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[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.01
AMSAT submitted comments to the U.S. Department of State/Directorate
of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) on June 13, 2011 in response to their
proposed rule making on International Traffic in Arms Regulations
(ITAR), which would provide clarification on defense services, noting
that public domain material is not subject to ITAR.
AMSAT asked DDTC to not only acknowledge that public domain materials
are not subject to ITAR, but to expand the scope of how they view how
materials are to be placed in the public domain. AMSAT requested that
rather than focus on the method of placement of materials in the public
domain (e.g. printed publication), the critical criteria should be the
intent of the originator to broadly and freely make such material
available to anyone who has the ability to access it via appropriate
means, including electronic origination and distribution.
The full copy of AMSAT's comments will be published in an upcoming
edition of the AMSAT Journal. An electronic copy of AMSAT's comments
can be viewed on the AMSAT web at: http://tinyurl.com/3jtbff2
[ANS thanks AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW for the above
Information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.02
Announcing AMSAT Project FOX Website
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.02
Alan Biddle, WA4SCA is pleased to announce that AMSAT's Project FOX
website has been updated. Titled, "Introducing FOX, AMSAT-NA's Next
Satellite!", this page brings you the highlights of:
+ "Why do we need Fox?"
+ A link to the Project FOX presentation slides from the Dayton
AMSAT Forum
+ A Project FOX donation widget
+ FOX Project Status
+ High level project design goals
+ A call for volunteers to join the AMSAT FOX Team
Begin your exploration of the AMSAT FOX project at:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/
Here is a summary of AMSAT Project FOX design goals:
Development Phase: Approved by the Board of Directors.
Design in progress.
Projected Launch: 2013.
Space Frame Structure: Standard 1U (One Unit) CubeSat.
Space Frame Size: 10 cm X 10 cm X 10 cm.
Mass: Approximately 1.33 kg, ~ 3 lbs.
Orbit: 600 - 800 km, circular, depending on launcher.
RF: 500 mW EIRP, U/V (Mode B). Deployable antennas.
Transponder: High density Software Defined Transponder (SDX).
Power source: Deployable solar arrays. Lithium Ion or NiCd
batteries.
Power mangement: Maximum Power Point Trackers.
[ANS thanks Alan Biddle, WA4SCA for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.03
It's Time to Get Ready For ARISSat-1
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.03
A few weeks remain before the planned July deployment of ARISSat-1
from the ISS. The AMSAT News Service will bring you more details
in the coming weeks. Here are some reminders to help you get your
station ready for ARISSat-1 operation.
145.950 MHz FM Downlink:
------------------------
FM transmissions will cycle between a voice ID as RS01S, select tele-
metry values, 24 international greeting messages in 15 languages and
SSTV images. One of the messages will be a conversation between Yuri
Gagarin and ground control. See the next news item for pointers to get
your station ready to receive the SSTV images.
435 MHz - 145 MHz Linear Transponder:
-------------------------------------
The linear transponder will operate in Mode U/V (70 cm Up, 2m Down).
It is an 16 KHz wide inverting passband and the convention will be to
TX LSB on the 435 MHz uplink and RX USB on the 145 MHz downlink. This
mode is designed to work with low power transmitters and omni antenna.
145.919 MHz/145.939 MHz CW Beacon:
----------------------------------
The CW transmissions will be callsign ID RS01S, select telemetry, and
callsigns of people actively involved with the ARISS program.
145.920 MHz SSB BPSK-1000 Telemetry:
------------------------------------
The BPSK transmissions will feature a new 1kBPSK protocol developed
by Phil Karn, KA9Q to be readable in low signal level conditions.
The BPSK data will transmit satellite telemetry.
The ARISSat-1 BPSK-1000 downlink is transmitted in SSB mode on
145.920 MHz. When the CW2 beacon on 145.919 MHz is active this
indicates that the BPSK-1000 format is being transmitted. If the
CW1 beacon on 145.939 MHz is active this indicates the backup of
BPSK-400 format is being transmitted.
Transmitting at 100 mW, both BPSK rates include Forward Error
Correction (FEC) and it is expected that modest quarter-wave
antennas with low-loss coaxial cable will provide sufficient
signal strength for decoding and display by the ARISSatTLM
software.
