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CX2SA > SATDIG 20.07.14 05:24l 913 Lines 36502 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: AO-7 DX (Wayne Estes)
2. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Phil Karn)
3. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Paul Stoetzer)
4. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Phil Karn)
5. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Andrew Glasbrenner)
6. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (John Becker)
7. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Jerry Buxton)
8. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (JoAnne Maenpaa)
9. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Phil Karn)
10. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Phil Karn)
11. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Jerry Buxton)
12. Re: ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT
Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced (Phil Karn)
13. ANS-201 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins (Lee McLamb)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 09:29:08 -0700
From: Wayne Estes <w9ae@xxxxxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 DX
Message-ID: <53CA9CD4.8070608@xxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Bob W7RLD wrote:
Through general consensus would it be possible to establish a unofficial
"DX watering hole"...Essentially, use a given frequency (downlink) only
when the satellite is less than 4-5 degrees.
Wayne replies:
I don't understand. Every satellite is always less than 4 degrees
elevation for somebody.
It would make sense to have a designated DX calling frequency on linear
transponders that are congested with many users. But I don't think
that's the case presently.
Wayne Estes W9AE
Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 11:54:10 -0700
From: Phil Karn <karn@xxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CABED2.7050903@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
On 07/18/2014 12:08 PM, Joseph Spier wrote:
> Fox-1C is the third of four Fox-1 series satellites under
> development, with Fox-1A and RadFXsat/Fox-1B launching through the
> NASA ELANA program. Fox-1C will carry an FM repeater system for
> amateur radio for use by radio hams and listeners worldwide.
YET ANOTHER analog satellite?
I'm not interested.
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 15:28:12 -0400
From: Paul Stoetzer <n8hm@xxxx.xxx>
To: Phil Karn <karn@xxxx.xxx>
Cc: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID:
<CABzOSOqwkQQxrL_2ukmbo_fSjz-EEgXh9aXV5skCtyBJj0WS9g@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Are FM repeater satellites what we all want in orbit? No. Personally,
I'd like a Mode J linear transponder in a sun synchronous circular
orbit of about 2,000km (if we can't get anything to HEO).
However, the Fox-1A, Fox-1B, Fox-1C, and Fox-1D satellites will
eventually lead to the Fox-2 series of satellites. The software
designed transponders on board the Fox-2 series will be capable of
operating in any number of digital communications modes as well as
operating as linear transponders.
AO-51's V/U FM repeater was probably the most popular amateur
satellite ever launched. Since the loss of AO-51, AMSAT-NA membership
has been declining and is at the point where membership dues alone do
not sustain the operating costs of the organization.
Right now, those who are mildly interested in amateur satellites have
one satellite to try with a minimal investment: SO-50, which is a
satellite that for about half the days of each month is not convenient
for most people who work 9-5 and sleep 10-6 and has a weak downlink
that is often very difficult for newcomers to hear. Even experienced
satellite operators are at times heard to transmit without being able
to hear the satellite. With EO-80 (QB50p2), Fox-1A, and Fox-1C
hopefully in orbit and operational next year, there will be three
easily heard FM satellites (the 9 dB advantage of the 2m downlinks on
these satellites will be quite welcome) - two in sun synchronous
orbits with relatively consistent pass times. Having those satellites
in orbit will mean that more hams get bitten by the satellite bug,
join AMSAT, and progress to improving their stations to operate on the
linear transponders and, potentially, on digital satellites.
Bottom line - an AMSAT with more satellites in orbit means an AMSAT
with more members and that's how we are eventually going to get our
ideal satellites in orbit.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 2:54 PM, Phil Karn <karn@xxxx.xxx> wrote:
> On 07/18/2014 12:08 PM, Joseph Spier wrote:
>
>> Fox-1C is the third of four Fox-1 series satellites under
>> development, with Fox-1A and RadFXsat/Fox-1B launching through the
>> NASA ELANA program. Fox-1C will carry an FM repeater system for
>> amateur radio for use by radio hams and listeners worldwide.
>
> YET ANOTHER analog satellite?
>
> I'm not interested.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 13:24:43 -0700
From: Phil Karn <karn@xxxx.xxx>
To: Paul Stoetzer <n8hm@xxxx.xxx>
Cc: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CAD40B.6020701@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
On 07/19/2014 12:28 PM, Paul Stoetzer wrote:
> Are FM repeater satellites what we all want in orbit? No. Personally,
> I'd like a Mode J linear transponder in a sun synchronous circular
> orbit of about 2,000km (if we can't get anything to HEO).
