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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-187

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@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:

* Successful Launch of BY70-2 With FM-to-Codec2 Transponder
* AMSAT Responds to Allegations of Unauthorized Legal Expenses
* New Satellite Distance Records Set
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2020
* Virginia Air and Space Center Discontinues KE4ZXW Demo Station
* AMSAT 2020 Board of Directors Election Upcoming
* CAS-6 Becomes TO-108, Added to AMSAT TLE Distribution
* San Diego Microwave Group Discusses ARISS Possibilities
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.01
ANS-187 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.01

From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.

DATE 2020 July 05
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.01


Successful Launch of BY70-2 With FM-to-Codec2 Transponder

Wei Mingchaun, BG2BHC, reports on Twitter that BY70-2 was launched on
July 3 at 03:10z from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on a CZ-4B launch vehicle. BY70-2 will serve as a replacement for BY70-1, a 2U CubeSat
which launched on December 26, 2016. Due to a booster failure, BY70-1
was placed in an elliptical orbit with a low perigee and the satel-
lite's orbit decayed in February 2017.

Unlike BY70-1, which carried an FM transponder, BY70-2 carries an
FM-to-Codec2 transponder similar to the ones on board LO-90 and
Taurus-1. More information about working this type of transponder can
be found in an article entitled "Digital Voice on Amateur Satellites: Experiences with LilacSat-OSCAR 90" by Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, in the January/February 2019 issue of The AMSAT Journal. The article can also
be found on the AMSAT website at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-166-BY70-2.

BY70-2 is in a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of approximately
500 km. As a replacement, the satellite is sharing BY70-1's IARU coord-
ination and ITU API notification. The uplink frequency is 145.920 MHz
and the downlink frequency is 436.200 MHz.

[ANS thanks Wei Mingchaun, BG2BHC, for the above information]

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office
is closed until further notice. For details, please visit
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/

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AMSAT Responds to Allegations of Unauthorized Legal Expenses

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) has been made aware of
public comments alleging financial mismanagement in the form of “unauthorized” legal expenditures. AMSAT takes these allegations very seriously and in full disclosure, has investigated these claims for
many months.

AMSAT’s corporate records give a full accounting of all expenditures
and are provided to its Directors upon request, in compliance with our governing documents and law of the District of Columbia (D.C.) Our
office remains closed due to COVID-19, where those documents reside. Furthermore, AMSAT complies with IRS rules for 501(c)(3) disclosure of
public financial documents, such as the Form 990 available on the
AMSAT website. Financial review and accounting services from a third-
party firm of Certified Public Accountants are utilized by the
corporation to ensure governance to best practice and law.

The Corporation vehemently denies false statements alleging
“unauthorized” expenditures.

On behalf of AMSAT,

Clayton Coleman, W5PFG
President

[ANS thanks Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, AMSAT President, for the above
information]

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New Satellite Distance Records Set

Two new distance records have been established in the past week! New
records are added regularly to the AMSAT Satellite Distance Records
page: https://amsat.org/satellite-dist

Jérôme LeCuyer, F4DXV, and Vladimir Vassiljev, R9LR, have claimed the distance record on TO-108 (CAS-6) with a 4,458 km QSO on 28-Jun-2020
at 10:11 UTC between JN04ft91dd in France and MO27qf72nd in Russia. Congratulations to Jérôme and Vladimir!

Also, congratulations to Alain Combelles, TR8CA, and Philippe Chateau,
EA4NF, for a new AMSAT distance record on the CAS-4A Satellite on
27-Jun-2020 at 13:30 UTC. The contact was completed between IN80fl in
Spain and JJ40ql in Gabon.

These are the latest in a series of new records set over the past few
months, including:
EO-88 – 4,086 km. F4DXV in JN04iu <> VO1FOG in GN37in.
02-Apr-2020 at 23:20 UTC.
PO-101 (FM) – 5,128 km. EA4SG in IN80cp77em<> R9LR in MO27qf72nd.
06-May-2020 at 23:03 UTC.
RS-44 – 8,357 km. W5CBF in EM30jf35qi <> DL4EA in JN48ko94cw.
26-May-2020
AO-92 (L/V) – 4,202 km. OA4/XQ3SA in FH17lv <> XE1MEX in EK08mu.
03-Jun-2020 at 04:07 UTC.
AO-27 – 5,682 km. E21EJC in OK03fp <> R9LR in MO27qf.
09-Jun-2020 at 23:45 UTC
XW-2B – 4,978 km. KE9AJ in DM79iq47 <> FG8OJ in FK96ig17.
20-Jun-2020 at 11:14 UTC.

