AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-045
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. This is your chance to join in the ranks of AMSAT. There is still an opening or two for someone to step in and assist with the ANS editing process. If you are interested, please drop a line to Joanne Maenpaa, [email protected]. There are many other volunteer slots and you can find them in the advertisement in the AMSAT Journal. It takes many helpful hands to keep our group well oiled. (ed.)
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In this edition: * 36th Annual Eastern VHF/UHF Conference * LORAN C Shutdown * HO-68 Schedule * Arecibo Dish to be Activated on Amateur Radio EME * W6ZH, Silent Key * ARISS Status - 8 February 2010
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-045.01 36th Annual Eastern VHF/UHF Conference
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 045.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 14, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-045.01
36th Annual Eastern VHF/UHF Conference
The 36th Annual Eastern VHF/UHF Conference will be on April 16-18, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Enfield, CT. The NorthEast Weak Signal Group (NEWS) is calling for the submission of papers and presentations. Papers and presentations are solicited on both the technical and opera- tional aspects of VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal amateur radio.
We will have a Hospitality Suite for early arrivals on Friday Evening starting at 7:00PM to 11:00 PM. Conference registration will begin on Saturday at 7:30 AM and talks and band sessions will start at 8:30 AM. A banquet dinner, Triva quiz and prize raffles will begin at 7:00 PM. On Sunday an outdoor flea market, weather permitting, will begin at 8:00 to 11:00 AM. Starting this year flea market admission will be FREE for both buyers and sellers of VHF and above relate equipment items only. Compliments of Greg WA1VUG and R&S we will have the following test capa- bilities up to 50 GHz.
Registration is now open for this years conference. A block of Hotel Rooms is available at the Crowne Plaza, Enfield under the NEWS group for $99. The latest conference news can be found on-line at: http://www.newsvhf.com/vhfconf.html
[ANS thanks Bruce, N2LIV Conference Chairman for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-045.02 LORAN C Shut Down
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 045.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 14, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-045.02
LORAN-C shut down On February 8 the U.S Coast Guard shut down the Loran-C a navigation system that has been in use since World War II.
LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) made use of a network of Low Frequency (LF) radio transmitters and the receivers used these multiple signals to determine the location and speed of the vessel. It has served mariners and aviators well for over 60 years.
President Obama has called the system obsolete, saying it is no longer needed in an age in which Global Positioning System devices are nearly ubiquitous in cars, planes and boats.
Running Loran-C is claimed to cost the Federal Government about $38 million a year but shutting it down means there is no longer a back-up system for GPS.
[ANS thanks Southgate news service for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-045.03 HO-68 Schedule
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 045.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 14, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-045.03
14 Feb. 2010, Linear Transponder ======================================= 01:37...Turn On FM/Digital Transponder North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 01:52...Turn Off
08:40...Turn On Europe,Africa 09:20...Turn Off
19:15...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 20:00...Turn Off
15 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder ======================================= 00:25...Turn On South America, NA 01:05...Turn Off
03:03...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 03:18...Turn Off
06:10...Turn On
NA,North Asia,Middle East,Europe,Africa 06:55...Turn Off
15:25...Turn On
Middle Asia,India,Europe,NA 16:10...Turn Off
18:45...Turn On
Africa,Europe,NA 19:30...Turn Off
16 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder ======================================= 01:55...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 02:35...Turn Off
11:00...Turn On Oceania,South Asia, East Asia,North Asia,Europe 11:40...Turn Off
15:25...Turn On NA,South America 15:55...Turn Off
16:50...Turn On India,Middle East,Europe,NA 17:35...Turn Off
20:15...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 21:00...Turn Off
17 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder ======================================= 02:24...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:39...Turn Off
10:45...Turn On Oceania,East Asia,North Asia,Europe 11:30...Turn Off
15:10...Turn On Europe,NA,South America 15:40...Turn Off
18:30...Turn On India,Middle East,Africa,Europe,NA 19:15...Turn Off
20:10...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 20:55...Turn Off
18 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder ======================================= 02:17...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:32...Turn Off
03:10...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 03:55...Turn Off
10:25...Turn On Oceania, South Asia, East Asia, North Asia,Europe 11:10...Turn Off
16:15...Turn On India,Middle East Asia,Europe,NA, 17:00...Turn Off
19:40...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA, 20:25...Turn Off
19 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder ======================================= 01:54...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:10...Turn Off
02:50...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 03:35...Turn Off
14:35...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia,Europe 15:05...Turn Off
19:35...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 20:20...Turn Off
23:20...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia,East Asia 24:05...Turn Off
20:00...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA,North Asia 20:45...Turn Off
20 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder ======================================= 01:34...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 01:49...Turn Off
02:35...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 03:20...Turn Off
08:45...Turn On North Asia, Europe,Africa 09:25...Turn Off
19:05...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 19:50...Turn Off
21 Feb. 2010, FM/Digital Transponder ======================================= 01:27...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 01:41...Turn Off
02:20...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 03:00...Turn Off
08:30...Turn On North Asia,Europe,Africa 09:10...Turn Off
11:25...Turn On Oceania 11:40...Turn Off
73 Alan Kung, BA1DU HO-68(XW-1) Project Manager www.camsat.cn
[ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU HO-68(XW-1) Project Manager for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-045.04 Arecibo Dish to be Activated on Amateur Radio EME
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 045.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 14, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-045.04
Arecibo Dish to be Activated on Amateur Radio EME
While this item is not satellite related it may provide our ANS readers with a unique opportunity to utilize modest UHF and 1296 stations to copy EME signals. A large OSCAR-class antenna array equipped station may be able to participate.