Getting a launch opportunity is difficult and expensive. Going digital
is not.
> However, the Fox-1A, Fox-1B, Fox-1C, and Fox-1D satellites will
> eventually lead to the Fox-2 series of satellites.
I've been hearing that for years, so please forgive my skepticism. Tony
AA2TX himself told me that the analog Fox-1 would be followed by the
digital Fox-2. Now we have Fox-1B, Fox-1C, etc, that will also be
analog. Forgive me if I feel a little like Achilles racing the tortoise.
I originally joined AMSAT as a technical volunteer in mid 1980, shortly
after the Phase III-A launch failure. At the time, AMSAT was doing some
very impressive things. Many weren't even being done (or were just
starting to be done) in the commercial world: the use of digital command
and telemetry links, the use of onboard computers, even the use of
ground computers to steer antennas. AMSAT had shown how to locate an
emergency beacon by measuring its Doppler shift through a LEO
transponder -- which eventually became the SARSAT (Search and Rescue
Satellite) payload on many US and Russian LEO weather satellites.
And AMSAT was showing how to do it all on a low budget, with
resourcefulness replacing brute force bucks. I was blown away by clever
little tricks like spinning a satellite by painting one side of its
antennas black and the other side white. This was ham radio at its best.
But that was 1980. It's now 34 years later and we're still doing the
same old thing. Meanwhile, mobile phones and the Internet have gone from
the exotic to the commonplace -- and I don't have to tell you that
they're 100% digital. TV broadcasting is also now digital, few cable TV
systems still carry analog signals, and FM and shortwave broadcasting
are in a digital transition.
When AMSAT showed how to use an inexpensive hand-held radio to
communicate with a satellite, no one had ever seen such a thing. Now
digital satellite broadcasting and GPS are nearly universal in cars,
hikers and boaters carry SPOT units, and you can buy handheld Iridium
phones that will work anywhere on the globe. All digital, of course.
Yet AMSAT continues to fly one analog satellite after another. Why?
All these outside developments have rendered FCC Part 97.1, the Basis
and Purpose of the Amateur Service, almost completely obsolete with the
singular exception of personal technical education and possibly (some)
emergency communications. You want to further international goodwill by
talking to people in other countries? Get on the Internet. You want to
call your wife to see if she needs anything? Pick up your mobile phone.
Further the technical art? Go work for a communications R&D company,
because it isn't happening in ham radio anymore.
How are we justifying our spectrum by doing the same thing over and over
again, while the world passes us by?
Appealing to "what the members want" doesn't fly with me, because "the
members" are a tiny fraction of our potential audience. AMSAT keeps
wondering why it can't seem to grow beyond a tiny niche; it need look no
further for the reason.
Nor does an appeal to "simplicity" and "cost" carry any weight. Mobile
phones, GPS units and Sirius/XM receivers may not be "simple" but that
doesn't keep them from being cheap and easy to use. It's their very
"complexity" (if you consider "digital" to be complex -- which I don't)
that makes them cheap and easy to use.
But by design they are impossible to take apart and learn from. That's
where the amateur service can still play a big role. For those who want
to learn communications technology by hands-on experimentation there is
still simply nothing like it. But where are the amateur digital voice
satellite systems to take apart and study? At least a linear transponder
could repeat an efficient digital signal, but with the trend to FM even
that is no longer possible. If an amateur satellite carries any digital
links at all, they are slow and generally limited to telemetry and
command, not user-to-user communications. Many don't even use modern
modulation and error-correction methods, making them that much harder to
access with the small antennas to which most hams are now limited
because of CC&Rs and other restrictions.
Far from being "elitist" or "hard to use", digital represents the *only*
way forward. It's time to move into the 21st century.
--Phil
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:42:30 -0400
From: "Andrew Glasbrenner" <glasbrenner@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
To: "'Phil Karn'" <karn@xxxx.xxx>, "'Paul Stoetzer'" <n8hm@xxxx.xxx>
Cc: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <04a101cfa391$f5f519e0$e1df4da0$@xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Getting a launch opportunity is difficult and expensive. Going digital is
not.
The Fox satellites each have four designated experiment cards. Assemble a
team and pitch a proposal for 1D, or 1C if you can do it in a hurry.
73, Drew KO4MA
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 15:56:33 -0500
From: John Becker <w0jab@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CADB81.2040702@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
On 7/19/2014 1:54 PM, it was wrote:
> YET ANOTHER analog satellite? I'm not interested.
