AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-365

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:

ans-editor@amsat.org

In this edition: * Another Year * 11th SE VHF Society Conference Call for Papers * AO-51 News * ARISS Status - 25 December 2006 * RSGB Proposes Satellite Frequency Expansion in Region 1 * SKN on OSCAR 2007 To Be In Memory Of K7RR

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.01 Another Year

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.01

Well, 2006 is about to be history. Satellite activity should be ramping up in 2007 with HEO birds on the horizon. Our group, ANS, has brought many late breaking news items and wish to thank all those that keep us in the loop to inform our international readers about these happenings. Please continue to do so. From all of us, Joanne, K9JKM, Lee, KU4OS, Dave, G4DPZ & myself, Dee, NB2F, we wish you a Happy, healthy, New Year. Remember, SKN Jan1, '07!

[ANS thanks the ANS News Crew for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-358.02 Call for Papers

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.02

Call for Papers And Presentations 11th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference April 27th and 28th, 2007 Atlanta, Georgia

The Southeastern VHF Society is calling for the submission of papers and presentations for the upcoming 11th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference to be held in Atlanta, Georgia on April 27th and 28th, 2007. Papers and presentations are solicited on both the technical and operational aspects of VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal amateur radio. Some suggested areas of interest are:

• Transmitters • Receivers • Transverters • RF Power Amplifiers • RF Low Noise Pre Amplifiers • Antennas • Construction Projects • Test Equipment And Station Accessories • Station Design And Construction • Contesting • Roving • DXpeditions • EME • Propagation (Sporadic E, Meteor Scatter, Troposphere Ducting, etc.) • Digital Modes (WSJT, etc.) • Digital Signal Processing (DSP) • Software Defined Radio (SDR) • Amateur Satellites • Amateur Television

In general papers and presentations on non weak signal related topics such as FM repeaters and packet will not be accepted but exceptions may be made if the topic is related to weak signal. For example, a paper or presentation on the use of APRS to track rovers during contests would be considered.

The deadline for the submission of papers and presentations is March 2, 2007. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word (.doc) or alternatively Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files. Pages are 8 and 1/2 by 11 inches with a 1 inch margin on the bottom and ¾ inch margin on the other three sides. All text, drawings, photos, etc. should be black and white only (no color). Please indicate when you submit your paper or presentation if you plan to attend the conference and present there or if you are submitting just for publication. Papers and presentations will be published in bound proceedings by the ARRL. Send all questions, comments and submissions to the technical program chair, Jim Worsham, W4KXY at w4kxy@bellsouth.net. For further information about the conference please go to www.svhfs.org.

[ANS thanks Jim Worsham, WA4KYX, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.03 AO-51 News

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.03

Due to a problem with the onboard software the BBS on AO-51 has been turned off. It will remain off until a command station can do a full reload, probably sometime after January 1. When the reload begins, the repeater will also be off until it is finished. Sorry for the inconvenience.

73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

[ANS thanks Drew, K04MA for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.04 ARISS Status - 25 December 2006

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.04

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report December 25, 2006

1. Swedish School Contact Update

On Sunday, December 17, students attending school at Thunmanskolan in Knivsta, Sweden spoke with Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, KE5CGR/SA0AFS, on board the ISS. Hundreds attended the event and half of the 50 connections made to Echolink were from Swedish stations. Many media outlets covered the contact. To view the article in the Swedish newspaper UNT, see: http://www2.unt.se/avd2/1,3908,MC=72-AV_ID=562618,00.html

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) also ran an article covering the event. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/12/19/100/?nc=1

Television coverage may be viewed here: http://www.aftonbladet.se/atv/player.html?catID=10&clipID=13482

2. Upcoming School Contact

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact between the Kashiwabara Community Center in Sayama, Japan and astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria has been scheduled for Wednesday, December 27, at 12:22 UTC. Kashiwabara Community Center will plan and support this children’s event with the two area schools: Kashiwabara Elementary School and Kashiwabara Junior High School. The children will be taught about the ISS, space and amateur radio, and will take a field trip to visit the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Members of JAXA will also be invited to the event.

3. Training Status

On Thursday, December 14, astronaut Tim Kopra and future space participant Charles Simonyi took and passed their amateur radio license exams. Callsigns have since been issued. Charles Simonyi received the callsign KE7KDP and Timothy Kopra was issued the callsign KE5LUT. Congratulations to both!

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.05 RSGB Proposes Expanding Amateur Satellite Allocations in Region 1

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.05

AMSAT-UK reported this week that a number of papers relating to expanding frequency allocations for the Amateur Satellite Service have been submitted by the RSGB to the IARU Region 1 Interim Con- ference which will be held in Vienna February 24-25, 2007.

The preliminary RSGB document is on-line at: http://www.iaru-r1.org/vienna_2007_preversion.pdf

The sections in the above file of interest to the Amateur Satellite community include these:

B01 - Increased Amateur Satellite Service 2 Metre Usage - RSGB Proposes the segment 144.315-144.365 MHz for CW/SSB Linear Transponder Downlinks

B02 - Bands above 275 GHz - RSGB All proposed bands to be for Amateur Satellite Service as well.

B13 - Allocations at 3400 MHz - RSGB Proposes Region 1 Amateur and Amateur Satellite allocation.

B14 - Microwave Spectrum Threats - RSGB Details threats to our allocations

B15 - 23cms Bandplan - RSGB 1240-1250 MHz

B16 - Amateur Satellite Service Spectrum Additional VHF and Microwave Satellite allocations

[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.06 SKN on OSCAR 2007 To Be In Memory Of K7RR

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.06

All radio amateurs, worldwide, are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2007. This year, the event is dedicated to the memory of Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR. Cliff was an enthusiastic and longtime SKN participant on both OSCAR and HF, as well as a perennial Best Fist winner. He will be sorely missed.

Participating in SKN on OSCAR 2007 is easy. No rules, no scoring and no need to send in a log. Just operate CW through any OSCAR between 0000 and 2400 UTC on 1 January 2007, using a straight hand key.

In keeping with the friendly nature of this event, all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for "Best Fist." Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard, just of those you worked. Please send your nomination to w2rs@amsat.org. A list of those nominated will appear in ANS and The AMSAT Journal.

[ANS thanks Ray, W2RS 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 & Happy New Year This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org