AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-128
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: [email protected]
********************************************************************** * Volunteers are needed to Help at the AMSAT booth at Dayton. Gould * * WA4SXM, is looking for volunteers to help man the AMSAT booth dur- * * ing the 2011 Hamvention. People are needed all 3 days for 2 hour * * shifts. Please send the days and times you are available to help * * as well as how many shifts you are willing to work via e-mail to * * wa4sxm at amsat.org. * **********************************************************************
In this edition:
* AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention 2011 * The DARA Matching Gift Challenge * May 16 Deadline for Dayton AMSAT/TAPR 2011 Banquet Reservations * AO-51 Batteries Failing * Calling all software developers - AMSAT needs you! * W5KUB Dayton Webcast to Feature Interview with Astronaut * Satellite Shorts From All Over * Satellite Presentations for May 2011 * 6th Anniversary of HAMSAT VO 52 * Ben Stevenson, W2BXA Silent Key
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.01 AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention 2011
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.01
The 2011 Dayton Hamvention will be held this year from May 20-22, 2011 and AMSAT will be there. The AMSAT theme for 2011 is "Providing Education Through Amateur Satellites". We will have multiple exhibits of the new AMSAT satellites on display.
You'll find AMSAT at the same spot (Booths 444-449) in the Ball Arena, right across from the ARRL area and just inside the door from the Sat- ellite Demonstration area. Plan to visit all of the AMSAT activities!
AMSAT has planned a number of great activities during the Hamvention. To help produce and deliver our great list of AMSAT activities we need you to volunteer to help at the AMSAT booth all three days for 2 hour shifts. Please contact AMSAT-VP User Services, Gould Smith, WA4SXM by e-mail ([email protected]) to tell him the days and times you are avail- able to help as well as how many shifts you are able to help.
Here is a sample of the events and activities planned for the entire weekend. Links to all of these activities can be found on the AMSAT web page: http://www.amsat.org.
+ Meet astronaut Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC Friday 1:30-2:30, Saturday, 3:00-4:00 at the AMSAT booth.
+ ARISSat-1 operational prototype will be on display. o Tune your HT to 145.950 MHz to hear a preview of the FM downlink. o Watch the demonstration of the ARISSatTLM software receive and display the CW beacon and BPSK telemetry using G6LVB's FUNcube Dongle.
+ AMSAT Thursday Night Get-together at Tickets Pub & Eatery.
+ The AMSAT Forum will be on Saturday May 21. Moderated by Alan Biddle, WA4SCA you will have a chance to hear and see the latest news of ama- teur radio in space. o AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW will present an AMSAT Status Report o Alan Kung, BA1DU, CEO of AMSAT-China, will discuss the activities of AMSAT-China. o Project Manager for ARISSat-1, Gould Smith, WA4SXM, will talk about its operation aboard the ISS, and the planned deployment and opera- tions this summer. o Tony Monteiro, AA2TX, will discuss the design and status of Project-FOX. o Alex Harvilchuck, N3NP, will present NextGen CubeSat Program Update.
+ Satellite demonstrations will take place outside the Ball Arena entrance Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
+ The fifth annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be Friday night May 20. (More information below).
Be sure and come by the booth and renew your membership and receive an AMSAT multiblade screwdriver as a premium!
The AMSAT leadership team will be at Hamvention and invite you to take advantage of this opportunity to interact with both board mem- bers and senior officers. If you have issues or concerns that you wish to express here is your chance to do so.
[ANS thanks AMSAT HQ for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.02 The DARA Matching Gift Challenge
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.02
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) has also announced a fundraising challenge for AMSAT whereby they will match on a 1:3 basis up to $5,000.00 for donations made in 2011. That is, for every $3.00 that AMSAT raises, DARA will provide $1.00 up to a maximum of $5,000 donated by DARA.
AMSAT will be conducting fundraising at Hamvention, where donations will count against this goal. Please consider making a donation to AMSAT at Hamvention or anytime this Spring as we strive to meet this goal. We appreciate DARA's support for AMSAT and see this as an opportunity for donors to increase the impact of their donations by taking advantage of this matching program.
This is the 60th year of the Dayton Hamvention, sponsored by DARA (Dayton Amateur Radio Association). As has been the case for the many years Hamvention will be at the Hara Arena Complex on the north side of Dayton. Further information on Hamvention 2011, including advance ticket sales and motel accommodations, can be found at the Hamvention web site: http://www.hamvention.org/
[ANS thanks AMSAT HQ for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.03 May 16 Deadline for Dayton AMSAT/TAPR 2011 Banquet Reservations
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.03
May 16 Deadline for Dayton AMSAT/TAPR 2011 Banquet Reservations
The cutoff date for the AMSAT-TAPR dinner at Dayton is May 16th. You can register at the AMSAT website. As in previous years, we will NOT be selling banquet tickets at the AMSAT booth.