I hear yeah !
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:04:16 -0500
From: Jerry Buxton <amsat@xxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CADD50.6010107@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
On 7/19/2014 3:24 PM, Phil Karn wrote:
>> >However, the Fox-1A, Fox-1B, Fox-1C, and Fox-1D satellites will
>> >eventually lead to the Fox-2 series of satellites.
> I've been hearing that for years, so please forgive my skepticism. Tony
> AA2TX himself told me that the analog Fox-1 would be followed by the
> digital Fox-2. Now we have Fox-1B, Fox-1C, etc, that will also be
> analog. Forgive me if I feel a little like Achilles racing the tortoise.
Ah, but the plan always was to build four of the Fox-1 series, which is
a series of FM analog transponders. Initially, one had a launch and the
other three would be "ready to fly" if other opportunities came up. If
you're going to spend the time developing them, why not partner for free
launches (ELaNa) for more than one? The opportunities for an FM
transponder and educational outreach are good. I still have
universities looking to partner.
Look at it this way... we are "clearing the shelves" with 3 out of 4 of
the intended Fox-1 going to orbit, that really means that we can pretty
much call it a day with Fox-1 and move on to Fox-2 now. We will build
them all and be done with them all by next May. There will be more than
one flying soon, so that we can learn how well they work and apply those
lessons to Fox-2 while we're working out the design. It's only the
beginning!
Jerry Buxton, N?JY
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:04:33 -0500
From: "JoAnne Maenpaa" <k9jkm@xxxxxxx.xxx>
Cc: <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <001d01cfa395$0aa2cdd0$1fe86970$@xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hey, this sounds like a terrific opportunity. Not only did AMSAT work
on securing our new launch opportunities ... but we are in a position
to offer a launch opportunity for a mode/radio/experiment for those
who can contribute to amateur radio in space instead of complain about
it.
--
73 de JoAnne K9JKM
k9jkm@xxxxx.xxx
-----Original Message-----
From: amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxx [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxxx
On Behalf Of Andrew Glasbrenner
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 15:43
To: 'Phil Karn'; 'Paul Stoetzer'
Cc: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
>Getting a launch opportunity is difficult and expensive. Going
digital is
not.
The Fox satellites each have four designated experiment cards.
Assemble a
team and pitch a proposal for 1D, or 1C if you can do it in a hurry.
73, Drew KO4MA
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the
author.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:31:19 -0700
From: Phil Karn <karn@xxxx.xxx>
To: Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>, 'Paul Stoetzer'
<n8hm@xxxx.xxx>
Cc: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CAE3A7.1040702@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
On 07/19/2014 01:42 PM, Andrew Glasbrenner wrote:
>
>> Getting a launch opportunity is difficult and expensive. Going digital is
> not.
>
> The Fox satellites each have four designated experiment cards. Assemble a
> team and pitch a proposal for 1D, or 1C if you can do it in a hurry.
>
> 73, Drew KO4MA
>
I see no reason to consider a digital satellite an "experiment". Not in
2014, anyway.
Besides, there are several other critical technical hurdles AMSAT must
first overcome if we are to do anything interesting with a cubesat.
First and foremost among them is
ATTITUDE CONTROL!
Passive bar magnets (or nothing at all, as on ARISSat-1) no longer cut it.
The lack of attitude control forces us to use simple omnidirectional
antennas, which in turn keeps us on the crowded and narrow VHF/UHF
bands. Worse, there's really no such thing as an "omnidirectional
antenna" so our links are plagued by frequent deep fades of unlimited
(or at least unknown) duration. Fading has driven every one of my
modulation/coding designs for AMSAT telemetry links -- at the expense of
making them much less power-efficient.
And "power efficient" means smaller ground antennas, and that means a
cheaper and more accessible ground station for the average ham. And THAT
means a much larger potential AMSAT membership.
With attitude control, our satellite could use directional antennas on
the microwave bands. Directional antennas on higher frequencies mean
much better link budgets. You could easily do MEGABITS PER SECOND
between LEO and small ground antennas!
A lack of attitude control also plagues thermal design. I learned this
from Dick Janssen KD1K's talk at the Symposium a few years ago when he
said Fox-1 was the most difficult thermal design he'd ever done for
AMSAT. And he's done many.
The problem is that without attitude control you have to cover every
available surface with solar cells to guarantee power in any attitude,
and solar cells are excellent thermal radiators. Those not facing the
earth or the sun face dark sky, radiating away much of the spacecraft's
heat. I think he found the equilibrium temperature of a 1U cubesat to be
something like -30 or -40 C! The team had no choice but to add
resistance heaters to keep the payload (especially the batteries) warm.
