AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-151
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: * AMSAT-UK shop change * Satellite info * Satellite Shorts * ARRL Presidential Award * "Echoes of Apollo" event. * ARISS Schedule
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.1 AMSAT-UK shop change
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.1
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.1
After several years of running the AMSAT-UK shop, Jim G3WGM has handed the reins to Ciaran Morgan M0XTD. Ciaran obtained his full license in April 2008 and enjoyed organising a very successful ARISS contact between Budbrooke School in Warwick, England and Richard Garriott K5KWQ whilst he was onboard the International Space Station in October 2008. The AMSAT-UK shop has been an important source of funds in the past and Ciaran is revamping the current shop to help it to continue to make a valuable contribution to the funds into the future. The shop has had a policy of only stocking items that are difficult to obtain in the UK and, initially, that policy will remain whilst Ciaran gets familiar with the stock and identifies other possible options. Suggestions are always welcome and a new email address ([email protected]) has been setup. Please send the suggestions in and keep checking the web site for updates. Due to the level of sales of software, and compatibility issues with the more recent Microsoft Operating Systems, it has been decided to stop selling InstantTrack and QuickTrack. WiSP and SatPC32 licenses will continue to be issued from the shop Also, there are currently no books for sale - we are looking at this but suggestions are always welcome. On the hardware front, we have restocked with the ever popular LVB motherboards and we also have a limited number of complete kits for the LVB Tracker unit. Half of the new kits also include the AMSAT-NA enclosure with compatible display unit! We are also investigating restocking the 2.4GHz signal sources from G0MRF and the G7HIA 2.4GHz patch kits - please keep a watch on the website for more details.
The AMSAT UK website can be accessed via http://www.uk.amsat.org/ - the shop is accessed via a link on the left hand side of the web page.
73 Ciaran M0XTD
[ANS thanks Ciaran,M0XTD, for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.2 Satellite info
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.2 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.2
AO-51 will be configured for Field Day with dual repeaters, 1268.700/435.150 and 145.920/435.300. No PL tone is required. Please note that the 435.150 downlink is left hand circular polarized, and the 435.300 transmitter is right hand circular polarized. This configuration will be available for the week preceding Field Day, through the Field Day weekend (June 22nd-28th, 2009).
AO-7 has returned to experiencing short eclipses each orbit, thereby preventing the 24 hour timer from switching modes. AO-7 has been observed to favor Mode U/V (B) almost exclusively during these periods. Please check http://oscar.dcarr.org/ or http://www.planetemily.com/ao7/ao7log.php for the most recent reports of the current mode.
GO-32 still in bootloader status, return of the BBS is unknown.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] /EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.3 Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.3 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.3
+ A compendium of non-ham spacecraft frequencies can be found on-line at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/spectrumreform/Spectrum_Plans_ 2007/NASA_Strategic_Spectrum_Plan_Nov2007.pdf
+ Lately, a growing number of observers are reporting intense "flares" coming from the International Space Station (ISS). During some night time flybys, the luminosity of the space station surges 10-fold or more. Some people have witnessed flares of magnitude -8 or twenty- five times brighter than Venus. (via SpaceWeather.com)
+ A video of the Minotaur launch that lofted the latest flock of cube- sats (PharmaSat, Hawksat, CP6) to orbit can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEf9trI1Hf8
+ Watch for Franco's HB9OAB - CN2AB satellite DXpedition to Morocco between June 27 and July 20. Franco says he favors operation via VO-52. QSL eQSL or BURO via HB9OAB.
+ An online video simulating a flyover of Mars Olympus Mons volcanco can be found at: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/05/mapping-mars-mt.html
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.4 ARRL Presidential Award
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.4 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.4
FRANK BAUER, KA3HDO, RECEIVES ARRL PRESIDENT'S AWARD
On Saturday, May 16 during the forum featuring Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, at the Dayton Hamvention, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, presented former Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, with the ARRL President's Award. Bauer, who stepped down from ARISS http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/03/25/10724/ and Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation's (AMSAT) http://www.amsat.org/ duties this past March, served as ARISS Program Leader and ARISS International Working Group Chair. Since 1991, he served as AMSAT Vice President for Human Spaceflight Programs.
The ARRL Board of Directors voted to create the President's Award in 2003. The President's Award is to go to an ARRL member or members who "have shown long-term dedication to the goals and objectives of ARRL and Amateur Radio," and who have gone the extra mile to support individual League programs and goals. Nominations for the award come from directors and are approved by the ARRL President and the Executive Committee.
Under Bauer's leadership, Amateur Radio activities have been on human spaceflight vehicles, including NASA-sponsored ham radio activities on the shuttle, Space Station Mir and the ISS. Starting in 1983, Bauer led the Goddard Amateur Radio Club team that provided around-the clock space shuttle retransmissions from the WA3NAN club station. These retransmissions provided the international ham radio community up-to-the-minute information during the flight of Owen Garriott, W5LFL, on STS-9 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-9.ht ml and subsequent SAREX flights. In the days prior to the Internet, these real-time bulletins and frequent orbital element updates could only be obtained through Amateur Radio.
"For well over a decade, I have been fortunate to be part of a group that has been leading international teams together to focus on Amateur Radio on the ISS," Bauer told the ARRL. "As AMSAT Vice President for Human Spaceflight since 1991, I have really worked to get this international team to work as one, focusing on Amateur Radio. It is very critical to get all the space agency partners to have a vested interest in making sure we do Amateur Radio right on the ISS. We need to keep the partnership we have with our international team in good stead."
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information] /EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.5 "Echoes of Apollo" event.
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.5 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.5
Commemorating the 40th year anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon July 20th, 1969, many large commercial dishes worldwide will be active "on the air" on 23 CM on the weekend of June 26th (Field Day weekend). At present there are many very large commercial dishes as well as many Amateur radio dishes that will be activated on SSB and CW.
Some of the larger dishes will make a two way QSO between small Mode "L" satellite stations possible. The Stanford 150' dish will be participating using various calls, including W6TE. A list of participating dishes will follow.
W6TE will be on the air and testing the Big Stanford dish at various times... call for possible schedule (559) 260-5511 cell) 73,
[ANS thanks Dave Smith, W6TE and the Echoes of Apollo Event Team for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.6 ARISS Schedule
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.6 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 25, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.6
1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was scheduled for Miyahara Junior High School in Saitama, Japan on Tuesday, May 26 at 11:12 UTC. Speaking in Japanese, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA will chat with the students about life in space.
Mahopac Public Library in Mahopac, New York has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, June 3 at 15:47 UTC. This contact will be facilitated by telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium. This school district public library serves six public and five private schools, with a total of 26,485 served. The library will coordinate this question and answer session with the Putnam Emergency Amateur Radio League.
Kawanishi Seiwadai Community Center in Hyogo, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, June 6 at 07:55 UTC. The community center was established in 1987 and serves the area's 5000 households. To prepare for the contact, children researched the ISS and studied space and the global environment. This ARISS contact will be conducted in Japanese.
2. ARISS International Team Meeting Held
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Team meeting was held on Tuesday, May 19. Topics of discussion included the upcoming face to face meeting in the Netherlands and SuitSat-2 status. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-05-19.htm
3. ARRL Article on Dayton Hamvention, Garriott
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) published a story in its May 22 issue of the ARRL Letter about the 2009 ARRL National Convention, Dayton Hamvention and Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. The item on Garriott covers his presentations at the ARRL and AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) forums, the ARRL Expo, and the ARRL Youth Lounge. See: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0522/
The ARRL Letter has a circulation of 115,000.
[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]
/EX
73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org