December 2009 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

XE2VAS from DM40 - now through Thursday (31 Dec)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

Hi! Uriel XE2VAS (also N2IY), who lives in Nogales in northern Mexico (grid DM41), was on a couple of satellite passes from the rarely- heard grid DM40 today. He will try to be on other FM satellite passes through Thursday (31 December). Anyone working XE2VAS and wanting a QSL card can send the QSL request with SASE to my PO box. Please do NOT use the mailing address for XE2VAS or N2IY on QRZ.com. Thanks to John K8YSE, I was able to hear the audio from the AO-27 pass at 2032 UTC this afternoon with XE2VAS. I will send this to Uriel, so he can hear how he sounded through the satellite. Although Uriel has a 2m FM mobile radio and an IC-706, it sounded like he was using an HT with his Elk log periodic antenna on that pass. Please remember that Uriel's first language is *not* English. If you want a better chance for a QSO, please use standard international phonetics for your callsign and grid locator. An even better option is to use Spanish-language digits with phonetics for your callsign and grid locator in a call to XE2VAS. K8YSE and N5AFV both did this, and quickly completed their QSOs. Since hams in the USA and Canada are only required to ID in English at the end of a QSO (English or French, for Canadians), making the initial call to a station like XE2VAS in Spanish *is* legal - as long as you make your legal station ID at the end of the QSO. Good luck and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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HO-68 - first FM pass over Australia
by vk5alx＠amsat.org 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

Six stations, plus myself, accessed Hope-1 (HO-68) on its first FM pass over Australia starting at 11:00 UTC (27 Dec) - VK2ZAZ, VK2TJU, VK2CMP. VK7HRX, VK4ZQ, VK2WEL Downlink signal at my location reached -98dBm but I did experience several very deep fades which took the signal from full quieting to full noise. The fades were very sudden and lasted from just a few seconds to up to half a minute each time. Some signal dropouts were experienced. However, maximum elevation here was just 15 degrees. Antennas here were RHC for 70cm receive and LHC on 2 mtr TX. Some distortion in the received audio was evident indicating that the satellite's receiver might be a little off frequency or that it prefers narrow deviation. Hopefully we will have more opportunities to test the bird further before it is commissioned for normal use. 73 and best wishes for 2010 Alex VK5ALX

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SO-67 27 December 2009 1619 UTC audio
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

Hi! The 1619 UTC SO-67 pass was a nice one covering virtually all of the continental USA and most of Mexico as the satellite moved southbound. I was operating from DM43iu, about 60 miles/100km northeast of Phoenix, where the satellite was up to a maximum elevation of 53 degrees. Stations were heard from Oregon to South Carolina, and as far south as central Mexico. You can hear my audio recording at: http://so67.wd9ewk.net/ (look for the MP3 with the filename starting with 20091227) This was the first SO-67 pass I worked in over a month. It seems like most have compensated for this satellite's unique characteristics. Waiting for the carrier to drop, even for the briefest of moments, makes a big difference. If you don't wait for the carrier to drop, a quick unkey of the mic and then keying the mic again also works - as long as you are working full-duplex. Thanks again to AMSAT SA for the satellite and the generous scheduling over the last few days. Near the end of that pass, Uriel XE2VAS was briefly heard from grid DM40 approximately 40 miles/60km south of Nogales AZ in northern Mexico. Uriel *may* be operating from DM40 over the next few days, FM satellites only, for those who may need/want a QSO for that grid. If you work XE2VAS, whether from his home grid DM41 at the USA/Mexico border or from DM40, you may send your QSL requests with SASE to my PO box. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Re: DJ-G7 - BNC-to-SMA Adapter
by Clint Bradford 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

>> ... my arrow antenna's BNC connector doesn't plug directly to the DJ-G7's SMA antenna jack ... I hope you didn't order the Yaesu CN-3 adapter. It should be taken off the market. It provides absolutely no protection/strain relief to your new HT's SMA connector when in use. Stephen Gulyas makes "intelligent" BNC-toSMA adapters ... which have a hard rubber gasket that "mates" to the top of a radio. VERY protective from the stress and strain we place on our radios when changing out antennas. Scroll down half of this page to download a copy of what Stephen offers ... http://www.work-sat.com Look for: Stephen Gulyas’s BNC-to-SMA adapters (76kb .pdf) Enjoy what Santa brought you! Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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SO-67 27Dec2009 1443z Audio
by John Papay 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

