AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-172
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: * BOD Nominations * Field Day Rules and SAT status * More AO-7 DX Reported * Rooms Filling Up for AMSAT-UK Colloquium * ARISS Schedule
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-172.1 BOD Nominations
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 172.1
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 21, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-172.1
Per the AMSAT bylaws, those individuals nominated to serve a 2 year term for the AMSAT Board of Directors are:
Barry Baines, WD4ASW Alan Biddle, WA4SCA Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA Tony Monteiro, AA2TX Bill Ress, N6GHZ -- Ballots should be in the mail by July 15th. ------------
ALSO...To All: Please remember that AMSAT has one paid employee. So, if your order is not filled immediately, please be patient.
73- Martha
[ANS thanks Martha for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-172.2 Field Day Rules and SAT status
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 172.2 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 21, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-172.2
AMSAT's Satellite Field Day is held concurrently with the annual ARRL Field Day emergency preparedness exercise. This year the event will take place between 1800 UTC on Saturday June 27, 2009 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 28, 2009.
AMSAT encourages stations to prepare for operations on all of the satellite modes - analog, FM, and digital. The congestion on FM LEO satellites has become so intense based on experience in prior years that we request to limit your use to one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. The ARRL rules only allow one contact per FM satellite to count. AMSAT Field Day rules allow one contact per FM repeater to count. This includes the International Space Station, if operational.
AO-51 will be configured to support Field Day operations. The Field Day configuration on AO-51 begins on June 21 to allow stations to test their equipment and antennas at home prior to the event. The satellite will remain in this mode through June 28.
AO-51 June 21 - June 28 Field Day Configuration FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 Mhz FM Downlink: 435.300 Mhz FM
FM Repeater, L/U (Subject to interuption for telemetry collection) Uplink: 1268.700 Mhz FM Downlink: 435.150 Mhz FM
The full text of the AMSAT Satellite Field Day Rules can be found on-line at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/awards/amsatfd.php
The Satellite Summary Sheet can be found on this web page also. This format should be used for submission of the AMSAT Field Day competition and be received by KK5DO (email or postal mail) by 11:59 P.M. CDT, Monday, July 13, 2009. The preferred method for submitting your log is via e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected].
You may also use the postal service but give plenty of time for your results to arrive by the submission date. Add photographs or other interesting information so that can be used an article for the Journal.
If mailing your submission, the address is:
Bruce Paige, KK5DO Director of Awards and Contests PO Box 310 Alief, TX 77411-0310.
Certificates will be awarded to the first-place, second, and third place emergency power/portable stations at the AMSAT General Meeting and Space Symposium in October, 2009.
[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information] /EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-172.3 More AO-7 DX Reported
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 172.3 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 21, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-172.3
Piraja, PS8RF is pleased to report additional DX via AO-7 following on to his successful Brazil-to-Belgium contact with Jean-Jacques, ON7EQ as reported in ANS-165. This week Piraja was able to copy the CW signals of Andre, ZS2BK showing that a Brazil to South Africa contact is possible.
This contact is also close to the operational limits of AO-7. The distance between the two stations is 4805 miles (7904 KM). Piraja says he can also copy F2IL on many AO-7 passes. He has posted two videos on the web recording these contacts:
PS8RF copy ZS2BK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JUyIIi0s4I
PS8RF - ON7EQ contact: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggNmQqxARWY
[ANS thanks Piraja, PS8RF for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-172.4 Rooms Filling Up for AMSAT-UK Colloquium
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 172.4 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 21, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-172.4
Rooms Filling Up for AMSAT-UK Colloquium
AMSAT-UK Hon Sec Jim Heck, G3WGM posted a reminder to all plan- ning to the attend the AMSAT-UK Colloquium, "If you are considering attending the AMSAT-UK Colloquium at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, UK on 25/26 July, you should be booking soon. The hotel will only hold rooms for us until Fri 3 July, after that date, you may find that there are no more rooms available."
Also please note that so far more than 50% of people attending have booked in for the Friday Night before the Colloquium, and the hotel tells me that they are now getting quite full on this night. So PLEASE BOOK EARLY to avoid disappointment."
Full booking details, including prices are at: http://www.uk.amsat.org/content/view/25/49/
The phone number of the hotel is +44 (0) 1483 784444 and their email address is [email protected]. Please quote reference R0F (That's R zero F) when booking.
[ANS thanks Jim Heck, G3WGM for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-172.5 ARISS Schedule
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 172.5 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-172.5
1. ARISS Contact with Tongfu Primary School, China
Youth attending Tongfu Road No. 1 Primary School in Guangzhou, Quangdong, P.R. China experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, June 11. Astronaut Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ answered 19 questions put to him by the students as an audience of approximately 465 people looked on. Extensive media coverage included seven television stations, three radio stations and ten newspapers.
2. Successful ARISS Contact with Italian School
On Friday, June 12, children from several schools in L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Approximately 200 students and guests, including European Space Agency (ESA) and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) representatives, attended the event. ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti gave presentations on ISS missions and ESA/ASI activities. Astronaut Frank DeWinne, ON1DWN answered 13 questions on the first pass and another 7 questions on the following pass. Many television stations, including CANALE 5 and SKY, radio stations and newspapers provided media coverage. Internet video streaming had more than 6,500 connections.
3. Belgian Students Spoke with Frank De Winne An Amateur Radio operator on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact took place on Friday, June 12 between Vrije Basisschool Terbank-Egenhoven in Heverlee, Belgium and Frank DeWinne ON1DWN on the ISS. Telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium assisted with the contact. Twenty-two questions were answered during the nine minute pass, delighting the audience of 400 children, parents and guests. Four television stations and two radio broadcast stations with national and regional audiences covered the event. During the main evening news, a detailed report on telebridge ground station ON4ISS was broadcast by the national television service.
4. Astronaut Training Status
Astronaut Doug Wheelock passed his amateur radio licensing exam and was issued the callsign KF5BOC. He is scheduled to be part of Expedition 24 along with Shannon Walker, KD5DXB and Aleksandr Skvortsov.
On June 9, Wheelock also received Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) training on basic radio operations.
5. Australia Journalist Takes Interest in ARISS
A local journalist in Kingston, Australia has taken an interest in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) and given great publicity to the program over the past three years. To view her latest article, see: http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2009/20090603-2/index.php
6. ARISS on Twitter
The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently promoting their Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts on their Twitter site. See: http://twitter.com/esa_oasiss.
A U.S. ARISS member has also been posting ISS amateur radio related items to a Twitter site. See: http://twitter.com/RF2Space.
7. ESA Press Release on Frank De Winne's ARISS Contacts
The European Space Agency (ESA) put out a press release on Frank De Winne's Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts. See: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/OasISS_Mission/SEM6SOQORVF_0.html
8. ARISS International Meeting
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Face to Face Meeting will be held on Thursday and Friday, June 18 -19 at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. The team will come together to give regional reports as well as status reports from the program's other committees including education, publicity, operations and hardware.
[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]
/EX
73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org