038, 1039, 1041-1043, 1045, 1046, 1050, 1043-1056, 1058,
1061-1065, 1067
Reports of visual observations of these satellites as
naked-eye objects continue.
Parker Solar
Probe
------------------
After completing three perihelia (2018 Nov 6
0329UTC, 2019 Apr 4
2240UTC, 2019 Sep 1 1740UTC) at 0.166AU, Parker is in a
0.166 x 0.938 AU
x 3.4 deg solar orbit approaching its second Venus flyby. It
will be in
the Venusian sphere of influence from 0605 Dec 26 to 0626 Dec 27,
with a
flyby on Dec 26 1815 UTC in a 3008 x -16349 km x 3.6 deg
hyperbola
(i.e., passing 3008 km above Venus' surface). This will lower its
solar
orbit perihelion to 0.130 AU. Perhelion 4 will be at 0938 UTC (0939
TDB)
Jan 29 at a distance of 0.1296 AU from the center of the Sun and
a
heliocentric inertial velocity of 109.18 km/s (393,000 km/hr or
0.36
millilight). The corresponding kinematic Lorentz factor is 1.0 +
6.5E-8.
The gravitational redshift z is slightly larger, 1.0 +
7.6E-8.
Table of Recent Orbital
Launches
----------------------------------
Date UT Name
Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee
Apogee Incl Notes
Nov 2 1359 S.S. Alan Bean Antares
230+ MARS LA0 Cargo 71A S44701 186 x 257 x 51.6
Nov 3
0322 Gao Fen 7 ) Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan LC9 Imaging
72A S44703 489 x 518 x 97.5 1030LT SSO
Huangpu-1
) Imaging? 72C S44706 485 x 505
x 97.5
Dianfeng
) Imaging 72D S44705 485 x 505
x 97.5
Sudan Kexue Shiyan
) Tech 72B S44704 487 x 504
x 97.5
Nov 4 1743 Beidou DW49 Chang Zheng 3B
Xichang Navigation 73A S44709 35674 x 35887 x 58.7
Nov 11 1456
Starlink 1007 )
to
) 74A S44713 298 x
303 x 53.0
Starlink 1017 ) Falcon 9
Canaveral SLC40 Comms to
Starlink 1019
) 74BM S44772 298 x
303 x 53.0
to )
Starlink 1065
)
Starlink 1067 )
Starlink 1068 )
Nov
13 0340 Jilin-1 Gaofen 02A Kuaizhou-1A Jiuquan
Imaging 75A S44777 532 x 546 x 97.5 1000LT SSO
Nov 13 0635
Ningxia-1 01 ) Chang Zheng 6 Taiyuan Sigint 76A
S44779 886 x 898 x 45.0
Ningxia-1 02
) Sigint 76B S44780 886 x
898 x 45.0
Ningxia-1 03
) Sigint 76C S44781 886 x
898 x 45.0
Ningxia-1 04
) Sigint 76D S44782 886 x
898 x 45.0
Ningxia-1 05
) Sigint 76E S44783 886 x
898 x 45.0
Nov 17 1000 KL-Alpha-A ) Kuaizhou-1A
Jiuquan Comms 77A S44785 1044 x 1058 x 88.9
KL-Alpha-B ) Comms 77B
S44786 1045 x 1432 x 88.8
Nov 20 0850
RWASAT-1 ISS, LEO Tech
98-67QV? 411 x 420 x 51.6
Nov 20 0910
NARSSCube-1 ISS, LEO Tech
98-67QW? 411 x 420 x 51.6
Nov 20 0925
AQT-D ISS, LEO Tech
98-67QX? 411 x 420 x 51.6
Nov 23 0055 Beidou DW50 )
Chang Zheng 3B Xichang LC3 Navigation 78A S44793 21533 x 22193 x
55.0
Beidou DW51
) Navigation 78B S44794 21533 x
22193 x 55.0
Nov 25 1752 Kosmos-2542? Soyuz-2-1V
Plesetsk LC43/4 Tech 79A S44797 383 x 863 x 97.9
Nov 26 2123
TIBA-1 ) Ariane 5ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 80A
S44800 259 x 35753 x 5.0
Inmarsat GX5
) Comms 80B S44801 256 x
35719 x 5.0
Nov 27 0358 Cartosat-3 ) PSLV-XL
Sriharikota SLP Imaging 81A S44804 500 x 519 x 97.5
0930LT
Meshbed
) Tech 81C S44806 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-1
) Imaging 81L S44814 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-2
) Imaging 81K S44813 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-3
) Imaging 81J S44812 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-4
) Imaging 81J S44811 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-5
) Imaging 81Q S44818 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-6
) Imaging 81P S44817 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-7
) Imaging 81N S44816 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-8
) Imaging 81M S44815 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock 4p-9
) Imaging 81D S44807 500
x 517 x 97.5
Flock
4p-10) Imaging 81E S44808
500 x 517 x 97.5
Flock
4p-11) Imaging 81F S44809
500 x 517 x 97.5
Flock
4p-12) Imaging 81G S44810
500 x 517 x 97.5
Nov 27 2352 Gao Fen 12 Chang Zheng
4C Taiyuan Radar 82A S44819 595 x 599 x 97.9 0700LT
Dec
5 1729 Dragon CRS-19 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40
Cargo 83A S44821 203 x 378 x 51.7
Dec 6 0800?
Kosmos-2543? Kosmos-2542, LEO Inspector 79D
S44835 368 x 858 x 97.9
Dec 6 0818 ALE-2 )
Electron Mahia LC1 Tech 84A S44824 397 x 415 x
97.0
NOOR 1A
) Com 84 348
x 403 x 97.0
NOOR 1B
) Com 84 348
x 403 x 97.0
SMOG-P
) Sigint 84 348
x 403 x 97.0
TRSI-Sat
) Tech 84 348
x 403 x 97.0
FossaSat-1) Tech
84 348 x 403 x 97.0
ATL-1
) Sigint/Tech 84 348
x 403 x 97.0
Dec 6 0934 Progress MS-13 Soyuz-2-1A
Baykonur LC31 Cargo 85A S44833 186 x 219 x 51.6
Dec 7 0255
Jilin-1 Gaofen 02B Kuaizhou-1A Taiyuan Imaging 86B
S44837 531 x 544 x 97.5
Dec 7 0852 HEDE-2A )
Kuaizhou-1A Taiyuan Comms 87 S44839 495 x 511 x
97.4
HEDE-2B
) Comms 87 495
x 511 x 97.4
Tianqi-4A
) Comms 87 495
x 511 x 97.4
Tianqi-4B
) Comms 87 495
x 511 x 97.4
Tianyi-16
) Imaging 87 495
x 511 x 97.4
Tianyi-17
) Imaging 87 495
x 511 x 97.4
Table of Recent Suborbital
Launches
-----------------------------------
Date UT
Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission
Apogee/km Target
Nov 15 0935 TEXUS 56 VSB-30
Kiruna Micrograv 256 ESRANGE
Nov 16 1402
RV Agni 2 Kalam Island Test
600? Indian O.
Nov 22 1030? RV DF-41
Taiyuan Test 1000? Gobi Desert
Nov 22 1519
SL-14 SpaceLoft XL Spaceport America Micrograv
92 White Sands?
Nov 26 0743 ICI 5 Terrer Imp.Malemute
Svalbard Ionosphere 253 Arctic
Nov 28 Topol-E
RV Topol' Kapustin Yar Reentry test 1000?
Balkhash
Nov 28 0759 RV DPRK MLRS
Ryonpo Test 97 Sea of Japan
Nov 28 0759
RV DPRK MLRS Ryonpo Test
97 Sea of Japan
Nov 30 1350 Agni 3 RV Agni 3
Kalam Island Test 500? Indian
O.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|
Jonathan McDowell | |
|
Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
|
USA | twitter: @planet4589
|
|
|
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Sunday, December 08, 2019
Saturday, December 07, 2019
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-342
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:
* AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, Named 2020 Carole Perry Educator
of the Year
* AMSAT Vice President - Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y,
Participates in Hackaday Hack Chat
* AMSAT to Join ARRL in Opposition to FCC Proposal to Eliminate 3.3 -
3.5 GHz Amateur Allocation
* Chris Taron, NK1K, Completes Satellite DXCC via LEO Satellites
* Duchifat3 with V/u FM Transponder to Launch December 11
* Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
* AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat to Transmit Emergency Traffic using WINLINK
* AMSAT-SA to Shift Main Focus to AfriCUBE, a Digital SDR CubeSat
* LSF Heads Back to Orbit with the Qubik Mission
* VUCC Awards And Endorsements for November 2019
* Upcoming ARISS Activities
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-342.01
ANS-342 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 342.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2019-Dec-08
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-342.01
AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, Named 2020 Carole Perry Educator
of the Year
The Orlando HamCation has announced that AMSAT member Melissa Pore,
KM4CZN, is the 2020 receipient of the Carole Perry Educator of the
Year Award. This award is bestowed upon an individual who has made an
outstanding contribution educating and advancing youth in Amateur
Radio. It was first awarded in 2018 to its namesake, Carole Perry,
WB2MGP, in honor of her work as an educator teaching students about
ham radio.
