AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-287

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.

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******************* AMSAT 2007 Space Symposium *************************

The Wireless Association of South Hills Amateur Radio Club announces the 2007 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott Hotel on Friday, October 26 through Sunday, October 28, 2007. The AMSAT web team has posted informational pages on the AMSAT web site. You can find the announcement with many links at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2007/index.php

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In this edition: * Certificates for AO-51 Sputnik 50th Anniversary Special Event * AO-51 temporarily off the air * GO-32 mobile APRS access success * Satellite Shorts From All Over * ARISS Status - 08 October 2007

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-287.01 Certificates for AO-51 Sputnik 50th Anniversary Special Event

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 287.01  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 14, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-287.01

Kevin Schuchmann, WA6FWF, reports that he has started to receive the requests for certificates and is working on getting them out as fast as possible. The response has been great so far. People requesting a certificate should keep the following in mind:

1) this is not a small QSL card, it is a certificate that is 8.5" x 11", if you send a small envelope he will be forced to fold it.

2) make sure you have enough postage

3) if you want to make sure it does not get bent, include a card board backer or use a heavier envelope

4) do not include money or stamps, I appreciate the gesture but it is not necessary,  donations can be sent to Martha directly

5) if you put "your" address up in the upper left coner as the return instead of Kevin's then in the event there is not enough postage it will be returned to the sender instead of Kevin for additional postage!!

Kevin observed that, "based on the fact that my mailbox was full and the postman had to leave more at the front door I might need the couple weeks we said it might take!"

[ANS thanks Kevin, WA6FWF, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-287.02 AO-51 temporarily off the air

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 287.02  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 14, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-287.02

At 1848Z over Europe on 11 October 2007, the software on AO-51 crashed, shutting down both transmitters. Subsequently the repeater and BBS will be down for several days while the command stations reload. Sorry for any inconvenience.

73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA Vice President of Operations

[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-287.03 GO-32 mobile APRS access success

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 287.03  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 14, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-287.03

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR reports receiving over 150 packets from GO32 in the mobile and gives the following report.

If you want to impress someone with handheld Satellite Communcications, just stand outside during the prime morning or evening pass of GO-32 with your D7 HT set for APRS 9600 baud receive on 435.230 (5 KHz high at the start of the pass) and watch the messages fly by... Switch to .225 and finally to .220 by the end for maximum packets.

Tonight I finally remembered to set my D700 in my van to the GO32 downlink.  Was out doing honeydoos around 7:50 PM and heard a few squelch breaks.  This would be the first evening pass.  So that told me to be out 100 minutes later for the prime pass of the evening.

I was not disappointed!  Received over 150 packes during the central 6 minutes of the pass.  I was just making hash marks on the back of an envelope while watching the packets fly by on the front panel of the radio.  I did tune 3 times for Doppler since I was just sitting there with nothing else to do.

This confirms that an unattended D700 or D7 hooked to a simple OMNI antnena (and short coax) can make an excellent APRS satellite gateway.  With say a dozen of these across the USA, then the APRS-Internet system should get a solid downlink!

After the fact, I came in and looked at the pass on Instantrack.  Here is the nitty-gritty showing the elevation angle versus number of packets received per minute.

TIME  EL  PACKETS 0933  30  18 0934  40  23 0935  46  36 0936  45  35 0937  36  24 0938  26  13

For an unattended ground station without Doppler tuning, my guess would be that this station would have received the center full 3 minutes of this 45 degree pass.

So, what is your handy D7 doing sitting on your shelf turned off?  Hook it to a 19" vertical whip over a ground plane outside your window  and contribute to the National GO-32 APRS downlink system!

I'll get someone to write a simple turn-key APRS IGate background application, so you don't have to hasssle with all the other APRS stuff if you dont want to. This way, you can just turn on the D7, hook it to a serial port, run this application in the background, and you too will be a contributor to the solid APRS downlink from GO-32!

Oh, On the D700, I had pressed the PACKET MONITOR button so that I was seeing all GO-32 downlink packets on the front panel, not just the APRS ones.  The D7 does not have the PMON button, so you will only see the APRS packets.  But I did receive the 3 APRS downlink bulletins perfectly many times, and every 30 seconds or so, I did receive the GO-32 TIME STATUS report on the front panel of the radio.

