AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-304

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:

* ARISSat-1 Passes NASA Safety Review - Ready For Trip to Russia * Second Amateur Radio Station to be Activated on ISS * ARISS Contact With George Observatory Successful * FP/KV1J Miquelon Island DXpedition on Satellites Until November 2 * FUNcube User Group on Yahoo.com * Finnish Student Satellite Aalto-1 * Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-304.01 ARISSat-1 Passes NASA Safety Review - Ready For Trip to Russia

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 304.01

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

October 31, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-304.01

The NASA safety review for ARISSat-1 was completed with the written safety presentation and the written hazard report being approved with only simple modifications required. The safety review meeting was a two-day review running 6 hour sessions on October 13 & 14, 2010.

The ARISSat-1 Team expects to finalize shipping arrangements to Russia in the coming weeks. The Russian Energia Space Agency is handling the customs certifications to ship the satellite overseas.

When ARISSat-1 is shipped Lou McFadin W5DID and Mark Steiner K3MS will travel to Russia to assist with final testing before the satellite is forwarded to the launch site.

ARISSat-1 is scheduled to be sent to the ISS aboard Russian Progress vehicle 41P in January 2011 and deployed during EVA R-28 in February 2011.

The ARRL web describes ARISSat-1's features this week at: http://www.arrl.org/news/arissat-1-suits-up-for-february-2011-launch A description of ARISSat-1's successful vibration testing can be found on-line at: http://www.amsat.org

[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1 Team for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-304.02 Second Amateur Radio Station to be Activated on ISS

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 304.02

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

October 31, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-304.02

The original VHF and UHF Ericsson handheld radios in the Russian segment of the ISS originally used for ARISS have been approved by NASA for use in the US segment of the space station. When the Ericsson radios are in- stalled in the Columbus module it will become the second Amateur Radio station aboard the ISS. A new power cable for the Ericsson radios is being delivered to the ISS.

ARISS members Kenneth Ransom and Steve Ponder met with Astronaut Paolo Nespoli for a training session on how to install the hardware in the Columbus module during Expedition 26. This launch is currently scheduled for December 13.

Paolo is looking forward to doing the installation work and is excited about using the equipment.

The second station is planned to initially use the same frequencies currently used by the Kenwood D-700 amateur radio transceiver aboard the ISS. Studies are underway to determine a compatible operating plan which would allow both stations to operate simultaneously.

[ANS thanks the ARISS team for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-304.03 ARISS Contact With George Observatory Successful

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 304.03

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

October 31, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-304.03

On Saturday, October 16, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held with scouts and astronomy club members attending the Astronomy Day event at George Observa- tory in Needville, Texas. This was a telebridge contact via station WH6PN in Hawaii.

Approximately 150 people attended and listened as Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC answered 12 questions about life in space posed to him by the youth.

As part of the event, scout troops set up an amateur radio station near the observatory to conduct their all-day Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) radio contacts and also worked on Radio Merit Badges.

The Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club was on hand to assist with JOTA activities and prepared for afternoon satellite contacts with an Arrow hand-held antenna. Bruce, KK5DO and Allen, N5AFV, operated via AO-27 from the George Observatory observation deck. Bruce reported they had a bunch of adults waiting for the satellite. When they heard it start up they were thrilled. It was more fun when they started making contacts.

[ANS thanks the Southgate ARC site and Bruce, KK5DO for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-304.04 FP/KV1J Miquelon Island DXpedition on Satellites Until November 2

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 304.04

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

October 31, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-304.04

A few more days remain to catch Eric's FP/KV1J operation from the island of Miquelon (Grid GN17) until November 2. This is a French territory off the coast of Newfoundland.

Eric planned to mostly operate on the low bands but plans to take breaks and work as many of the FM satellite passes that he can. Look for him on AO-51, AO-27, SO-50, SO-67, and HO-68. His sat- ellite gear includes an FT-817 and an Arrow 146/437-10 antenna.

Having operated from Miquelon previously in November, 2009 he is preparing for rough weather off of the North Atlantic ocean. His satellite operating will outdoors with the handheld Arrow. He will favor the daylight passes because it is easier to operate in these conditions.

Eric's web page at http://www.kv1j.com/fp/october10.html will be updated with his status time permitting and also depending when internet access is available.

[ANS thanks Eric, FP/KV1J for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-304.05 FUNcube User Group on Yahoo.com

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 304.05

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

October 31, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-304.05

AMSAT-UK's FUNcube is an educational single cubesat project with the goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics.

The target audience consists of primary and secondary school pupils. FUNcube will feature a 145 MHz telemetry beacon that will provide a strong signal for the pupils to receive. A simple receiver board, the FUNcube Dongle, is also being developed. It is intended that this will be connected to the USB port of a laptop to display telemetry and messages in an interesting way for the students.

FUNcube will carry a UHF to VHF linear transponder that will have up to 1 watt and which can be used by Radio Amateurs worldwide for SSB and CW communications. Measuring just 10 x 10 x 10 cm, and with a mass of less than 1kg, it will be the smallest ever satellite to carry a linear transponder and the choice of frequencies will enable Radio Amateurs to use their existing VO-52, DO-64, HO68 and similar stations.

Interested amateur satellite operators are invited to join the growing user group to follow all the latest with the Funcube and the receiver board, the FUNcube Dongle. Join the user group at: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/funcube/

A video tour of the AMSAT-UK FUNcube simulator is now available. AMSAT-UK secretary Jim Heck, G3WGM shows the whole structure and the various components of FUNcube. The video is available on the SouthGate website at: http://tinyurl.com/28n424q

[ANS thanks Rob, M0TFO, AMSAT-UK, and SouthGate News Site for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-304.06 Finnish Student Satellite Aalto-1

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 304.06

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

October 31, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-304.06

Aalto-1 is a student satellite project of Aalto University, Finland. When launched, it would be the first Finnish satellite.

It is planned to operate at VHF-UHF and there will also be an S-band transmitter. Up to 8 watts of power will be available from the Solar panels.

The main payload of the satellite is a novel tiny Fabry-Perot imaging spectrometer, developed by VTT, Finland. The primary scientific goal of the mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of MEMS Fabry-Perot spectrometers for space applications. This miniature technology can be used in nanosatellites for large a variety of remote sensing applica- tions in the future. High spectral resolution images can be used for water quality monitoring and land use classification.

Aalto-1 was recently featured on Finnish TV and there is also a short video showing a graphic of the 3U CubeSat. The video clips can viewed on the South Gate ARC site at http://tinyurl.com/2dy4bqg

An Aalto-1 Discussion Forum in English can be found on-line at: https://wiki.aalto.fi/display/SatForum/Aalto-1+Discussion+Forum

[ANS thanks the SouthGate ARC News Site for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-304.07 Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 304.07

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

October 31, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-304.07

+ Congratulations to Bob, AJ5C for earning the ARRL Satellite Worked All States #321.

+ If you are within FM Satellite range of the Indian Ocean listen for possible operation by Matt, NM6W operating as S79RC between 31 Oct through 8 Nov from the Seychelles with an HT and Arrow antenna.

+ Armando, N8IGJ reported hearing UO-11 back on, at 0303UTC 30 October over the central US. UO-11 is only active when in sunlight. Its beacon operates on 145.826 MHz.

+ You can send your name to Mars via the NASA microchip project: http://tinyurl.com/yhaphmg (Clint, K6LCS)

+ Mike DK3WN is spearheading a project that broadcasts audio streams received by satellite operators around the world. Mike's most re- cent addition is Tetsu san, JA0CAW. Links to the satellite audio streams can be found on the DK3WN SatBlog: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?page_id=17689

+ The ARRL's report of the recent AMSAT Space Symposium can be found on the ARRL web site at: http://tinyurl.com/2f3wfoa. ARISSat-1 is featured in this report.

+ AMSAT has received the sad news that Dr. David Clark, G6XYA from Manchester UK passed away.

+ Watch Patrick, WD9EWK/VA7EWK in action in this video clip shot by Adrian, AA5UK working HO-68 in FM mode outside of the AMSAT Space Symposium held earlier this month: http://tinyurl.com/29t7vov

+ Update your Keps for the ISS. The ISS orbit was boosted slightly on October 26 to avoid space debris.

+ AMSAT-NA VP Operations Drew KO4MA has posted a video of ARISSAT-1 and the AMSAT-UK FUNcube dongle receiver demonstrated at the AMSAT Space Symposium: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgNM290k7-w

+ An AMSAT Forum at the Fort Wayne, Indiana Hamfest will be on Saturday, Nov. 13, at 1:15pm. For more info check the following: http://www.fortwaynehamfest.com (KA8QCU)

+ An interesting weather satellite photo of the October 26 superstorm that swept across North America can be viewed on the UniverseToday web site at: http://tinyurl.com/2bhx75r

[ANS thanks everyone 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. And with that please keep in mind the time when Arnold Scwarzenegger was offered a role in a movie about the lives of classical music composers. Arnold said, "I'll be Bach."

73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org