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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-064

In this edition:

* New Satellite Distance Records
* VUCC Satellite Standings as of March 1, 2023
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for March 3, 2023
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information 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 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

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service
Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

ANS-064 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS

From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation

712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2023 Mar 05

New Satellite Distance Records

IO-117 continues to provide a lot of DX fun for amateur satellite
operators. Numerous satellite operators have reported receiving the ARRL's Worked All States and DX Century Club Satellite awards lately as well as CQ Magazine's Worked All Zones Satellite award (25 of 40 zones are required
for the satellite award). For an example about the distances that can be
worked via this satellite in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), two QSOs got very
near the 13,000 km mark recently.

On February 11, 2023, Dave Fisher, KG0D, worked Lucky Bijanki, VU2LBW. The distance between KG0D in CN88kd and VU2LBW in MK82tv is 12,939 km.

Unfortunately for this claim, Hector Martinez Sis, W5CBF, worked Oleg Vakochine, A65BR, on January 29, 2023 at 21:00 UTC. The distance between
W5CBF and A65BR is 12,996 km.

Note that only real-time QSOs will be considered for distance records.
Under the ARRL's current interpretation of their award rules, satellite
QSOs involving delayed messaging or store-and-forward systems are not valid
for WAS, DXCC, or VUCC. Thus, QSOs made over multiple orbits using this
method will not be considered for inclusion in the AMSAT Satellite Distance Records archive.

Also please note that the distance calculator at k7fry.com/grid is used to calculate all distances for AMSAT records purposes. This may not provide
the most accurate distance under the most recent geodetic datum standards,
but it is a consistent reference.

Anyone who wants to claim a distance record via an amateur satellite should check the current list at https://www.amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/
and email n8hm at arrl.net if they complete a new record distance. Audio
and/or video of the QSO is encouraged but not required.

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President, for the
above information]


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The 2023 AMSAT President's Club coins are here now!
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of its launch
on June 16, 1983, this year's coin features
an image of AMSAT-OSCAR 10.
Join the AMSAT President's Club today and help
Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
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VUCC Satellite Standings as of March 1, 2023

VUCC Satellite Award/Endorsement Change Summary for February 01, 2023 to
March 01, 2023.

Callsign Feb 1 Mar 1 ------------------------------------------------------------
N8RO 1151 1173
AA5PK 1149 1162
N0JE 775 879
DL2GRC 628 725
W8LR 687 703
DF2ET 601 700
KB9STR 508 681
EA2AA 653 665
KS1G 579 628
KQ4DO 579 600
N0GVK 401 543
N8MR 425 452
JK2XXK 310 429
OZ9AAR 207 400
IK7FMQ 254 304
DL8GAM 220 250
PA7RA 242 245
JN1BPM 102 178
K7TEJ 126 155
AD2DD 125 150
DL1COM New 133
N6UTC (MOJAVE DE 101 126
N9BX 100 125
N6PAZ 110 121
HL2WP New 115
XE2YWH 108 114
XE2YWH (DL82 - D 108 114
XE2YWH (DL82) 113 114
JS1LQI New 101 ------------------------------------------------------------


Congratulations to the new VUCC holders.
HL2WP is first VUCC Satellite holder from South Korea and PM47

[ANS thanks Jon Goering, N7AZ, 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/

+ÿ+ÿ+ÿ+ÿ+ÿ+ÿ+ÿ+ÿ+ÿ+
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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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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for March 2, 2023

Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps
in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin
files are updated Thursday evenings around 2300 UTC, or more frequently if
new high interest satellites are launched. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/

This week there are no additions or deletions to the weekly AMSAT TLE distribution.

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

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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.

Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:

Jumeirah College Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, telebridge via VK4KHZ (***)

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled crewmember is Sultan Al Neyadi KI5VTV

Contact is go for: Tue 2023-03-07 08:45:03 UTC 27 deg (***)

The crossband repeater continues to be active. If any crewmember is so inclined, all they have to do is pick up the microphone, raise the volume
up, and talk on the crossband repeater. So give a listen, you just never
know.

Comments on making general contacts

I have been seeing a lot of traffic on Facebook and I suspect on other
social media sites with people asking why they are not hearing the crew
make general contacts. First off the crew is very busy on the ISS and they simply may not have the time to just pick up the microphone and talk.
Also, one needs to be aware of their normal daily schedule. I have listed below the constraints that we at ARISS have to follow in order to schedule
the school contacts. Hopefully this will help you better schedule your opportunities.

Typical daily schedule

Wakeup to Workday startñ.5 hours
Workday start to Workday end hours
Workday end to Sleepò hours
Sleep to wakeupø.5 hours

The crew's usual waking period is 0730 - 1930 UTC. The most common times to find a crew member making casual periods are about one hour after waking
and before sleeping, when they have personal time. They're usually free
most of the weekend, as well.

SSTV events are not that often. So please check out https://www.ariss.org/
for the latest information or watch for the ARISS announcements.

And don’t forget that the packet system is active.

As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios
are turned off as part of the safety protocol.

ARISS Radio Status

Columbus Module radios:
IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS - Configured. Default mode is for cr
oss band
repeater (145.990 MHz up {PL 67} & 437.800 MHz down).
* Powering off for Soyuz 68 undocking on March 28. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Russian EVA targeting April 19. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Russian EVA targeting April 26. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Russian EVA targeting May 04. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Progress 84 docking on May 24. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Capable of supporting USOS scheduled voice contacts, packet and voice repeater ops.

Service Module radios:
IORS (Kenwood D710GA) – STATUS - Configured. Default mode is fo pac
ket
operations (145.825 MHz up & down)
* Powering off for Soyuz 68 undocking on March 28. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Russian EVA targeting April 19. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Russian EVA targeting April 26. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Russian EVA targeting May 04. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Powering off for Progress 84 docking on May 24. OFF TBD . ON TBD.
* Capable of supporting ROS scheduled voice contacts, packet, SSTV and
voice repeater ops.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors
for the above information]

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

From AD7DB: AD7DB will activate FM satellites from DM31 on Sat March 18. I

may also pop up in DM23 and or DM22 on March 17 and March 19. Follow me on Twitter for updates.

Please submit any additions or corrections to k5zm (at) comcast (dot) net.


[ANS thanks Ian Parsons, K5ZM, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

Hamvention 2023
May 19-21, 2023
Stay tuned for announcements about AMSAT Hamvention activites, including
the TAPR/AMSAT Dinner.

[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The FO-99 operation schedule for March is available at https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p!00 (Thanks to JAMSAT for this information)

+ The SpaceX Crew-6 mission launched to the ISS on Thursday March 2nd with
the crew arriving on Friday. Sultan Al Neyadi, KI5VTV, is scheduled to make
the first ARISS QSO from the new crew on Tuesday. (Thanks to NASA and ARISS
for this information)

+ USA ARISS contact proposals for January 1, 2024 - June 30, 2024 are due
March 31, 2023. For details see https://ariss-usa.org/message-to-us-educators-amateur-radio-on-the-internat ional-space-station-contact-opportunity-4/
(Thanks to ARISS for this information)

+ FO-118's camera has been active with a new protocol to more easily reconstruct image data. For details, see version 2.1 of the user manual at https://mega.nz/file/4rIywT5L#WoZsMxzIkUKhqHTrYh__nvv_N9CGwVV-dLsJ2k4_2OA (Thanks to CAMSAT for the inforamtion)

+ Happy 54th Birthday to AMSAT! AMSAT was officially incorporated in the District of Columbia on March 3, 1969.


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Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:

* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary
years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.

Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.

73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!

This week's ANS Editor,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
n8hm [at] amsat.org


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