The fifth annual joint AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held Friday evening, May 20, 2011 during the Dayton Hamvention.
The Banquet will be at the:
Kohler Presidential Banquet Center 4572 Presidential Way Kettering, OH 45429 (just south of Dayton).
The price for the Banquet is $30 per person. Reserved tickets may be picked up at the AMSAT booth at Hamvention on Friday, or at the door.
You may make reservations for the 2011 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet online in the AMSAT Store: http://www.amsat-na.com/store/item.php?id=100158
AMSAT Presidents Club Gold members should let Martha know if they are planning to attend the banquet. For additional information contact Martha at the AMSAT office ([email protected]).
Banquet Schedule ---------------- 6:30 PM Doors open and Cash bar is available with Beer, Wine, Liquor and soft drinks.
7:15 PM Buffet Dinner service begins. The Center has a justly deserved reputation for good food and service.
8:15 PM Presentation by David Rowe, VK5DGR - The Village Telco
There are now billions of mobile phones all over the world. However in many developing countries, mobile phones are simply too expensive to use. For example, in a country where people earn $1.50/day, a phone call can cost 21 cents/minute. This is a huge tax on communica- tions.
David Rowe, VK5DGR, will describe how a community of people from around the world set out to fix this problem, using a mix of Wi-Fi and open source software. The result is the Village Telco - a DIY telephone company that anyone can set up.
A Village Telco is constructed from a network of "Mesh Potatoes" - small Wi-Fi boxes that are mounted on homes in a village. They form a mesh network, relaying telephone calls for each other. Each Mesh Potato connects to a regular telephone inside village homes. Phone calls on the network are free. A local person in the Village can be trained in a few hours to set up and maintain the network.
To build the Village Telco we borrowed many ideas from Ham Radio, such as sharing hardware designs and community networks.
The talk will include real world stories of how Village Telcos are helping people in several developing countries, and explain why a simple phone call that we take for granted can be so important.
[ANS thanks AMSAT HQ for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.04 AO-51 Batteries Failing
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.04
AMSAT Vice-President of Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA reported the AO-51 Command Team is having a difficult time trying to restore AO-51 to operation.
The current situation is the satellite will not retain the upload of the flight software across eclipse. The batteries are in very poor condition.
AO-51 ground control stations plan a few more things to try, but with eclipses peaking around July at approximately 27 minutes, the long term situation is grim.
There is a brief period around November where eclipses are as short as 16 minutes, but past that it is a long climb to 30 minutes or longer eclipses for many years.
At this time the Command Team cannot provide an estimated "return to service" date. Stations with 9k6 digital capability can listen in on control station attempts at recovery on 435.150 MHz on many passes over the US.
Please support AMSAT-NA and the other AMSAT groups around the world, and help us get new satellites into orbit. Projects like Fox, FunCube, P3E, and Kiwisat need your financial support to keep our amateur sat- ellite fleet flying. You can donate to AMSAT-NA via the link on the front page at http://www.amsat.org.
Keep up with the latest AO-51 Control Team News on-line at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA VP Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.05 Calling all software developers - AMSAT needs you!
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.05
To receive the new BPSK-1000 telemetry format from ARISSat-1, AMSAT has developed demodulation and decoding software called ARISSatTLM. This software is designed to be used with a standard 2-meter SSB receiver. With the advent of software defined radios, we would like to test receiving the telemetry on one of these new devices such as the "FUNcube Dongle" receiver. This would require modifying the software to use an I/Q source and doing the Doppler tracking in software. The ARISSatTLM software by Phil Karn KA9Q and Douglas Quagliana KA2UPW is open source and is available here:
https://svn.sarpeidon.net/suitsat2/repos/ground_station_software
Interested software developers are invited to download the software and see what you can do with it for your favorite SDR.
[ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President of Engineering Tony Montiero, AA2TX for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.06 Dayton Webcast to Feature Interview with Astronaut Doug Wheelock
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.06
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.06
If you cannot make it to Dayton this year you can watch the event via the webcam broadcast by Tom Medlin, W5KUB. Tom had 28 contacts with Col. Doug Wheelock during Expedition 25 on the International Space Station. Tom and Doug will meet in-person with the event to be broadcast on the webcam link at: http://w5kub.com.
W5KUB.Com will start the live broadcast on Wednesday May 18th at approximately 0800 Central Time or 1300 UTC with the webcam mounted in the car for the 550 mile drive to Dayton. They will broadcast the shelter set up on Thursday morning May 19th at Hara Arena at 0900 Eastern time or 1300 UTC. Thursday afternoon they will try to broad- cast the Air Force Museum.
