Page 22 May June 2014 TCA

And although ARISSat-1 has long since burned up in the
atmosphere, the good news is that ARISSat-1 was just the frst 2014 RAC SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
of four ARISSat space frames built by AMSAT-NA volunteers.
What’s more, there are a number of other (US-based) providers Radio Amateurs of Canada is pleased to announce that
now vying for the chance to transport both cargo and humans in 2014 we will again be offering scholarships to young
up to the ISS so the future looks bright for similar follow-on Amateurs who are taking post-secondary schooling in
Electrical, Electronic and Software Engineering. Students
launch opportunities. AMSAT remains in contact with those
potential launch providers and (hopefully) may be able to in other felds of study will be considered on a case-by-
case basis. You must be an Amateur and the deadline for
negotiate another free “lift ticket” along with a deploying applications is July 31, 2014.
“spacewalk” for one or more of their three remaining ARISSat
spacecraft down the road. In 2013, RAC gave out three Education Scholarships of $500
each to: Paulyn Mulles, VE3PJM, who is attending Carleton
AMSAT’S NEXT PROJECT: FOX
University; Jason Deglint, VE7TJD, who is attending
Clearly, these two University of Victoria; and Liam Bindle, VE5LRB, who is
events – the demise of attending the University of Saskatchewan. Each of these
AO-51 and the fery young Amateurs received a $500 academic scholarship to
re-entry of ARISSat-1 – assist their further studies in Electrical Engineering. In their
were proof that, in application each one stated how being an Amateur is a good
order for Amateur match to their schooling and provides hands-on ability to
Radio to remain in complement their academic studies.
space, AMSAT groups Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg also received a
need to keep building $500 community grant to assist them in becoming the only
and launching new permanent Telebridge Station in Canada to communicate
satellites. with the Amateur Radio Station on the International Space
After a great deal of Station (ARISS) under the guidance of Robert Striemer,
discussion, AMSAT’s VE4SHS.
experimenters decided Details on all four categories of scholarships and
to split their planned applications can be found at Scholarships Canada:
replacement satellite http://www.scholarshipscanada.com/
for AO-15 (called “FOX”)
into two parts. The frst Further detailed information is also available on the RAC
satellite (dubbed FOX-1) Website at: https://www.rac.ca/en/rac/donations/foundation/
will contain a simple, grant-info.php
hardware controlled If you know an Amateur who is studying at the post-secondary
FM “bent pipe” transponder. That is, anything sent up to the level they should consider applying for one of these grants.
satellite (in whatever emission mode) on the uplink, will be sent
back down through the “bent pipe” in exactly the same mode RAC would also like to thank all the Canadian Amateurs
on the downlink. It will also sport a simple onboard computer whose generous donations over the years enable RAC to
for telemetry and control along with non-deployable solar assist the leaders of tomorrow.
panels. Such a simple design was predicated on the need for a Bill Unger, VE3XT – RAC North/East Ontario Regional Director
rapid, on-orbit replacement for AO-51 which, before its demise,
was one of AMSAT’s most popular satellites to date.
In the above photo (Courtesy: AMSAT-NA), I am holding the and – if a suitable (spelled “affordable”) launch can be found –
latest engineering model of AMSAT’s FOX-1 satellite at the a somewhat higher (800 km) Low Earth orbit.
November 2013 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium In November 2011, AMSAT applied to NASA’s ElaNa (Educational
in Houston, Texas. AMSAT’s experimenters are now building this Launch of Nanosatellites) program for a possible reduced cost
spacecraft to operate in an approximately 650 kilometre (400 launch for FOX-1 via one of their boosters in the 2013-2014 time
mile) circular, sun-synchronous orbit. This somewhat lower orbit frame. The good news is that, in early 2012, AMSAT’s FOX satellite
will create less path loss for the satellite’s uplinks and downlinks. was selected for an ElaNA launch out of Vandenberg AFB later this
FOX-1’s transponder is also now being built to operate in Mode year (2014).
U/V (the old Mode B), which will make it easier for most people
on the ground (especially beginners) to use. The even better news is that a follow-on FOX mission has also
been selected for yet another ElaNA launch. However, the
What’s more, the spacecraft will be designed for so-called specifc launch vehicle (and date) for that launch have yet to be
“Zombie Sat” operation, similar to AO-7’s current status. That is, determined. In the interim, I suggest you stay tuned to the FOX
when FOX-1’s battery fnally fails, the spacecraft will be “hard page on the AMSAT website at http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_
wired” to accept ground commands as well as to operate its FM id=1113 for all the very latest developments about the FOX project.
transponder using power solely derived from its onboard solar
panels. Transponder power output is expected to be in the WRAP UP
400-500 Milliwatt range, which would be similar to the nominal That’s all for this time. In future columns, I’ll bring you up to date
output of previous FM spacecraft like AO-27 and AO-51. on the progress of the FOX-1 effort as it nears launch as well as
A follow-on mission, dubbed “FOX-1B” or “FOX-2” will tentatively the status of our other Amateur satellites still in orbit. I’ll also
sport a software defned transponder (similar to that carried highlight some other Amateur satellite projects that are on the
aboard ARISSat-1), a more powerful and programmable main drawing boards of other AMSAT groups. See you then!
computer, somewhat higher RF output, deployable solar panels,
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