• [ANS] ANS-197 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

    From Mark Johns, K0JM via ANS@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 15 20:10:36 2023
    XPost: rec.radio.info

    AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
    ANS-197

    In this edition:

    * AMSAT Board of Directors Voting Has Begun
    * Youth on the Air Camp 2023 To Be On Satellites
    * HABGab and StratoScience Balloon Launch
    * Space Shuttle Remembered
    * Historical Space Tour Before Orlando Hamcation
    * Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
    * ARISS-USA Seeks for Director of Education
    * 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-197 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 July 16


    AMSAT Board of Directors Voting Has Begun

    AMSAT members may access the 2023 Board of Directors election information
    and balloting now. Candidate statements can be reviewed by voting members
    via AMSAT’s Wild Apricot membership portal. An email with a link to
    the
    electronic ballot was sent to all AMSAT members when the voting opened on
    July 15th.

    The nomination period for the 2023 Board of Directors Election ended on
    June 15, 2023. The following candidates have been duly nominated:

    Barry Baines, WD4ASW
    Jerry Buxton, N0JY
    Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
    Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO
    Frank Karnauskas, N1UW

    As four seats on the Board of Directors are up for election this year, four
    of these candidates will be seated on the Board, along with one alternate
    when the voting period concludes on September 15th.

    To view the candidate statements members may go to https://launch.amsat.org
    /
    and log in using their usual member credentials. Those who need assistance
    with the login should see the document at https://bit.ly/44LOXPV

    [ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, 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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    Youth on the Air Camp 2023 To Be On Satellites

    Youth on the Air (YOTA), the camp for young amateur radio operators in
    North, Central and South America, will operate special event station
    VE3YOTA while camp is in session from July 16-21, 2023. The camp will also
    have a contact with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station,
    and complete a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation. The camp's opening and closing ceremonies will also be streamed on YouTube.

    Campers will be operating special event station VE3YOTA from the camp at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and the Diefenbunker Cold
    War Museum in Carp, Ontario, Canada. Additionally, campers will activate a two-for-one POTA location.

    Activation of the VE3YOTA callsign will begin on Sunday, July 16 and
    conclude at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 21. Youth will operate the station as
    they finish projects, between sessions, and during free time.

    In addition, dedicated HF station operating times will be: Monday, July 17 through Wednesday, July 19 from 2300Z to 0230Z (7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EDT). Dedicated satellite station operating time will be: Wednesday, July 19 from 1400Z to 1700Z (10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT).

    Fifteen QRP stations will activate a two-for-one POTA location, Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site (VE-5095) and Rideau Canal
    National Historic Site (VE-4882) on 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m. Weather permitting, the activation will be on the air on Tuesday, July 18 from
    1900Z to 2100Z (3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT) and Thursday, July 20 from 1300Z to
    1600Z (9 a.m. to noon EDT).

    The opening and closing ceremonies and the International Space Station
    contact will be streamed live on the Youth on the Air YouTube channel. The opening ceremony is Sunday, July 16 from 2100Z to 2315Z, and will feature keynote speaker Phil McBride, VA3QR, the president of Radio Amateurs of
    Canada. The ARISS contact is currently scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 18 at 1842Z (2:42 p.m. EDT). The closing ceremony is Friday, July 21
    from 1500Z to 1600Z (11 a.m. to noon EDT). The channel will also feature a daily highlight video spotlighting the activities of the previous day.

    For details about the camp, visit https://youthontheair.org/

    For additional information, please contact Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG
    at director@youthontheair.org.

    [ANS thanks Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, and YOTA 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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    HABGab and StratoScience Balloon Launch

    HABGab 2023 is a special event for the ham radio community in New England taking place in the Summer of 2023. Attached to a 2000g weather balloon
    will be suspended three payloads:

    + One will contain a crossband UHF/VHF repeater, built from two linked
    Baofeng BF-F8HP HTs. This repeater will act as a 2-3 hr. one-time event for hams around New England. Anyone with a ham radio license is invited to try calling into the repeater during the flight.

    + To make it even more exciting, the second payload will transmit live
    video of the flight from two cameras. The camera feed and repeater audio
    will be streamed live on YouTube from New England Sci-Tech.

    + The third payload will contain a number of science and engineering experiments from middle school students at New England Sci-Tech and Franklin’s BFCCPS school as part of a new program called StratoScie
    nce Lab.

    Each weekend starting in July will be a new potential opportunity for
    flight, however, much depends on good weather and wind patterns. Current
    launch date set for Sunday, July 16. Please check https://nescitech.org/clubs/newbs/habgab-launch/ regularly as the launch
    date approaches to get an up to date countdown. High altitude balloon
    flights can be frequently scrubbed many times before finally launching.

    During the flight, the balloon’s real-time position will be availab
    le
    online at https://amateur.sondehub.org under the callsign W1U. The
    repeater’s frequencies are currently set to:
    Uplink (your transmit): 146.55 MHz
    Downlink (your receive): 446.05 MHz
    When calling in, listen for the W1U station operator then try to making a contact! Please have your four character Maidenhead grid location for the contact exchange. If your contact is confirmed, you will receive a special event QSL card for HABGab 2023!

    The HABGab and StratoScience payloads will have several ham radio trackers aboard, which provide live position and altitude data to ground stations.
    These ground stations post this data to the internet in real time. This
    means you can view the position of the payload at any time during the
    flight by visiting this website, https://amateur.sondehub.org/, navigating
    to Massachusetts, and looking for these callsigns:
    W1U – Main payload (transmitted by repurposed RS-41 radiosonde)
    W1U-15 – Main payload (transmitted by custom-built APRS transmitter
    )
    W0MXX-15 – Autorotation device. A small, unpowered helicopter that
    will
    separate from main payload at 81,000 feet and descend to the ground using autorotation. Tracker is a LightAPRS module.
    KC1SFR-11 – Glider that will separate from main payload at 80,000 f
    eet and
    glide back to the ground. It will also deploy a parachute at roughly 3,000 feet.

    Also onboard will be a U4B Pico tracker being tested by KC1OAV in
    preparation for a circumnavigation flight to happen at a later date. This
    can be tracked separately at http://qrp-labs.com/tracking.html under the
    name NESciTech1.

    HABGab 2023 has been made possible thanks to a grant from the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL).

    [ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, and New England Sci-Tech for the above information]

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