Congratulations to all of these operators for their patience and their operating skill.

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice-President, 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/

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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 2020

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the
ARRL for the period June 1, 2020 through July 1, 2020.
Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

CALL June July

N0JE 637 652
WD9EWK (DM43) 600 612
NS3L 551 575
KI7UNJ 510 527
AD0HJ 425 450
KE8FZT 400 428
AA4QE 305 408
K5IX 375 402
ND0C 346 377
KC9UQR 275 301
WA9JBQ 275 300
N4YHC 250 270
W4DTA 261 263
KA9P 212 259
KS1G 170 233
KE0WPA 200 229
VU2LBW 114 200
N3CAL 100 160
K7TEJ 102 126
N7ZO New 116
AC9O New 108
DJ3GZ New 108
WD9EWK (DM45) 100 106
K3HPA New 102
WA9WUD New 102
KI5HHK New 101
N8URE New 101
KD9NGV New 100
KP4RV New 100
W8LR New 100


If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at W5RKN
[at] W5RKN.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was develop-
ed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a vis-
ual 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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Virginia Air and Space Center Discontinues KE4ZXW Demo Station

The Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton,Virginia has ended its
twenty-five year relationship with the KE4ZXW Amateur Radio Demonstra-
tion Station. Robert Griesmer, Executive Director and CEO of the Vir-
ginia Air and Space Center has directed that the KE4ZXW Amateur Radio Demonstration Station located at the Virginia Air and Space Center
(VASC) be disassembled and removed from the Center by June 30.

In his June 5,2020, update Mr. Griesmer advised the following to the
KE4ZXW group : “I am writing to you to inform you that, after careful consideration, we have decided to discontinue the Ham Radio Station Ex-
hibit effective July 1st upon the re-opening of the Center.” Randy
Grigg, WB4KZI, president of the Amateur Radio group, thanked the volun-
teers who have supported and operated the station for the last 25 years.

The station has spent the last quarter of a century demonstrating the
use of Amateur Radio, its applications as a STEM Activity, communica-
tions skills and communications through amateur satellites to school
groups. The station also made contacts to the International Space Sta-
tion.

The KE4ZXW Amateur Radio station's equipment has found a new home with
K4KDJ, the Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Association in Blacksburg, Va.

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

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AMSAT 2020 Board of Directors Election Upcoming

The nomination period for this year's AMSAT Board of Directors
election ended June 15. The following candidates have been found to
have their membership in good standing and their nomination
credentials in order:

Howard DeFelice, AB2S
Mark Hammond, N8MH
Jeff Johns, WE4B
Robert McGwier, N4HY
Bruce Paige, KK5DO
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM

This year, AMSAT will be electing three voting members of the Board
of Directors. These will go to the three candidates receiving the
highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternates
chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received.

Further details regarding the mechanics of the election will appear in
ANS in the near future. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT membership
by July 15th based on a membership list that will be generated as early
as July 1. Members are encouraged to use the AMSAT Membership
Portal at launch.amsat.org to verify that their membership is in good
standing and their mailing address is correct.

[ANS thanks Brennan Price, N4QX, AMSAT Secretary, for the above
information]

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CAS-6 Becomes TO-108, Confusion Ensues

At the request of CAMSAT and the CAS-6 team, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA,
AMSAT VP Operations & OSCAR Number Administrator announced last week
that CAS-6 (TQ-1) would receive the official designation of TQ-OSCAR
108 (TO-108).

Since that designation, TO-108 was added to the AMSAT Live OSCAR Satel-
lite Status Page at https://www.amsat.org/status/ However, an entry
for CAS-6 also remains on that page. Further, AMSAT TLE distributions
continue to list the satellite as CAS-6 (NORAD Cat ID 44881).

Operators should be aware that the designations CAS-6 and TO-108 both
refer to the same satellite, and should be on the lookout for changes
in the naming on websites and in TLE distribution sets. It many take a
week or two before consistent naming filters through all systems.

