AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-251

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@amsat.org

*************************************************************** *** 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting *** *** October 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia *** *** http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2008/index.php *** ***************************************************************

In this edition:

* Reminder! Symposium Registration and BoD Ballots * AO-51 Software Reloaded, Satellite is Operational * AO-16 Recovered * PNWVHFS Conference October 3-5 * Satellite Shorts From All Over * ARISS Status Report for the Week of September 2, 2008

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-251.01 Reminder! Symposium Registration and BoD Ballots

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 251.01

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

September 7, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-251.01

Two AMSAT deadlines are approaching quickly!

After Monday, September 8, 2008 the registration fee for the 2008 Space Symposium and Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia increases from $40 to $45. Registration at the door will be $50 over the October 24-26 weekend.

See http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2008/index.php for all of the latest Symposium information and to register!

September 15 is the deadline to return your ballot for the AMSAT-NA Board of Director's election.

[ANS thanks AMSAT HQ for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-251.02 AO-51 Software Reloaded, Satellite is Operational

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 251.02

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

September 7, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-251.02

AO-51 experienced a software crash on August 28 and command stations have been working to reload the spacecraft software. AMSAT-NA VP Oper- ations, Drew KO4MA, provided progress reports during the reloading pro- cedures. On September 2 Drew reported, "AO-51 will be unavailable for a few days beginning Tuesday morning EDT. The command team needs to reload part of the spacecraft operating software."

Gould, WA4SXM reported from the AO-51 Command Station that, "The soft- ware crashed during the start procedure of the PL tone task late in the evening of September 3. The command team has reloaded the software and setup the repeater and the BB. Both the AO-51 repeater and the BB are active again as of September 5."

Here is the AO-51 schedule for the remainder of September 2008:

September 8 - September 14

FM Repeater, L/S Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM Downlink: 2401.200 MHz FM

FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM

September 15 - September 21 College Radio Night is September 18!

FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM

9k6 BBS and Telemetry Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM

September 22 - September 28

FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM

FM Repeater, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM

September 29 - October 5

FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM

9k6 BBS and Telemetry Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM

[ANS thanks the AO-51 Command Team for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-251.03 AO-16 Recovered

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 251.03

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

September 7, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-251.03

AMSAT-NA VP Operations, Drew KO4MA reported this week, "It looks like the temperature has come up enough on AO-16 so that the watchdog problem has gone away. On September 1, I turned the satellite on collected some telemetry, and then commanded it into bent pipe mode which is VHF-FM up and DSB-UHF down."

The command team will monitor http://oscar.dcarr.org/ and amsat-bb. If the satellite goes quiet they will endeavor to restart it as soon as possible. Occasional interruptions to gather telemetry are likely.

Just as a reminder, AO-16 now operates as a cross mode, cross band voice repeater, with an uplink on 145.920 FM. The downlink is reduced carrier AM, similar to double sideband, on 437.026. Most stations find receiving the downlink on USB works best.

Work is continuing to predict how long this latest period of operation may last, but initial estimates are around 2-3 months total, symmetric around a period of continuous illumination in October. There may not be another opportunity after this one, as the satellite will generally head towards longer eclipses (and lower temperatures) for several years.

[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-251.04 PNWVHFS Conference October 3-5

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 251.04

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

September 7, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-251.04

You are invited to join Pacific Northwest weak signal VHF, UHF and Microwave operators at the Best Western Lake Front Hotel and Con- ference Center in Moses Lake, Washington, for the Annual Pacific Northwest VHF Conference October 3-5, 2008. Membership in PNWVHFS is not required for conference attendance.

This year will feature a great line up of speakers and programs including our keynote speaker Joe Taylor, K1JT, Nobel Laureate and "father" of WSJT, Software for VHF Meteor-Scatter Communication.

The list of presentations includes: + Lyle Johnson, KK7P, co-founder Tucson Amateur Packet Radio, Dayton Hamvention Technical Excellence Award winner 1984, currently employed by Elecraft and consulting in the broadcast and space industries, and HPSDR project. + Sean Kutzko, KX9X, ARRL Contest Branch Manager + Eric Schwarz, WA6HHQ, Elecraft

All of the conference information is available on-line at: http://www.pnwvhfs.org/administration/conference.htm

[ANS thanks the PNWVHFS for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-251.05 Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 251.05

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

September 7, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-251.05

+ Mak SV1BSX reported this week that Joe, K3SZH and Fabio PY4AJ have set a confirmed distance record of 7438 km via AO-7. See: http://sv1bsx.50webs.com/oscardx/ao7-dx.html for more info.

+ For stations in Europe watch for Juan Antonio, EA4CYQ operating portable via AO-51 and AO-27 from western Spain (IM76qm).

+ Drew, KO4MA is collecting data on successful AO-40 portable-type stations. He would like hear what worked and what didn't work for a portable-throw-it-in-a-suitcase type setup. He is also inter- ested in hearing description of your CC&R evading driveway or back- yard setups, for either U/S or L/S. If you have any photos and/or descriptions of your setup, please forward them to Drew at ko4ma@amsat.org, or point him to a link if you have them on the web.

+ AMSAT Area Coordinator, Ken Owen, N6KTH reports that video of a successful ARISS contact is available on-line at: http://nasa.id.ucsb.edu/ (This was recorded by the University of California Santa Barbara) - and - http://sbarc.camstreams.com/ (This was recorded by WB9KMO and is playing constantly on a continuous loop.) Check http://www.n6kth.com for all of the links of media coverage.

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-251.06 ARISS Status Report for the Week of September 2, 2008

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 251.06

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

September 7, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-251.06

1. Upcoming School Contact

An ARISS contact has been scheduled with Prairielands Council, Boy Scouts of America at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, IL on Satur- day, September 13 at 15:54 UTC. The contact will be facilitated by telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. During the event, Scouts will earn the Space Exploration Merit Badge, which includes the Mars Mission Design and the Moon Base Model construction. NASA DLN will assist with teaching these two topics. Scouts will design and launch water rockets and explore robotic technology. Segway of Chicago will assist in Robotics education. Participants will also complete many of the Radio Merit Badge requirements. The local rocket club will provide rocket launches throughout the event, two during the outdoor viewing of the movie "October Sky." The event will conclude with a hot air balloon launch. Boy Scouts (ages 11-17), Cub Scouts (ages 6-10), and adult volunteers have been invited to the event. The Space Jam- boree has attracted the attention of regional media outlets. Four television stations, radio stations, and local newspapers are planning features on the Space Jamboree.

2. Swiss Contact Successful

On Saturday, August 30, youth attending Schulehaus Feld 1 in Richterswil, Switzerland participated in a successful ARISS contact via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. To prepare for the event, children produced drawings, plays, research papers and multimedia products which were dis- played the day of the contact. More than 500 students, parents, teachers and visitors gathered in the sports hall to watch as 21 students posed questions to Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ, aboard the ISS. Additionally, an audio link was set up outside the sports hall for other visitors to listen in. Two television stations (SF DRS Aktuell Schweizer Fernsehen, Regional Fernsehen Tele Zürich), one radio station (Radio Zürichsee) and three newspapers (Zürichsee Zeitung, Neue Zürcher Zeitung NZZ, Tages-Anzeiger) covered the event. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT server, which received 12 connections, and also into Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Reflector 9010.

3. ARISS Presentation Given at CLC Conference

The Challenger Learning Center (CLC) Lead Flight Directors Conference was held in Wellington, Kansas on August 24 - 28. An ARISS presentation was given during the conference on August 27, covering the ARISS program and the school application process.

[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, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org