The AMSAT online amateur radio satellite pass prediction tool is once again available.
You can use the predictor at
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/
AMSAT-UK Introduce Electronic (PDF) Membership
AMSAT-UK is pleased to announce that we can now offer Electronic E-membership at a reduced rate.
Founded in 1975 AMSAT-UK is a voluntary organisation that supports the design and building of equipment for Amateur Radio Satellites.
AMSAT-UK initially produced a short bulletin called OSCAR News to give members advice on amateur satellite communications. Since those early days OSCAR News has grown in size and the print quality has improved beyond recognition. Today, OSCAR News is produced as a high-quality quarterly colour A4 magazine consisting of up to 40 pages of news, information and comment about amateur radio space communications.
The new E-membership will provide OSCAR News as a downloadable PDF file and members will have the freedom to read it on their Tablets or Smartphones anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
An additional advantage is that the PDF should be available for download up to 2 weeks before the paper copy is posted.
E-membership should be especially beneficial to Overseas members who have suffered from high postal charges and long delivery times.
The AMSAT-UK membership year runs from January 1 to December 31. Why not take the opportunity to renew your 2013 membership as an E-member.
Renew your AMSAT-UK membership as an E-member here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_8/Existing-Members-Renewal.html
Join as a new E-member here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_9/Join-Amsat-UK.html
E-members can download their copies of OSCAR News from http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/on
SO-50 on Baofeng UV5R
David Mercado KK4MND has produced a video showing how easy it is to receive the amateur radio satellite SO-50.
This video demonstrates how to communicate via Amateur Ham Radio Satellite using an inexpensive £30 Baofeng UV5R Dual Band Radio and MFJ dual band antenna from Amazon. Among the stations heard are Hector Martinez CO6CBF, Dave Beumer W0DHB and James Bayne KI4SIY.
SO50 frequencies
Uplink – 145.850 MHz with 67 HZ CTCSS
(initial 74.4 Hz CTCSS tone required if satellite has not already been activated)
Downlink – 436.800 MHz
SO-50 article by Howard Long G6LVB
http://www.g6lvb.com/Articles/operatingSO50.htm
SO-50
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/01/30/working-the-fm-sat-so-50/
Credit Southgate ARC
50 years of Women in Space
Astronuat Sally Ride – Image Credit NASA
Fifty years ago, on June 16, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, a flight undertaken for the propaganda purpose of illustrating the equality of women in the USSR.
Valentina Tereshkova First Woman in Space – Image Credit RSC Energia
Due to the political and social attitudes of the time, it would be another 20 years before the first US female astronaut, Dr. Sally Ride, would fly on the Space Shuttle. Unlike Tereshkova’s one off-flight, though, Dr Ride was the vanguard of a wave of female astronauts, not only from the United States, who would participate in space activities on the same footing as their male colleagues-as Mission Specialists, Pilots, Shuttle Commanders and Commanders of the International Space Station.
On Sunday June 16, 2.00pm – 3.00pm, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first spaceflight by a woman, Kerrie Dougherty, the Powerhouse museum’s Curator of Space Technology, will present an overview of the history of women in space, from the selection of Valentina Tereshkova and the first group of Soviet female cosmonauts to the participation of women as astronauts in space programs around the world today.
The presentation is free with Museum entry. Members no need to book, but should RSVP to play@phm.gov.au
Further information at http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/talks/space.php
BBC Radio 4 will broadcast ‘The First Woman in Space’ on Saturday, June 8 at 10:30 BST. Listen on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b026x9mr
First UK astronaut Helen Sharman GB1MIR
https://amsat-uk.org/about/history/first-uk-astronaut-helen-sharman-gb1mir/
Gathering of Female Astronauts and Former Johnson Space Center Director
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/03/12/gathering-of-female-astronauts-and-former-johnson-space-center-director/
SpaceKate: The time we took on Unilever – and won!
http://spacekate.com/2013/the-time-we-took-on-unliever-and-won/
After her return to Earth the first UK astronaut Helen Sharman visited
the Harrogate Ladies’ College club station G0HCA
From left to right Anna-Karin G7IRR, Helen Sharman GB1MIR, Richard Horton G3XWH, Katy G7NST
Kickstarter project aims to put a TARDIS into Low-Earth-Orbit
November 23, 2013 is the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and a Kickstarter project aims to celebrate the event by putting a 30 cm (12 inch) tall model of the TARDIS into Low-Earth-Orbit on an Interorbital Systems Neptune rocket. The aim is to raise the $33,000 needed for the flight by June 29.
A number of satellite projects have already raised funds through Kickstarter but none has been quite like this. The orbiting TARDIS plans to have solar cells to power the flashing light, a camera and transmitter. A magnetic, passive attitude control system will keep the TARDIS’s camera pointing toward the Earth.
Further information is available on Kickstarter at
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/573935592/were-putting-a-tardis-into-orbit-really
These satellite projects have already raised money on Kickstarter:
Radio ham Zac Manchester KD2BHC used Kickstarter to raise $74,586 in donations to fund the development and deployment of 200 amateur radio KickSat sprite satellites.
The amateur radio satellite project ArduSat managed to raise donations of $106,330 in just 30 days.
SkyCube which will transmit on 915 MHz in the 902-928 MHz amateur radio band raised $116,890.
Kickstarter is not just about raising large sums of money, for example Sandy Antunes used Kickstarter to raise $2,780 to buy a ham radio transceiver and antennas to create an amateur radio satellite ground station Calliope
Wiki – Doctor Who https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who
IARU Coordinates Frequencies for Fox-1A Ham Radio CubeSat
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Frequency Coordination Panel has announced coordinated frequencies for the AMSAT-NA Fox-1a CubeSat.
A 1U CubeSat, Fox-1a will serve as a communications relay for radio amateurs worldwide via the onboard FM repeater system. It will also carry an experiment consisting of a 3-axis MEMs gyro developed by Penn State University. The communications and experiment missions will run concurrently.
The uplink will be on 435.180 MHz for FM voice and the downlink on 145.980 MHz with FM voice and an optional sub audible FSK digital carrier channel. Fox-1a will employ passive magnetic stabilization.
Fox-1a is planning to launch from Vandenburg in November 2014 on the NASA ELaNa XII mission with ARC1, BisonSat, Lightsail and R2S (NEO). The expected orbit is 470 x 780 km at 64 degrees inclination giving an orbit lifetime of about 11 years.
For more information see http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2012/2012_Symposium_Fox_Overview.pdf
IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Status pages http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru
AMSAT-UK 
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