AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-286B

************************************************************** *** 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting *** *** October 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia *** **************************************************************

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: * AMSAT Symposium 2 Weeks Away * More info on XW-1 * AMSAT Awards * SSTV Adventures * ARISS Status - 6 October 2008

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.01 AMSAT Symposium 2 Weeks Away

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 286.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 12, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-286.01

The AMSAT Symposium is only 2 weeks away. Scheduled in Atlanta this year, there are many new ideas and directions the BOD wants to steer the organization towards. Remember, the BOD meeting is open to the general membership. You can sit in the audience and watch the progress of the BOD as they finalize decisions. The rest of the weekend will include a fine lineup of presentations by those "rocket scientists" we've heard so much about. Talk to the various committee members and ask your important burning questions on your favorite subjects. Saturday night is the Banquet for all to enjoy. Join the fun and sign up at the AMSAT website by following the keys to the symposium forum.

Special Note: Daniel Schultz, N8FQV will be that Banquet speaker at the 2008 AMSAT Symposium. Dan will be talking about the upcoming Hubble Repair Mission. Be sure and sign up soon for the Symposium and Banquet, it is only two weeks away. You can count on Dan presenting and entertaining and informative talk and bring along some great NASA photographs. Information and reservations for the 2008 Symposium can be found on the AMSAT web site at www.amsat.org . ICOM has donated an IC-910 to give away to one of the people attending the Symposium, so register soon and attend.

Thanks, Gould

[ANS thanks the 2008 Symposium Committee & Gould, WA4SXM, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.02 More info on XW-1

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 286.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 12, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-286.02

Here are some details about upcoming Chinese XW-1:

Orbit: Sun Synchronous Orbit Altitude: 499km Inclination: 98 degrees Period: 94 minutes

Weight: 35kg Size: 550mm * 350mm Temperature: -20 to +45C Power: Li ion battery: 16Ah Long-term maximum power: 8W Short-term maximum power: 18W

Payload: Amateur radio payload: 5.2kg Youngster's experiment payload: 1.6kg CMOS camera: 0.2kg

About amateur radio payload: Beacon: 435Mhz, CW 20dBm Linear transponder: RX: 145Mhz, TX: 435Mhz, 40KHz, 30dBm FM Transponder: RX: 145Mhz, TX: 435Mhz, 16KHz, 30dBm Digital store and forward transponder: RX: 145Mhz, TX: 435Mhz, 16KHz,

30dBm

145Mhz RX Antenna: 2dBi, 135 degree, LHCP, unpacked by remote control

after entering the orbit.

435Mhz TX antenna: 2dBi, 135 degree, RHCP, unpacked by remote control

after entering the orbit.

[ANS thanks Michael, BD5RV/4, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.03 AMSAT Awards

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 286.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 12, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-286.03

I am catching up with awards that were delayed due to hurricane Ike. If you don't see your name in this list, drop me an email as I might have lost an email or two.

We would like to welcome the following to the satellite community. They have made their first satellite contact and are now members of the AMSAT Satellite Communicators Club.

Cherouvim Christos, SW1EIX Joseph Seibert, AL1F David Worboys, KG4ZLB

The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award.

Robert Netzband, NA2H #467 Allen Vinegar, W8KHP #468 Marc Sullivan, WA2S #469 Peter Carr, WW3O #470 Eddie Lawrence, KF4ZMT #471 David Gendle, K4DLG #472 Tim Lilley, N3TL #473 Dwight Fletcher, N1RCN #474

The following have earned the AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award.

Robert Netzband, NA2H #US123 Allen Vinegar, W8KHP #US124 Luc Leblanc, VE2DWE #US125 Marc Sullivan, WA2S #US126

The following have earned the AMSAT W4AMI Satellite Communications Achievement Award.

Doug Papay, KD8CAO #52

To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com

Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards

[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.04 SSTV Adventures

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 286.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 12, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-286.04

The ARISS team has a lot of exciting activities planned for the next few weeks, including the flight of Soyuz 17S to space station with Richard Garriott, W5KWQ and Mike Fincke, KE5AIT on-board. The following represents some new information and capabilities that we are rolling out to the community to prepare for Richard's and Mike's flight. Please go to www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, www.arrl.org and www.issfanclub.com for real-time information updates.

The ARISS SSTV team announces the new ARISS SSTV Web Gallery and Blog.

A website has been established to enable amateur radio operators to share their pictures received from the International Space Station's SSTV system. People wishing to view photos captured from the ISS or upload their own captured pictures can go to http://www.amsat.com/ARISS_SSTV/. There is also a blog in which the ARISS SSTV Team will post announcements and additional information about the project. The blog can be viewed at http://www.ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/.

To prepare for the upcoming SSTV operations, you are welcome to "try out" the new Web Gallery by posting past SSTV images (on-orbit and terrestrial). These will be deleted prior to the ARISS SSTV events that are planned for this weekend and during ISS Expedition 17 and Richard Garriott's flight (see below).

ISS SSTV Operations Planned for October 12

The ARISS team received word from ARISS Russia delegate Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, that the current ISS crew expect to transmit SSTV on October 12 from 18:00-21:00 UTC. This is your opportunity to test out your SSTV reception capability and to post images on the ARISS SSTV Gallery. The planned downlink for this operation will be 145.80 MHz with Robot 36 as the expected SSTV mode of operation.

