AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-074

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 at the Dayton Hamvention 2009 * Air Force Approves AMSAT Keplerian Element Distribution * Mario Acuña, LU9HBG Silent Key * AMSAT-DC Spring Workshop April 25 * Satellite Shorts From All Over * UT1FG/MM Wet Grid Square via Satellite Expedition * ARISS Status Report for the Week of March 9, 2009

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-074.01 AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention 2009

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 074.01

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-074.01

AMSAT Board Member, Gould Smith, WA4SXM tells of AMSAT's plans at the 2009 Dayton Hamvention will be held this year on 15 - 17 May 2009.

Gould says, "This is the 58th year of the Dayton Hamvention, sponsored by DARA (Dayton Amateur Radio Association). As has been the case for the many years Hamvention will be at the Hara Arena Complex on the north side of Dayton. Further information on Hamvention 2009, includ- ing advance ticket sales and motel accommodations, can be found at http://www.hamvention.org."

See http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2009/Dayton.php for all of the details of AMSAT at Dayton 2009.

AMSAT will occupy the same booths (444-449) in Ball Arena, right across from the ARRL area and just inside the door from the Satellite Demon- stration area. Make your reservations early for all AMSAT activities!

AMSAT has a number of great activities planned during Hamvention. There will be a number of new offerings at the AMSAT booth.

2009 is the 40th Anniversary of AMSAT and we will have many pieces of memorabilia on display highlighting 40 years of amateur radio in space.

SuitSat-2 has been making a great deal of progress this past year. We will have on display all of the modules that will go into the Orlan space suit later this year, and we will be able to demonstrate most of them.

Space Traveler Richard Garriott, W5KWQ will be the speaker at the annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet. He will also give a short talk during the Saturday AMSAT Forum and spend some time at the AMSAT booth. Reserva- tions for the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet are now available through the AMSAT Store. See: http://www.amsat-na.com/store/item.php?id=100158

AMSAT has a limited block of rooms reserved at the Hampton Inn in Fairborn, OH. Please contact Martha at the AMSAT office (301-589-6062) or by e-mail at martha@amsat.org for room price and availability during the Hamvention. Priority for rooms will be given to AMSAT members vol- unteering to work in the AMSAT booth for multiple 2 hour shifts during the Hamvention.

[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-074.02 Air Force Approves AMSAT Keplerian Element Distribution

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 074.02

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-074.02

Keeper of the AMSAT Keps, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD is pleased to announce that AMSAT NA has recieved approval to continue re-distribution of Keplerian elements from the Air Force Space Command data source (Space Track website) for the period April 1, 2009 to April 1, 2010.

Thanks to the AFSPC team and especially to Mr. Mark Riddle for their help in this process.

Ray said, "This means that the AMSAT Keplerian Elements in verbose format and the 2-line format can be freely distributed by those who recieve them from AMSAT. AMSAT's two formats are each considered an AMSAT product and therefore can be freely distributed. AMSAT asks that AMSAT NA be given credit as the source for your redistribution."

[ANS thanks Ray, WA5QGD for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-074.03 Mario Acuña, LU9HBG Silent Key

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 074.03

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-074.03

AMSAT Board Member, Tom Clark, K3IO told AMSAT this week, "It is with great sadness that I learned today of the passing of a long- term friend of AMSAT, Mario Acuña, LU9HBG." Mario was a very senior scientist/engineer at NASA Goddard where he made his name by providing magnetometers for nearly every deep-space and planetary mission since the 1970's.

Tom recalled, "When a young Martin Sweeting wanted to fly magnetometers for navigation on the earliest UoSAT's, Mario was the 'go to' guy that put Martin on the right track. Since magnetometers are biased by metal and electrical currents in a spacecraft, Mario arranged for testing of the early UoSATs."

Tom also recalled Mario's assistance with the Phase-3 program, "When Jan King, Karl Meinzer, and I were trying to minimize radiation damage in critical Phase-3 components (like the IHU and CMOS logic), Mario was our mentor in helping to figure out the best way to minimize damage and teaching us how to apply tantalum to the top and bottom of ICs."

[ANS thanks Tom, K3IO for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-074.04 AMSAT-DC Spring Workshop April 25

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 074.04

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-074.04

AMSAT-DC Area Coordinator Pat Kilroy, N8PK reports on plans for the AMSAT-DC Workshop to be held on Saturday, April 25, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

A small "simulated satellite" kit will be built, tested and operated by individuals attending. The completed kit, soon to be widely known as a PICetSat II module, is a simple remote sensing unit that serves as an expendable high-altitude small balloon payload. It transmits downlink telemetry on the 70 cm Amateur Radio band.

Other attendees will provide and configure radios, computers and software needed to receive, decode and analyze the PICetSat II telemetry.

Pat says, "The format of this year's workshop is an experiment unto itself for the few AMSAT-DC subgroup of members who are attempting to organize such an event for the first time."

He adds, "This workshop may prove to be a fine training opportunity for one to learn the basics of the design, construction, testing, calibrating and operating an earth-orbiting satellite. All of this in one long Saturday of fun!"

The planning sessions are being held each Thursday evening via a toll-free telephone conference. If you wish to help organize or execute the workshop then contact Pat by e-mail for the details of connecting with the group on the telecon at Patrick.L.Kilroy@nasa.gov as soon as possible.

The cost of each kit will be determined soon, along with the admission structure. For example, being evaluated is $90 for a kit plus AMSAT membership if one doesn't already have it. The details of the registration process, workshop procedures and the associated costs are to follow in a later bulletin and on the AMSAT-NA and AMSAT-DC web pages.