The North American Pass of SO-67 on 27Dec2009 at 1443z is now on my webserver. The bird was strong as usual. It is difficult not to respond immediately to a call to your station, but those that wait for the "tail timer" to expire, will have more than 3 seconds to exchange their information. Watch the S meter and wait for the tail to expire before you transmit. This doesn't always work if there are others still transmitting after the tail timer expires. Their signal is not repeated but it prevents the repeater from re-transmitting your signal. Full duplex allows you to hear the bird when you are transmitting and makes successful qso's much easier. http://www.papays.com/SO-67_27Dec2009_144322z.mp3 Thanks to AMSAT-South Africa for this very strong bird. If the tail timer can be re-configured, contacts using a handheld and a rubber duck antenna will be possible. Right now there is just too much confusion due to everyone transmitting at the same time. Full duplex really helps. 73, John K8YSE

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HO-68 27Dec2009 1527z North America
by John Papay 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

A recording of the HO-68 pass, 27Dec2009 at 1527z over North America is on my webserver. This was an 82 degree pass for me and the bird was copied well from horizon to horizon. The first packet was received within one minute after AOS and the last packet was within a minute of LOS. I was not at home for this pass. SatPC32 did all the work. The receive antenna was set for Left Hand Circular Polarization which seems to work better than right hand on average. Signals were strong throughout the pass. FM Voice and packet seemed to interrupt one another and it was hard for some to make a complete qso. http://www.papays.com/HO-68_27Dec2009_152711z.mp3 These are the packets decoded during the pass. The date/time stamp was inserted by the TNC to show when the packets were received. It was not sent from the satellite: BJ1SA-11>KB2M [12/27/09 15:28:18]:OK KB2M\D BJ1SA-11>PBLIST [12/27/09 15:28:18]:PB: Empty. BJ1SA-11>KB2M [12/27/09 15:28:38]:OK KB2M\D BJ1SA-11>PBLIST [12/27/09 15:28:38]:PB: KB2M\D BJ1SA-11>PBLIST [12/27/09 15:28:39]:PB: Empty. BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:28:43]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:29:20]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:29:32]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:29:44]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:30:08]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:30:44]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:30:56]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:31:32]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:31:45]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:31:57]:Open BJ1SA-12:1 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:33:09]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:33:34]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:33:46]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:33:58]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:34:46]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:34:58]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:35:23]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:35:35]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:35:59]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:36:23]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:36:47]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:37:35]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:37:48]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:38:24]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:38:36]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:38:48]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:39:00]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:39:13]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:39:24]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:39:36]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:40:01]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:40:13]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:40:25]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:40:37]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:41:01]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:41:14]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:41:26]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:41:38]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:41:50]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:42:02]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:42:14]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:42:26]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:43:27]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:43:39]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:43:51]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:44:15]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:44:27]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:44:51]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:45:03]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:46:04]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:46:16]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 BJ1SA-12>BBSTAT [12/27/09 15:46:28]:Open BJ1SA-12:0 We look forward to more testing and fine tuning. Thanks again to AMSAT-China. Happy New Year. 73, John K8YSE

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HO-68 Schedule Dec27--28
by Alan Kung 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

27 Dec. 2009 XW-1 Linear Tansponder Turn On: 20:20...South Africa 20:30...Europe,North Africa 20:40...Europe,North America, North Africa,North Pole 20:50...North America, Europe,North Pole 20:55...Turn Off 28 Dec. 2009 XW-1 Linear Tansponder Turn On: 01:40...South America 01:55...North South America,South NA 02:10...North America 02:15...North NA,Russia,North Pole 02:20...Turn Off 28 Dec. 2009 XW-1 Linear Tansponder Turn On: 12:31...South Australia,South Pole 12:35...Australia,South Pole 12:41...Turn Off 28 Dec. 2009 XW-1 FM and Digital Transponder Turn On: 12:51...South Asia, North Australia 12:55...East Asia, South Asia 13:05...East Asia, North Asia, Middle Asia 13:06...Turn Off 28 Dec. 2009 XW-1 Linear Tansponder Turn On: 21:45...South Africa 21:55...South America,West Africa 22:05...West Europe, West North Africa 22:15...North America, Europe,North Pole 22:20...North America, North Europe, North Asia,North Pole 22:25...Turn Off 73 Alan Kung, BA1DU HO-68(XW-1) Project Manager www.camsat.cn

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Congrats to WB8OTH
by Dave Webb KB1PVH 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

I just want to congratulate Perry, WB8OTH for reaching 6000 QSOs on the birds. Nice job! 73, Dave KB1PVH Sent from my Verizon Wireless DROID

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Hope Oscar - 68 (HO-68) CW Beacon heard Loud and Clear from Grid EM85sh
by Robert Felt 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

