AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-038
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: * FO-29 Status Update * AMSAT Activities at Orlando Hamcation * First call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2010 * Satellite Presentation at Palm Springs Desert RATS Meeting * ARISS Status - 1 February 2010
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-038.01 FO-29 Status Update
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 038.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 7, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-038.01
The JARL FO-29 command team reported on the status of FO-29 this week. After long eclipse periods caused a negative power budget on FO-29 in early November, 2009 which took it off the air temp- orarily the command team switched the satellite from continuous operation to scheduled operations. This allows the command team to monitor the state of the battery charge aboard the spacecraft and adjust operations as required.
Since the last commanded power up of the analog transponder on January 27, 2010 the command team has received reports worldwide which indicate that FO-29 has been able maintain continuos oper- ation. The power budget aboard the spacecraft is improving as the eclipse periods decrease.
If the power budget decreases too much the satellite will auto- matically power down. The JARL command team requests telemetry reports (either direct or posted via the amsat-bb) from stations that may have data from January 27 to January 28. Additionally, if you find the transponder is off during a scheduled ON period please report this to the command team as well.
JARL places no restrictions on the use of FO-29 during scheduled operation periods except to remind satellite ground stations to transmit with as low as uplink transmitter power as possible.
[ANS thanks thanks Yutaka Murata, JA1COU and the JARL command team for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-038.02 AMSAT Activities at Orlando Hamcation
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 038.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 7, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-038.02
AMSAT will once again have a major presence at the Orlando Hamcation (http://www.hamcation.com),which takes place next weekend, 12-14 FEB at the Central Fairgrounds, 4603 West Colonial Drive, Orlando. AMSAT Team leader for Hamcation, Dave Jordan, AA4KN, reports that AMSAT will have a booth at the same location as in prior years (Booth 83 and 84) in the main commercial area. A satellite station will be operating and satellite demonstrations are planned. Stop by the booth to get a list of scheduled satellite passes on Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. Those who have attended Hamcation in past years will remember the satellite antenna trailer maintained by the Lake Monroe Amateur Radio Society (LMARS); this will be in operation again this year by AMSAT.
An AMSAT Forum is scheduled from 1000-1100 on Saturday morning in the 'Bubble Buildiing.' Presenters will include: AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW AMSAT Chief Scientist and Board Member Tom Clark, K3IO AMSAT VP-Operations and Board Member Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA ARISSat-1 Program Manager and Board Member Gould Smith, WA4SXM, and ARISS Hardware Manager and Board Member Lou McFadin, W5DID
Presentations will cover a variety of topics, including an AMSAT Status report which will discuss AMSAT's strategic direction and focus on LEO satellites, an update on current satellite operations, and an update on ARISSat-1 which is expected to deploy from the International Space Station in late 2010.
In addition to the operational satellite station, ARISSat-1 RF hardware will be demonstrated at the booth. AMSAT members and others are also encouraged to stop by the AMSAT booth to ask questions and meet with members of the AMSAT Leadership Team.
[ANS thanks Barry, WD4ASW, for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-038.03 First call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2010
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 038.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 7, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-038.03
This is the first call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2010 which will be held at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, UK (same venue as in 2009) on *Sat 31st Jul and Sun 1st Aug 2010*
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 2010 in order that the "Proceedings" document be available to participants.
Submissions should be sent ONLY to G4DPZ, via the following routes:
e-mail: david.johnson AT blackpepper.co.uk
SnailMail: QTHR from www.QRZ.com
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.
[ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ, for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-038.04 Satellite Presentation at Palm Springs Desert RATS Meeting
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 038.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 7, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-038.04
AMSAT area coordinator Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his "Working Amateur Satellites With Your HT" multimedia session at the February 16, 2010 meeting of the Desert RATS of Palm Springs. All are welcome to attend.
"Tentatively, we'll have a workable pass of AO-51 at 5:37PM that evening," Clint reports. If you would like to show up early, Clint will be working the satellite from the Jack-in-the-Box parking lot at 2591 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, and monitoring the 146.940- 107.2 repeater.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Desert RATS meeting starts at 7PM Palm Springs Corporate Yard 425 N. Civic Drive Palm Springs CA 92262-0331
Attendees should download Clint's four-page tutorial and radio programming matrix before the meeting from ...
And Clint welcomes pre-presentation questions - call him at 909-241-7666, or send email to [email protected]
[ANS thanks Clint, K6LCS, for the above information]
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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-038.05 ARISS Status - 1 February 2010
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 038.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 7, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-038.05
1. JAXA Astronaut Participates in ARISS Contact with Boy Scouts
On Thursday, January 28, JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP conducted an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Boy Scouts visiting the Morioka Children's Museum of Science in Morioka, Iwate, Japan. The children asked questions such as, "What is done to avoid collisions with space debris?" and "Why don't artificial satellites fall on the earth?" Through this activity, the youth learned about the ISS, satellite orbits and amateur radio.
2. Moscow Aviation Institute Experiment Activated
Cosmonaut Maxim Suraev activated the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI-75) experiment onboard the ISS on Wednesday - Friday, January 27 - 29. Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images of Earth and the ISS were downlinked to ground stations. Images received were archived to the ARISS SSTV Gallery. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/
3. ISS Ham Debrief Scheduled
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) debrief session has been scheduled with Expedition 20/21 astronaut Frank DeWinne, ON1DWN on Thursday, February 4. The feedback provided will help ARISS update program operations.
[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, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org