AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-067
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:
In this edition: * 40th AMSAT Anniversary * SumbandilaSat launch delayed again * AO-27 Satellite Comes Back * Satellite Shorts * ARISS Status - 8 March 2009 * AO-51 Schedule adjustment * AMSAT/TAPR Banquet
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-067.01 40th AMSAT Anniversary
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 067.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-067.01
March 3, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of AMSAT's incorporation. AMSAT was incorporated in the District of Columbia on March 3, 1969.
Perry, W3PK who was AMSAT President from 1969 to mid-1980 said, "We filed the application for incorporation 40 years ago on Feb. 27, 1969. A copy of the filing has been saved at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/AboutAmsat/documents/incorporation.php
You can see a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/AboutAmsat/documents/certificate.php
Perry is working with Dick Daniels, W4PUJ to preserve the original AMSAT Newsletters, archived in paper format onto electronic media. Additional AMSAT history can be found in the archives of the "Amateur Satellite Report" Newsletters scanned and converted to PDF by Phil Karn, KA9Q. Phil has these issues posted on his website (with AMSAT's permission). See: http://www.ka9q.net/newsletters.html
As the electronic archive project makes progress Perry will issue a call for one or more volunteers willing to receive scans of additional issues JPEG format via e-mail, perform the OCR work and help us change them to searchable PDF files.
Watch upcoming issues of The AMSAT Journal for articles of AMSAT's roots. AMSAT will also feature 40 years of our accomplishments at the 2009 Dayton Hamvention.
[ANS thanks Perry, W3PK for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-067.02 SumbandilaSat launch delayed again
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 067.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-067.02
SumbandilaSat launch delayed again
The launch of SumbandilaSat has been delayed again, this time due to a technical hiccup at the Russian launch site, Baikonur.
The Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology, Dr Phil Mjwara, told SA AMSAT that the launch agency in Russia had sent a message that the launch would probably be at some time in May this year.
He said that as the launch agency had not been specific in their communication he will not make a public announcement until DST had received full details about the reasons for the delay and a new confirmed date.
It is speculated that the delay is caused by problems of delivering one of the other payloads on time.
Currently SumbandilaSat is still safely at the test range near Bredasdorp.
[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-067.03 AO-27 Satellite Comes Back
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 067.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-067.03
AO-27 Satellite Comes Back
In December, 2008 AO-27 went off the air. The control team members pursued a strategy to drain the batteries in the hopes of resetting the locked up modem. As of a week ago, the bird has rebooted into the primary bootloader.
During February, 2009 the control team has managed to upload the high level software (EOS) to AO-27 after several attempts. They took a week to collect data to check on the battery status and conduct an on-orbit checkout before returning to analogue mode.
As of March 1, 2009 the AO-27 control team reports that telemetry is looking good. During several passes over the US they turned on the Analogue Repeater. This week the control team will continue the data download schedule to collect as much whole orbit data to check on the health of the batteries. So far, it is looking like AO-27 will return to normal operations on or around March 7th.
AO-27 Uplink: 145.850 MHz FM AO-27 Downlink: 436.795 MHZ FM http://www.ao27.org
[ANS thanks the AO-27 Control Team for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-067.04 Satellite Shorts
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 067.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 1, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-067.04
AO-7 UHF Beacon Activates RTTY Telemetry
The AO-7 UHF Beacon at 435.100 MHz has been reported as becoming oper- ational. Satellite telemetry in RTTY format is being copied. The AO-7 70-cm beacon was monitored with very strong signals during February 28 passes and also since then. Some reported the beacon initially sounded as if it was in a two-state mode that sounded a bit like RTTY in idle. Successful RTTY decodes have been accomplished using "reverse, 45, 85" parameters.
AO-7 Command Operator, Mike, N1JEZ says, "This is a pretty significant development. Every time I've tried to activate the RTTY system, all I would get is a solid carrier then the bird has reset indicating a lack of power."
