Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Dec 01 2022 06:54 pm
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2353 for Friday, December 2nd, 2022
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2353, with a release date of Friday,
December 2nd, 2022, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A troubled orbit detours a project to put
amateur radio on the moon. It's almost time for the 12 Days of Christmas
Special Event - and a happy ending for the producer of a ham radio
documentary. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number
2353, comes your way right now.
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BILLBOARD CART
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ORBIT TROUBLES FOR AMATEUR RADIO MOON LANDER
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: We begin this week in space, where a troubled orbit has
detoured a Japanese amateur radio project that was heralded as the
world's smallest moon lander. Jason Daniels, VK2LAW, brings us that
report.
JASON: OMOTENASHI, developed by the JAXA Ham Radio Club in Japan,
carried the promise of putting amateur radio on the moon's surface when
it launched on November 16th from Kennedy Space Center in the US. Now
the chance to transmit a beacon in the amateur radio 70cm band from a
lunar QTH has been put into question.
The CubeSat was a secondary payload aboard NASA's Artemis 1 mission. In
English translation from Japanese, the ham radio club's website for
JAXA, Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency, reports that orbital errors
have resulted in an unstable radio signal for its communications. The
website also reports that the solar cells face away from the sun, making
it problematic to charge OMOTENASHI's batteries.
Having missed the chance for a moon landing, organisers are regrouping.
The website reports that data from OMOTENASHI will be analysed to
unearth a possible cause of what happened. The report said that the team
believed that the axis of rotation is stable and that the spacecraft
will get sunlight when the direction of the sun changes. They expect
that will happen next March.
This is Jason Daniels, VK2LAW.
(JAXA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)
**
HOMEBREW CUBESATS ARE A 'FIRST' FOR LAUNCH IN INDIA
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Indian radio amateurs and space enthusiasts had a proud
moment when a rocket launch for an ocean-monitoring satellite had a pair
of homegrown amateur radio CubeSats along for the ride. Here's Jim
Meachen, ZL2BHF, with details.
JIM: Members of the Star Fleet Amateur Radio Club, National Institute
for Amateur Radio, Indian Institute of Hams, West Bengal Radio Club and
the Indian Academy of Communication and Disaster Management were among
the hundreds of amateurs across India watching eagerly on Saturday,
November 26th as an Indian Space Research Organisation mission lifted
off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Although the primary payload
was an ocean observation satellite, the varied secondary payload also
included two satellites that Indian news media were praising as the
nation's first homegrown amateur satellites to be launched aboard an
Indian space vehicle.
The nanosatellites had been built in Hyderabad (Hy-Dra-Bod) by Druva
Space, founded by four radio amateurs 10 years ago. The CubeSats have a
combined mass of 1.45 kilograms and each is no larger than 10 by 10 by 5
centimeters. Hams will be able to use their store-and-forward messaging
system.
Dhruva's CEO Sanjay Nekkanti AB3OE / VU3ISS told one news outlet that
this mission was extremely important to those who designed and built
the satellites and said the hams will be testing them out following
their deployment into low earth orbit. Sanjay said [quote] "This is a
way for us to give back to the ecosystem." [endquote] He said he hoped
the mission would also encourage more people to get involved in amateur
radio and the sciences.
This is Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.
(THE PRINT, REPUBLIC WORLD, NASA SPACEFLIGHT.COM)
**
SWITZERLAND PREPARES FOR SHUTDOWN OF FM RADIO
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Just as the nature and the technology of amateur radio
keeps evolving so too is the landscape changing for broadcast FM. Jeremy
Boot, G4NJH, has that story.
JEREMY: Switzerland is preparing for the shutdown of its FM radio
services as Swiss listeners join the ranks of those in Norway and in the
UK who now tune into DAB+
The nation's switchover from FM/analogue to DAB+/digital radio was the
subject of discussion at the recent WorldDAB Summit, a digital radio
industry forum held in London in early November. Norway's P4 radio led
the charge in that nation more than five years ago, embracing the
multiple channels from one transmitter, a lower cost way to keep station
programming on the air.
Switzerland's move comes just as the broadcast licences for the nation's
radio stations expire at the end of 2024. Broadcasters see the switch as
a way to save money while increasing the reach and the variety of the
programme content. There will be no simulcasting on FM and digital.
In a report in Radio World magazine, Swiss broadcaster Nicola Bomio said
he was worried that the change would cost the stations listenership.
Others said they wondered whether listeners living on the border with
France would simply tune in to stations there.
This is Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
(RADIO WORLD MAGAZINE)
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)
