AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-024 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including 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.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* In Memory of Robert J. (Bob) Carpenter, W3OTC-SK by Bill Tynan, W3XO * AMSAT SKN Winners and Changes for Next Year * Student Internship CubeSat Opportunities in Greenbelt, MD USA * VHF Groups Join Forces to Sponsor "Super Conference" * 2016 NASA Student Airborne Research Program * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-024.01 ANS-024 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 024.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE January 24, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-024.01
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In Memory of Robert J. (Bob) Carpenter, W3OTC-SK by Bill Tynan, W3XO
Bob, a longtime friend, one-time business partner and devoted AMAST volunteer became a Silent Key Friday, January 8th. Bob was born July 31, 1930 in Washington, DC.
I first met Bob in the late 1940s on six meters. At the time, we both lived in Silver Spring, Maryland. After a few QSOs we decided to meet and compare notes. I found that, in addition to the interest we shared in the VHF bands, he was very intrigued with FM broadcasting, as I had been for years.
Following graduation from The University of Maryland, in 1951 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Bob served in the U.S. Air Force, at the US Air Force Research Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On completing his Air Force commitment, he joined the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in the DC area where I was employed. Leaving the Laboratory 1955, Bob joined, what was then called the National Bureau of Standards, first in Boulder, Colorado and later at their facility at Gaithersburg, Maryland. In his early work at the Bureau, he was instrumental in the development of technology for passing message traffic via the short bursts of VHF frequency propagation caused by the ionization produced by meteors entering the Earth's atmosphere. When Bob returned to Maryland, he was involved in development of computer networking, retiring from what is now called The National Institute for Standard and Technology in 1992. In 1988, he received the US Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service.
Following retirement from NIST, Bob became available to assist AMSAT, of which he was an early member, holding AMSAT Life Membership Number 21. His knowledge of computers, was invaluable to Martha in keeping the office computers up to date and the various data bases current. He regularly came into the AMSAT office up until the last few days of his life.
Bob was active on six meters up until the time he sold his home in Rockville, Maryland and moved to a retirement facility in nearby Gaithersburg.
In earlier years, Bob did extensive traveling in Europe and elsewhere, his favorite country to visit being France. He became quite fluent in the French language. He went on one DXpedition, journeying to the French Caribbean island of Guadalupe. I, and a number of other six meter operators, were able to work a new country through Bob's efforts.
As mentioned earlier, Bob and I shared in interest in FM broadcasting. That interest blossomed during the late 1950s when Bob rented half of the house I then owned in Rockville, Maryland. After much discussion of the pros and cons, we decided to construct a station of our own. So, we applied for a Construction Permit (CP) from FCC to build a station in Bethesda, Maryland, a nearby suburb of Washington. Bob handled most of the technical work, while I concentrated on the business side. He always has been more adept at the technical side of radio and electronics than I. After receiving our CP, we went to work in earnest to build the station. Finally, in June, 1961, FCC came out with standards for broadcasting stereo. Bob and I reasoned that, for a new station, such as ours, to have any chance of success, it had to hit the air with stereo. Since there was no stereo broadcasting equipment available at the time, much of what we needed had to be constructed by us. This herculean task could not have been completed without Bob's expertise, but on November 12, 1961, only five months after FCC's establishment of standards for stereo broadcasting, WHFS, the DC area's first stereo FM station, hit the air on 102.3 MHz.
Once on the air, Bob kept WHFS on the air while I struggled with the multitude of paperwork associated with running a small business, especially a radio station. Each of us was smart enough to keep our “day jobs,” making running a radio station especially difficult.
We sold the station in 1963, affording Bob and me more time for ham radio.
It has been a great pleasure to have known Bob all these years. I will miss him and I know that Martha and all of AMSAT will miss him as well.
73, Bob.
With thanks to Perry Klein, W3PK, and Tom Pyke, K4DSD, who were responsible for providing valuable information for this tribute to Bob.
Martha at the AMSAT Office reports: "The memorial service for Bob Carpenter, W3OTC has been postponed for 1 week due to weather. It is now scheduled to take place at 7:00 PM on Saturday, January 30th at the chapel of Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg MD."
[ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSAT President Emeritus for the above information]
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AMSAT SKN Winners and Changes for Next Year
Thanks again to all who participated in AMSAT's Straight Key Night 2016, held in memory of Ben Stevenson, W2BXA. The following participants each received at least one Best Fist nomination: AA5PK,. WA5KBH, WA8SME, W3TMZ, W4CVV, W5PFG. Special kudos to Glenn Miller, AA5PK, who received three.
Activity was down this year, for a variety of reasons, some having to do with availability of suitable satellites and some to do with changes in amateur radio in general. Since this was AMSAT's 25th annual SKN, it's a good time to consider changes. While Morse as a license qualification has gone the way of the spark gap, amateur CW activity is as popular as ever. Straight keys and "bugs", however, have found a niche primarily with the boat anchor crowd, and AMSAT's insistence on their use in OSCAR SKN is probably holding down participation. Similar considerations have led ARRL to broaden its annual HF event to include all forms of CW, even computer-generated. The idea is to encourage everyone to enjoy CW operation, no matter how they choose to do it.