Then they will be live for the entire Hamvention Friday May 20th through Sunday May 22nd.
Tom says, "We will also be giving away over $5000 to lucky winners on our broadcast. All you have to do is be logged into our chatroom and claim your prize when your name is called. We have so many prizes that we will be giving them out every 20-30 minutes during live broadcasts."
This year prizes include:
+ Grand prize FT-950 + Icom IC80AD D-star radio + headsets with mic from Heil Sound + headset and mic from TenTec + Diawa wattmeters + LDG auto antenna tuners + Comet antennas + baluns + communication speakers + weather stations + ham hats + QSL cards + ham plaques + And many other ham related prizes
Last year over 50,000 unique hams followed the broadcast in about 150 countries. Log into the chat room on the web site and chat with us or other hams watching the broadcast. You can also join the ham chat room via your IRC client: server: irc.liveharmony.org then join #hamradio.
Tom concludes, "Watch for our interview with Astronaut Doug Wheelock when he visits the W5KUB booth. There will also be other surprise inter- views and guests."
The http://w5kub.com website on-line 24 x 7, 365 days per year. It will have recorded videos on when we are not live. Come on over and say hello.
[ANS thanks Tom Medlin, W5KUB for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.07 Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.07
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.07
+ AMSAT extends sincere sympathy and best wishes to ISS astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA from Italy upon his recent sad news while in orbit on the International Space Station about the passing of his mother following an illness. She was 78. Nespoli is scheduled to return to Earth in three weeks.
+ A school contact with Greenville was done with the recently instal- led Ericsson radio from the Columbus module on the ISS. The ARISS team has received some reports that the signal may been lower than from past contacts. Please pass along your thoughts on how the sig- nals seemed to be. ARISS had several contacts on Saturday, so if you listened, please tell ARISS how the signals sounded to you. Please post your signal reports on the [email protected] list.
+ NASA has made available for the public a new online collection of images of our solar system and locations on Earth where astrobiology researchers travel to conduct field research. The 90+ images in the collection were chosen for their scientific significance and sheer beauty. The photos can be viewed on the "From Earth to the Solar System (FETTSS)" website at: http://fettss.arc.nasa.gov/ A related story is at: http://tinyurl.com/3wzjve5 (skynightly.com)
+ NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the Space Images Version 2 app for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android is available for free down- load from: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/apps/spaceimages/index.cfm The Space Images are also available on a web site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/
+ Kazakhstan Special Event Stations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of manned space flight using special callsigns will remain active until May 31. UN50SK (homecall UN7GWC), UO50G (UN2G), UP1ASTR (UN0GL), UP50F (UN7FW), UP50ASTR (UN6GK), UP50YG (UN7Z), UQ50G (UN6QC), UQ50L (UN7LZ) and UQ50P (UN7PL). They have also a special award and the rules can be found at: http://un-dx.ucoz.com/index/yuri_gagarin/0-36 (DXNL 1726 - May 4, 2011 DX Newsletter)
+ Here's your chance to dress up your QSL mailings with new postage stamps honoring Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, America's first man in space, and NASA's MESSENGER probe, the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. For more information see: http://tinyurl.com/637uz3n (UniverseToday.com)
+ Something to talk about on 75 meters besides the weather ... Research- ers at Northwestern University have created a new kind of cloaking material that can render objects invisible in the terahertz range. Though this design can't translate into an invisibility cloak for the visible spectrum, it could have implications in diagnostics, security, and communication. See: http://tinyurl.com/3m8uehs (spacewar.com)
+ 70MHz is not an amateur band in the USA, but European stations may try to listen for a new 4-Meter Band Radio Science E-skip Trans- Atlantic propagation beacon from the East Coast of the US. Its operating frequency is 70.005 MHz, QTH is FM07fm, CW emissions. The callsign of the beacon is WE9XUP. Any and all QSL/SWL reports are welcome via email to: WA1ZMS ( at ) ARRL ( dot ) NET. The beacon is scheduled to run 24 hours a day until 1 Sept, 2011.
