AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-229
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/260704576900/list.admin/aus-city.com/ publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* 7 weeks Until Symposium
* Satellite Road Trip
* 2014 AMSAT Symposium Trips, Social Events, and Tours
* 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers Due Septmeber 15
* Dnepr Launch Planned for October
* SUWS VHF/UHF/Microwave WebSDR moves to new site
* LUSAT-1 alive at night!
* OSCAR NEWS 207 from AMSAT-UK
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-229.01
ANS-229 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 229.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE August 17, 2014
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-229.01
7 weeks Until Symposium
Charm City Space Symposium
32nd Space Symposium and Annual Meeting
October 10-12, 2014
Baltimore, Maryland
* Board of Directors meeting on October 9 and morning of October 10.
* Technical presentations on satellite design/operating begin the
afternoon of October 10 and continue October 11.
* Meet AMSAT Officers and Board members.
* Meet and greet fellow satellite operators.
* Satellites on display.
* Annual general meeting afternoon of October 10.
* Saturday evening annual banquet with door prizes.
* Sunday morning Area Coordinator's breakfast.
* Sunday ARISS Operations Team meeting.
* Sunday and Monday tours.
Hotel: DoubleTree by Hilton -- Baltimore - BWI Airport
890 Elkridge Landing Rd, Linthicum, Maryland, 21090
Phone: 410-859-8400
Ask For: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation Group or use the Code:
RAS
AMSAT Special Room Rate--$99.00 per night
$10 Breakfast Buffet Coupons--Full Hot and Cold Breakfast*
FREE Parking
FREE WiFi
Free Airport and Close-in Transportation
Easy Train/Light Rail Service to Baltimore Inner Harbor & D.C. Metro
Walking distance to National Electronics Museum
Special Guest Presentations
*Purchase at check-in
A registration form for the Symposium and all events may be
downloaded at
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/767699842432/list.admin/aus-city.com/Online registration is available through the AMSAT Store
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/747392674765/list.admin/aus-city.com/[ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information]
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Satellite Road Trip
Ron, N8RO says he started on a vacation road trip on Saturday August
16, 2014. He plans satellite operation only on SO-50 & FO-29. He will
attempt to be on one morning and one evening pass of the satellites,
but it's a vacation and nothing is set in stone. He plans to return
home around September 20, 2014.
The trip will be divided into three phases:
+ The first phase will include TX, NM, AZ and CA. The first
stop will be in DM62 and ending up in CM87 on August 26, 2014.
+ The second phase of the trip will start in AK, BP52, on
August 27, 2014 and will end in CN89 on September 6, 2014. A
major portion of this part of the trip will be aboard a cruise
ship and if he is permitted to operate as N8RO/MM he will only
be on SO-50 with a HT and a whip antenna, so contacts may be
difficult.
+ The final portion of the trip will start on September 8, 2014
and will include CA, NV, UT, CO, NM & TX starting again in CN89
and ending in EM00.
[ANS thanks Ron Oldham, N8RO for the above information]
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2014 AMSAT Symposium Trips, Social Events, and Tours
We will have two "working" events scheduled Sunday morning (October
12)-the Area Coordinators Breakfast and the ARISS Operations Team
Meeting.
Similar to last year's symposium, two opportunities for tours are
planned for the 2014 Space Symposium:
1) On Sunday October 12 (Afternoon), several Small Group/Light Rail
tours are being planned. Symposium participants can choose one of the
following tours: Baltimore Inner Harbor Tour (including the
Aquarium), the B&O Railroad Museum, Edgar Allen Poe House or the
National Electronics Museum.
2) On Columbus Day, Monday October 13 we will take a bus to the
Washington Dulles airport area to tour the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space
Museum. Udvar-Hazy is a phenomenal museum with hundreds of aircraft
and spacecraft, including the Space Shuttle Discovery, an SR-71, Enola
Gay, and many others. The plan is to leave the hotel at 9 am and
return around 4 pm.
In order to get maximum benefit from all the holiday weekend events,
the symposium committee suggests that symposium participants consider
scheduling their airline flights for no earlier than 6 pm on Monday
October 13.
Online registration is available through the AMSAT Store
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/747392674765/list.admin/aus-city.com/[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information]
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2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers Due Septmeber 15
The 2014 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium will be held on
the weekend of October 10-12, 2014, at the DoubleTree Hotel by
Hilton, Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), Baltimore,
Maryland. (See information above)
Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster
presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur
satellite community. We request a tentative title of your
presentation as soon as possible, but no later than August 1. The
final copy must be submitted by September 15 for inclusion in the
printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan
Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information]
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Dnepr Launch Planned for October
According to an ITAR-TASS report the launch of a Russian-Ukrainian
conversion rocket Dnepr (RS-20) with Japanese satellites, should take
place in early October from the Orenburg region, southern Urals.
On Wednesday, August 13, when asked by ITAR-TASS whether the plans
had not been affected by Japanese sanctions against Russia a source
in the Russian Military Industrial Commission said "The launch is
scheduled for the beginning of October. There have been no
cancellations so far".