So, in with the new: AMSAT CW Activity Day on OSCAR. As with the old SKN, it will be a fun event, not a contest, and will run for 24 hours on January 1. All forms of CW will be welcome. Instead of best fist nominations, all participants will be encouraged to post "Soapbox" comments to AMSAT-BB.
A further announcement will be posted in December 2016.
[ANS thanks Ray, W2RS for the above information]
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Student Internship CubeSat Opportunities in Greenbelt, MD USA
APPLY NOW: Paid NASA Intern Opportunities Summer 2016
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is offering student internship positions for the Summer 2016 semester. Applications are being taken on the NASA One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI) recruiting web site. Go to: https://intern.nasa.gov --> Student Opportunities --> then click on the first dropdown link to start reading all about the internships and the process of applying. There is no need for students to upload a resume in OSSI when they apply. The resume is essentially built through the student's responses to the questions within the online application.
Go to: https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/guest/searchOpps/ to search and filter through the many Opportunities at the different NASA locations across the country in addition to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Search on "cubesat" without the quotes to see examples from which the student may select to apply.
One such Opportunity, "CubeSat Ground Station Development," Is being offered by NASA engineer and fellow AMSAT member Pat Kilroy, N8PK. He is looking for university level students with a course of study in engineering. Electrical or Electronics Engineering (EE) or Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) majors in their junior class or higher this fall are sought for the 10-week summer program. Pat says experience in hardware and certain skills are required, as described in the text of his Opportunity listing.
Open to U.S. citizens.
The student application instructions provide a deadline of March 1 to apply, but mentors have already started to evaluate applications and make their selections. The word to the wise is to get in one's application immediately. Don't wait.
Applications must be made via the OSSI web. Please be sure to include your Amateur Radio callsign under the Special Skills section -- or that you are studying for it.
[ANS thanks NASA and Pat, N8PK for the above information]
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VHF Groups Join Forces to Sponsor "Super Conference"
The Southeastern VHF Society (SVHFS), North East Weak Signal Group (NEWS) and Mount Airy VHF Radio Club (Pack Rats) are cosponsoring a VHF Super Conference, hosted by the Grid Pirates Contest Group (K8GP) and Directive Systems and Engineering. The conference will take place April 15-17 in Sterling, Virginia.
Early registration discounts are available. Conference Proceedings in printed and digital form will be available after the event. Sign up when registering. All registrations include lunch and all-day beverages.
The event will feature an array of forums and workshops, a test lab, and a conference banquet. A microwave loop Yagi workshop will be offered during the weekend at an additional fee. The workshop will explain how loop Yagis work, how to adjust them, and how to build one. Free shuttle service will be available to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum.
A second call for papers and presentations for the VHF Super Conference has been issued. The conference sponsors are seeking presentations or papers dealing with all aspects of VHF, UHF, microwave, and higher. Topics may include operating, contesting, homebrewing, software, EME, surplus, antennas, test equipment, amplifiers, and SDR. Photos are encouraged.
Steve Kostro, N2CEI, and Paul Wade, W1GHZ, are coordinating Proceedings. Direct submissions and questions to them via e-mail.
View the ARRL press release at: http://www.arrl.org/news/vhf-groups-join-forces-to-sponsor-super-conference
[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information]
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2016 NASA Student Airborne Research Program
The NASA Airborne Science Program invites highly motivated undergraduate students currently in their junior year to apply for the NASA Student Airborne Research Program, also known as SARP 2016. The program provides students with hands-on research experience in all aspects of a major scientific campaign, from detailed planning on how to achieve mission objectives to formal presentation of results and conclusions to peers and others. Students will assist in the operation of airborne instruments aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft. They also will analyze remote-sensing data collected during the program from the NASA ER-2.
The program takes place in summer 2016. Instrument and flight preparations, and the research flights themselves, will occur at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California. Postflight data analysis and interpretation will take place at the University of California, Irvine.
Successful applicants will be awarded a stipend plus a travel allowance for eight weeks of participation in the program. Housing and local transportation also will be provided.
The deadline for applications is Feb. 2, 2016.
For more information and to download the program application, visit http://www.nserc.und.edu/sarp/sarp-2016.
Specific questions about the program should be directed to SARP2016@nserc.und.edu.
[ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Jan. 21, 2016 for the above information]
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AMSAT Events
Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations).