I can't think of a more painful use of scarce, hard-earned, expensive DC
power in space.
Attitude control would completely solve this problem too. In LEO the
most common form of attitude control is "local vertical/local
horizontal", the mode the ISS uses most of the time. You'd designate one
face as nadir-pointing; here you would mount antennas and earth
observation cameras. With circularly polarized antennas, you'd still
have a degree of freedom around the yaw axis, i.e., you could rotate
around the local vertical with no effect on the RF links.
The opposite (zenith-facing) side would have a solar cell, as would one
of the four remaining sides. The remaining three would be covered with
thermal blankets to insulate the spacecraft from the dark sky they'd
face all the time. (Not being a thermal designer I haven't calculated
what the new equilibrium temperature would be. But it would obviously
solve Dick's problem. He might even have to leave part of those surfaces
exposed to radiate excess heat!)
You see how this works? At low beta angles, when the sun is in or near
the orbital plane, you point the side with the solar cell forward at
local sunrise. At local noon you yaw 180 degrees so the cell faces the
sun as it sets behind you. At higher beta angles you simply yaw to track
the sun as it passes off to one side; in the limiting case of a beta
angle of 90 degrees (continuous sunlight) you'd simply keep the
spacecraft yawed at a constant +90 or -90 degrees.
And you only need to buy two expensive solar cells instead of (nearly) six.
Attitude control systems for cubesats already exist. You can buy one for
$200,000 from suppliers serving the burgeoning cubesat community (most
of which considers ham radio completely irrelevant except as a source of
free spectrum). But that's not the AMSAT way. I am sure that if we
brought enough clever minds together (along with some good mechanical
engineers and craftsmen) we could design and build our own attitude
control system for far less.
But to attract all those people to do all these new (in AMSAT) things,
you have to stop doing the same old thing over and over. You have to
make a conscious choice to stand back and actually innovate at the
systems level instead of relegating digital to the status of an
"experiment" on the same old primitive spacecraft bus.
Look at all the attention and excitement generated by the ISEE-3 Reboot
project. That's because they're actually doing something new and
challenging. They say they've gotten donations from many people far
outside the usual "space groupie" segment of the population. It's also
caught the imagination of at least a few hams, including the AMSAT-DL
gang which has been using their 20m Bochum dish to receive telemetry.
And me, as I wrote the software they're using to demodulate and
FEC-decode the ISEE-3 signal.
Pose a really interesting technical challenge and make it clear you
really want it to happen, and the necessary technical volunteers will
come out of the woodwork. Do the same old thing over and over, and
you'll find it hard to even pay people to do the work.
--Phil
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:50:08 -0700
From: Phil Karn <karn@xxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CAE810.5020500@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
On 07/19/2014 02:04 PM, Jerry Buxton wrote:
> other three would be "ready to fly" if other opportunities came up. If
> you're going to spend the time developing them, why not partner for free
> launches (ELaNa) for more than one? The opportunities for an FM
> transponder and educational outreach are good. I still have
> universities looking to partner.
Ah, because launches are scarce and expensive, and (re)developing even
"the same old thing" consumes much of AMSAT's limited resources. And
they're limited because we have yet to interest more than a tiny niche
in what we're doing.
It's great to have universities looking to partner, but what do they
bring to the table, really? Are we sure they're not just looking for
free spectrum?
> one flying soon, so that we can learn how well they work and apply those
> lessons to Fox-2 while we're working out the design.
We already know how well they'll work because we've done the same thing
many times before. I hate to say it, but this is no longer "rocket
science". The physics is well understood, and those same physics tell us
how we could accomplish so much more with our (currently) limited resources.
--Phil
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 17:32:15 -0500
From: Jerry Buxton <amsat@xxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CAF1EF.1020100@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
On 7/19/2014 4:50 PM, Phil Karn wrote:
> Ah, because launches are scarce and expensive, and (re)developing even
> "the same old thing" consumes much of AMSAT's limited resources. And
> they're limited because we have yet to interest more than a tiny niche
> in what we're doing.
But you arguing about something that has already happened. That makes
no sense.
Arguing for doing something different, as you also did just a bit ago
today, makes sense.
Why did the U.S. go back to the moon so many times? I don't know. But
we did, and that is done. You could argue now that it had been done
before, why did we do it over and over, it was the same old thing. That
doesn't change the facts.