Thursday 24 Dec 2009 @ 16:20 - 16:36 Z : Monitored new China HO-68 CW beacon on the 435.79MHz (+/- doppler) from my QTH EM85sh in Hendersonville, NC. CW Signal was strong and clear both with and w/o preamp !! Well done to the China AMSAT team. Thanks and 73 Bob KB5YZG

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ANS-361 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 26 Dec '09

26 Dec '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-361 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS 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. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * Report Your AMSAT Volunteer Hours * SO-67 schedule * SKN on OSCAR 2010 * AMSAT Kid's Day on AO-51 on 3 January *Thank You and Season Greetings on Behalf of the HO-68 Team * AO-51 Satellite Grid DXpedition Announced * ARISS Status - 21 December 2009 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.01 Report Your AMSAT Volunteer Hours AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 27, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.01 Attention AMSAT Volunteers! It is that time again when we gather volunteer hours donated to the AMSAT Program of Work to include within our yearly Audit. These important donations of personal time help us illustrate to the outside world the involvement of our members. We welcome reporting in all areas of service from Managing a booth at a Hamfest, to engineering of new AMSAT projects, to day to day operational activities. If you are not already signed up for the on line Web site "VRS" (Volunteer Reporting System) program, please go to amsat.org and select "Become a Volunteer" from the link on the left side of the main page. Select #2 in order to create an account for your reporting. You will be given a confidential account into which you can report your volunteer hours. Select # 3 to actually report your 2009 efforts. We total up the efforts and total value while we keep confidential the actual dollar amount of each volunteer. With the year drawing to a close, this is a great time to submit those hours. After January 1, 2010 we'll download the file and report these numbers to our Auditor. Your efforts are important, so please take the time to report. If you have any questions feel free to email me at: w8gsm(a)amsat.org. Gunther Meisse AMSAT Treasurer W8GSM [ANS thanks Gunther, W8GSM, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.02 SO-67 schedule AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 27, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.02 Jan-Albert Koekemoer, ZR1JAK, received the following schedules from the various coordinators. Note that some passes had to be omitted due to other higher priorities on the satellite. SOUTH AMERICA: 27/12 01:18 27/12 11:48 27/12 13:25 27/12 23:25 28/12 00:58 28/12 11:28 28/12 13:02 28/12 23:05 29/12 00:35 29/12 11:08 29/12 12:41 30/12 00:16 30/12 01:50 30/12 10:48 30/12 12:20 30/12 23:56 31/12 01:30 31/12 10:29 31/12 11:59 31/12 23:36 01/01 01:10 01/01 11:38 01/01 13:14 01/01 23:16 AUSTRALIA/NZ: 27/12 21:19 28/12 00:28 28/12 20:57 28/12 22:31 29/12 00:07 29/12 20:37 29/12 22:09 29/12 23:46 30/12 21:51 30/12 23:24 30/12 21:30 30/12 23:05 01/01 00:40 USSR: 27/12 14:20 27/12 19:00 AFRICA: 27/12 05:30 28/12 08:16 29/12 07:58 30/12 06:03 30/12 07:38 31/12 05:42 31/12 07:17 01/01 05:20 01/01 06:57 01/01 08:26 JAPAN 27/12 00:30 27/12 22:37 28/12 00:09 (Deleted) 28/12 23:48 29/12 01:24 29/12 23:28 30/12 01:03 30/12 23:08 31/12 00:42 31/12 22:48 01/01 00:21 EUROPE 27/12 06:47 27/12 08:20 27/12 09:54 27/12 11:28 28/12 09:33 29/12 09:12 USA/CANADA 27/12 00:22 (Deleted) 27/12 13:08 27/12 14:43 27/12 16:16 27/12 17:49 27/12 19:21 27/12 20:54 27/12 22:28 (Deleted) 28/12 00:02 [ANS thanks Jan-Albert, ZR1JAK, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.03 SKN on OSCAR 2010 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 27, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.03 All radio amateurs, worldwide, are cordially invited to participate in AMSAT's Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2010. Participating in SKN on OSCAR 2010 is easy. No rules, no scoring and no need to send in a log. Just operate CW through any OSCAR between 0000 and 2400 UTC on 1 January 2010, using a straight hand key. The AMSAT AO-51 Operations Group reminds everyone that AO-51 will be configured to support CW operations during the annual Straight Key Night event. Participants may operate CW through AO-51 between 0000 and 2400 UTC on 1 January 2010, using a straight hand key. AO-51 will be configured in the following mode during the event: SSB/FM Repeater, V/U (CW QSOs only on Straight Key Night) Uplink: 145.880 MHz USB Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM In keeping with the friendly nature of this event, all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for "Best Fist." Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard, just of those you worked. Please send your nomination to w2rs(a)amsat.org. A list of those nominated will appear in ANS and The AMSAT Journal. [ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, and the AMSAT AO-51 Operations Group for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.04 AMSAT Kid's Day on AO-51 on 3 January AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 27, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.04 AMSAT-NA and the AO-51 Operations Group will sponsor Kid's Day on AO-51 on January 3, 2010. The event is open to all kids, worldwide. We ask all amateur radio stations to give this short time window to promote satellite operations with kids, by actually showing a kid how to make contacts via AO-51, providing a station to contact, or stepping aside to allow others to make contacts with the kids. During the event, please limit contacts to stations that are operating with kids at the microphone. This should allow the kids to have a nice QSO and pass some information. Kids can tell their name, age, who is helping them operate on AO-51, where they live, and other information about themselves. AO-51 will be configured in the following mode during the event. Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM voice Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM voice See http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html on the ARRL website for more Kids Day information. Have fun and enjoy AO-51! [ANS thanks the AO-51 Operations Committee for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.05 Thank You and Season Greetings on Behalf of the HO-68 Team AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 27, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.05 CEO of Amsat-China and HO-68 (XW-1) Project Manager Alan Kung, BA1DU wrote, "On behalf of Amsat-China and the HO-68 amateur satellite pro- ject Team, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all radio amateurs who reported the communications status of HO-68 satellite in the past few days." Alan continued, "I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all individuals and organizations for your congratulations. I must say I am sorry I am not able to respond to each of the reports, but your reports are very valuable for our analysis of status of the satellite. Thank you very much for your participation in the in-orbit satellite communications test of HO-68." The HO-68 team wishes all a happy holiday and we hope HO-68 amateur satellite will be able to bring you a new fun! This week AMSAT-NA President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW wrote, "On behalf of Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, congratulations on the success- ful launch of XW-1 and its subsequent designation as HO-68. This is a significant milestone for both Amateur Radio and AMSAT-China. We are very excited to see not only a new amateur satellite successfully placed in service, but a new member of the AMSAT International family establishing itself as well. Please let us know more about your organ- ization and how we might be able to develop appropriate relationships between AMSAT-China and other AMSAT organizations. Again, congratula- tions on placing HO-68 in service and best wishes for the New Year." The latest official information can be found on-line on the AMSAT-China web page at http://www.camsat.cn/ The AMSAT-NA Satellite Status Web may also be consulted for frequency and operating mode information: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/satInfo.php?satID=116&retURL=/ satellites/status.php [ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU and Barry Baines, WD4ASW for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.06 AO-51 Satellite Grid DXpedition Announced AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 27, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.06 Jim, ND9M/VQ9JC, plans to activate 85 grids in 8 states on AO-51 between January 21st and February 10th. Jim and his wife will be driving to the Denver area (DN70) where his step-son lives and Cheyenne (DN71) where his brother lives. The trip will start from Panama City, Florida, on/or around January 21st, from where they head to Memphis, TN. Jim may possibly activate some grids. From Memphis they will head westbound through OK, then into KS and NE before hitting CO. Their around trip will take them through Big Bend National Park and Texas (hitting every grid in TX) and the Gulf Coast into Louisiana. [ANS thanks KB8NW, OPDX Bulletin, and MakeMoreMilesOnVHF Newsletter For the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.07 ARISS Status - 21 December 2009 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 27, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.07 1. Jeffrey Williams Chats with Italian Students via ARISS Contact On Monday, December 14, Expedition 21 astronaut Jeffrey Williams, KD5TVQ participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with students from Istituto Comprensivo di Govone - Scuola Secondaria di primo grado "Nino Costa" di Priocca in Priocca, Cuneo, Italy. The contact was held at Infinito Astronomic Park in Pino Torinese, Torino, where an audience of more than 150 students, teachers, visitors and media watched as the students posed 22 questions to the astronaut during the nine minute pass. Following the contact, ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis spoke to the children via teleconference about the contact and amateur radio. Regional television, local media and newspapers covered the event. The video, which was streamed on the web, received over 170 connections. The European Space Agency (ESA) reported the news on its Web site. See: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMLSV9K73G_Italy_0.html 2. ARISS International Team Meeting Held An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) meeting was held on Tuesday, December 15. Agenda items addressed included the VHF AIS (Automatic Identification System) and ARISS antennas which were recently installed on the Columbus module and the status of ARISSat-1. To view the minutes, see: https://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-12-15.htm [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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