AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-215
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.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* July/August 2014 AMSAT Journal is Ready and at the Print Shop
* AMSAT ARRL Centennial Videos Added to www.AMSAT.org
* AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium Videos Now Available
* Enhanced FUNcube-1 Dashboard App now available
* AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-215.01
ANS-215 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 215.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE August 3, 2014
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-215.01
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July/August 2014 AMSAT Journal is Ready and at the Print Shop
JoAnne, K9JKM reports that the July/August 2014 AMSAT Journal has
been sent to the print shop. Look for your copy in your mailbox in a
couple of weeks depending on the post office. Thanks to all of our
contributors and Editors:
Bernhard, VA6BMJ; Douglas, KA2UPW/5; James, K3JPH for their help
getting this issue ready.
In this issue you will find ...
+ AMSAT Announcements: Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers
+ Apogee View by Barry Baines - WD4ASW
+ Fox-1C to Launch on Spaceflight's SHERPA in 3Q 2015
+ Get Ready for Fox-1 Hamfest Handout
+ AMSAT at ARRL Centennial Celebration in Hartford
+ Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and 2014 AMSAT BOD
Election Notice by Alan Biddle - WA4SCA
+ AMSAT at Dayton 2014 by Keith Baker - KB1SF/VA3KSF
+ AMSAT Engineering 2014 - Virtual Teamwork by Jerry Buxton - N0JY
+ AMSAT at Ham-Com 2014
+ New President's Club Donor Drive Announcement
+ Star Comm Group Satellite Operating Awards by Damon Runion - WA4HFN
+ June 19 DNEPR Launch Lofts 37 Satellites
+ AMSAT Field Day 2014 by Bruce Paige - KK5DO
+ UKube-1 With FUNcube-2 Transponder Aboard Launched on July 8
by Graham Shirville - G3VZV
A color preview of the cover page has been posted to the AMSAT North
America Facebook page.
The AMSAT Journal welcomes all your input about Amateur Radio in
space. We'll do all the final formatting and layout for you. All we
need are your article in text, MS-Word, or OpenOffice format. Please
send photos separately as JPG or BMP files in as high resolution as
possible. We have a writer's guide posted at
http://www.amsat.org/?page_id09
-and-feel free to contact the editor directly with your questions.
Sample articles from previous issues are posted at:
http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id 74
The AMSAT Journal is sent to all members bi-monthly. We report on all
aspects of Amateur Radio in space including launches, equipment,
operating techniques, antennas, activities, and membership news. Not
yet a member? You can find out how to join at:
http://www.amsat.org/?page_id95
Please send your articles, photos, and news to or
.
[ANS thanks the AMSAT Journal Editor Team for the above information]
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AMSAT ARRL Centennial Videos Added to www.AMSAT.org
The following are videos of Patrick WD9EWK demonstrating working
satellites during the ARRL Centennial. Two of the 3 use audio Patrick
recorded, with a slideshow complete with pictures and descriptions
of the audio and other stuff related to AMSAT at Hartford.
This is a slideshow from the AO-7 demonstration Patrick gave, after
our training seminar wrapped up on the Thursday of that weekend (17
July):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?võTjXbuLv5s
This is a slideshow from the NA1SS contact on Saturday (19
July) morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?vÿFbhPXsUx0
This is an actual video from the AO-7 demonstration at the end
of the convention on Saturday (19 July). Thanks Peter W2JV for
running the camera for this video!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?vÿd91H_t88o
See the AMSAT Presentations at the 2014 ARRL Centennial webpage:
http://www.amsat.org/?page_id)14
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium Videos Now Available
Thanks to the hard work of volunteers from the British Amateur
Television Club (BATC) videos of the presentations given to the AMSAT-
UK International Space Colloquium held in Guildford on July 26-27,
2014 are now available to view online or download to your PC.
Links to the presentation videos, PDF’s of the slides and the
schedule are at
http://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/collo...tation-videos/
You can also access them by following these steps:
• Go to http://www.batc.tv/
• Click on the ‘Film Archive’ icon
• Select ‘AMSATUK 2014? from the Category drop down menu
• Click on ‘Select Category’
• Select the video you wish to watch from the Stream drop down menu
• Click on ‘Select Stream’
• Click the play icon ‘>’ on the player
• Clicking on the icon to the left of the player volume control will
give you full screen display.
• To download the video file to your PC right-click on the ‘Click
Here’ link under the player.
AMSAT-UK publishes an newsletter, OSCAR News, that is full of
Amateur Satellite information. A sample issue of OSCAR News can be
downloaded here.
Join AMSAT-UK online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK the above information]
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Enhanced FUNcube-1 Dashboard App now available
AThis weekend saw the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium take
place and Jim Heck G3WGM and Ciaran Morgan M0XTD together gave a
presentation on the FUNcube-1 CubeSat mission.
The presentation included the announcement of a new version of the
FUNcube-1 Dashboard. This has greatly improved decoding performance
for weak signals – especially for Dongle users. Additionally the
Dashboard can now activate the Bias-T pre-amp power from the Dongle.