There is an audience for these FM satellites.
> It's great to have universities looking to partner, but what do they
> bring to the table, really? Are we sure they're not just looking for
> free spectrum?
Both universities that I am working with are building amateur radio
ground stations and interesting the students in becoming hams. We all
benefit from that. And some other universities want to fly an ADAC
system. We may benefit from that on Fox-2.
>> >one flying soon, so that we can learn how well they work and apply those
>> >lessons to Fox-2 while we're working out the design.
> We already know how well they'll work because we've done the same thing
> many times before. I hate to say it, but this is no longer "rocket
> science". The physics is well understood, and those same physics tell us
> how we could accomplish so much more with our (currently) limited resources.
We have already learned a great deal from an engineering process
perspective, as well as about cramming a lot into a little cubesat. Not
rocket science, but certainly for a large all volunteer group a valuable
step toward what it will take to build something more complex. I think
you over estimate the ability of an all-volunteer workforce, in terms of
churning out satellites akin to how a business does it. Amateur radio
is a hobby!
You see lemons. I see lemonade. But by all means, let's go for pink
lemonade and keep on talking about Fox-2 opportunities while people
enjoy what we have already done with the Fox-1 series!
Jerry Buxton, N?JY
------------------------------
Message: 12
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 15:48:03 -0700
From: Phil Karn <karn@xxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin -
AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Message-ID: <53CAF5A3.9040309@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
On 07/19/2014 03:32 PM, Jerry Buxton wrote:
> But you arguing about something that has already happened. That makes
> no sense.
None of the Fox satellites have yet flown, so they haven't "already
happened".
> Why did the U.S. go back to the moon so many times? I don't know. But
> we did, and that is done. You could argue now that it had been done
> before, why did we do it over and over, it was the same old thing. That
> doesn't change the facts.
Good analogy, actually. They returned to the moon six times (succeeding
on five) because they had excess hardware originally built in the
expectation that the first attempts would fail.
And when they did return, they began to do some serious scientific
exploration that made it worthwhile. Unfortunately, the public *did* see
this as "the same old thing" and Congress quickly withdrew support. As
everyone knows, NASA canceled the last three Apollo lunar missions and
humans haven't left earth orbit since Apollo 17. (Strictly speaking,
even Apollo never left earth orbit, since the moon orbits the earth.)
Yet NASA has always managed to find support for new and interesting
things in space even without a human presence. The two keys to public
interest have always been 1) exploration and 2) photography.
Apollo certainly did that in its time. More recently, stunning pictures
from the surface of Mars and of the moons and backlit rings of Saturn
have done much to keep NASA going even as it flails aimlessly in its
human program. Sure, the ISS returns some pretty good pictures of earth
but so do many robotic spacecraft. And the ISS certainly isn't exploring
much of space from only 400 km up. That's why most people don't find it
very exciting.
> Both universities that I am working with are building amateur radio
> ground stations and interesting the students in becoming hams. We all
> benefit from that. And some other universities want to fly an ADAC
> system. We may benefit from that on Fox-2.
I'm hearing privately that many university groups really are after us
for only our spectrum. Or our spectrum plus a ready-made
telecommunications system they can use for their purposes without having
to worry about the details. I actually don't oppose this categorically
as some do, but I insist on *some* benefit back to the amateur service,
such as an interesting new communications system to experiment with and
to learn from. Some aren't even willing to go that far.
--Phil
------------------------------
Message: 13
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 23:21:41 -0400
From: Lee McLamb <ku4os@xxx.xx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: [amsat-bb] ANS-201 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
Message-ID: <53CB35C5.7020902@xxx.xx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-201
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:
* AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots in the Mail
* AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium Coming Soon
* Upcoming Potential Satellite DX Operations
* AMSAT Presentations from the 2014 ARRL Centennial Celebration Available
* Orbital Sciences Cygnus Cargo Ship Launched to ISS
* Louisiana Tech University Online Course -- Steps to STEM
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-201.01
ANS-201 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 201.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 20, 2014
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-201.01
AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots in the Mail
Ballots have been mailed to the AMSAT-NA membership in good standing and
must be
returned to the AMSAT-NA office by 15 SEP 2014 in order to be counted.
Those
sent outside North America were sent by air mail. If you have not
received your
ballot package in a reasonable time for your QTH, please contact the
AMSAT-NA
office. Your returned ballot should be sent as promptly as possible,
and those
from outside North American preferably by air mail or other expedited
means.