[ANS thanks Pat Kilroy, N8PK for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-074.05 Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 074.05

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-074.05

+ The Desecheo Island K5D DXpedition team made its first satellite contact on Friday, February 20th with Andrew Glassbrenner, KO4MA, in New Port Richey, Florida. That QSO was conducted at 20:14 UTC through the SO-50 ham radio bird.

+ Paul 2E1EUB will be active on all satellites from N.E.Scotland for the week starting March 21, 2009. Check out qrz.com under 2M1EUB listing for more information.

+ Graham, G3VZV, has onboard the ship MV Minerva since March 7 which is visiting the islands off lying Antarctica. The schedule included visits to South Georgia (VP8) on March 12 &13th and Tristan da Cunha (ZD9) on March 18 & 19th before arriving in Cape Town on March 24th. Activity is planned via SO50, AO51 and the ISS (if available) from the ship and, if licences can be obtained, from the islands. He will be taking FM handhelds and an Arrow antenna and hopes to have some internet access which can be used to arrange skeds if asked. Contact info is: graham_at_shirville.com

+ Adrian, AA5UK, will be operating as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman and as ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman during his March 25th - April 8th vacation on AO-51, SO-50 and FO-29.

+ QSLs for the W5ACM/C6A/MM Western Caribbean Cruise 2009 started shipping on March 2, 2009. Operators/participants for this event included W5ACM, WB5RMA, WA5TWT and WA5WOD.

+ Go to http://tinyurl.com/c8jjzx for more information on how you can submit your suggestion to help NASA name the next ISS Module. (UniverseToday.com)

+ Mark, N8MH plans to host an AMSAT table at RARSFest in Raleigh, NC on Saturday, April 11, 2009. He is recruiting help to staff the table and to answer questions. Please contact Mike directly at: N8MH at AMSAT dot ORG if you can help. Details for RARSFest can be found at: http://www.rars.org/hamfest/

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-074.06 UT1FG/MM Wet Grid Square via Satellite Expedition

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 074.06

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-074.06

Captain Yuri of the MV Bluebill announced he will be operating as UT1FG/MM from his ship April through June, 2009. His sea voyage will take him from Northern Europe, across the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico up to the Mississippi River, then southward toward Mexico and Central America. Yuri says his current plans are to operate on AO-27, AO-51, SO-50, VO-52, FO-29, and AO-7. Over the past two years he already has logged many North American stations from his ship operations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. QSL via home call UT1FG.

[ANS thanks Yuri, UT1FG for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-074.07 ARISS Status Report for the Week of March 9, 2009

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 074.07

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-074.07

1. School Contacts

An ARISS contact was held with the Da Vinci Science Center in Allen- town, Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 14 via telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Students submitted questions to ask the ISS crew through the Center's Teacher Leader Institute. Eighteen students with the best questions were selected to speak with the astronaut and all students were invited to attend this educational activity.

Parkside Community College in Parkside, Cambridge, U.K. has been scheduled for an ARISS contact on Monday, March 30 at 16:54 UTC. Station GB4FUN will handle the connection.

The Girls' Middle School (GMS) in Mountain View, California has been scheduled for an ARISS contact on Monday, March 30 at 18:16 UTC via telebridge station K6DUE in Maryland. The contact is planned with spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK. GMS is a small, independent school for girls in 6th - 8th grade. The school's mission is to nurture and empower girls during this pivotal time in their lives. It looks for non-traditional educational opportunities to help girls expand their horizons.

An ARISS contact has been scheduled for Marcelino Canino Canino Middle School in Dorado, Puerto Rico. The contact will take place on Tuesday, March 31 at 15:29 UTC. A Microsatellite Student Program has been implemented where students design, construct, build and launch microsatellites which are then tracked and recovered with the help of amateur radio operators.

Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Florida has been scheduled for an ARISS contact on Wednesday, April 1 at 17:48 UTC via telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium.

Carl Sandburg Elementary School in the Lake Washington School District, Kirkland, Washington has been approved for an ARISS contact. The con- tact is slated for Thursday, April 2 at 19:28 UTC, assisted by tele- bridge station W6SRJ in California.

2. Padthaway Contact Successful

On Tuesday, March 3, students from Padthaway Primary School in Padthaway, Australia participated in an ARISS contact. Telebridge station W6SRJ in California facilitated the connection, allowing fifteen students to ask the astronaut 20 questions. One hundred guests, including the mayor and his wife, attended the event and enjoyed a PowerPoint presentation and a showing of Mike Fincke's Expedition 9 video tour of the ISS. Media outlets were present and the audio was fed to local radio stations. The audio was also fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers with 6 connections made from stations in Australia, England, Italy and the U.S.

3. NASA Teaching From Space Site - Now Available

The NASA Teaching From Space (TFS) Web site is now on-line. A new ARISS section is also available. For the TFS site, see: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/home/index.html http://tinyurl.com/au7wr8

To view the ARISS site directly, go to: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/home/ariss.html http://tinyurl.com/bpy9bp

4. Astronaut Training Status

Three successful simulated ARISS contacts took place on Wednesday, March 4. The simulations were held between the following participants:

Technopolis, Belgium and Andre Kuipers, PI9ISS Ralph McCall School, Airdrie, Alberta, Canada and Chris Hadfield, VA3OOG Ralph McCall School, Airdrie, Alberta, Canada and Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH

These training sessions were terrestrial-based amateur radio contacts using ARISS-equivalent equipment. Audio was available on IRLP.

5. Amateur Radio Newsline Posts Article on Simonyi

On March 6, Amateur Radio Newsline (Report #1647) ran a story on Charles Simonyi's upcoming mission. "Ham Radio in Space: Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP Heads Back to the ISS," may be viewed here: http://www.arnewsline.org/

[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. With that please keep in mind you know you are aging when you wake up looking like your driver's license picture.

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