Melissa has been an educational professional for over 20 years and
currently teaches at Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School. Along with
teaching engineering and computer scienve, she is also involved in the
school's amateur radio and engineering clubs. Her students held demon-
strations at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center's Innovation Day. Some of
her other educational endeavors include working on the first satellite
to be launched and built by an elementary school and co-facilitating a
workshop at Space Port Area Conference for Educators 2019.
Melissa has a Technician Class radio license and is a member of AMSAT,
NASA Goddard Amateur Radio Club and ARRL. She is involved in ARISS as
an Ambassador on the US Education Team. She will be presenting an
ARISS Workshop at the Space Exploration Educators Conference 2020.
AMSAT congratulations Melissa on this well-deserved honor!
[ANS thanks the Orlando HamCation for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Vice President - Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y,
Participates in Hackaday Hack Chat
AMSAT Vice President - Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y,
participated in a Hackaday Hack Chat on December 4, 2019. Built for
about $300 using mostly off-the-shelf and 3D-printed parts, the
simulator lets satellite builders work the bugs out of their designs
before committing them to the Final Frontier.
Logs from the chat are available at:
https://hackaday.io/event/168230-amsat-cubesat-simulator-hack-chat
More information about the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator project can be
found at http://cubesatsim.com/.
Dr. Johnston also recently presented at the Radio Club of America's
Technical Symposium. His presentation, entitled "Designing the AMSAT
CubeSat Simulator: A Functional Satellite Model for the Classroom" is
available at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-342-KU2Y
[ANS thanks Hackaday and Alan Johnston, KU2Y, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT to Join ARRL in Opposition to FCC Proposal to Eliminate 3.3 -
3.5 GHz Amateur Allocation
At its December 12th open meeting, the Federal Communications
Commission is expected to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
that proposes to remove the amateur allocation at 3.3 - 3.5 GHz,
including the amateur satellite service allocation at 3.4 - 3.401 GHz.
The ARRL plans to file comments opposing the deletion of the amateur
allocation. AMSAT also plans to file comments in opposition to this
proposal and we are coordinating our efforts with the ARRL.
More information on the FCC proposal can be found on the ARRL's
website at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-342-ARRL.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, and
the ARRL for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Chris Taron, NK1K, Completes Satellite DXCC via LEO Satellites
Chris Taron, NK1K, recently completed his satellite DXCC award with
all QSOs made using LEO satellites. His 100th DXCC entity worked came
courtesy of Phillipe Chateau, EA4NF, who was operating as EA9/EA4NF in
Melilla, on November 19th. Chris posted a recording of his QSO via
AO-7 at https://chirb.it/90xpzx. The LoTW confirmation a few days
later left him at 99 DXCCs confirmed. A QSL card received from VP2V/
DL7VTX on December 5th put him over the top with 100 DXCC entities
confirmed.
AMSAT congratulates Chris on his great achievement!
[ANS thanks Chris Taron, NK1K, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Duchifat3 with V/u FM Transponder to Launch December 11
Duchifat3, carrying a V/u FM transponder, will launch on the PSLV-C48
mission, currently scheduled for launch at 09:55 UTC on December 11,
2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in India. The planned orbit
is 576 km circular with an inclination of 37 degrees.
Duchifat3 was built by high school students supported by Herzliya
Science Center in Israel and carries an on-board camera for earth
imaging. The V/u FM transponder has an uplink of 145.970 MHz and a
downlink of 436.400 MHz.
Telemetry will be transmitted using 9k6 BPSK with AX.25.
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=586
[ANS thanks the IARU for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required
Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!
Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals
over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000
per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without
increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or
accountant to make certain you are eligible.
AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific
organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and
operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to
encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT's federal tax ID
is 52-0888529.
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AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat to Transmit Emergency Traffic using WINLINK
The AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat travels to the space station on the 19th SpaceX
Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) contract mission for NASA
integrated within a NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) and launches from
the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). The J-SSOD is handled
by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Multi-Purpose
Experiment Platform (MPEP) outside the space station.
AZTECHSAT-1 has received IARU coordination for a downlink frequency of
437.300 MHz using 9k6 GMSK or FSK. The cubesat will also carry a Global-
star radio.
The cubesat will listen for emergency messages in the 439 MHz frequency
range and then retransmit these messages for amateur radio operators to
copy on the 437.300 MHz downlink using the WinLink protocol.
AZTECHSAT-1 will create a Saturation Map of 435-438 MHz by listening for
the whole orbit and returning captured data to the ground station using
the 437.300 MHz amateur radio downlink plus a 1600 MHz Globalstar link.
The emergency messages received via globalstar to the AZTECHSAT-1 ground
station will be shared on the project's website. A certificate will be
available for amateur stations receiving the emergency message(s)
submitted via their website and confirmed by the AZTECHSAT-1 team.
Full details are posted on the AZTECHSAT-1 web:
https://upaep.mx//aztechsat
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=661
[ANS thanks the IARU and the AZTECHSAT-1 at Universidad Popular
Autonoma del Estado de Puebla]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-SA to Shift Main Focus to AfriCUBE, a Digital SDR CubeSat
The AMSAT-SA CubeSat development team has shifted their CubeSat devel-
opment focus from an analogue transponder to a digital SDR based unit.
The development of the AfriCUBE digital SDR transponder under the
leadership of Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC has reached an advanced stage and
will soon be ready to undergo its first field trials.
The team is not abandoning the development of the KLETSKous analogue
transponder, which performed well during the BACAR 7 flight on 12
October 2019. Leon Lessing, ZS6LMG has taken the development to this
point but unfortunately, due to personal commitments, cannot continue
to work on Kletskous. "I would like to thank Leon for his support and
wish him well in his future endeavours," Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, AMSAT
-SA CubeSat project leader said.
During the BACAR flight test it showed that some further development
is needed to improve the transponder's receiver sensitivity. "Here is
a great opportunity for young enthusiastic engineers in the amateur
radio community to take on the challenge. I invite interested persons
with RF experience to contact me and become part of the team. While
there is no financial reward, the experience and achieving something
great that will fly in space outweighs this many times. It will
certainly look good on anyone's CV", Hannes said.
The EPS (electronic power system), space frame and stabilisation
system are complete. The development of the solar panel and antenna
deployment systems are making good progress. Frik Wolf, ZS6FZ said he
will be ready by mid-January 2020 for project review and field
testing.
Currently work on a new onboard control system has been paused while
Fritz Sutherland, ZS6FSJ is working with Anton Janovsky to get
AfricaCUBE ready for on-the-air trials.
Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL will continue work on the documentation
crucial to secure a launch opportunity and Hans van de Groenendaal,
ZS6AKV will work on frequency allocations and explore launch oppor-
tunities and the marketing of the project.
AMSAT-SA is continuing its dialogue with SANSA and its contractor to
place a transponder on EOSAT-1, a planned high performance
earth-observation satellite designed to produce data for a broad range
of earth observation applications. The development of AfriCUBE will
enhance this opportunity.
JOIN THE AMSAT SA CUBESAT TEAM
AMSAT SA invites radio amateurs with RF, electronic and software
experience to join the Satellite Development team and contribute to
technology and human capital development in South Africa. The team
meets every alternate Monday on a Skype conference and quarterly face-
to-face. Send your contact details and your main interest in the
CubeSat project to admin@amsatsa.org.za. Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP or
another team member will contact you.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-SA and the South African Radio League for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
LSF Heads Back to Orbit with the Qubik Mission
Libre Space Foundation is proud to announce that it is currently dev-
eloping and integrating 2 pocketqube satellites (QUBIK-1 & QUBIK-2)
and supplying a pocketqube deployer (PICOBUS) to be flown as part of
the DREAM payloads program on the inaugural Firefly Alpha launch
from Firefly Aerospace.
The project consists of two 50x50x50mm Pocketcubes each of approx
250g. The project mission is for the satellites to conduct a series
of telecommunications related experiments, while at the same time,
ground station analysis of the received signals will try to exploit
doppler variations in order to perform orbit determination and satel-
lite identification from radio amateur stations around the world. The
telecommunication experiments will use several different modulation,
coding and framing schemes, with the intention to provide insights
about their performance at nano-pico-satellite missions. In addition
the frame itself will be organized in such a way so spacecraft identi-
fication can be performed as early as possible from the PHY (using
orthogonal or PN sequences). Proposing UHF downlinks using either
GFSK, GMSK or BPKS at 9k6 or 19k2 bps with QPSK at bit rates of 19k2
or 38k4 bps. Planning a Firefly launch from Vandenberg in March 2020
into a circular 300km 97 degree orbit together with GENESIS-N,
GENESIS-L, FOSSASAT-1B and FOSSASAT-2 More info at https://libre.space
Frequency coordination is pending with the IARU:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=703
[ANS thanks LibreSpace for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VUCC Awards And Endorsements for November 2019
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the
ARRL for the period November 1, 2019 through December 1, 2019.
Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
CALL 01Oct 01Nov
KO4MA 1694 1701
WA5KBH 738 744
W5RKN 694 702
N3GS 597 601
VE7CEW 478 501
KK4YEL 400 413
AD0HJ 353 375
N7EGY 300 351
W5CBF New 179
N0RSR New 154
N0RC 100 104
EA8CXN New 101
VE2NGO New 100
VU2LBW New 100
If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at
w5rkn at w5rkn dot com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was
developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's
a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call
was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that
are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Activities
About Gagarin From Space Conducting an amateur radio session with
students of "Amur State University Blagoveshchensk", Blagoveshchensk,
Russia, direct via RКØJ (***)
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka
Contact is go for Thu 2019-12-05 08:52 UTC
Council Rock High School South, Holland, PA, direct via KC3NGG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact was successful: Thu 2019-12-05 17:56:31 UTC 71 deg (***)
B. Pascal Institute - Public School, Rome, Italy, direct via IKØMGA
and Istituto Comprensivo Lipari “S. Lucia”, Lipari, Italy, direct via
ID9GKS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Sat 2019-12-07 11:44:00 UTC 45 deg
Greenwood Primary School, Greenwood, Western Australia, Australia,
telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-12-10 10:55:14 UTC 53 deg
City of Kursk, Russia and City of Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-12-11 10:10 UTC
Woodridge Middle School, High Ridge, MO, direct via NØKBA
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Thu 2019-12-12 15:29:16 UTC 29 deg
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS opera-
tion team members, for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Satellite Shorts:
Dec 12th ND0C EM09 – 1647z on AO-91 & 1708z on AO-92
Dec 12th ND0C EN00 – 1821z on AO-91 & 1843z on AO-92
South Florida (EL95, EL96) December 11-15, 2019
James, K4WPX, will be in EL96/95 December 11th-15th, vacation style,
mostly evening passes, FM only. James will be staying in EM96 but
~1 mile from the EM95 line, so he can skip over there for some passes,
too. Pass announcements via Twitter: https://twitter.com/k4wpx
Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a
holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got
away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announce-
ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF
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
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the
above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Albert “Al” Noe (81), KL7NO, from Fairbanks Alaska, passed away
Monday evening, November 25, 21 months after being diagnosed with
stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. Al was an avid 6 meter operator just
outside of Fairbanks, Alaska in grid BP54. He was still active on 6
meters up until the very end. For over 40 years Al provided EME,
AMSAT, and many other contacts on 6, 2, 1.25 meters, 70 & 23 centi-
meters from his Alaska QTH just outside of Fairbanks. Blanchard
Family Funeral Home in Fairbanks will be handling Al’s services and
an obituary will be published at a later date.
https://www.blanchardfamilyfuneralhome.com/
(Via the Central States VHF Society)
+John Toscano, W0JT, passed away Wednesday, November 27, in San
Antonio. He fought a long battle against many health problems during
the last several years. Since moving to Texas, he had almost com-
pleted his dream station (6-m through 10 GHz) at a great location (20
dB hilltop) and participated in both AMSAT and RMG club activities.
Previously, while in Minnesota, he was a very active NLRS member on
the VHF/UHF/SHF bands with fixed, rover and portable stations. As a
retired pharmacist and U of MN assistant professor, John will be
remembered for his programming contributions with his 10 GHz contest
logging/scoring program and his on-line contest activity spreadsheets.
He also had many interests in astronomy and astrophysics.
(Via the Central States VHF Society)
+ From Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1442:
FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON (Early Announcement). 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 June 30th and July
14th, 2020. This is his 14th trip to the island. Activity will be on
160-10 meters (no 60m - not authorized) using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4
(but primarily SSB, RTTY and FT8/FT4) and the satellites. He will
generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring
12/10m). He will be active in the IARU HF World Championship
(July 11-12th). ADDED NOTE: Eric will usually try to be on as many
Satellite passes as he can when the WX is good, generally favoring the
FO-29, XW-2x, AO-7, and possibly the FM birds. Weekends may be limited
since he will be concentrating on the low(er) bands and contests. 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/July20.html
+Issue 78 of CQ DATV is now available at https://cq-datv.mobi/78.php.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio In Space,
This week's ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
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:
* AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, Named 2020 Carole Perry Educator
of the Year
* AMSAT Vice President - Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y,
Participates in Hackaday Hack Chat
* AMSAT to Join ARRL in Opposition to FCC Proposal to Eliminate 3.3 -
3.5 GHz Amateur Allocation
* Chris Taron, NK1K, Completes Satellite DXCC via LEO Satellites
* Duchifat3 with V/u FM Transponder to Launch December 11
* Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
* AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat to Transmit Emergency Traffic using WINLINK
* AMSAT-SA to Shift Main Focus to AfriCUBE, a Digital SDR CubeSat
* LSF Heads Back to Orbit with the Qubik Mission
* VUCC Awards And Endorsements for November 2019
* Upcoming ARISS Activities
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-342.01
ANS-342 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 342.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2019-Dec-08
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-342.01
AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, Named 2020 Carole Perry Educator
of the Year
The Orlando HamCation has announced that AMSAT member Melissa Pore,
KM4CZN, is the 2020 receipient of the Carole Perry Educator of the
Year Award. This award is bestowed upon an individual who has made an
outstanding contribution educating and advancing youth in Amateur
Radio. It was first awarded in 2018 to its namesake, Carole Perry,
WB2MGP, in honor of her work as an educator teaching students about
ham radio.
Melissa has been an educational professional for over 20 years and
currently teaches at Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School. Along with
teaching engineering and computer scienve, she is also involved in the
school's amateur radio and engineering clubs. Her students held demon-
strations at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center's Innovation Day. Some of
her other educational endeavors include working on the first satellite
to be launched and built by an elementary school and co-facilitating a
workshop at Space Port Area Conference for Educators 2019.
Melissa has a Technician Class radio license and is a member of AMSAT,
NASA Goddard Amateur Radio Club and ARRL. She is involved in ARISS as
an Ambassador on the US Education Team. She will be presenting an
ARISS Workshop at the Space Exploration Educators Conference 2020.
AMSAT congratulations Melissa on this well-deserved honor!
[ANS thanks the Orlando HamCation for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Vice President - Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y,
Participates in Hackaday Hack Chat
AMSAT Vice President - Educational Relations Alan Johnston, KU2Y,
participated in a Hackaday Hack Chat on December 4, 2019. Built for
about $300 using mostly off-the-shelf and 3D-printed parts, the
simulator lets satellite builders work the bugs out of their designs
before committing them to the Final Frontier.
Logs from the chat are available at:
https://hackaday.io/event/168230-amsat-cubesat-simulator-hack-chat
More information about the AMSAT CubeSat Simulator project can be
found at http://cubesatsim.com/.
Dr. Johnston also recently presented at the Radio Club of America's
Technical Symposium. His presentation, entitled "Designing the AMSAT
CubeSat Simulator: A Functional Satellite Model for the Classroom" is
available at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-342-KU2Y
[ANS thanks Hackaday and Alan Johnston, KU2Y, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT to Join ARRL in Opposition to FCC Proposal to Eliminate 3.3 -
3.5 GHz Amateur Allocation
At its December 12th open meeting, the Federal Communications
Commission is expected to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
that proposes to remove the amateur allocation at 3.3 - 3.5 GHz,
including the amateur satellite service allocation at 3.4 - 3.401 GHz.
The ARRL plans to file comments opposing the deletion of the amateur
allocation. AMSAT also plans to file comments in opposition to this
proposal and we are coordinating our efforts with the ARRL.
More information on the FCC proposal can be found on the ARRL's
website at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-342-ARRL.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, and
the ARRL for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Chris Taron, NK1K, Completes Satellite DXCC via LEO Satellites
Chris Taron, NK1K, recently completed his satellite DXCC award with
all QSOs made using LEO satellites. His 100th DXCC entity worked came
courtesy of Phillipe Chateau, EA4NF, who was operating as EA9/EA4NF in
Melilla, on November 19th. Chris posted a recording of his QSO via
AO-7 at https://chirb.it/90xpzx. The LoTW confirmation a few days
later left him at 99 DXCCs confirmed. A QSL card received from VP2V/
DL7VTX on December 5th put him over the top with 100 DXCC entities
confirmed.
AMSAT congratulates Chris on his great achievement!
[ANS thanks Chris Taron, NK1K, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Duchifat3 with V/u FM Transponder to Launch December 11
Duchifat3, carrying a V/u FM transponder, will launch on the PSLV-C48
mission, currently scheduled for launch at 09:55 UTC on December 11,
2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in India. The planned orbit
is 576 km circular with an inclination of 37 degrees.
Duchifat3 was built by high school students supported by Herzliya
Science Center in Israel and carries an on-board camera for earth
imaging. The V/u FM transponder has an uplink of 145.970 MHz and a
downlink of 436.400 MHz.
Telemetry will be transmitted using 9k6 BPSK with AX.25.
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=586
[ANS thanks the IARU for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required
Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!
Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals
over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000
per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without
increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or
accountant to make certain you are eligible.
AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific
organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and
operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to
encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT's federal tax ID
is 52-0888529.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat to Transmit Emergency Traffic using WINLINK
The AZTECHSAT-1 Cubesat travels to the space station on the 19th SpaceX
Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) contract mission for NASA
integrated within a NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) and launches from
the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). The J-SSOD is handled
by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Multi-Purpose
Experiment Platform (MPEP) outside the space station.
AZTECHSAT-1 has received IARU coordination for a downlink frequency of
437.300 MHz using 9k6 GMSK or FSK. The cubesat will also carry a Global-
star radio.
The cubesat will listen for emergency messages in the 439 MHz frequency
range and then retransmit these messages for amateur radio operators to
copy on the 437.300 MHz downlink using the WinLink protocol.
AZTECHSAT-1 will create a Saturation Map of 435-438 MHz by listening for
the whole orbit and returning captured data to the ground station using
the 437.300 MHz amateur radio downlink plus a 1600 MHz Globalstar link.
The emergency messages received via globalstar to the AZTECHSAT-1 ground
station will be shared on the project's website. A certificate will be
available for amateur stations receiving the emergency message(s)
submitted via their website and confirmed by the AZTECHSAT-1 team.
Full details are posted on the AZTECHSAT-1 web:
https://upaep.mx//aztechsat
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=661
[ANS thanks the IARU and the AZTECHSAT-1 at Universidad Popular
Autonoma del Estado de Puebla]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-SA to Shift Main Focus to AfriCUBE, a Digital SDR CubeSat
The AMSAT-SA CubeSat development team has shifted their CubeSat devel-
opment focus from an analogue transponder to a digital SDR based unit.
The development of the AfriCUBE digital SDR transponder under the
leadership of Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC has reached an advanced stage and
will soon be ready to undergo its first field trials.
The team is not abandoning the development of the KLETSKous analogue
transponder, which performed well during the BACAR 7 flight on 12
October 2019. Leon Lessing, ZS6LMG has taken the development to this
point but unfortunately, due to personal commitments, cannot continue
to work on Kletskous. "I would like to thank Leon for his support and
wish him well in his future endeavours," Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, AMSAT
-SA CubeSat project leader said.
During the BACAR flight test it showed that some further development
is needed to improve the transponder's receiver sensitivity. "Here is
a great opportunity for young enthusiastic engineers in the amateur
radio community to take on the challenge. I invite interested persons
with RF experience to contact me and become part of the team. While
there is no financial reward, the experience and achieving something
great that will fly in space outweighs this many times. It will
certainly look good on anyone's CV", Hannes said.
The EPS (electronic power system), space frame and stabilisation
system are complete. The development of the solar panel and antenna
deployment systems are making good progress. Frik Wolf, ZS6FZ said he
will be ready by mid-January 2020 for project review and field
testing.
Currently work on a new onboard control system has been paused while
Fritz Sutherland, ZS6FSJ is working with Anton Janovsky to get
AfricaCUBE ready for on-the-air trials.
Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL will continue work on the documentation
crucial to secure a launch opportunity and Hans van de Groenendaal,
ZS6AKV will work on frequency allocations and explore launch oppor-
tunities and the marketing of the project.
AMSAT-SA is continuing its dialogue with SANSA and its contractor to
place a transponder on EOSAT-1, a planned high performance
earth-observation satellite designed to produce data for a broad range
of earth observation applications. The development of AfriCUBE will
enhance this opportunity.
JOIN THE AMSAT SA CUBESAT TEAM
AMSAT SA invites radio amateurs with RF, electronic and software
experience to join the Satellite Development team and contribute to
technology and human capital development in South Africa. The team
meets every alternate Monday on a Skype conference and quarterly face-
to-face. Send your contact details and your main interest in the
CubeSat project to admin@amsatsa.org.za. Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP or
another team member will contact you.
[ANS thanks AMSAT-SA and the South African Radio League for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
LSF Heads Back to Orbit with the Qubik Mission
Libre Space Foundation is proud to announce that it is currently dev-
eloping and integrating 2 pocketqube satellites (QUBIK-1 & QUBIK-2)
and supplying a pocketqube deployer (PICOBUS) to be flown as part of
the DREAM payloads program on the inaugural Firefly Alpha launch
from Firefly Aerospace.
The project consists of two 50x50x50mm Pocketcubes each of approx
250g. The project mission is for the satellites to conduct a series
of telecommunications related experiments, while at the same time,
ground station analysis of the received signals will try to exploit
doppler variations in order to perform orbit determination and satel-
lite identification from radio amateur stations around the world. The
telecommunication experiments will use several different modulation,
coding and framing schemes, with the intention to provide insights
about their performance at nano-pico-satellite missions. In addition
the frame itself will be organized in such a way so spacecraft identi-
fication can be performed as early as possible from the PHY (using
orthogonal or PN sequences). Proposing UHF downlinks using either
GFSK, GMSK or BPKS at 9k6 or 19k2 bps with QPSK at bit rates of 19k2
or 38k4 bps. Planning a Firefly launch from Vandenberg in March 2020
into a circular 300km 97 degree orbit together with GENESIS-N,
GENESIS-L, FOSSASAT-1B and FOSSASAT-2 More info at https://libre.space
Frequency coordination is pending with the IARU:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=703
[ANS thanks LibreSpace for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VUCC Awards And Endorsements for November 2019
Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the
ARRL for the period November 1, 2019 through December 1, 2019.
Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!
CALL 01Oct 01Nov
KO4MA 1694 1701
WA5KBH 738 744
W5RKN 694 702
N3GS 597 601
VE7CEW 478 501
KK4YEL 400 413
AD0HJ 353 375
N7EGY 300 351
W5CBF New 179
N0RSR New 154
N0RC 100 104
EA8CXN New 101
VE2NGO New 100
VU2LBW New 100
If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at
w5rkn at w5rkn dot com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was
developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's
a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call
was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that
are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work!
[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]
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ARISS Activities
About Gagarin From Space Conducting an amateur radio session with
students of "Amur State University Blagoveshchensk", Blagoveshchensk,
Russia, direct via RКØJ (***)
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka
Contact is go for Thu 2019-12-05 08:52 UTC
Council Rock High School South, Holland, PA, direct via KC3NGG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact was successful: Thu 2019-12-05 17:56:31 UTC 71 deg (***)
B. Pascal Institute - Public School, Rome, Italy, direct via IKØMGA
and Istituto Comprensivo Lipari “S. Lucia”, Lipari, Italy, direct via
ID9GKS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Sat 2019-12-07 11:44:00 UTC 45 deg
Greenwood Primary School, Greenwood, Western Australia, Australia,
telebridge via IK1SLD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-12-10 10:55:14 UTC 53 deg
City of Kursk, Russia and City of Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov
Contact is go for: Tue 2019-12-11 10:10 UTC
Woodridge Middle School, High Ridge, MO, direct via NØKBA
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Thu 2019-12-12 15:29:16 UTC 29 deg
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS opera-
tion team members, for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Satellite Shorts:
Dec 12th ND0C EM09 – 1647z on AO-91 & 1708z on AO-92
Dec 12th ND0C EN00 – 1821z on AO-91 & 1843z on AO-92
South Florida (EL95, EL96) December 11-15, 2019
James, K4WPX, will be in EL96/95 December 11th-15th, vacation style,
mostly evening passes, FM only. James will be staying in EM96 but
~1 mile from the EM95 line, so he can skip over there for some passes,
too. Pass announcements via Twitter: https://twitter.com/k4wpx
Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a
holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got
away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announce-
ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF
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
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the
above information]
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AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Albert “Al” Noe (81), KL7NO, from Fairbanks Alaska, passed away
Monday evening, November 25, 21 months after being diagnosed with
stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. Al was an avid 6 meter operator just
outside of Fairbanks, Alaska in grid BP54. He was still active on 6
meters up until the very end. For over 40 years Al provided EME,
AMSAT, and many other contacts on 6, 2, 1.25 meters, 70 & 23 centi-
meters from his Alaska QTH just outside of Fairbanks. Blanchard
Family Funeral Home in Fairbanks will be handling Al’s services and
an obituary will be published at a later date.
https://www.blanchardfamilyfuneralhome.com/
(Via the Central States VHF Society)
+John Toscano, W0JT, passed away Wednesday, November 27, in San
Antonio. He fought a long battle against many health problems during
the last several years. Since moving to Texas, he had almost com-
pleted his dream station (6-m through 10 GHz) at a great location (20
dB hilltop) and participated in both AMSAT and RMG club activities.
Previously, while in Minnesota, he was a very active NLRS member on
the VHF/UHF/SHF bands with fixed, rover and portable stations. As a
retired pharmacist and U of MN assistant professor, John will be
remembered for his programming contributions with his 10 GHz contest
logging/scoring program and his on-line contest activity spreadsheets.
He also had many interests in astronomy and astrophysics.
(Via the Central States VHF Society)
+ From Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1442:
FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON (Early Announcement). 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 June 30th and July
14th, 2020. This is his 14th trip to the island. Activity will be on
160-10 meters (no 60m - not authorized) using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4
(but primarily SSB, RTTY and FT8/FT4) and the satellites. He will
generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring
12/10m). He will be active in the IARU HF World Championship
(July 11-12th). ADDED NOTE: Eric will usually try to be on as many
Satellite passes as he can when the WX is good, generally favoring the
FO-29, XW-2x, AO-7, and possibly the FM birds. Weekends may be limited
since he will be concentrating on the low(er) bands and contests. 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/July20.html
+Issue 78 of CQ DATV is now available at https://cq-datv.mobi/78.php.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio In Space,
This week's ANS Editor,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
Friday, December 06, 2019
Global Radio Guide (Winter 2019-2020) Now Available at Amazon
Once again, Global Radio broadcasters have moved to the information war front lines as the world’s major superpowers have entered a new Cold War. As tensions heat up in the world’s hotspots such as eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, you can follow international events on the radio, but you need an accurate and a comprehensive radio guide to hear the action.
Teak Publishing is pleased to announce the release that all-important radio guide – the Global Radio Guide (GRG), 13th edition (Winter 2019-2020) e-book, by Amazon bestselling author Gayle Van Horn W4GVH. The book was formerly known as the International Shortwave Broadcast Guide.
This Amazon's' electronic' book is your ticket to travel the Global Radio bands. The heart of this publication is a 24-hour station/frequency guide with all the latest Winter 2019-2020 schedules for selected AM band, longwave, and shortwave radio stations. This unique resource is the only radio publication that lists by-hour schedules that include all language services, frequencies, and world target areas for over 500 stations. There are listings of DX radio programs and Internet websites addresses for many of the stations in the book. There are also entries for time and frequency stations and even a few other intriguing shortwave radio stations.
New in this 13th edition of the GRG is an introductory article: The Software Defined Radio - Bringing the World to Your Doorstep. It includes our first-ever SDR buyers guide. Gayle and Larry Van Horn have also joined forces again penning an in-depth equipment review on the new Airspy HF+Discovery SDR.
Other authors in this edition include Richard Fisher with a feature on WBCQ - The Most Powerful Shortwave Voice in North America, and The Spectrum Monitor’s Fred Waterer, with a feature on winter/holiday radio programming. The 2019-2020 winter propagation forecast is presented by international radio propagation expert, Tomas Hood NW7US. In addition to his propagation forecast, Tomas will also preview his thoughts on the new solar cycle 25.
There are also articles on Traveling the World via Shortwave Radio Broadcasts, Monitoring the Shortwave Action Bands, our exclusive Hot 1000+ shortwave frequency list, and new radio product announcements.
The 133h edition of the Global Radio Guide eBook (electronic book only, no print edition available) is available worldwide from Amazon and their various international websites at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082DNSN4P.
The price of this latest edition is US$8.99. 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 e-Book from Amazon websites directly servicing these countries. Customers in all other countries can use the regular Amazon.com website to purchase this e-Book.
You can read any Kindle eBook with Amazon’s ‘free’ reading apps on literally any electronic media platform. You do not have to own a Kindle reader from Amazon to read this e-book. There are Kindle apps available for iOS, Android, Mac, and PC platforms. 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.
Additional information on this and other Teak Publishing radio hobby books can be found on the company sponsored Internet blogs – The Shortwave Central (http://mtshortwave.blogspot.com/), The Military Monitoring Post (http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/), and on the Teak Publishing Company blog – The Btown Monitor Post (http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/). You can learn more about the author by going to her author page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/GayleVan-Horn/e/B0084MVQCM/.
Global 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. Global Radio broadcasts are not restricted by country borders or oceans and can travel thousands of miles, reaching millions of listeners worldwide, now in over 300 different languages and dialects.
Listeners can hear shortwave broadcast stations from China, Cuba, 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 a shortwave radio receiver or Internet connection, and this unique radio resource, you will know when and where to listen to your favorite radio broadcast station.
This publication will have wide appeal to amateur radio operators, shortwave radio hobbyists, news agencies, news buffs, educators, foreign language students, expatriates, or anyone interested in listening to a global view of world news and major events as they happen. Teak Publishing’s Global Radio Guide brings the world to you.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-335
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:
* AMSAT Fox Leaderboard Will Show Monthly Leaders
* AMSAT Will Be at Superstition Superfest Hamfest
* Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission
* FCC Seeks to Clear Radio Amateurs Out of 3.4 GHz
* WRC-19 Final Report: Small Satellites and the 1240-1300 MHz Band
* AMSAT Auction Celebrating 45th Birthday of AO-7 Raises $480
* Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-335.01
ANS-335 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 335.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2019 Dec 01
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-335.01
AMSAT Fox Leaderboard Will Show Monthly Leaders
Starting from Nov. 26, the AMSAT Fox Telemetry leaderboard will now
show MONTHLY totals. The top stations will be those that have submit-
ted the most telemetry in the last 30 days. The old style leaderboard
can be accessed by clicking "All-time Leaderboard" to see totals since
the launch of Fox-1A. To see more than the top 10 stations, click on
"Show all ground stations" to see everyone.
The leaderboard has also been updated to show PSK frames decoded along-
side FSK frames. DUV and Highspeed are both counted but are not shown
separately on the totals page.
HuskySat-1 is now at the ISS on the Cygnus. We expect it to be boosted
to its target orbit in the new year. It will transmit BPSK telemetry
continuously on 70cm, so dig out that 435Mhz antenna and make sure it
works! Fox-1E will follow in the (hopefully near) future and will also
transmit PSK on 70cm.
As with previous spacecraft, the telemetry collected is sent to our
University Partners who fly experiments and help make these missions
possible. Please collect and forward telemetry if you can.
The link to the leaderboard is: https://www.amsat.org/tlm/
If there are questions, contact Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ via email:
g0kla arrl.net
(ANS thanks Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ for the above information)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
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AMSAT Will Be at Superstition Superfest Hamfest
AMSAT will be at the Superstition Amateur Radio Club's "Superstition
Superfest" hamfest on the morning of Saturday, December 7, 2019. The
hamfest will be in the southwest parking lot of Mesa Community College,
located on the east side of Dobson Road between Southern Avenue and
US-60 exit 177 in Mesa, Arizona. More information about the hamfest is
available at: http://superstitionsuperfest.org/
WD9EWK will be on the satellites during the hamfest, demonstrating
satellite operating. If you hear WD9EWK on a pass that morning, please
call and be a part of a demonstration. The hamfest site is in grid
DM43, in Arizona's Maricopa 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 at patrick wd9ewk.net with
the QSO details).
[ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, for the above information]
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Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required
Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!
Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals
over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000
per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without
increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or
accountant to make certain you are eligible.
AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific
organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and
operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to
encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT's federal tax ID
is 52-0888529.
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Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission
Rocket Lab has announced that its next mission will launch multiple
microsatellites in a rideshare mission representing five different
countries. The launch window for Rocket Lab’s tenth flight, will open
November 25, New Zealand time, and take place from Rocket Lab Launch
Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.
Onboard this rideshare mission are six spacecraft comprised of 5cm
PocketQube microsatellites from satellite manufacturer and mission
management provider Alba Orbital. Two of these satellites include
downlinks in the UHF amateur radio band.
TRSI is a PocketQube for technology demostration. Its main objective
is to show which functionality can be achieved with dimensions of
5cm x 5cm x 5cm. It carries two experiments that are connected to
the amateur-satellite service.
+ First is a waterfall experiment which will show an image in the
waterfall diagram by hopping the frequency within its transmission
band (image-type beacon).
+ The second experiment is to analyze RF reception capabilities from
LEO with a novel detector receiver and a small patch antenna. It
was designed to test if small satellite receivers which don´t need
deployable antennas are feasible. The received signal´s envelope
will be sampled and forwarded using UHF in MFSK for signal ana-
lysis. During the experiment phase the satellite will also perform
as an amateur CW repeater, providing additional RX strength indi-
cation; eg. CW morse signals will be re-sent in MFSK, showing the
RX amplitude in dBm. A downlink on 437.075 MHz has been coordinated.
IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=649
FossaSat-1 PocketQube by AMSAT-EA which has a 5x5x5cm structure and
a total mass of 250 grams. Radio link testing features a new experi-
mental RF chirp modulation called LoRa which greatly improves the link
budget reducing the power consumed and reduces the cost of receivers.
The output power from the transmitter required for the correct recep-
tion during a pass is also very low at well under 100mW, being spread
spectrum at such low power it poses no interference risk. It operates
at a considerable level below the noise level of other systems and
would cause no interference to weak narrowband signals.
Students & amateurs will be able to receive telemetry from the satel-
lite with inexpensive hardware, expanding & promoting the amateur sat-
ellite community with youth. Uplink challenges will also be carried
out with rewards for amateurs.
The mission is completely open source with all information regarding
the design of the satellite & how to decode its information clearly
laid out & hosted by AMSAT-EA. The site will provide decoding soft-
ware for SDR use in order to allow anyone to decode LoRa using common
existing hardware & host software for users to submit telemetry data,
making all data public and rewarding users with certificates & awards.
The UHF downlink plans on using FSK RTTY 45 BAUD ITA2, 100mW 183hz
Shift and LoRa 125kHz, Chirp Spread Spectrum Modulation, 180 bps,
100mW. A downlink on 436.700 MHz has been coordinated.
IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=652
A commercial payload on board is ALE-2 from a Tokyo-based company
creating microsatellites that simulate meteor particles. See
http://star-ale.com/en/news/317/2019/01/04/ for more information.
Rocket Labs mission web page can be found at:
https://tinyurl.com/y672rjj5
[ANS thanks Rocket Labs, IARU, AMSAT-EA, TRSI, and Alba Orbital
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
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FCC Seeks to Clear Radio Amateurs Out of 3.4 GHz
At its December 12 open meeting, the FCC will consider adopting a No-
tice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to remove the amateur
radio 9-centimeter allocation at 3.3 – 3.5 GHz. ARRL plans to comment
in opposition to the proposed action. According to an FCC “Fact Sheet,”
the proceeding WT Docket 19-348, “Facilitating Shared Use in the 3.1 –
3.55 GHz Band,” is a follow-on from the MOBILE NOW Act, approved by the
115th Congress, which requires the FCC and the US Department of Comm-
erce to make available new spectrum for mobile and fixed wireless broad-
band use. It also requires the FCC to work with the National Telecom-
munications and Information Administration (NTIA) to evaluate whether
commercial wireless services and federal incumbents could share spec-
trum between 3.1 and 3.55 GHz. NTIA manages spectrum allocated to fed-
eral government users.
“This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would propose to remove the exist-
ing non-federal allocations in the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band as a step to-
wards potential future shared use between federal incumbents and com-
mercial users,” the FCC Fact Sheet explains. “By taking the initial
step needed to clear the band of allocations for non-federal incum-
bents, the Commission furthers its continued efforts to make more mid-
band spectrum potentially available to support next generation wireless
networks — consistent with the mandate of the MOBILE NOW [Making Oppor-
tunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless
Obstacles to Wireless] Act.”
The NPRM proposes to clear the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band of existing non-fed-
eral users by removing non-federal secondary radiolocation and amateur
allocations [emphasis added] in the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band and to relocate
incumbent non-federal users out of the band. The FCC would seek comment
on relocation options and “transition mechanisms” for incumbent non-
federal users, either to the 3.1 – 3.3 GHz band or to other frequencies,
and on how to ensure that non-federal secondary operations in the 3.1–
3.3 GHz band will continue to protect federal radar systems.
Regarding the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Service allocations, the
FCC NPRM asks whether existing amateur spectrum in other bands might
support operations currently conducted in the 3.3 – 3.5 GHz band. The
3.40 – 3.41 GHz segment is designated for amateur satellite communica-
tion. “We seek comment on the extent to which the band is used for
this purpose, whether existing satellites can operate on other amateur
satellite bands, and on an appropriate timeframe for terminating these
operations in this band,” the FCC NPRM says.
Also at its December 12 meeting, the FCC will consider another NPRM in
WT Docket 19-138 that would “take a fresh and comprehensive look” at
the rules for the 5.9 GHz band and propose, among other things, to make
the lower 45 MHz of the band available for unlicensed operations and
to permit “Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything” (C-V2X) operations in the
upper 20 MHz of the band. The FCC is not proposing to delete or other-
wise amend the amateur allocation, and it would continue as a secon-
dary allocation, but the primary allocation for 5.850 – 5.925 GHz
would change.
The amateur radio 5-centimeter allocation is 5650.0 – 5925.0 MHz, and
the NPRM, if approved, would address the top 75 MHz of that amateur
secondary band. While no changes are proposed to the amateur alloca-
tion, anticipated more intensive use by primary users could restrict
secondary amateur use.
The band 5.850–5.925 GHz has been reserved for use by dedicated short-
range communications (DSRC), a service in the intelligent transporta-
tion system (ITS) designed to enable vehicle-related communications,
the FCC said in a Fact Sheet in WT Docket 19-138. “The Commission ini-
tiates this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to take a fresh and compre-
hensive look at the 5.9 GHz band rules and propose appropriate changes
to ensure the spectrum supports its highest and best use.” ARRL also
will file comments opposing any changes affecting the 5-centimeter
amateur allocation.
Both draft FCC proposals are subject to change prior to a vote at the
December 12 FCC meeting, and there will be opportunity to file com-
ments and reply comments on the final proposals after they are re-
leased.
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WRC-19 Final Report: Small Satellites and the 1240-1300 MHz Band
In the final week, the meetings at WRC-19 have been running until 3 in
the morning in an attempt to get the work completed.
The RSGB have released their WRC-19 report covering small satellites
and also the Amateur 1240-1300 MHz band.
The report notes “A lesson from the process indicates how difficult it
may be in future to achieve any upgrade to other amateur allocations.”
Read the RSGB Small Satellites and 23cm report at
https://tinyurl.com/vjfho66
Friday, November 22 saw WRC-19 conclude its month long biggest ever
conference. Many of the 3,300 delegates had started to travel home
even before the release of the ‘Provisional Final Acts’ and closing
ceremony.
The ITU website has released the provisional acts as a huge 567-page
PDF document—a tribute to the the hardworking editorial and transla-
tion teams at the conference. These provisional acts are due to come
into force on January 1, 2021, so no early changes are currently ex-
pected in practice.
Read the RSGB WRC-19 Final report at https://tinyurl.com/qjw9kvd
WRC-19 Provisional Final Acts – a 567 page document - is available at
https://tinyurl.com/tyzfvl3
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK 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/
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Auction Celebrating 45th Birthday of AO-7 Raises $480
The auctions for a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th
Anniversary AMSAT lab coat recently concluded and raised $480 to help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space. Thank you to all of the bidders for
participating in the auctions!
If you missed out on the auctions, but still want to help out, please
consider donating or purchasing items from the AMSAT store at
www.amsat.org today!
[ANS thanks Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov
Contact is go for: 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC
Council Rock High School South, Holland, Pa., direct via KC3NGG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Thu 2019-12-05 17:56:31 UTC 71 deg
B. Pascal Institute - Public School, Rome, Italy, direct via IKØMGA
and Istituto Comprensivo Lipari “S. Lucia”, Lipari, Italy, direct via
ID9GKS. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Sat 2019-12-07 11:44:00 UTC 45 deg
For more information, the ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, ARISS operation team, 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/
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 - December 6, 2019
The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar
Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec-
ember 11th. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival
and just before they leave, not to mention that it's wicked cold up
there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the
VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out-
side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc
Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd - 6th. Key
word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act-
ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner's
Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85
Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd – 6th. Key
word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to ac-
tivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner’s
Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85
Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a
holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got
away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announce-
ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ NASA's "Ride to Station" App and Educator Guide equips educators with
simple tools and knowledge to take a fun, interactive app and turn it
into a powerful, educational tool for students of all ages! The in-
teractive app gives an overview of the complexities involved in get-
ting to and conducting research aboard the International Space Sta-
tion. The app is also challenging and fun! The Commercial Crew Pro-
gram focuses on working with NASA’s two partners Boeing and SpaceX
to create American commercial capabilities to safely send humans to
and from the International Space Station. For more information see:
https://tinyurl.com/vj9gyfr
(ANS thanks NASA for the above information)
+ Rovers and some multiop VHF/UHF contest stations will be interested
in the future Down East Microwave DEM V/U Xverter. This device covers
ALL 5 OF THE AMATEUR BANDS between 144 MHz and 1.2 GHz. According to
the preliminary information from the manufacturer: "All frequencies
convert to/from 28 MHz. The transmit output level is approximately 1
watt and will exhibit a 2 dB noise figure with greater than 15 dB
gain on all bands. The Transverter will also contain an AUX RF port
that will be configured as an additional 2M port for connection to a
higher frequency transverter such as our future DEM MICRO-VERTER con-
taining 4 additional higher bands of operation."