Normally there would be 3 full Board seats open this year, plus 2
alternates.
However, with the passing of Tony Monteiro, AA2TX (SK), there will be an
additional full Board seat open to fill the remainder of his term. This
means
that the top three recipients of votes will have two-year terms, the
fourth most
vote recipient will serve as full member for one year. The fifth and sixth
highest vote recipients will serve as first and second Alternate,
respectively.
You may vote for up to 4 individuals.
Election of board members is both an obligation as well as an
opportunity by our
membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT-NA. Please take
the time
to review the candidate statements that accompany the ballot and
determine who
you wish to see on the Board.
[ANS thanks Alan, WA4SCA, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium Coming Soon
The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium takes place July 25-27, 2014
at the
Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, United Kingdom.
The presentations will cover a number of amateur satellites which carry
transponders including LituanicaSAT-1 (LO-78), KLETSkous, Fox-1 and
FUNcubes 1
(AO-73), 2, 3 (EO-79) and 4.
The return of the NASA spacecraft ISEE-3 (ICE) has caught the attention
of the
media recently with the attempts by volunteers to receive and command the
spacecraft. There will be ISEE-3 presentations by two members of the
AMSAT-DL
Bochum team.
[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA, for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Potential Satellite DX Operations
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin
reported the following possible satellite opportunities in the July
14, 2014 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1171:
TF, ICELAND. Operators Jaime/EA4TV and Montse/EA4GCA will be active as
TF/EA4TV and TF/EA4GCA during their holiday between July 20-31st.
Activity will be holiday style using a FT-817nd into a Buddistick for
HF and an arrow antenna for satellites, if possible. QSL via their
home callsign (see info on QRZ.com).
XR0, EASTER ISLAND (Update). Operators Cristian/CE2WTF and
Manuel/CE2NTT will be active from Isla de Pascua (SA-001) starting
0000z, August 2nd, ending 0000z, August 4th. Manuel informs OPDX that
their special callsigns could be one of the following:
CE2NTT - XR0YNTT / 3G0YNTT / CB0YNTT / CE2WTF - XR0YWTF / 3G0YWTF /
CB0YWTF
Activity will be on 40/20/15/10/6 meters using SSB. They will also use
Echolink and Hamshere, and possibly QRP LEO satellites. Look for
details and updates on: http://www.ce2ntt.blogspot.com
[ANS thanks the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT Presentations from the 2014 ARRL Centennial Celebration Available
Five presentations were made by AMSAT at the All Day Thursday Training
Tracks
during the ARRL Centennial Celebration and National Convention in Hartford
Connecticut July 17, 2014. PowerPoints from AMSAT's training track
presentations
on "Working Satellites" have been made available.
http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2914
[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Orbital Sciences Cygnus Cargo Ship Launched to ISS
On Jul 13 the third Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo ship, SS Janice Voss, was
launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island on an
Antares 120 rocket. The Voss cargo ship arrived at the ISS on July 16.
The 5000 kg Voss carried supplies for the ISS, as well as two Nanoracks
bags
containing a total of 29 3U cubesats:
+ Techedsat-4 to demonstrate exobrake technology test for
NASA-Ames and San Jose State U
+ 28 Flock-1b imaging satellites for PlanetLabs intended to
be deployed from the Kibo airlock over the coming months.
The June 19 Dnepr launch delivered 11 Flock-1c 3U PlanetLabs
cubeSats. All these will replace the 28 Flock-1 satellites
which were launched earlier this year, but according to Space-
Track all but three have now reentered.
[ANS thanks Jonathan's Space Report, No. 699, Sunday, July 13, 2014 for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Louisiana Tech University Online Course -- Steps to STEM
NASA Education Resources for STEM Engagement - Louisiana Tech
University is teaming up with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to
offer a 10-week course for educators interested in putting a
space-themed twist on learning. The course is designed to be a
self-paced, online professional development experience focusing on
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, education
resources available from NASA. These resources have application
methods for use in grades 4-9 classrooms with the goal of advancing
high quality STEM education utilizing NASA's unique capabilities.
Applications are due Aug. 30, 2014.
For more information and to enroll in the course, visit
http://scitecatlatech.weebly.com/opeo.html.
Questions about these courses should be directed to Amy McDowell at
amy.mcdowell@xxxx.xxx
[ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- July 10, 2014 for
the above information]
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,
Lee McLamb, KU4OS
ku4os at amsat dot org
------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Sent via amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 9, Issue 239
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