+ Additional information about the Resourcesat-2, Youthsat, and X-Sat satellites launched on PSLV-C16 rocket on April 20 from India can be found on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/3fh53zt (spacemart.com)
+ A group of Cornell-developed, fingernail-sized satellites may travel to Saturn within the next decade, and as they flutter down through its atmosphere, they will collect data about chemistry, radiation and particle impacts. Three prototypes of these chip satellites, named "Sprite," will be mounted on the International Space Station after the space shuttle Endeavour delivers them on its final flight. The thin, 1-inch-square chips will be mounted to the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-8) pallet, which will be attached to the space station, exposing them to the harsh conditions of space to see how they hold up and transmit data. More information at: http://tinyurl.com/3fs5ks7 (spacemart.com)
+ Dave, KB1PVH is still looking for operators for CT, NH, NJ for the 13 Original Colonies Special Event. If anyone wants to participate send him an email at [email protected]. More info on-line at: http://www.13colonies.info/
+ 'CQ EGYPT' Amateur Radio Magazine from The Egyptian Radio Amateurs Society (ERASD). One of their foremost goals is providing educational programs and materials to promote amateur radio and develop the sci- entific and technical skills of the Egyptian and Arab youth. In this context, ERASD is currently issued an online magazine focused on simp- lifying science and technology to youth in general, and more particu- larly in areas related to amateur radio and satellite. The Magazine articles will be a mix of English and Arabic. The May issue is NOW on-line at: http://erasd.net/CQSUAMATEURRADIOMAGAZIN.aspx
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.08 Satellite Presentations for May 2011
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.08
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.08
Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his "How to Work the FM Amateur Satellites With Your HT" session at the following clubs in the month of May, 2011. ALL are welcome to attend.
Attendees will be shown everything needed to work the FM ham satellites - with a re-occurring theme of, "Most hams already have most of the necessary equipment ... " Attendees should download the four-page tutorial beforehand at ...
... and Clint welcomes pre-presentation questions. Call him at 909-241-7666, or send email to [email protected] .
Chattanooga Tennessee ARC, 7PM local time Thursday, May 5, 2011 American Red Cross chapter 3801 McCallie Avenue Chattanooga TN 37403
Iredell County ARS, 7PM local time May 12, 2011 Julia's Talley House Restaurant Highway 21 North Troutman NC 28166
Palos Verdes ARC, 7:30PM PDT Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Hesse Park Community Room 23901 Hawthorne Boulevard Rancho Palos Verdes CA 90275
West Coast ARC, 7PM PDT Thursday, May 19, 2011 Huntington Beach Senior Outreach Center 1718 Orange Avenue Huntington Beach CA 92648-2478
Barrow ARC, 7PM local time Tuesday, May 24, 2011 Barrow Regional Medical Center - 3rd floor conference room 316 North Broad Street Winder Georgia 30680
[ANS thanks Clint Bradford, K6LCS for the above information and thanks him for his on-going outreach work for amateur radio in space.]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.09 6th Anniversary of HAMSAT VO 52
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.09
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.09
Mani, VU2WMY, Secretary & Station-In-Charge of the Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC at the ISRO Satellite Centre in India released the following statement this week:
"It gives us great pleasure and satisfaction to say that 'HAMSAT-VO 52' has completed 6 years of successful operation in orbit. HAMSAT was launched on 5th May 2005 aboard PSLV-C6 from Sriharikotta.
The transponder and the beacon on-board were never been off the air, even for a second from the time they were switched 'ON'. Looking at the health parameters, HAMSAT is still in good condition and we are sure it would provide fruitful services for many more years to come.
On this happy occasion, we express our sincere thanks to the entire ISRO HAMSAT project team for this great feat. Our thanks to AMSAT- India, Kumar VU2BGS and William PEIRAH for their contributions."
[ANS thanks Mani, VU2WMY for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-128.10 Ben Stevenson, W2BXA Silent Key
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 128.10
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 8, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-128.10
AMSAT has received the sad news of the passing of Ben Stevenson, W2BXA, of Colonia, New Jersey, on May 5, 2011. He was 97. An ARRL member since 1934, Stevenson was also a charter member of the North Jersey DX Association (NJDXA) since 1957, serving as its first president. Stevenson held Satellite DXCC #1, Mixed DXCC #6 (390 countries confirmed) and Phone DXCC #6 (388 countries confirmed). He held WAZ No.1, as well as DXCC on 10 bands, 6 through 160, plus of course OSCAR. At his death he had 225 confirmed on Top Band, all from a 1-acre lot in central New Jersey. He held his call sign con- tinuously for 82 years.
Ray Soifer, W2RS recalls, "Ben was a good friend for nearly 40 years. Ben and I made the first-ever two-way contact by satellite- to-satellite relay in any radio service, using AO-7 and AO-6 in 1975. Ben often said that the secrets of success in DX are persis- tence and consistency. Not a bad formula for success in life either. I'll miss him."
[ANS thanks the ARRL and Ray Soifer, W2RS for the above information]
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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. And with that please keep in mind the ham who realized several reasons why he was getting older ... he realized him and his teeth don't sleep together; when he went to try to straighten out the wrinkles in his socks he discovered he wasn't wearing any; he woke up looking like his drivers license picture; and when his wife told him to suck in his gut he realized he had already done so.
73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org