AMPRNet Owner Makes Donation to ARISS Next Generation Radio System

If you were active in packet radio and the internet back in the 1980s and '90s, you may recall that "AMPRNet" internet addresses – starting with 44 – were available for amateur radio-related uses (they still are). Amateur Radio Digital Communications, which owns and manages the AMPRNet domain, to sell four million of its 16 million potential addresses in order to fund a philanthropic effort to promote continued experimentation and development in the field of amateur radio digital communications.
 

Its first grant – identified only as "very generous" by the AMSAT News Service – recently was awarded to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program to help cover the costs of the ARISS Next Generation Radio System. According to the ARDC website, this new system will include "new amateur radio communication and experimentation capabilities, including an enhanced voice repeater and updated digital packet radio (APRS) capabilities, Slow Scan TV (picture up and downlinks) in both the US and Russian segments of ISS" as well as multivoltage power supplies to meet both current and future needs. ARISS says it needs to build ten new stations, two for use in orbit (one each in the US and Russian segments), two flight spares, three for training, one for testing and two for maintenance and troubleshooting work back on the ground. For more information on ARDC and AMPRNet, visit <www.ampr.org>.

ARISS is also seeking donations from individuals for its Next Generation project. Donations may be made online via its FundRazr page at <https://tinyurl.com/y2z5tr2z>.

Satellite Roundup

China's Taurus-1 amateur satellite,
shown here with a solar sail, features
an analog FM to digital voice trans-
ponder. (Photo via AMSAT-UK)

Taurus-1, a Chinese satellite built by the Aerospace System Engineering Research Institute of Shanghai, was launched in mid-September. According to AMSAT-UK, it carries a unique FM voice to digital voice (Codec2) transponder. Hams may transmit FM voice up to the satellite on 145.820 MHz. The digital voice downlink is on 436.760 MHz, with telemetry on 435.8387 MHz,

Japan's FO-29 satellite, in orbit since 1996, has returned to the air after being silent since this past July, according to the ARRL Letter. The satellite has a lower sideband and CW uplink on 2 meters, with an inverting upper sideband and CW downlink on 70 centimeters.

AMSAT-OSCAR-7, the longest-functioning amateur radio satellite (launched in 1974), is in full illumination until about December 2, according to the AMSAT News Service. Its batteries are long dead but the satellite's solar panels still power its transponder when in full sunlight. AO-7 has SSB and CW uplinks on 2 meters and 70 centimeters, and SSB/CW downlinks on 10 and 2 meters, as well as beacons on all three bands. See <https://tinyurl.com/y3yur5vx> for more details.

Slow-scan TV image of Earth and space
from Navy-OSCAR 104. (Photo via
Ales Povolac)

On the topic of HF satellite frequencies, the AMSAT News Service reports that Region 3 of the International Amateur Radio Union, representing Asia and the Pacific, has added an amateur satellite segment to its 15-meter bandplan. More information is available at <https://tinyurl.com/y637aw47>.

Finally, the U.S. Naval Academy's NO-104, or PSAT-2, satellite, was placed in photo mode for a week in September. It was to take a slow-scan TV photo every 10 minutes, store it in memory, and then transmit it back to Earth. Each photo was downloaded only once, but many have been collected online at <http://www.urel.feec.vutbr.cz/esl/psat2/sstv/>. The most recent ones come up first.