Good luck receiving SSTV images this weekend, and from the ISS during Richard Garriott's flight.

Richard Garriott Operations

As stated previously, Richard plans to perform several school contacts and downlink SSTV images during his flight. He also plans to contact the general ham community in his free time and perform random scout contacts during Jamboree on the Air. SSTV downlinks are planned on 145.80. SSTV uplinks are not currently planned. The standard general contact frequencies will be used to support the Jamboree on the Air and general QSO passes.

So that you are not calling CQ for naught, Richard's school contacts, thanks to Will Marchant, KC6ROL, Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, are tentatively scheduled as follows:

Challenger Learning Center Combined Contact #1, telebridge via W6SRJ; on Thu 2008-10-16 16:39 UTC Howard B. Owens Science Center's Challenger Center (Lanham, MD) Challenger Learning Center of Columbia (Columbia, SC) Verizon Challenger Learning Center at MOSI (Tampa, FL) Brownsburg Challenger Learning Center (Brownsburg, IN)

Budbrooke Primary School, Warwick, England, direct via GB4OBS Fri 2008-10-17 11:05 UTC

Challenger Learning Center Combined Contact #2, telebridge via W6SRJ; on Fri 2008-10-17 15:30 UTC Indianapolis Challenger Learning Center (Indianapolis, IN) Challenger Learning Center at Paducah (Paducah, KY) Challenger Learning Center St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

Austin Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy, Austin, TX, direct via K5LBJ Sun 2008-10-19 13:14 UTC

Pinehurst School, Ashland, Oregon, telebridge via W6SRJ Mon 2008-10-20 15:13 UTC

National Planetarium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, direct via 9M2RPN Tues 2008-10-21 08:30 UTC

73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs ARISS International Chairman

[ANS thanks Frank, KA3HDO, for the above information] /EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.05 ARISS Status - 06 October 2008

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 286.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 12, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-286.05

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report October 6, 2008

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Scuola Media Statale Donato Forlani in Conversano, Bari, Italy has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, October 7 at 11:29 UTC. Students have been introduced to amateur radio and have covered the importance of space missions. Media coverage is expected to include newspapers, radio and television.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with Buchanan High School in Clovis, California on Saturday, October 11 at 16:10 UTC. Telebridge station NN1SS in Greenbelt, Maryland will assist with the contact. This event has been requested to coincide with the school’s “Columbia Mission,” a student-organized mock shuttle mission.

Challenger Learning Centers in Lanham, Maryland, Columbia, South Carolina, Tampa, Florida and Brownsburg, Indiana have been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, October 16 at 16:39 UTC. The contact will be made possible through telebridge station W6SRJ in Santa Rosa, California.

Budbrooke Primary School in Warwick, Warwickshire, England has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, October 17 at 11:05 UTC. Students have been learning about space exploration and how it has changed in the last 40 years. Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, intends to take part in this contact.

Challenger Learning Centers in Indianapolis, Indiana, Paducah, Kentucky and St. Louis, Missouri have been slated for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, October 17 at 15:30 UTC. Telebridge station W6SRJ will assist with the contact.

The Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) High School in Austin, Texas has been scheduled for a direct Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Sunday, October 19 at 13:14 UTC. The school is an advanced academic magnet school in the Austin Independent School District and hosts gifted and talented students from all over the District. Ninth through twelfth graders are enrolled in the “SciTech” course in which they develop skills in mechanical engineering and computer processing, and “Planet Earth” which focuses on the dynamic relationship between the planet and its life, tracing it through the Earth’s geologic history. They are also taking “Anatomy and Physiology” and “Medical Microbiology.” Space and space travel has been incorporated into these courses. An elective course in Amateur Radio is offered as part of the curriculum and covers radio waves and frequencies, antenna systems and designs, and satellite tracking and communications. Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, expects to take part in this contact.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Pinehurst School in Ashland, Oregon on Monday, October 20 at 15:13 UTC via the telebridge station W6SRJ in California. Pinehurst is a small rural school with grades K-8. Students have been learning about the International Space Station and the history and technology of space travel. They have also been engaged in amateur radio projects. Guest speakers have been scheduled to give presentations on space related subjects. Newspaper, television and radio coverage is anticipated.

The National Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, on Tuesday, October 21 at 08:30 UTC. The contact was requested for “The National Space Challenge, Prime Minister’s Trophy 2008,” which will be held on October 21-25, 2008. The National Space Challenge is a program that was created in an effort to instill talents and desire in students, especially those at the primary school levels, towards the understanding of space. A total of 32 schools are involved in this challenge, and each school will send two student participants. Students have been building solar system models. They have participated in quizzes and treasure hunts that involve space related objects. They have also participated in public speaking, giving presentations about various space topics. At night, telescope workshops and observation sessions have allowed students to observe and learn more about space objects. Media coverage is planned.

2. Astronaut Training Status

On Thursday, September 25, JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP, participated in a simulated contact during an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) training session. Noguchi is an Expedition 20 crewmember and will fly in November 2009.

3. ARISS Presentations at 2008 AMSAT-NA Symposium

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) will hold its Annual Meeting and Space Symposium on October 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia. ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) Hardware Manager Lou McFadin, W5DID, will give a presentation on the SuitSat-2 status and ARISS Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, will give an update on the ARISS program.

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org

_______________________________________________ Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans