AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-077

In this edition:

* First SONATE 2 Images Received
* FUNcube Mode Change
* Free On-Line Amateur Radio Operating Class
* Starship Lifts Off On Third Test Flight
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for March 15
* NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Finishes Mission, Returns to Earth
* 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 <http://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-077 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

To: All RADIO AMATEURS
>From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2024 March 17
First SONATE 2 Images Received

First images were received this week from the SONATE 2 satellite. A
low-resolution Slow-Scan TV (SSTV) image that had been pre-loaded onto the
satellite prior to launch was received on March 8. The first wide field of
view earth image from the onboard camera was received on March 11. Both
images can be viewed at
https://www.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/aerospaceinfo/staff/kayal/resear
ch-activities/sonate-2/

[*12.03.2024 First wide field of view image from SONATE-2*]

SONATE 2 was built by students and faculty in the Aerospace Information
Technology program at at Würzburg University in Germany. It was launch
ed on
March 4 as part of the SpaceX Transporter 10 mission from Space Launch
Complex 4E in Vandenberg SFB, Calif.

Using Doppler measurements, Nico Janssen, PAØDLO, has identified SONAT
E 2
as object 59112. The telemetry downlink frequency is 437.0254 MHz, just
slightly above the published target frequency of 437.025 MHz. Telemetry is
in 9k6 G3RUH GMSK AX.25 using a protocol that may be downloaded from
https://www.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/1003-ifex/2024/SONATE-2_p
rotocol_definition_for_radio_amateurs.xlsx

The SSTV downlink is at 145.880 MHz FM using the Martin M1 protocol. The
satellite also carries an APRS digipeater for 145.825 MHz, but the
digipeater is not yet active. A schedule for upcoming SSTV transmissions is
published at
https://www.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/aerospaceinfo/mitarbeiter/kayal/for
schungsprojekte/sonate-2/information-for-radio-amateurs/

[ANS thanks Würzburg University and Nico Janssen, PAØDLO, for the
above
information.]
------------------------------

*The 2024 AMSAT President’s Club coins are here now!*
*Help Support GOLF and Fox Plus*

*Join the AMSAT President's Club today and help*
*Keep Amateur Radio in Space!*
*https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/*
<https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/>
------------------------------
FUNcube Mode Change

The FUNcube team are pleased to announce that FUNcube 1 (aka AO-73) is out
of Safe mode back in Eclipse mode as of March 11. "Eclipse mode" means that
the transponder is normally operational only when the satellite is in
eclipse, i.e. the solar panels are NOT being illuminated.

The nominal transponder frequencies are:

Uplink: 435.150 – 435.130 MHz LSB (Inverting)
Downlink: 145.950 – 145.970 MHz USB
Telemetry Tx: 145.935 MHz BPSK

(The passband may be up to 15kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Lower
temperatures give higher freqs!)

[ANS thanks David Johnson, G4DPZ, and https://funcube.org.uk/ for the above
information.]
------------------------------

*Need new satellite antennas?*

*Purchase 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/*
<https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/>
------------------------------
Free On-Line Amateur Radio Operating Class

A free, weekly, 3-hour Amateur Radio Operating Class on Zoom will begin on
Thursday April 4 and run through June 20 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern / 5:30 p.m.
Central time. The presenters will be various experienced folks in the
various subjects.

A detailed syllabus will be published before the classes begin. Attend them
all, or any that you like, but you must register for the classes. To
receive registration information, contact Rol Anders, K3RA, at
roland.anders@comcast.net.

Subjects will include:

- All About Operating--A general Introduction
- Amateur Radio Organizations—Local to International
- Ham Radio Awards
- DXing-History and Tips from the Experts
- QSLing-How to get that needed card for DXCC or WAS
- VHF/UHF Weak Signal Work and “Roving”
- Image Operating—Slow Scan and Fast Scan TV
- Remote Station control over internet
- Learning CW in the no-code era
- Digital Modes—From RTTY to FT8 and beyond
- Contesting—How to get started, tips for the beginner and inter
mediated
contester
- Logging Software—What’s available, how to use
- Propagation—A general intro to HF Propagation
- **Amateur Satellites—How to get started**
- Portable (backpacking) operation—Tips from an expert
- Setting Up a Modern (or not so modern) HF Station
- Lightning Protection and Grounding
- Traffic Handling
- Public Service, Emergency Communications

[ANS thanks Dan Hausauer, WØCN, and Rol Anders, K3RA, for the above
information.]
------------------------------
Starship Lifts Off On Third Test Flight

SpaceX’s Starship vehicle lifted off on its third test flight March
14,
making significant progress compared to its first two by achieving most of
its planned test milestones.

The Starship/Super Heavy vehicle lifted off from the company’s Star
base
site at 9:25 a.m. Eastern. The liftoff was delayed by nearly an hour and a
half because of ships in restricted waters offshore. SpaceX reported no
technical issues during the countdown.

[*Starship lifts off on its third integrated test flight March 14. Credit:
SpaceX webcast*]

The Super Heavy booster fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for nearly three
minutes before executing “hot staging”, with the Starship u
pper stage’s
engines igniting while still attached to Super Heavy before separating.

The booster then performed burns to attempt what SpaceX webcast hosts
called a “soft splashdown” in the Gulf of Mexico, where it
would not be
recovered. However, the landing burn did not appear to go correctly, and
the company later said that the booster broke apart 462 meters above the
ocean after lighting several Raptor engines for a landing burn.

The Starship upper stage performed its burn, placing the vehicle onto its
planned suborbital trajectory. It avoided the fate of the previous Starship
launch in November, when the vehicle broke apart late in its burn after
catching fire while venting propellant.

While in space on its suborbital trajectory, SpaceX opened a payload bay
door that will be used on later Starship vehicles for deploying Starlink
satellites. It also performed an in-space propellant transfer demonstration
as part of a NASA contract where it would move propellant from one tank
within the vehicle to another. SpaceX said it was evaluating the data from
both tests.

SpaceX had planned to perform a brief relight of a Raptor engine on
Starship about 40 minutes after liftoff, but the company said on the
webcast that this test was skipped for reasons not immediately known. The
company later said the engine test was called off because of the vehicle�
��s
roll rates.

Several minutes later, the vehicle started reentry. A camera mounted on a
flap on Starship provided dramatic images of the reentry, relayed through
Starlink satellites. Telemetry was lost about 49 and a half minutes after
liftoff when the vehicle was descending through an altitude of 65
kilometers. SpaceX later said on the webcast that it lost contact through
both its own Starlink satellites as well as through NASA TDRSS data relay
satellites at the same time, speculating that the vehicle may have broken
up.

While the mission did not achieve all its test objectives, the company
considered the launch a success. “What we achieved on this flight w
ill
provide invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship,” i
t said
in a statement.

[ANS thanks SpaceNews for the above information.
------------------------------

*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* <https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear>
------------------------------
Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for March 15