(ANS thanks Pete Heins, N6ZE, the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society, and
www.downeastmicrowave.com for the above information)
+ Rocket Lab has partnered with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to
be the sole provider of ground station services for the Electron
launch vehicle and Photon satellite bus customers. KSAT’s KSATlite
ground network is designed and optimized for small satellite systems,
providing Photon customers with downlink and uplink capabilities in
UHF, S-band, X-band, and Ka-band across a global ground station net-
work of over 200 antennas that supports 50,000 contacts per month.
(ANS thanks SatMagazine.com for the above information)
+ NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be testing an improved waveform
on the 48-MHz Tropospheric Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (TDRWP) from
Monday, November 25 through Sunday, December 2. The purpose of the
test is to improve the instrument’s resolution and still operate with-
in the assigned bandwidth. NASA is requesting the amateur radio com-
munity to report via email to ksc-tdrwptest@mail.nasa.gov any detect-
ed emissions in the 50 – 54 MHz band dur ing that period. Include
the date, time, location, frequency, and any other pertinent informa-
tion (such as IQ files of the signal for evaluation) that might as-
sist NASA in assessing potential impacts to the amateur radio comm-
unity.
(ANS thanks ARRL for the above information)
+ NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 12:51 p.m. EST
Wednesday, Dec. 4, for the launch of its 19th resupply mission to
the International Space Station under contract with the agency. Live
coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website Tues-
day, Dec. 3, with prelaunch events. The Dragon spacecraft, which will
launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sta-
tion in Florida, will be filled with supplies and payloads, includ-
ing critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than
250 science investigations and technology demonstrations that will
occur during Expeditions 61 and 62.
(ANS thanks NASA for the above information)
+ Jerri Ellsworth, AI6TK, who was the AMSAT/TAPR guest speaker at Day-
ton in 2018, was featured as a "technology visionary" by the New York
Times in an article first published in October, but highlighted once
again in a series wrap-up on Nov. 26. Those who have a N.Y. Times
online account can access the story at https://tinyurl.com/tmkhqaq
+ ANS wishes a happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend (or what remains of
it) to all U.S. satellite operators!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/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
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:
* AMSAT Fox Leaderboard Will Show Monthly Leaders
* AMSAT Will Be at Superstition Superfest Hamfest
* Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission
* FCC Seeks to Clear Radio Amateurs Out of 3.4 GHz
* WRC-19 Final Report: Small Satellites and the 1240-1300 MHz Band
* AMSAT Auction Celebrating 45th Birthday of AO-7 Raises $480
* Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-335.01
ANS-335 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 335.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE 2019 Dec 01
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-335.01
AMSAT Fox Leaderboard Will Show Monthly Leaders
Starting from Nov. 26, the AMSAT Fox Telemetry leaderboard will now
show MONTHLY totals. The top stations will be those that have submit-
ted the most telemetry in the last 30 days. The old style leaderboard
can be accessed by clicking "All-time Leaderboard" to see totals since
the launch of Fox-1A. To see more than the top 10 stations, click on
"Show all ground stations" to see everyone.
The leaderboard has also been updated to show PSK frames decoded along-
side FSK frames. DUV and Highspeed are both counted but are not shown
separately on the totals page.
HuskySat-1 is now at the ISS on the Cygnus. We expect it to be boosted
to its target orbit in the new year. It will transmit BPSK telemetry
continuously on 70cm, so dig out that 435Mhz antenna and make sure it
works! Fox-1E will follow in the (hopefully near) future and will also
transmit PSK on 70cm.
As with previous spacecraft, the telemetry collected is sent to our
University Partners who fly experiments and help make these missions
possible. Please collect and forward telemetry if you can.
The link to the leaderboard is: https://www.amsat.org/tlm/
If there are questions, contact Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ via email:
g0kla
(ANS thanks Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ for the above information)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
The digital download version of the 2019 edition of
Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a
DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today!
https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
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AMSAT Will Be at Superstition Superfest Hamfest
AMSAT will be at the Superstition Amateur Radio Club's "Superstition
Superfest" hamfest on the morning of Saturday, December 7, 2019. The
hamfest will be in the southwest parking lot of Mesa Community College,
located on the east side of Dobson Road between Southern Avenue and
US-60 exit 177 in Mesa, Arizona. More information about the hamfest is
available at: http://superstitionsuperfest.org/
WD9EWK will be on the satellites during the hamfest, demonstrating
satellite operating. If you hear WD9EWK on a pass that morning, please
call and be a part of a demonstration. The hamfest site is in grid
DM43, in Arizona's Maricopa 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 at patrick
the QSO details).
[ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, for the above information]
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA
Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required
Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!
Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals
over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000
per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without
increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or
accountant to make certain you are eligible.
AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific
organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and
operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to
encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT's federal tax ID
is 52-0888529.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission
Rocket Lab has announced that its next mission will launch multiple
microsatellites in a rideshare mission representing five different
countries. The launch window for Rocket Lab’s tenth flight, will open
November 25, New Zealand time, and take place from Rocket Lab Launch
Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.
Onboard this rideshare mission are six spacecraft comprised of 5cm
PocketQube microsatellites from satellite manufacturer and mission
management provider Alba Orbital. Two of these satellites include
downlinks in the UHF amateur radio band.
TRSI is a PocketQube for technology demostration. Its main objective
is to show which functionality can be achieved with dimensions of
5cm x 5cm x 5cm. It carries two experiments that are connected to
the amateur-satellite service.
+ First is a waterfall experiment which will show an image in the
waterfall diagram by hopping the frequency within its transmission
band (image-type beacon).
+ The second experiment is to analyze RF reception capabilities from
LEO with a novel detector receiver and a small patch antenna. It
was designed to test if small satellite receivers which don´t need
deployable antennas are feasible. The received signal´s envelope
will be sampled and forwarded using UHF in MFSK for signal ana-
lysis. During the experiment phase the satellite will also perform
as an amateur CW repeater, providing additional RX strength indi-
cation; eg. CW morse signals will be re-sent in MFSK, showing the
RX amplitude in dBm. A downlink on 437.075 MHz has been coordinated.
IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=649
FossaSat-1 PocketQube by AMSAT-EA which has a 5x5x5cm structure and
a total mass of 250 grams. Radio link testing features a new experi-
mental RF chirp modulation called LoRa which greatly improves the link
budget reducing the power consumed and reduces the cost of receivers.
The output power from the transmitter required for the correct recep-
tion during a pass is also very low at well under 100mW, being spread
spectrum at such low power it poses no interference risk. It operates
at a considerable level below the noise level of other systems and
would cause no interference to weak narrowband signals.
Students & amateurs will be able to receive telemetry from the satel-
lite with inexpensive hardware, expanding & promoting the amateur sat-
ellite community with youth. Uplink challenges will also be carried
out with rewards for amateurs.
The mission is completely open source with all information regarding
the design of the satellite & how to decode its information clearly
laid out & hosted by AMSAT-EA. The site will provide decoding soft-
ware for SDR use in order to allow anyone to decode LoRa using common
existing hardware & host software for users to submit telemetry data,
making all data public and rewarding users with certificates & awards.
The UHF downlink plans on using FSK RTTY 45 BAUD ITA2, 100mW 183hz
Shift and LoRa 125kHz, Chirp Spread Spectrum Modulation, 180 bps,
100mW. A downlink on 436.700 MHz has been coordinated.
IARU Frequency Coordination information has been posted at:
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=652
A commercial payload on board is ALE-2 from a Tokyo-based company
creating microsatellites that simulate meteor particles. See
http://star-ale.com/en/news/317/2019/01/04/ for more information.
Rocket Labs mission web page can be found at:
https://tinyurl.com/y672rjj5
[ANS thanks Rocket Labs, IARU, AMSAT-EA, TRSI, and Alba Orbital
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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FCC Seeks to Clear Radio Amateurs Out of 3.4 GHz
At its December 12 open meeting, the FCC will consider adopting a No-
tice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to remove the amateur
radio 9-centimeter allocation at 3.3 – 3.5 GHz. ARRL plans to comment
in opposition to the proposed action. According to an FCC “Fact Sheet,”
the proceeding WT Docket 19-348, “Facilitating Shared Use in the 3.1 –
3.55 GHz Band,” is a follow-on from the MOBILE NOW Act, approved by the
115th Congress, which requires the FCC and the US Department of Comm-
erce to make available new spectrum for mobile and fixed wireless broad-
band use. It also requires the FCC to work with the National Telecom-
munications and Information Administration (NTIA) to evaluate whether
commercial wireless services and federal incumbents could share spec-
trum between 3.1 and 3.55 GHz. NTIA manages spectrum allocated to fed-
eral government users.
“This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would propose to remove the exist-
ing non-federal allocations in the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band as a step to-
wards potential future shared use between federal incumbents and com-
mercial users,” the FCC Fact Sheet explains. “By taking the initial
step needed to clear the band of allocations for non-federal incum-
bents, the Commission furthers its continued efforts to make more mid-
band spectrum potentially available to support next generation wireless
networks — consistent with the mandate of the MOBILE NOW [Making Oppor-
tunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless
Obstacles to Wireless] Act.”
The NPRM proposes to clear the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band of existing non-fed-
eral users by removing non-federal secondary radiolocation and amateur
allocations [emphasis added] in the 3.3 – 3.55 GHz band and to relocate
incumbent non-federal users out of the band. The FCC would seek comment
on relocation options and “transition mechanisms” for incumbent non-
federal users, either to the 3.1 – 3.3 GHz band or to other frequencies,
and on how to ensure that non-federal secondary operations in the 3.1–
3.3 GHz band will continue to protect federal radar systems.
Regarding the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Service allocations, the
FCC NPRM asks whether existing amateur spectrum in other bands might
support operations currently conducted in the 3.3 – 3.5 GHz band. The
3.40 – 3.41 GHz segment is designated for amateur satellite communica-
tion. “We seek comment on the extent to which the band is used for
this purpose, whether existing satellites can operate on other amateur
satellite bands, and on an appropriate timeframe for terminating these
operations in this band,” the FCC NPRM says.
Also at its December 12 meeting, the FCC will consider another NPRM in
WT Docket 19-138 that would “take a fresh and comprehensive look” at
the rules for the 5.9 GHz band and propose, among other things, to make
the lower 45 MHz of the band available for unlicensed operations and
to permit “Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything” (C-V2X) operations in the
upper 20 MHz of the band. The FCC is not proposing to delete or other-
wise amend the amateur allocation, and it would continue as a secon-
dary allocation, but the primary allocation for 5.850 – 5.925 GHz
would change.
The amateur radio 5-centimeter allocation is 5650.0 – 5925.0 MHz, and
the NPRM, if approved, would address the top 75 MHz of that amateur
secondary band. While no changes are proposed to the amateur alloca-
tion, anticipated more intensive use by primary users could restrict
secondary amateur use.
The band 5.850–5.925 GHz has been reserved for use by dedicated short-
range communications (DSRC), a service in the intelligent transporta-
tion system (ITS) designed to enable vehicle-related communications,
the FCC said in a Fact Sheet in WT Docket 19-138. “The Commission ini-
tiates this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to take a fresh and compre-
hensive look at the 5.9 GHz band rules and propose appropriate changes
to ensure the spectrum supports its highest and best use.” ARRL also
will file comments opposing any changes affecting the 5-centimeter
amateur allocation.
Both draft FCC proposals are subject to change prior to a vote at the
December 12 FCC meeting, and there will be opportunity to file com-
ments and reply comments on the final proposals after they are re-
leased.
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WRC-19 Final Report: Small Satellites and the 1240-1300 MHz Band
In the final week, the meetings at WRC-19 have been running until 3 in
the morning in an attempt to get the work completed.
The RSGB have released their WRC-19 report covering small satellites
and also the Amateur 1240-1300 MHz band.
The report notes “A lesson from the process indicates how difficult it
may be in future to achieve any upgrade to other amateur allocations.”
Read the RSGB Small Satellites and 23cm report at
https://tinyurl.com/vjfho66
Friday, November 22 saw WRC-19 conclude its month long biggest ever
conference. Many of the 3,300 delegates had started to travel home
even before the release of the ‘Provisional Final Acts’ and closing
ceremony.
The ITU website has released the provisional acts as a huge 567-page
PDF document—a tribute to the the hardworking editorial and transla-
tion teams at the conference. These provisional acts are due to come
into force on January 1, 2021, so no early changes are currently ex-
pected in practice.
Read the RSGB WRC-19 Final report at https://tinyurl.com/qjw9kvd
WRC-19 Provisional Final Acts – a 567 page document - is available at
https://tinyurl.com/tyzfvl3
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Auction Celebrating 45th Birthday of AO-7 Raises $480
The auctions for a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th
Anniversary AMSAT lab coat recently concluded and raised $480 to help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space. Thank you to all of the bidders for
participating in the auctions!
If you missed out on the auctions, but still want to help out, please
consider donating or purchasing items from the AMSAT store at
www.amsat.org today!
[ANS thanks Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov
Contact is go for: 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC
Council Rock High School South, Holland, Pa., direct via KC3NGG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Drew Morgan KI5AAA
Contact is go for: Thu 2019-12-05 17:56:31 UTC 71 deg
B. Pascal Institute - Public School, Rome, Italy, direct via IKØMGA
and Istituto Comprensivo Lipari “S. Lucia”, Lipari, Italy, direct via
ID9GKS. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP
Contact is go for: Sat 2019-12-07 11:44:00 UTC 45 deg
For more information, the ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, ARISS operation team, for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.
Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 - December 6, 2019
The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar
Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec-
ember 11th. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival
and just before they leave, not to mention that it's wicked cold up
there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the
VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out-
side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc
Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd - 6th. Key
word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act-
ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner's
Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85
Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019
Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd – 6th. Key
word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to ac-
tivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner’s
Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85
Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019
Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a
holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got
away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announce-
ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF
Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org
[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ NASA's "Ride to Station" App and Educator Guide equips educators with
simple tools and knowledge to take a fun, interactive app and turn it
into a powerful, educational tool for students of all ages! The in-
teractive app gives an overview of the complexities involved in get-
ting to and conducting research aboard the International Space Sta-
tion. The app is also challenging and fun! The Commercial Crew Pro-
gram focuses on working with NASA’s two partners Boeing and SpaceX
to create American commercial capabilities to safely send humans to
and from the International Space Station. For more information see:
https://tinyurl.com/vj9gyfr
(ANS thanks NASA for the above information)
+ Rovers and some multiop VHF/UHF contest stations will be interested
in the future Down East Microwave DEM V/U Xverter. This device covers
ALL 5 OF THE AMATEUR BANDS between 144 MHz and 1.2 GHz. According to
the preliminary information from the manufacturer: "All frequencies
convert to/from 28 MHz. The transmit output level is approximately 1
watt and will exhibit a 2 dB noise figure with greater than 15 dB
gain on all bands. The Transverter will also contain an AUX RF port
that will be configured as an additional 2M port for connection to a
higher frequency transverter such as our future DEM MICRO-VERTER con-
taining 4 additional higher bands of operation."
(ANS thanks Pete Heins, N6ZE, the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society, and
www.downeastmicrowave.com for the above information)
+ Rocket Lab has partnered with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to
be the sole provider of ground station services for the Electron
launch vehicle and Photon satellite bus customers. KSAT’s KSATlite
ground network is designed and optimized for small satellite systems,
providing Photon customers with downlink and uplink capabilities in
UHF, S-band, X-band, and Ka-band across a global ground station net-
work of over 200 antennas that supports 50,000 contacts per month.
(ANS thanks SatMagazine.com for the above information)
+ NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be testing an improved waveform
on the 48-MHz Tropospheric Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (TDRWP) from
Monday, November 25 through Sunday, December 2. The purpose of the
test is to improve the instrument’s resolution and still operate with-
in the assigned bandwidth. NASA is requesting the amateur radio com-
munity to report via email to ksc-tdrwptest@mail.nasa.gov any detect-
ed emissions in the 50 – 54 MHz band dur ing that period. Include
the date, time, location, frequency, and any other pertinent informa-
tion (such as IQ files of the signal for evaluation) that might as-
sist NASA in assessing potential impacts to the amateur radio comm-
unity.
(ANS thanks ARRL for the above information)
+ NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 12:51 p.m. EST
Wednesday, Dec. 4, for the launch of its 19th resupply mission to
the International Space Station under contract with the agency. Live
coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website Tues-
day, Dec. 3, with prelaunch events. The Dragon spacecraft, which will
launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sta-
tion in Florida, will be filled with supplies and payloads, includ-
ing critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than
250 science investigations and technology demonstrations that will
occur during Expeditions 61 and 62.
(ANS thanks NASA for the above information)
+ Jerri Ellsworth, AI6TK, who was the AMSAT/TAPR guest speaker at Day-
ton in 2018, was featured as a "technology visionary" by the New York
Times in an article first published in October, but highlighted once
again in a series wrap-up on Nov. 26. Those who have a N.Y. Times
online account can access the story at https://tinyurl.com/tmkhqaq
+ ANS wishes a happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend (or what remains of
it) to all U.S. satellite operators!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
/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
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