The new version can now be downloaded and the guidance notes have
been updated to provide full information about it.
All users are encouraged to install this new version to improve
their system performance and further increase the amount of data
being captured in the Warehouse.
Reports will be very welcome on the FUNcube forum
http://forum.funcube.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f&t5
Dashboard App – Telemetry Decoder
http://funcube.org.uk/working-docume...try-dashboard/
Data Warehouse – Telemetry Archive
http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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AMSAT Events
Iformation about AMSAT activities at other important events around
the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where
AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working
amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with
AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations,
forums, and/or demonstrations).
* Saturday, 2 August 2014 – Fairbanks Hamfest in Fairbanks AK
* Friday through Sunday, 12-14 September 2014 – ARRL Southwestern
Division Convention 2014 in San Diego CA (near Montgomery Field and I-
805/CA-163 interchange)
* Saturday, 8 November 2014 – Tucson Hamfest 2014 in Marana AZ
(along I-10 west frontage road, east of exit 236)
* Saturday, 6 December 2014 – Superstition Superfest 2014 in Mesa
AZ (Mesa Community College, Dobson Road between Southern Avenue & US-
60 exit 177)
* Saturday, 10 January 2015 – Thunderbird Hamfest in Phoenix AZ
(43rd Avenue, between Greenway and Bell Roads)
* Friday and Saturday, 20-21 February 2015 – Yuma Hamfest in Yuma
AZ (Yuma County Fairgrounds, 32nd Street between Pacific Avenue &
Avenue 3E, south of I-8 exit 3)
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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ARISS News
Upcoming Contacts
* A direct contact via 8J3AK with students at Amino Kita
Elementary School, Kyotango, Japan is scheduled for Wed 2014-08-06
10:25:43 UTC 68 deg.
Amino Kita Elementary School was opened on April 1, 1983. Our school
is located at the northernmost tip of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. We
have 244 students now, who all study hard and pursue sports actively.
Our school is surrounded by a rich, natural environment.
The location of our school is recognized as a part of Quasi-National
Park and the National Geo Park. It is also only 100 meters away from
the beach. Students in the 6th grade swim one kilometer in the sea
every year. During the current season, summer, a lot of lights from
squid fishing boats can be seen in the sea at night. Maybe you can
see them from the ISS?
Our school has beautiful grounds covered with green grass. At
recess, our students play in the grounds full of energy. There are
straight hallways more than 100 meters long in our school. They are
sometimes used in our arithmetic classes to learn how to measure
distance.
The members of our space club will ask you some questions today.
These questions were thought of by all of the students. It is a new
club that began this year. They are studying the stars and moon, and
practicing English hard so that they can make contact with you. All
of the people in our school are really looking forward to getting in
touch with the astronauts in the ISS.
Latest News
* A telebridge contact with Scouts at Space Jam 8, Rantoul Airport
& Chanute Aerospace Museum, Rantoul IL, USA was successfu on Sat
2014-08-02 12:23:19 UTC 60 deg via W6SRJ in Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
ARISS reports
"The contact Space Jam 8 just had a very successful contact with
Greg. We had 24 questions answered that were on the list plus 2
extra ones for a total of 26.
I only heard one very very very brief change in signal strength but
Greg was rock solid through the entire pass. He actually called
W6SRJ first.
The Space Jam 8 group was heading off to their next project of the
day, launching a balloon with ham radio on board. They also reported
that there was at least 1 TV station there."
SpaceJam 8 provided the following information -
Greetings to all stations from the participants and volunteers of
Space Jam 8 in Rantoul, Illinois. Though primarily a weekend Scouting
and STEM education event, we are open to all interested youth. Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts and Venturing Crews from 22 states and this year
Canada have come together in an educational and fun format to learn
more about the life skills that will prepare them for the
increasingly complex technological future. While it is well known
that Scouting teaches pioneering skills like camping and wilderness
survival, the new pioneers and wilderness are in outer space and we
are working hard at 44 technology oriented Merit Badges and
activities, plus some fun things like the Duct Tape Merit Badge and
experiencing 1/3 gravity. Talking to the astronauts on the ISS is an
unforgettable part of the experience at Space Jam and that's next on
our list. We will not know for many years whether one of these youths
becomes an astronaut themselves but it is certain that they are all
part of tomorrow's leaders.
Find more information about Space Jam at
http://spacejamboree.com/pages/about.
* A telebridge contact with students participating in the ESA 2014
Space Camp, Rossall School, Fleetwood, United Kingdom was successful
Tue 2014-07-29 14:01:13 UTC 53 deg via W6SRJ.
Audio on Echolink and Web stream was transmitted.
This annual camp is organized by the ESA Space Camp Committee takes
place in a different European country each summer for 2 weeks. This
year the camp takes place between 27 July and 10 August where 185
young space explorers aged 8 to 17 will meet each other in the UK at
Rossall School. The children come from the following ESA
establishments (UK, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands and
Germany).
This will be the 20th Space Camp organized by ESA. This year the
children will also be involved in celebrating this milestone with
marking 50 years of ESA. Children, their parents and educators from
the area will join the ESA campers on this special celebration day.