An audio feed from an SSB receiver to the computer's soundcard
input is needed. An initial "Receive Only" configuration is easily
done consisting of an audio patch cable between your radio and
the soundcard. Take the speaker or headphone output from the radio
and run it into the line (or mic) input on your PC sound card.
BPSK-1000 sounds like a "shusssch" with a higher pitch than the
400 bps growl. It is difficult to tune by ear. The CW2 beacon is
used as a tuning signal for BPSK-1000. The PC and Mac ARISSatTLM
software display contains a dotted line that you use to tune your
receiver until the CW signal bumps lines up with the dotted line
on your PC screen. This will allow you to decode the BPSK-1000
signal and you will also be able to copy the CW2 beacon.
Download the Windows ARISSatTLM free ground station soundcard
demodulator and display software:
http://www.arissattlm.org/download/ARISSatTLM_050_Setup.exe
Download the Mac ARISSatTLM software:
http://www.arissattlm.org/download/ARISSATTLM.zip
The ARISSatTLM software user guide is available:
http://tinyurl.com/42uhtyf (amsat.org)
Get your color ARISSat-1 Frequency Guide:
http://tinyurl.com/4t497t2 (amsat.org)
ARISSat-1 Presentation Slides (~1MB)
http://tinyurl.com/4n4pzkm (amsat.org)
[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1 Team for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.04
ARRISat-1 Team Pointers to Get Ready for SSTV Reception
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.04
The ARISSat-1 FM downlink on 145.950 MHz includes live SSTV
images as part of the cycling voice ID, select spoken telemetry
values, and the international greeting messages. Here are some
pointers to help you get your station ready to receive and dis-
the SSTV pictures transmitted by ARISSat-1.
One fun feature is that there are four SSTV cameras mounted on
the spacecraft. On photos of ARISSat-1 you may have noticed black
brackets on the outside of the spacecraft. These hold the mirrors
that reflect the light onto the lens of the cameras. The software-
defined-transponder will use the image data from the cameras to
generate the SSTV downlink.
ARISSat's software will sequentially select a new or stored image
from one the four cameras. There are two pre-recorded images as
part of the sequence. The camera that took the the picture can be
identified by the color of the call sign in the upper left of the
SSTV image. The SSTV image will be sent down as FM audio SSTV in
Robot 36 format on 145.950 MHz about every 140 seconds.
The RF downlink power on the 145.950 MHz FM downlink will be 250mW
which is predicted to provide a link margin around 6 dB on an HT
with a 'big whip' when the satellite is at 15 degrees elevation. This
should be sufficient to receive SSTV pictures although you may need
to orient the whip to line up the antenna polarization.
ARISSat-1 is not stabilized so the antenna orientation is unpredict-
able and a certain amount of fading will happen. The receiving link
margin may be improved with a handheld beam such as an "Arrow", "Elk",
or "Cheap Yagi" antenna.
(See: http://www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf)
General Overview Radio-to-Soundcard Interface
---------------------------------------------
To view the SSTV downlink from ARISSat-1 you'll need a computer
running SSTV software for your soundcard and an audio connection
between your radio and the computer.
If you are already on the air with other amateur radio soundcard
applications chances are you are ready to receive ARISSat's SSTV
downlink with little or no modification to your setup.
The audio from the radio to the computer is the key link. An initial
"Receive Only" configuration is easily done consisting of an audio
patch cable between your radio and the soundcard. Take the speaker
or headphone output from the radio and run it into the line (or mic)
input on your PC sound card.
Setting the level is simple also as the MMSSTV software has a bar
indicator. Just adjust the sound card gain slider and/or radio volume
control so that the SSTV signal is within the center part of the bar.
MMSSTV will give you an "overflow" indication if the volume is too
high.
If your rig has a 'Line Out' connection this can be run to the
soundcard 'Line In'. Using the radio 'Line Out' you won't have to
deal with the interaction of the radio's volume control with the
soundcard levels. But you will still need to use the soundcard
'Volume Control' to set the 'Line In' levels.
SSTV Software Download Sites
----------------------------
There are many amateur radio SSTV software decoding applications
available. One of the easiest to use on Windows computers is the
MMSSTV program. This can be downloaded from:
http://mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca/pages/mmsstv.php
The Ham Radio Deluxe software package also includes SSTV operation.
SSTV software for the Mac is available at:
http://web.me.com/kd6cji/MacSSTV/MultiScan.html
[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1 Team for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.05
North America SO-67 Schedule For Field Day
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.05
The SO-67 command station has agreed to set the following start
times for 15 minute activations over North America for Field Day.
Activations are -planned-, and are dependent on scheduling and
battery state:
25 JUN 2011
-----------
1835
2255
26 JUN 2011
-----------
0030
0200
0335
0515
0645
1155
1335
1510
1640
1815
Uplink is 145.875, no tone, and Narrow FM if possible.
Downlink is 435.345, +/- Doppler shift.
Remember both ARRL and AMSAT Field Day rules limit QSOs to one per
FM repeater/satellite. Even if you are not submitting a log, please
adhere to this procedure.
The above information along with additional Field Day information and
links to the FD Rules documents can found on the AMSAT front page at:
http://www.amsat.org.
[ANS thanks AMSAT VP Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA for the
above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.06
Visit the New AMSAT-UK Website
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.06
AMSAT-UK has a new website developed by Dominic Hawken G6NQO and the
new webmaster is Rob Styles M0TFO.
The site features links to the new AMSAT-UK Online shop run by Ciaran
Morgan, M0XTD. The online shop carries a range of hardware items/pro-
jects and software suitable for Amateur Ratio Satellite activities as
well as the ability to join/renew your membership to AMSAT-UK.
Visit the new site at
http://www.uk.amsat.org/
The AMSAT-UK International Colloquium takes place July 30-31. The event
is open to all and further information can be found at
http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium-2011
AMSAT-UK publishes a color A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, which is full of
Amateur Satellite information. Join online at:
http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK
[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.07
AMSAT-UK Display at First UK Space Conference
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.07
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.07
AMSAT-UK will have a presence at the first ever UK Space Conference
taking place at the University of Warwick on July 4-5. This is being
organised by the UK Space Agency which was formally commenced in April
this year.
AMSAT-UK has been sponsored by a member to have a small stand "booth"
in the exhibtion area and will be among some very illustrious company.
AMSAT-UK will be displaying FUNcube models and demonstrating the educa-
tional outreach possibilities that we will have with the telemetry and
Fitter message download systems when matched with a simple groundstation
- the FUNcube dongle.
AMSAT-UK members will also be presenting short papers in the educational
and cubesat streams during the event.
Full information of the conference can be read on-line at:
http://tinyurl.com/3hb2y9j (www.intellectuk.org)
[ANS thanks Graham Shirville, G3VZV for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.08
Satellite Shorts From All Over
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.08
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.08
+ AMSAT has received the sad news on the passing of Elizabeth Clark,
wife of AMSAT Board Member Tom Clark, K3IO. A memorial service in
the Washington, DC area will be held in the near future - Martha
will post the details when available. A service will be held in
about one month in Clinton, South Carolina at the family church
where her ashes will be scattered. Donations can be made in Eliza-
beth's name to: The American Cancer Society, Box 22718, Oklahoma
City, OK 73123-1718, The Susan G Komen for the Cure, ATTN: Donor
Services, Box 650309, Dallas TX 75265-0309 or the charity of your
choice. (Martha at the AMSAT office)
+ The AO-51 Command Team notes that over the last couple of days, we
have been seeing some extended operational times after turning AO-51
ON. Your reports from around the world for the next few days will be
especially helpful! Information about when it's ON and when it's OFF
is of great interest right now and for the next few days. The best
place to let everybody know is at: http://oscar.dcarr.org/
(AO-51 Command Station, Mark, N8MH)
+ The AMSAT Office has received notice that the Canadian Postal Strike
may affect delivery of AMSAT mailings to Canada. Canada Post has
currently suspended operations around the country.
+ Congratulations to the following on earning the new 5 in EM55 Award
for working five (5) different hams in the EM55 grid:
CALL AWARD NUMBER ISSUE DATE
------- ------------ ----------
WA4NVM 1 6/4/2011
WA4HFN 2 6/4/2011
KI4OTG 3 6/4/2011
K8YSE 4 6/4/2011
N9AMW 5 6/5/2011
KB0RZD 6 6/14/2011
W5KUB 7 6/17/2011
You do not have to be in your home grid to count the stations
worked. There are several satellite ready hams in EM55. Here is
the current known list: WA4NVM, WA4HFN, WB4LHD, WA4OVO, KI4OTG,
KD4NOQ, KJ4BIX, AND AJ4KF.
Send your log to WA4NVM or WA4HFN for checking, along with your
current mailing address. The award is free and should any
donations be sent, they will be forwarded to AMSAT along with
your call and name.
This award will be effective 1 June 2011, therefore, all contacts
must be on or after this date.
+ Trevor, M5AKA invites you to view these video features on the
Southgate ARC web site:
Video of Astronaut Doug Wheelock KF5BOC at Dayton
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2011/kf5boc_video.htm
ISS contact with students in Enniskillen can be seen at
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2011/college_congratulated.htm
+ Congratulations to AMSAT's Bob McGwier, N4HY on his new postion as
the Director of Research Hume Center for National Security and Tech-
nology and Research Professor, ECE at Virginia Tech. See:
http://tinyurl.com/3cnxop7 (vt.edu)
+ Congratulations to Astronaut Mike Hopkins (Expedition 37) upon
passing his amateur radio Technician License exam on June 9.
His call sign should be issued soon.
+ The Okaw Valley ARC has a very nice web page devoted to their
May 6 ISS contact by the Greenville Elementary School. Video
is included: http://ovarc.net/isscontact.htm
+ If you captured any of the Phonesat UHF beacon data during the NASA
AMES high altitude balloon flight on June 9 please send it to:
mikesafyan@gmail.com
+ Congratulations to Chris, KC0YBM, for achieving his Satellite VUCC
Award #215!
+ Paul, 2E1EUB will be operating mobile on AO-7 and other satellites
from the Islands of Harris and Lewis, off the west coast of Scotland
for about 2 weeks between July 2-11. During this trip Paul will also
be mobile in northern Scotland and the Island of Skye. He will also
post information on his QRZ.com callsign lookup for 2E1EUB.
+ The next Hudson Valley Satcom Net is scheduled for June 23 at 8PM EDT
(UTC-4) on the 146.970 MHz repeater, (Pl 100), and also on Echolink
node N2EYH-L. More info: http://www.hvsatcom.org (Stu, WA2BSS)
+ Paul, VP9MU says he has re-activated the AMSAT-BDA (Bermuda) web
pages at: http://www.amsat-bda.org The main function of the site
is hosting the General Astrodynamics Library and will be hosting
additional items in the future.
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-170.09
Follow Up to Receiving STEREO-B at 219 Million KM
[ans] ANS-170 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletin
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 170.09
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 19, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-170.09
James Miller, G3RUH sent an interesting follow up to the ANS news
of AMSAT-DL success in receiving the 8 GHz downlink from the solar
observation STEREO-B satellite. A FUNcube dongle and downconverter
were used in the the demonstration documented in the videos on the
Southgate ARC site (See: http://tinyurl.com/6eukmjv - "AMSAT-DL
break FUNcube Dongle distance record).
James wrote, "Actually, the Stereo-A and Stereo-B spacecraft are
received (more conventionally) every day, and the data automatically
forwarded to NASA. The Bochum Dish, operated by AMSAT-DL is one of
four "Partner Stations" downloading the low speed Beacon telemetry
for NASA/NOAA. The others are DL0SHF at Kiel, CNES in Toulouse,
France, and NICT at Koganei, Japan. And one more station is urgently
needed, especially from North America."
There is a comprehensive article about this work at:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/articles/g3ruh/127.html
Data is transmitted from STEREO in one of two modes; (a) high speed
(currently 720 kbps), stored data (up to 1 Gb), intended for the Deep
Space Network (DSN) to collect the high resolution science data some
8 hours/day, and (b) a low speed 633 bps continuous real time subset
of the solar data intended for collection by smaller ground stations.
AMSAT collects low speed data. The ground stations then forward the
data via the Internet to NASA GSFC for processing where it is posted
on the web in near real time for all to use, including the various
world wide organizations monitoring and predicting Space Weather.
The ground network for the low speed data is organized and coordin-
ated by the SWPC in Boulder, Colorado.
The spacecraft transmit 63 watts to a 1.1m dish at 8.4 GHz RHCP, an
e.i.r.p. of approximately 85 dBm.
[ANS thanks James, G3RUH for the above information]
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors
to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits.
Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. And, with that
please keep in mind the ham who figured he had some explaining to do
when his young daughter announced, "I'm just like mommy! I put on the
Oil of Old Lady lotion you said she uses!"
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
K9JKM at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans
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