Echoes of Apollo EME 2010 or World Moon Bounce Day, is scheduled for the weekend of April 16, 17, and 18. This year, EOA has been graced with a special opportunity to use the Arecibo Dish as the ultimate "big gun" station on 432 MHz SSB & CW. EME operation on 1296 MHz may also be possible. Arecibo has more than 50 dbi gain on 432 MHz so the team thinks it can be heard with modest equip- ment.
[ANS thanks the Echoes of Apollo project for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-045.05 W6ZH, Silent Key
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 045.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 14, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-045.05
It is with much sadness that AMSAT notes the passing on Feb.4 of Herbert "Pete" Hoover III, W6ZH at his home in San Marino, CA. Pete was the grandson of former President Herbert Hoover. Pete's W6ZH call was inherited from his father who served as ARRL President; Pete's original call was W6APW. He was AMSAT Life Member #65.
In the 1970's, Pete and Bill Eitel (W6UF) saw that AMSAT and amateur satellites were a significant wave of amateur radio's future. In addition to making substantial contributions, they worked with the ARRL to form the ARRL Foundation in 1976. Beginning in 1978 Pete served on the ARRL Long Range Planning Committee.
I remember the hospitality Pete and his wife Meridith showed to Jan King (W3GET) and me on several occasions when we dropped by his home in San Marino to discuss AMSAT's future.
Pete was always very active in the American Red Cross. When the Pacsat concept was being developed, Harold Price (NK6K) and I called on Pete at the Hoover Foundation offices to discuss the concept of a store-and-forward messaging satellite to provide medical communications to a remote area. At Pete's instigation, we began working with VITA (Volunteers in Technical Assistance) and our Pacsat concept bore fruit when UoSAT-3 was re-badged as Healthsat-1 (see http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/healthsat-2.htm).
I last saw Pete at Dayton two years ago. I was in the chow line when I heard a "Hey Tom" from a nearby table. Pete was spending most of his time at his retirement home on Maui and he looked very fit and had an incredible tan! While I was munching on a hamburger we has a great face-to-face QSO. He told me that he was still on the air, now using an Elecraft radio.
I'll miss Pete's enthusiasm and friendship. I could always count on his thoughtful advice.
73 de Tom, K3IO (ex W3IWI)
[ANS thanks Tom, K3IO, for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-045.06 ARISS Status - 8 February 2010
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 045.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 14, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-045.06
1. Astronaut T. J. Creamer Enjoys ARISS Contact with Riley Ave. Students
On Tuesday, February 2, astronaut Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI spoke with Riley Avenue Elementary School students through an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. The Calverton, New York youth spent weeks preparing for the contact, studying space and the solar system during Science and creating rockets and robots in Art class. The Peconic Amateur Radio Club helped coordinate the contact and provided the equipment used. A Riley fourth grader and newly licensed ham acted as the control operator during the contact.
2. Principal has Good Memories of First ARISS Contact
The first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held between Bill Shepherd on the ISS and students attending Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois on December 21, 2000. Recently Burbank's principal made the comment, "I continue to feel that the contact and the follow-up visit were by far my best experiences as an educator," which says much about the program and its effect on those who participate. The school continues to display a plaque commemorating the ARISS event in its lobby.
3. ISS Ham Debrief Held with Frank De Winne
Expedition 20/21 astronaut Frank DeWinne, ON1DWN participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) debrief session on Thursday, February 4, 2010. The feedback provided will help ARISS update program operations.
4. ARISSat-1 Status Report Posted
AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) posted an article on the status of ARISSat-1. To view "Building the First US ARISSAT-1 Flight Unit Begins," see: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php
[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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.
73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org