AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-326

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: * New Ham Antenna Installed * DQ11APOLLO Activation on All Bands * Next Hudson Valley Satcom Net * Satellite Shorts * ARISS Status - 16 November 2009

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-326.01 New Ham Antenna Installed

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 326.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-326.01

New Ham Antenna Installed on the ISS Columbus Module

ARISS US Hardware Manager Lou McFadin, W5DID says that all the teamwork and effort to expand the ARISS amateur radio station aboard the ISS were successful this weekend when the new dual band 2m/70CM antenna was installed on the outside of ESA's Columbus module.

Lou congratulated the team, "This is an example of what can be achieved by volunteer hams working closely with a space agency. This antenna project was funded entirely by AMSAT-NA and volun- teers who built the antennas for both an ESA experiment and for ARISS. I am very proud of all the teamwork and effort that has gone into this project."

The new ARISS antenna is very similar to the antennas already on the Russian service module. Once the antennas are in place the ARISS team will be working to bring amateur radio to the Columbus module.

In conclusion Lou noted the tremendous contribution from ESA for the experiment, the launch and the EVA making this expansion of amateur radio aboard the ISS possible.

[ANS thanks Lou McFadin, W5DID for the above the information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-326.02 DQ11APOLLO Activation on All Bands

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 326.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-326.02

DQ11APOLLO Activation on All Bands

DQ11APOLLO is a special-event station of the Deutsche Amateuer-Radio- Club (DARC) celebrating the 40th. anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon by NASA.

July 20, 2009 marked the 40th annnivesary of the first manned landing on the moon by the Apollo-11 mission. To celebrate this brilliant tech- nical achievement of NASA, a group of space-flight enthusiast radio amateurs of the Deutsche Amateur-Radio-Club applied for the special- event callsign DQ11APOLLO. It was issued on July 15, 2009 and is valid 365 days. The station will be activated on the mission-dates of the past Apollo flights on all HF, VHF & UHF-bands using SSB, CW, FM and PSK.

The call will be activated during several occasions in 2009 and 2010:

Apollo 12 November 14-24, 2009 Apollo 17 December 07-19, 2009 Apollo 8 December 21-27, 2009 Apollo 14 January 31-Feb 9, 2010 Apollo 9 March 03-13, 2010 Apollo 13 April 11-17, 2010 Apollo 16 April 16-27, 2010 Apollo 10 May 18-26, 2010.

Buereau-cards via DF3JO, c/o Deutscher Amateur-Radio Club-DARC, Germany Direct-cards via DF3JO, Thomas Stinder, Braukkamp 11, 48249 Dülmen, Germany

Preference will be given to cards sent direct with return postage and will be answered directly. The alternative is to send cards via Bureau. The QSL cards DQ11APOLLO will be printed in late autumn with the first delivery expected in December 2009.

Many details are available at the DQ11APOLLO web page: http://tinyurl.com/ylenq3k

[ANS thanks the SouthGate ARC Site and DQ11APOLLO for the above Information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-326.03 Next Hudson Valley Satcom Net

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 326.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-326.03

To all, The next "HV Satcom" net is Thursday December 10 at 8PM (EST), (Or 0100UTC), on the 146.97MHz. repeater, with in echolink node of N2EYH-L. For more info (and download pass predictions go to; www.hvsatcom.org/ The reason there was no Satcom net (Thursday of this week) was that the "97" Repeater went down! Also, there won't be a "HV Satcom" net on Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving evening) Thanks,, Stu

Ballinger (WA2BSS)

[ANS thanks Stuart, WA2BSS, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-326.04 Satellite Shorts

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 326.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-326.04

CUTE=1.7 Satellite Captures Image

Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL reported the CO-65 control station received an image below from the CUTE-1.7 satellite camera. Their analysis indi- cates the image was taken on October 28, 2009 and downloaded this week. The image is from the region around 84.6392 degrees north latitude and was 128.3049 degrees longitude near the north pole.