[ANS thanks Mike, N1JEZ for the above information]
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Adrian, AA5UK, will be operating as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman and ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman during his March 25th - April 8th vacation. Current plans are to operate holiday style on AO-51, SO-50 and FO-29. He plans to activate EK99hi from March 25 – 28th, EK99xp and EK99wp from March 28th through April 3rd and EK99kh from April 3rd through April 8th. Most activity will be in the afternoon and evenings.
[ANS thanks Adrian, AA5UK, for the above info]
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AMSAT-UK Colloquium Manchester England - First Call for Speakers
This year AMSAT-UK will be holding their Colloquium from Friday July 24th to Sunday 26th July at the University of Manchester right in the centre of the city and within 200 metres of Piccadilly Railway Station.
The station has direct trains to Manchester Airport and there is also an hourly bus service from the Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
This 3 day event attracts an International audience of those involved in building and operating Amateur Radio satellites and CubeSats.
Details of this and previous events can be found at:
http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium
AMSAT-UK invite speakers, about amateur radio space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for the "Proceedings" document which will be published at the same time but printed papers are not mandatory. We normally prefer authors to present talks themselves rather than having someone else give them in the authors' absence. We also welcome "unpresented" papers for the Proceedings document.
Offers of talks should be submitted as soon as possible; the final date for full documents to be received is late-June 2009 in order that the "Proceedings" document be available to participants.
Submissions should be sent *ONLY* to G4DPZ via the following routes:
e-mail: david dot johnson at blackpepper dot co dot uk
SnailMail: QTHR from http://www.qrz.com/ (enter G4DPZ is the callsign box)
AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on specific subjects will be included in the future call. Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other information to G4DPZ.
AMSAT-UK website http://www.uk.amsat.org/
Join AMSAT-UK online at https://secure.amsat.org.uk/
Colloquium page: http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-067.05 ARISS Status - 2 March 2009
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 067.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 1, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-067.05
1. Upcoming School Contact
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been completed with Padthaway Primary School in Padthaway, SA, Australia on Tuesday, March 3 at 08:32 UTC via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. To prepare for the contact, children wrote essays on space related topics. They chose a planet to analyze for feasibility of life, looked at the life of an astronaut (training, diet, etc), researched an event in space history and created a timeline of important events in space history. Media coverage is planned.
2. Upcoming ARISS Simulated Contacts
Three simulated Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been completed on Wednesday, March 4. These training sessions are terrestrial-based amateur radio contacts using ARISS-equivalent equipment. Audio is expected to be available on IRLP. All times are approximate.
15:15 UTC - Technopolis, Belgium and Andre Kuipers, PI9ISS 15:30 UTC - Ralph McCall School, Airdrie, Alberta, Canada and Chris Hadfield, VA3OOG 15:45 UTC - Ralph McCall School, Airdrie, Alberta, Canada and Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH
3. Fassett Middle School Contact Successful
Fassett Middle School in Oregon, Ohio experienced a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, February 23. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, answered 16 students' questions while over 550 people who gathered for the event looked on. The Oregon school superintendent was also present for the contact. Audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101377) and JK1ZRW (277208) servers. Thirteen connections were made, including 3 link nodes and one repeater, from England, Germany, Malaysia and the U.S. The Toledo Blade and TV 11 covered the news.
To view the WTOL TV 11 story, "Can you hear me now? Oregon students call outer space," see: http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=9889811&nav=menu34_2_4
The Toledo Blade article may be viewed here: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090224/NEWS16/902249...
4. Australian Contact Successful
Chatham Public School in Taree, NSW, Australia, took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, February 25 via telebridge station K6DUE in Maryland. The event was held at the studios of Radio 2RE. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, answered 13 questions posed to him by ten children. John Key, the New Zealand prime minister, tied in to the contact and sent greetings to Mike from the Asia/Pacific region. Thirty-eight radio stations belonging to the Super Radio Network covered the event the following morning. The audio was also fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 19 connections from stations in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Belgium and England.
5. Italian School Questions Astronaut
On Wednesday, February 25, students from 1 Circolo Didattico G. Marconi in Casamassima, Italy participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT. Seventeen students asked one question each of the astronaut. Special guest Princess Elettra Marconi attended the event and spoke briefly with Mike as approximately 250 students, teachers and others watched. Some regional television stations and local newspapers covered the event. For more information, photos and audio, visit the ARISS-Europe Web site: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2009_02_25.htm
6. New York Contact Successful
Students attending Hampton Bays Middle School in Hampton Bays, New York took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, February 25. Students created a mockup set of the ISS from which ten students asked 14 questions of Mike Fincke, KE5AIT. The school's IT department provided live coverage of the contact to all the schools in the district via intranet. Video of the event will be available on the school Web site in the near future.
7. Astronaut Training Status
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) training session was held with Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH, on Wednesday, February 18. Coleman is a backup crew member for Expedition 20.
On Tuesday, February 24, two successful simulated ARISS contacts took place. The first was held between students at the European Space Center, Belgium and Frank DeWinne, ON1DWN. The second was held between the Manordale Public School children in Canada and Bob Thirsk, W5/VA3CSA.
8. ARRL Announces Dayton Hamvention Guest Speaker
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran an article about the upcoming ARRL National Convention to be held at the Dayton Hamvention in May. Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, will attend the event and spend time in the ARRL EXPO area greeting visitors. He will also speak at the Hamvention forum. See: https://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/02/21/10660/?nc=1
The ARRL Letter also ran the story, "ARRL National Convention to Feature Richard Garriott, W5KWQ." See: https://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0227/
ARRL's web feature called "ARRL in Action" for the month of March includes an entry on Richard's attendance at the ARRL National Convention (Dayton Hamvention) May 15-17.
The ARRL Web site has 100,000 regular readers; the e-newsletter has a circulation of 115,000.
9. Richard Garriott, Keynote Speaker at AMSAT Banquet
The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) announced that Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, will be the keynote speaker at the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet during Dayton Hamvention 2009. The banquet will be held on May 15. Richard will also give a talk at the AMSAT forum on Saturday, May 16. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php
10. AMSAT Story on SuitSat Meeting
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team held a SuitSat-2 meeting on Friday - Sunday, February 20 - 22 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) posted a story summarizing the meeting. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php
11. Amateur Radio Newsline Covers ARISS Contact
On February 27, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report #1646 covered the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with South Park Elementary Center. The report may be found here: http://www.arnewsline.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=18&a...
[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-067.06 AO-51 Scehdule Adjustment
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 067.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-067.06
We've made a few tweaks to the schedule to accommodate the G3VZV cruise, at the request some South African operators, and to correct an uplink frequency for the SSTV mode.
The new schedule, as posted at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php :
March 2009 AO-51 Schedule
All modes using the 435.150 downlink are subject to interruption for telemetry collection by a command station.
March 2nd - March 9th
FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM
FM Repeater, V(SSB)/U Uplink: 145.880 MHz SSB Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM
March 9th - March 16th
Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM
9k6 BBS, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz 9k6 FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz 9k6 FM
March 16th - March 23rd
FM Repeater, V/S Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM Downlink: 2401.200 MHz FM
FM Repeater V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM
March 23rd - March 30th
FM Repeater V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM
FM Repeater V/U SSTV Uplink: 145.860 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM
73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA for the above info]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-067.07 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 067.07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-067.07
Reservations for the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet are now available through the AMSAT Store. Richard Garriott, W5KWQ will be the Banquet speaker. He will also give a short talk during the Saturday AMSAT Forum and spend some time at the AMSAT booth. Richard has many interests in additon to his amateur radio work aboard the ISS. Be sure and read his Wikipedia bio to learn of his numerous accomplishments. Information about AMSAT Activities during Hamvention 2009 are being posted to the AMSAT web site. Use the Dayton Hamvention link on the AMSAT front page left hand navigation.
[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM, 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, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org