So, even if you are not going to Igate, just hook that D7 to an outside 19" vertical whip (this serves as a 3/4 wave gain vertical on the 435 downlink) through a short coax (Antnena height does not matter, coax loss does!).  You won't hear anything below 30 degrees anyway...  And just leave the HT on all the time tuned to 435.230.  Every morning and every evening, you will receive GO-32 and any other APRS operators playing that evening.

When you hear good signals on 435.230, then 2 minutes later, switch to 435.225 and so on.  When the pass is over, set your radio back to 435.230 for the next HIGH pass 12 hours or so later.

You can leaave this on all the time, since it will not wake you up.  GO-32 PEAK passes are within an hour or so of 9 AM and PM local time (maybe an hour later after the change back to standard time)..

Thousands of AMSAT folks have these D7's, and I bet that 99% of them are not in use most of the time.  All we need are a dozen or so serving this space-diversity ground station function...

[ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-287.04 Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 287.04  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 14, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-287.04

+ Henk, PA3GUO, one of the control operators for the ANDE satellite   reminds amateurs that the packet-to-voice mode still remains avail-   able.  A command from a ground station is required to enable this   mode so Henk invites amateurs interested in experimenting to con-   tact him by e-mail at pa3guo@amsat.org.

+ Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT VP of Operations reminds amateurs interested in   experimenting with different modes on AO-51 to submit their request   via e-mail to ao51-modes@amsat.org.  One experimental mode under   consideration includes a day dedicated for D-Star testing via AO-51.

+ Special Events Station GB5OSO, celebrating the 50th anniversary of   the launch of Sputnik-1 has worked several stations through the   SO50, VO52, AO51, AO27, and AO7 satellites.  Robert, G8ATE reported   a transatlantic contact between GB5OSO and Jim, VE1ZM on SO-50.

+ Earlier this year the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) sponsored an   activity to fly your name to the moon aboard its "KAGUYA" (SELENE)   lunar probe.  Selene has attained lunar orbit and JAXA reports   that messages from 412,627 people around the world are now at   the moon.  For more information see:   http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/snews/2007/1005.shtml

+ A video featuring the Amateur Radio Mars Orbiter P5-A has been   put on the YouTube website. Details at http://www.uk.amsat.org/.

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-287.05 ARISS Status - 08 October 2007

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 287.05  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 14, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-287.05

1. Anamizu Contact Successful

On Saturday, October 6, students from seven elementary and junior high schools in Anamizu-town, Housu-gun Ishikawa, Japan gathered to ask Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, questions via an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Nearly six hundred students were expected to participate in this event and preparations leading up to and including the contact were to be covered by the media. More information will follow as it becomes available.

2. Boy Scouts Participate in ARISS Contact

Boy Scouts from the Prairielands Council who attended the Space Jamboree in Oakwood, Illinois, experienced a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, October 6 via the telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. All twenty questions which had been planned were asked and answered. Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, then answered an additional twelve for a total of 32 questions posed by thirteen of the scouts. Approximately 300 scouts, leaders, parents and one newspaper reporter attended the event. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) conference room servers, receiving 30 connections, including 4 repeater nodes, from 9 countries. Among those countries listening were Poland, Denmark, Ukraine, and Thailand. The audio was also fed into the IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010.

*The Prairielands Council contact was the 38th contact made by the Expedition 15 crew members, tying Expedition 12 for the most contacts made during one increment.*

3. Upcoming School Contacts

Malaysian space visitor Sheikh Shukor launched into space with Expedition 16 crew members on Wednesday, October 10. While onboard the ISS, Shukor plans to participate in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. He has been scheduled for 5 contacts with Malaysian students. Each group of students will gather at the National Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur and will speak with Shukor, 9W2MUS, directly via 9M2RPN. The following contacts have been planned:

Malaysian Group of Schools #1, Sunday, October 14, 2007 at 17:17 UTC Malaysian Group of Schools #2, Monday, October 15, 2007 at 16:06 UTC Malaysian Group of Schools #3, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at16:28 UTC. Malaysian Group of Schools #4, Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 15:39 UTC Malaysian Group of Schools #5, Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 14:50 UTC

4. ARRL Article on 2008 Spaceflight Participant Richard Garriott, KE5QNX

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran a story on Richard Garriott, KE5QNX, (son of Owen Garriott, W5LFL) who will be a spaceflight participant next year, launching to the ISS in October 2008. Garriott plans to make Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts while onboard the ISS. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/10/03/100/?nc=1

[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, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org