Rossall is a boarding school situated on a beautiful 160-acre site,
there is plenty of room for extensive sports and cultural facilities,
including a swimming pool, squash and tennis courts, as well as a
fitness room and a climbing wall.
The ESC 2014 program will feature a balanced mix of sports such as
flag rugby, life-guarding, kayaking and martial arts. The theme for
camp will be ‘Reach for the Stars!’ Well-equipped IT labs, classrooms
and an on-site planetarium will be instrumental in setting up a space
education program that will keep the children motivated with new and
exciting hands-on activities and educational tasks involving space-
related themes, as well as learning about the culture of the host
country.
As with all ESA Space Camps, there will be specific emphasis placed
on socialization and respect among the participants. We hope to make
the camp a really unique experience for juniors and teenagers who are
in the process of becoming citizens of a multicultural society.
* On July 25, 2014, A direct contact via RZ9WWB with students
participating in Gagarin From Space at Vii Youth Rally Of Radio
Amateurs In Bashkiria, Ufa,Russia was successful 2014-07-25 21:38
UTC.
[ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
* $248 Billion for Manufacture and Launch of 1,155 Satellites Over
Next Decade
According to Euroconsult's newly released research report,
Satellites to be Built and Launched, 115 satellites will be launched
on average yearly over the next decade (2014-2023).
In comparison with last year's forecast, the number of satellites is
stable while market value is growing, thus translating the growing
economic importance of the sector, for both governments and
commercial satellite companies.
Governments all over the world will be responsible for more than 75%
of the $248 billion in revenues expected from the manufacturing and
launch of these 1,155 satellites.
Governments' dominance of the space industry continues to increase
as established space countries replace and expand their in-orbit
satellite systems and more countries acquire their first operational
satellite systems, usually for communications and broadcasting or for
Earth observation and imagery intelligence.
Nearly 90% of the government market value will remain concentrated
in the 10 countries with an established space industry, but growth in
the government market will derive from new satellite systems in 35
nascent space countries, creating a market of $2 billion on average
per year to be provided principally by foreign suppliers as local
industry capabilities develop simultaneously.
According to Rachel Villain, Principal Advisor at Euroconsult and
editor of the report, "governments in established space countries
continue to drive innovation for satellite systems with benefits to
local industries and the foreign governments to which they export."
In the commercial space sector, Euroconsult anticipates a total of
350 satellites to be launched over the decade, most of which will be
for the replacement of capacity existing in-orbit.
These satellites will be equally divided between the geostationary
orbit (GEO) and lower altitude orbits (MEO and LEO); 83% of market
value remains concentrated in the geostationary orbit, the
destination of 300+ satellites operated by 30 commercial companies
for communications and broadcasting services.
Still, the constellations to be launched in non-geostationary orbits
for communications services and Earth observation imagery should
represent a market of $1 billion per year on average over the decade.
Technology advances in satellite payloads and higher competition in
launch services allow the continuous improvement of CAPEX efficiency
of commercial GEO satellites for communications and broadcasting
services.
Electric propulsion will definitively be part of the economic
equation, even if only five all-electric commercial satellites are
now under construction.
[ANS thanks spacemart.com for the above information]
* US aerospace firm outlines New Zealand-based space program
A United States aerospace company is aiming to make New Zealand one
of the exclusive group of countries with a space program by promising
a revolutionary new satellite-carrying rocket for a fraction of the
current satellite launch costs.
Rocket Lab announced Tuesday that it had developed a light- weight,
carbon-composite rocket, named Electron, at its Auckland plant and
hoped to offer small satellite launches for less than 5 million U.S.
dollars, compared with a current average price of 133 million U.S.
dollars.
The company, which has received research and development funding
from the government, was being backed by Silicon Valley venture
capital firm Khosla Ventures, Rocket Lab founder and New Zealander
Peter Beck said in a statement.
The lead-time for businesses to launch a satellite would be cut from
years to just weeks and the company already had commercial
commitments for 30 launches, said Beck.
At 18 meters in length, 1 meter in diameter and weighing more than
10 tones, Electron would be the first vehicle of its class capable of
delivering payloads up to 100 kg into low Earth orbit at an altitude
of about 160 km.
Businesses faced a severe barrier in launching satellites as rockets
had remained prohibitively large and expensive, despite the trend for
satellites to become smaller, more capable and more affordable, he
said.
"Along with benefits for commercial enterprises, cheaper and faster
space access has the potential to lead to more accurate weather
prediction, global high speed Internet access, as well as real-time
monitoring of the impacts of human development," said Beck.
New Zealand was in an ideal launch position for a variety of
different types of orbits and plans were underway to build a space
port at several potential locations.
Powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene, Electron would have a lift-
off mass of 10,500 kg and a possible top speed of 27,500 km per hour.
[ANS thanks space-travel.com for the above information]
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/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining
donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-
tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT
Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership
at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students
enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-
dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership
information.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Joe Spier, K6WAO
k6wao at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans