AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-263

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

********************************************************************** * 2009 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting October 9-11 * * Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport * * Details - http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2009/index.php * **********************************************************************

In this edition: * 2 birds from Baikonur * AMSAT BOD Election Results * D-Star frequencies in the Netherlands * Satellite shorts from all over * ARISS Status - 7 September 2009

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-263.01 2 Birds from Baikonur

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 263.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 20, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-263.01

This afternoon (9/17/09) 2 satellites were launched (7 Total)

From Baikonur. Now 2 new satellites in LEO from the Russian spaceport

At Baikonur. Soyouz-2 Meteor-M1 + Micro Sat The successful Launch was at 16:50 UTC. The 2 satellite names were Tatiana 2(Universitetsky 2) and Sumbandila.

Early KEPS: OBJECT A 1 35865U 09049A 09260.72535468 -.00000045 00000-0 00000+0 0 19 2 35865 098.7998 310.8940 0003181 081.7658 278.3815 14.21921862 02 OBJECT B 1 35866U 09049B 09260.72535165 -.00000045 00000-0 00000+0 0 14 2 35866 098.8001 310.8933 0004653 076.4712 283.6810 14.22237596 07 No Common Name Found 1 35867U 09049C 09260.85958581 -.00000070 00000-0 00000+0 0 18 2 35867 097.3797 310.9290 0009122 293.6396 066.4184 15.22762759 26 No Common Name Found 1 35868U 09049D 09260.86607314 .00000176 00000-0 10000-3 0 16 2 35868 098.8024 311.0440 0005631 070.8773 289.3019 14.22029752 21 No Common Name Found 1 35869U 09049E 09260.86607314 .00000176 00000-0 10000-3 0 17 2 35869 098.7979 311.0434 0006030 075.3794 284.7577 14.21983327 24

Check the AMSAT-BB for updated info.

[ANS thanks SA AMSAT for the above information and sends our congratulations and best wishes for a successful mission]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-263.02 AMSAT BOD Election Results

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 263.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 20, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-263.02

The following are the results of the AMSAT 2009 Board of Directors' Election:

Barry Baines, WD4ASW - 600 votes Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA- 547 Bill Ress, N6GHZ - 545 Alan Biddle, WA4SCA - 516 Tony Monteiro, AA2TX - 505 (First Alternate)

There were 720 Ballots cast

-- 73- Martha

[ANS thanks Martha, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-263.03 D-Star frequencies in the Netherlands.

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 263.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 20, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-263.03

D-Star frequencies in the Netherlands.

Abraham van den Berg, PB0AOK - VERON's VHF manager, clarified the D-Star issue in the Netherlands. VERON is the Dutch IARU society.

It is "untrue" that the Dutch administration is thinking about D-Star repeaters operating in the 437-438 MHz band.

Presently, the amateur service in the Netherlands and neighbouring countries suffers from harmful interference, caused by what can be seen as a regrettable implementation of the Radiolocation service in the 438-440 MHz band.

For that reason, usage of D-Star repeaters with output frequencies in the upper 2 MHz part of the Region 1 70cm band, is hampered.

To solve this problem, recently the Dutch D-Star community came up with a proposal to plan the output frequencies of D-Star repeaters just below 438MHz and has asked VERON to support this proposal.

VERON has decided not to do so, due to incompatibility between the amateur service and amateur-satellite service. Moreover, the proposal deviates significantly from the IARU-R1 band plan.

In the meantime VERON has made an alternative proposition to amend the Dutch national frequency plan in such a way, that it fully complies with article 5 RR, the European Common Allocation table, as well as the IARU-R1 band plan.

Thank you Bram, for this clarification.

Gaston Bertels - ON4WF IARU Region 1 ARSPEX WG chairman

[ANS thanks Gaston, ON4WF for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-263.04 Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 263.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 20, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-263.04

Item A: A group of new volunteers are investigating alternative methods for adding content to the AMSAT web site. I have my own list, but I would like to hear from people that have suggestions on what pages should be addressed first and any new content that they would find helpful. Send these to Gould wa4sxm at amsat.org

Item B: The 2009 AMSAT Symposium is rapidly approaching! And we hope you can join us..especially given that there are some low-cost airfares out there for those of us in the US.

We have an outstanding venue this year at the Four Points Sheraton at the BWI Airport. Your symposium committee recently did a walkthrough of this facility. The accommodations and meeting rooms are superb. I do a lot of traveling and I must say that the rooms are absolutely beautiful. You will definitely get a substantial bang for your buck (or Euro, etc) at this symposium. And planned 40th Anniversary celebratory events will be truly memorable.

Time is running out ! The cut-off date for hotel reservations for the AMSAT Symposium is 9/23/09. The Hotel is the Four Points Sheraton BWI Airport. The phone number is 410-691-9827. The group name is Radio Amateur. Come help us celebrate our 40th Anniversary!

For planning purposes, the BoD meeting starts Thursday morning and runs until noon Friday. The symposium starts at 1 pm Friday and runs until noon Sunday. The AMSAT annual meeting with be Saturday afternoon. And there will be an ARISS ops meeting (all are invited) on Sunday. The 40th anniversary celebration is Friday night and the Banquet is Saturday night.

And there is a lot of "free stuff" and amenities at this symposium..so a great deal of bang for your buck.

For example: Free internet in the rooms and in the conference facility Free parking All AMSAT member get free admittance to the 40th Anniversary Party Friday Evening---food, cake, etc. Beautiful flat screen televisions in each room Great Banquet Speaker--- Martin Collins, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum Curator, Space History Museum, "Making the Space Age, the First 50 years" High-Caliber paper presentations on recent Satellite Developments and satellite operations Poster Session with Satellite, University, and ARISS activities presented. An AMSAT 40th anniversary retrospective is included IARU Satellite Forum ARISS Operations Team Meeting---ARISS team members and new volunteers are welcome to attend Great prizes from major ham radio manufacturers

So we'd love to see you in "Charm City"-Baltimore Maryland..for the symposium presentations, 40th anniversary celebrations, poster sessions, and BoD meeting.

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, and Janet Bauer 2009 Symposium Co-Chairs

[ANS thanks Frank and Janet for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-263.05 ARISS Statuts - 14 September 2009

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 263.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 14, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-263.05

1. Upcoming School Contacts

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was accomplished for Liberty Middle School in Camas, Washington on Tuesday, September 15 at 20:25 UTC. Telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium will facilitate the contact. For twenty years, Liberty's sixth grade students have actively participated as "astronauts in training" as they completed an eight week training course that culminated with a flight in the school's space station, Alpha-Z 2000. Computers, with software written by a local parent, linked the students to Mission Control with voice communication and security cameras allowed teachers to observe how the astronauts were progressing on their mission. One of the school's space station modules has been named in honor of Mike Barratt, who attended Camas Public Schools. The ARISS contact will be integrated into these activities.

Euro Space Center (ESC) in Transinne, Belgium contacted Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) on Wednesday, September 16 at 07:12 UTC via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. ESC is recognized by the educational ministries. It is both a Space Expo open to the public and a Space Camp. The Space Camp provides children with space training and is operational year round.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held for Delta Researchers Schools, Dutch Ministry of Education on Friday, September 18 at 15:55 UTC via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. This is an ESA event from Space Expo, Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Vrij Technisch Instituut Sint-Lucas in Oudenaarde, Oost - Vlaanderen, Belgium on Tuesday, September 22 at 13:47 UTC. Students have learned about Earth rotation, orbit speed, time zones, satellites, weather forecasts and geostationary versus polar satellites. The antennas which will be used for the contact as well as a UPS device have been constructed by the students themselves.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for the HMS Beagle Project in Parati, Brazil on Tuesday, September 22 at 18:20 UTC via ground station K6DUE in Maryland, USA. The project (which aims to rebuild the ship that carried Darwin around the world) and NASA have signed an International Space Act Agreement, with Mike Barratt as the initiator and main connection on the NASA side of the project. The project will unite ISS astronaut photography with ocean surface water and other biological and physical samples taken by the crew of the new Beagle.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Cedarview Middle School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Thursday, September 24 at 19:07 UTC. Students have learned about the ISS through videos, the internet and guest speakers.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Garfield Elementary School in Boise, Idaho on Thursday, September 24 at 20:34 UTC via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. Students will visit the NASA Exploration Experience traveling exhibit on display at the Idaho Historical Museum and will learn about space exploration and its benefits.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Houya Elementary School in Nishitokyo, Japan on Saturday, September 26 at 09:28 UTC. Students have learned about amateur radio, space science and the global cooperation involved with running the ISS.

2. ARISS Contact with Atheneum Students Successful

On Thursday, September 10, students attending Atheneum Middenschool Keerbergen in Keerbergen, Belgium experienced Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Frank De Winne, ON1DWN on the ISS. Telebridge station W6SRJ in California provided the connection. An audience of approximately 30 people observed the students as their twenty questions were answered.

3. De Winne Particpates in ARISS Contact During UNICEF Event

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact took place between UNICEF Belgium at the Euro Space Center in Transinne, Belgium and Frank De Winne, ON1DWN, UNICEF's goodwill ambassador. The contact occurred on Thursday, September 10 via station LU1CGB in Argentina. UNICEF Belgium is running a campaign called WaSH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) to make students aware of how important water is for humans. Some of the students participating in the campaign were given the opportunity to travel to the center to speak with the Expedition 20 astronaut. Eighteen questions were answered.

4. ARISS Contact with Tokyo Denki University

On Saturday, September 12, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held between students attending Tokyo Denki University High/Junior High School in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan and Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ on the ISS. Thirty people gathered and listened as eighteen questions were asked and answered. The school has a radio club and recruits new members each year. Students study for their licenses, learn how to make radio contacts and learn about space and the ISS.

5. Astronaut Training Status

Astronauts Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI and Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP participated in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) training sessions on Wednesday, September 9. They spoke with children from the Ralph McCall School in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. The training sessions were terrestrial-based amateur radio contacts using ARISS equivalent equipment. Audio was available on the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP).

6.AMSAT Symposium, ARISS Ops Meeting to be Held in October

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) Symposium will be held on Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport in Maryland. An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) presentation will be given and a demo of ARISSat-1 is planned. An ARISS Operations team meeting will be held following the symposium on Sunday, October 11.

7.ARISS Presentation Given at Great Lakes Division Symposium

The 2009 Great Lakes Division Symposium was held in Findlay, Ohio on Saturday September 12, followed by the Findlay Hamfest on September 13. A presentation on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program was given at the symposium by ARISS mentor Charlie Sufana, AJ9N.

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]

/EX

73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org