The CUTE-1.7 image can be viewed on-line at: http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/1_48_caption.Jpeg

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Antartica Planned for Activation on HamSats

Bill, K7MT, is going to work at the McMurdo base (AN-011) between Nov 15 and Feb 20, 2010. He will sign KC4USV mostly on 20m during Sundays. Listen for him in SSB on 14243 kHz, in CW on 14043 kHz or in PSK-31 on 14070 kHz. He plans to bring his Arrow II antenna and a Kenwood TH-7 which he can use also on amateur radio satellites. QSL via K1IED. His homepage can be found at: http://www.mt.net/~k7mt

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Indonesia to Launch Rescue Radio HamSat

The Bernama dot com on line newspaper reports that the Indonesian Amateur Radio Organization called Orari and the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautic and Space plan to launch the ham radio bird next year. But so far the president of the Orari has not revealed the satellite's size nor its orbital distance from Earth.

According to the website, the new ham radio bird will be used to expand the nations ham radio communication network to remote districts. It went on to note that the satellite will play a major role in linking land, sea and air communication for rescue radio operations.

The article also noted that ham radio operators from Orari had become the alternative communication tool. This, during disasters like the tsunami in Aceh and the recent earthquake in Padang.

Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1683

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Call for Papers 14th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference April 23rd and 24th, 2010 Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky.

The Southeastern VHF Society is calling for the submission of papers and presentations for the upcoming 14th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference to be held at Morehead State University in Morehead, KY on April 23rd and 24th, 2010. Papers and presentations are solicited on both the technical and operational aspects of VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal amateur radio.

The deadline for the submission of papers and presentations is February 5, 2010. All submissions for the proceedings should be in Microsoft Word (.doc). Submissions for presentation at the conference should be in PowerPoint (.ppt) format, and delivered on either a USB memory stick or CDROM or posted for download on a web site of your choice.

For further information about the conference please go to http://www.svhfs.org

Thank you, Robin Midgett K4IDC 2010 Program Chair, SVHFS

[ANS thanks SVHFS for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-326.05 ARISS Status 16 November 2009

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 326.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-326.05

(ARISS) Status Report November 16, 2009

1. Upcoming School Contact

Flanders District of Creativity and the Department of Education of the Flemish Government have teamed up for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, November 17 at 13:44 UTC via station LU8YY in Argentina. The groups are partnering to organize the very first congress for kids in Belgium. A conference has been set up with keynote speakers and interactive workshops for 1200 twelve year olds. Dirk Frimout and Sijtn Meuris will give a presentation about astronomy.

2. Italian Students Contact De Winne via ARISS

On Friday, November 13, Frank De Winne, ON1DWN on the ISS spoke with youth from Scuola Istituto Salesiano "Sacro Cuore" Vomero in Napoli, Italy via an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. De Winne answered twenty questions put to him by the students. Approximately six hundred children were present for the contact which highlighted a curriculum of English, astronomy and physics. Prior to the contact, the students learned from amateur radio operators about the history of radio transmissions, radio equipment, the structure and the scientific goals of the ISS, as well as real HF radio contacts with amateur radio stations from around the world. After the contact, an ESA Communication Office representative gave a presentation on the ESA education program and ESA Astronaut Paolo Nespoli was present to meet with and talk to the students. There was extensive media coverage including television and newspapers as well as video streaming on the Web.

3. ARISS Contact Between Robert Thirsk and Montreal Schoolchildren

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held between Marie-Rivier School in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA on Friday, November 13 via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. Sixteen questions were asked and answered during the space chat as students learned about the ISS and work and life in space.

4. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Team meeting was held on Tuesday, November 10. The team provided a status on both the Columbus module antennas and ARISSat-1. See: https://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-11-10.htm

5. ARRL Web Article on STS-129 Mission

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran a Web story on the STS-129 mission which will carry Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) antennas to the ISS and deploy them during the second spacewalk. See: https://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/12/11195/?nc=1

6. ARRL Letter Posts Two ARISS News Items

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted two ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) articles in its November 12 issue of the ARRL Letter. The first item covers the STS-129 mission carrying ARISS antennas to the ISS. The second is an article on the ARISS contact with Garfield Elementary School held in conjunction with the WHEELS NASA Exploration Experience traveling exhibit in Boise, Idaho. See: https://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/index.html?issue=2009-11-12

[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