Frequencies for the intended radio amatuer mission are:
• CW Telemetry Beacon: 145.910 MHz
• AX.25 4.8kbps GMSK Telemetry: 145.890 MHz
• U/V Linear Transponder Downlink: 145.925 MHz, 20 kHz bandwidth
• U/V Linear Transponder Uplink: 435.280 MHz, Inverted

Operator reports indicate that the transponder is active only for brief intervals of about 2 seconds, spaced approximately 5 seconds apart. With patience, and quick transmissions, QSOs have been completed.

[ANS thanks Mark Johns, K0JM, for the above information]

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Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
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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San Diego Microwave Group Discusses ARISS Possibilities

Participants in the San Diego Microwave Group's (SDMG) 29 June 2020
Zoom meetup discussed the possibility of the AREx broadband digital
microwave design being potentially deployed on the International Space
Station (ISS).

Since the project has focused heavily on high earth orbit, geostation-
ary orbit, and the lunar opportunity with Gateway, the challenges of
low earth orbit (ISS) now need to be addressed. This will be an ongoing process. Here's what participants recommended at SDMG:

Since there are LEO constellations up to and including Ka band, the
tracking and doppler have been done. It's just a question of learning
the requirements, design patterns, limitations, and techniques.

Since the project already incorporates the near-space communications recommendations from Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
(CCSDS), little has to be done in that regard.

HamTV on ISS is at 2.4 GHz, which while lower than the projected 5 GHz
and 10 GHz, has all the other aspects of broadband digital. There is
plenty to be learned from those experiments, and meetings are being
set up to begin to collaborate with the principals of HamTV on deeply appreciated advice & next steps.

There was strong advice to eliminate antenna pointing. Use of an anten-
na system in space and on the ground that does not require tracking
would dramatically increase adoption. With Adaptive Coding and Modula-
tion, all sorts of systems can be accommodated. However, a ground sta-
tion that does track can use a directional antenna with a lot more
gain, and get a much higher bitrate, while a station with a 120 degree
field of view would get a lower bitrate, but would not have to track
at LEO. This needs thorough link budgeting.

There are several link budgets in Jupyter Notebook in progress at https://github.com/phase4space/payload-dmt Others interested in help-
ing here are most welcome.

Testing for human rated spacecraft incurs a substantial increase in engineering, paperwork, and time requirements. Putting the equipment
outside instead of inside does not eliminate the testing requirements.
This is going to require advice/direction from ARISS.

Space heritage of this type, where equipment is an external payload
only requiring power, makes hosted payload options easier to negotiate.
There are 5-6 GEO missions going up in the next 3 years that could be
targeted.

Doppler is a factor here, and SDMG participants received strong recom- mendations about talking with particular ARISS team members with exper-
ience. SDMG will be learning from and incorporating their advice in the
very near future.

[ANS thanks Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, Member of the AMSAT Board of
Directors, for the above report]

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ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between
amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with
astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The
downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

Scheduled contacts and events:
Don Bosco Haacht Technisch en Beroepsonderwijs, Haacht, Belgium,
Multi-point telebridge via AB1OC. (A multi-point telebridge contact
means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own
home.) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS, and the
scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR. The contact is go for
Friday, July 10 at 10:49:51 UTC (27 degrees maximum elevation).

ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools
and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancella-
tions or postponements of school contacts.

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team men-
tors 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/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

Quick Hits:

Email from @KS1G: K2B (VA, me) and K2F (MD) are both on sats for the
13 Colonies event through Tuesday evening. K2F told me K2A (NY) is
also on. He will also post schedules to twitter!!!

DN08, 7/4 & 7/5,
@KC7JPC, John is heading out roving. Yippeeeeee!!!!

DN18 / DN28, 7/11:
KI7UXT and KC7JPC

EM57 & EM67 (Saturday 7/11 & 7/12)
N4DCW may also stop in EM58, passes posted on his QRZ page.

FN45 & FN46,
VE2FUA, 7/12 & 7/13: Chris is heading out to a little known (to rovers
at least) called Maine. Might want to get him while he is there.

FM13 & FM03, 7/12 & 7/13,
WZ4M is heading out Holiday Style <- Updated Grids

EN20/30 Line, July 28-31,
@KX9X : Sean is moving quickly towards his VUCC/R award by heading out
again for two more grids. Watch his Twitter for details.

Major Roves:

@KM4LAO is heading out on 7/3 – 7/9 through Texas, Colorado and Kansas.
FMs for sure and maybe linears. The tentative schedule is as follows:
7/3 (evening) – 7/4: DM95 7/5: DM86/96 gridline and possibly DM85/95
line as well 7/6: DM87/88 or DM97/98 gridline based on family schedule
7/6-7/9: DM87 Details will be posted on Twitter @KM4Ruth

@N5BO is heading out into the Murder Hornet territory:
EM43/44 on 7/3 Starting at 15:05
EM53/54 on 7/4 Starting at 14:54
EM52 on 7/5 Starting at 16:37
Click here for pass scheduled and frequencies

@WY7AA is heading out again!!! Starting July 13th
DN63 (Some Day passes)
DN64 fir a few days of fly fishing
then DN55 – DN68, and getting home on July 31st….

** Postponed ** DL88: Ron (@AD0DX) and Doug (@N6UA) are making another
run at the elusive DL88 in Big Bend National Park, TX. As we know they
tried this grid back in March, and due to the mud couldn’t get to the
grid, so never ones to quit, off they go again. Today the tentative
date is Monday July 6th, 2020. They will be using the K5Z call sign.
More information is available at the K5Z QRZ Page.

Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com

[ANS thanks Paul Overnfor, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the
above information]

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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space?
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating
through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meet-
ings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

Due to COVID-19, many hamfest and events around the United States have
been cancelled or postponed. While we make every effort to ensure the information contained below is correct, there may be some that we
missed. We wish all of you safekeeping and hope to be at a hamfest
near you soon.

Current schedule:
* Shelby NC Hamfest (Contact N4HF for info or if you want to help.)
Phil Jenkins, N4HF, is planning to present a forum – and set-up/man
an info table – at the Shelby NC Hamfest Friday/Saturday Sept 4 & 5.
(the ‘fest runs Sept 4-6, but he’ll probably only be there Friday
and Saturday). Demos possible if additional volunteers step up.

A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from: https://bit.ly/2ygVFmV This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout.

To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration,
please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org.

[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the
above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ There has been further work on trying FT8 for EME, this time on 1296.
It turns out that, contrary to the original news item, the Doppler
spread on the lower bands is not an issue, since the energy distribu-
tion of the EME signal is mainly concentrated in a much narrower
spectrum than the maximum total Doppler spread. This means that it
can work probably with little degradation on bands up to and includ-
ing 1296, under most circumstances. For a writeup of this work please
see http://bobatkins.com/radio/FT8_EME_1296.html
(ANS thanks Charles Suckling, G3WDG, via Southgate ARC, for the above
information)

+ Two ISS astronauts, including newly-arrived Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, per-
formed a spacewalk to replace batteries on the outside of the station
(and dropped a handheld mirror which promptly became the newest piece
of space debris). (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above infor-
mation)

+ Hackster recently featured a nice little project using a Raspberry Pi
to display the current location of the International Space Station
(ISS) and its trajectory over time, using an ePaper Display, Proto-
Stax Enclosure and some Python code. See https://bit.ly/2Ao9HVa
(ANS thanks to hackster.io and JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above
information)

+ The Space Science Center at Morehead State University (Kentucky) is
accepting applications for a full-time position as a Space Systems
Engineer – Software Engineer. For details and to apply, see:
https://moreheadstate.peopleadmin.com/postings/9284
Please note: The preferred closing date has passed, but they are
still accepting applications! (ANS thanks Morehead State and JoAnne
Maenpaa, K9JKM, for the above information)

+ The Benchmark Space Systems team is excited to sponsor and present a
complimentary “Propulsion Systems 101” workshop Wednesday July 8 at
1:00 p.m. EST (1700z) The workshop will provide satellite integrators
and constellation developers with a broad overview of propulsion
technologies and their associated operational capabilities. Register
at: https://www.lrainstitute.com/event_post/0720-propulsion-systems/
(ANS thanks Benchmark Space Systems and JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, 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 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor, Mark D. Johns, K0JM

k0jm at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans

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