The rocket will orbit five Japanese satellites, including four micro
ones. "The satellites will be brought to Russia on August 20," the
source said, adding that this year's third Dnepr launch was scheduled
for December.
The Dnepr rocket conversion programme was initiated in the 1990s by
the presidents of Russia and Ukraine to convert RS-20 Voyevoda ICBMs
for civilian uses.
Dnepr rockets are launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and the Yasny
Launch Site of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces in the Orenburg
region under a joint project commenced by Russia, Ukraine and
Kazakhstan.
The Dnepr rocket is a three-stage liquid-engine vehicle. Its takeoff
mass is 210 tones. The first two stages are the regular stages of the
RS-20 rocket and have not been changed. The third stage has been
worked on to improve its flight control system.
The rocket is injected from an RS-20 silo by propellant gases. Its
engine turns on after the whole vehicle has come out of the silo. The
rocket is made by the Ukrainian company Yuzhmash in Dnepropetrovsk.
Source ITAR-TASS
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/889259298347/list.admin/aus-city.com/The five satellites are understood to be:
* ASNARO 1
* ChubuSat 1
* Hodoyoshi 1
* QSAT-EOS
* Tsubame
[ANS thanks ITAR-TASS and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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SUWS VHF/UHF/Microwave WebSDR moves to new site
The Southampton University Wireless Society SUWS VHF/UHF/Microwave
WebSDR has now moved to its new site in Farnham.
You can use the free online SUWS Web Software Defined Radio (WebSDR)
from your PC or Laptop to receive the International Space Station
(ISS) and the many amateur radio satellites transmitting in the 144-
146 MHz or 435-438 MHz bands.
The WebSDR also provides reception of High Altitude Balloons in the
434 MHz band and coverage of the microwave 10368-10370 MHz band.
Martin Ehrenfried G8JNJ has equipped the SUWS WebSDR with omni-
direction helix antennas for both 144-146 MHz and 432-438 MHz which
have proved effective for both high altitude balloon and satellite
reception.
The SUWS WebSDR is located at Farnham not far from London, 51.3 N
1.15 W, listen to it at
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/217228944987/list.admin/aus-city.com/Martin says this about the special satellite antennas "I had been
experimenting with single turn 'twisted halo' design, and decided to
try stacking them to see if I could achieve more gain. Modelling
suggested that a stretched 3 turn helix with a helix circumference of
approx 1/2 wave length and an overall length of 1/2 wave at 70cm, and
fed with a gamma match at the centre would offer reasonable gain, an
omni-directional pattern and mixed polarisation."
Full details of the antennas are available at
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/281326960825/list.admin/aus-city.com/[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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LUSAT-1 alive at night!
Pedro, LU7ABF, reported to the AMSAT-BB, "We knew that our LUSAT
start transmitting again a couple of years ago, but only when
illuminated by sun, and was not heard during the night.
On the occasion of testing the application
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/084655326412/list.admin/aus-city.com/ saw there was a nightly pass, which was
tried to listen.
Without much hope tuned 437.125 MHz, surprised to hear the usual
strong 900mW continuous carrier +/- Doppler, but this time after 22
minutes of being LUSAT in the dark.
Commenting locally, several other hams also tried and received LUSAT.
It's almost a miracle that after almost 25 years, LUSAT vintage Ni-
Cd batteries can receive and hold charge.
It seems LUSAT is willing to greet hams on his 'Silver Jubilee' due
next Jan-22 thru continuing talking with us from space after its more
than 128,000 orbits.
The LO-19, next to Oscar-7 and UO-11 is one of the most long-lived
active amateur satellites.
We have included short report and audio on
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/107502324945/list.admin/aus-city.com/, Amsat-LU logs.
More information on LUSAT (although in Spanish) on
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/251068401240/list.admin/aus-city.com/Reports welcomed at info at amsat.org.ar
[ANS thanks Pedro, LU7ABF, for the above information]
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OSCAR NEWS 207 from AMSAT-UK
The Editors of OSCAR NEWS are starting the preparation of the next
edition - #207.
We would welcome any articles for this edition which need to be
submitted before the end of August!
Long or short articles about technical, operational or historical
matters are all equally welcome.
Exciting and/or amusing photographs would also be appreciated.
Many thanks in advance for your support
[ANS thanks Graham G3VZV and Jim G3WGM for the above information]
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ARISS News
+ A Successful contact was made between Amino Kita Elementary
School, Kyotango, Japan and Astronaut Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT using
callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2014-08-06 10:25 UTC UTC and lasted
about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via 8J3AK.
ARISS Mentor was 7M3TJZ.
+ A Successful contact was made between Canada Science and
Technology Museum Summer Day Camps, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Astronaut
Alexander Gerst KF5ONO using callsign OR4ISS. The contact began 2014-
08-13 17:18 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was
telebridged via IK1SLD.
ARISS Mentor was VE3TBD.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
Zuni Hills Elementary School, Sun City, AZ, telebridge via K6DUE
Contact is a go for: Fri 2014-08-22 17:47:05 UTC
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
Help AMSAT launch Fox-1C satellite in 2015!
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/852750453885/list.admin/aus-city.com/[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
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/EX