*Friday and Saturday, 19-20 February 2016 – Yuma Hamfest and 2016 ARRL Southwest Division Convention in Yuma AZ
*Friday, 4 March 2016 – presentation for the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach meeting in Signal Hill CA
*Saturday and Sunday, 12-13 March 2016 – ScienceCity science fair, on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson AZ
*Saturday, 19 March 2016 – Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Spring Hamfest 2016 in Scottsdale AZ
*Saturday, 26 March 2016 – Tucson Spring Hamfest in Tucson AZ
*Saturday, 7 May 2016 – Cochise Amateur Radio Association Hamfest in Sierra Vista AZ
*Saturday, 4 June 2016 – White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low AZ
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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ARISS News
Sucessful Contacts
Brihaspati Vidyasadan, Kathmandu, Nepal, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign was NA1SS The scheduled astronaut was Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact was successful: Wed 2016-01-20 08:37:04 UTC 26 deg
A telebridge contact via VK5ZAI with students at Brihaspati Vidyasadan, Kathmandu, Nepal was successful 01/20/2016 at 08:37:04 UTC 26 deg. Astronaut Tim Peake, KG5BVI answered 17 questions for students. An audience of about 300 included students from 10 other schools, as well as the British Ambassador to Nepal, the Cultural Affairs Officer from the US Embassy, and a member of the National Human Rights Commission and former Ministry for Science and Technology.
Brihaspati Vidyasadan is a 32 year old High school, located in Kathmandu, Nepal. Brihaspati runs classes from nursery to 100 at secondary level and the 10+2 program in Science and Management at the higher secondary Level. Besides these Brihaspati also runs Diploma in Hospitality Management and Tourism in affiliation with Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (CTH), UK.
Brihaspati is known for its academic excellence. To date Brihaspati has produced over 2000 SLC graduates and over 600 +2 graduates who have achieved excellent academic achievements. Brihaspati has also been awarded the "Best School in Nepal" in 2055BS.
Brihaspati is also known for its co-curricular and extra-curricular activities including sports, debates and concerts. Over the years the school has achieved Inter-school successes in football (soccer), cricket and basketball at national levels. School has also successes in inter-school competitions like debate, elocution and concerts.
For its academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular achievements Brihaspati has been placed among the Class A schools of Nepal by the Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.
Brihaspati staff and students have been known for their innovation in education. The school is reputed to be the first school in Nepal to introduce computer education. Brihaspati houses clubs like Lokopakar, which is a student club that looks into Humanitarian aid. Brihaspati students recently started gThink Inkh, an activity designed using the principles of Extreme Design from Stanford for instilling critical thinking and problem solving skills in students. This program has gained attention of a lot of people in the academia at a very rapid pace.
Brihaspati is located in a 25 acre land space at the heart of Kathmandu within the Balmandir compound. It has academic facility that is of very high standards. It houses the Free and Open Source Research Lab and Ham (amateur radio) facility that students and staff have access to.
Recently during the earthquake of Nepal, one of the buildings of Brihaspati was used by ham radio operators from Nepal and India to coordinate search and reconciliation of families where over 500 families were reunited with their loved ones.
Some local news media video reports are available at
http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/british-astronaut-tells-nepali- students-to-follow-their-cherished-dreams/
http://e-visitnepal.blogspot.se/2016/01/talk-to-astronauts.html
http://nagariknews.com/feature-article/story/52883.html
Upcoming Contacts
A direct contact with students at PSU. Wittayanusorn School, Kho Hong District, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand is scheduled for Sat 2016-01-30 11:06:23 UTC 63 deg.
PSU. Wittayanusorn School, established in 2005, is a Prince of Songkla University affiliated private high school in Hatyai, Songkhla Province, Thailand. The school serves approximately 1,200 students in 7th to 12th grade. The school's identity colors are blue and grey. The blue represents sustainability and grey stands for wisdom. The school motto is "wisdom brings lasting success and happiness". The guiding principle is "our soul is for the benefit of mankind". The desired characteristics of our students are "SMART+" which are referred to scientific mind, good manner, aesthetic appreciation, responsibility and reliability, teamwork, and +global citizenship. Green education is our school's uniqueness which focuses on education for sustainable development.
PSU. Wittayanusorn School is dedicated to create an exceptional teaching and learning environment in which morality is emphasized, science and mathematics concepts are embedded. The school curriculum is designed to maximize each student's potential for critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, community involvement, and responsible leadership. Additionally, the school has been selected by the Ministry of Science and Technology to be one of the first four regional schools of the country to host a special three-year science classroom program for high school level, grades 10 to 12, according to the proactive human resources development project to upgrade the science and technology capability of the country. The selection of students with high ability in mathematics and science for the science classroom program is carried out by the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology and closely collaborated with Prince of Songkla University. Each student who passes the selection will be entitled to a scholarship from grade 10 onwards, and subjected to certain additional criteria, he/she will be eligible for a scholarship until he/she can complete his/her education up to a doctoral degree level.
PSU Wittayanusorn School was accredited with the score 97.02% by the Office of National Education Standards and Quality Assessment on May 26, 2015.
Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled.
[ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
Yuri UT1FG is on the move
For those who chase Yuri in new grids, I received an update that he has left port in Montreal and is headed to Algiers.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT Vice President for Operations for the above information]
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/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 addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information.
73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org