AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-101 ANS Special Bulletin - Latest ARISSat-1 Activation News

In this special AMSAT News Service edition: * ARISSat-1 Activation Timeline Aboard ISS * First Call for ARISSat-1 Recordings

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-101.01 ARISSat-1 Activation Timeline Aboard ISS

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 101.01

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

April 11, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-101.01

ARISSat-1 Project Manager, Gould Smith, WA4SXM described the tasks for the cosmonauts as they turn on ARISSat-1. The work to turn on ARISSat-1 is scheduled to begin at 1430 UTC on April 11. This means that they will begin the procedure of getting the satellite, moving the antenna coax, adjusting the antenna switches in the ISS, then flipping the three switches on the satellite control panel to ON.

These switches and the circuitry are designed to keep the satellite from transmitting for 15 minutes after all three switches are in the ON position. This was done so as not to pose any hazard to the cosmo- nauts during the EVA to deploy the satellite. Based on this timeline it is estimated that there will be no transmissions until around 1500 UTC while the ISS is over the southeastern Pacific. Other than ships, southern South America should be the first area to hear the ARISSat-1/ RadioSkaf-V signals.

ARISSat-1 will be in Low Power mode, 40-60 seconds ON and 2 minutes OFF. An average 8 minute pass will only have about three transmission periods and two minutes can seem very long when waiting for a signal to appear. Be patient! The varying ON times occur because the ON timer expires depending on the current FM transmission item in progress. The ID, telemetry, greeting, SSTV will finish before the transmitter shuts off.

The ARISSat-1 team invites you to enjoy the event in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of man's first trip into space. Yuri Gagarin made the historic trip on 12 April 1961.

[ANS thanks Gould Smith, WA4SXM for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-101.02 First Call for ARISSat-1 Recordings

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 101.02

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

April 11, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-101.02

ARISSatTLM author Douglas Quagliana KA2UPW/5 has issued a first call for ARISSat-1 audio recordings when the satellite is activated aboard the ISS between Monday, 11 April 2011 at 14:30 UTC and con- tinuing until 10:30 UTC on 13 April 2011.

The satellite will be running off of the battery, so the transmis- sions will be only 40-60 second long. There will be a delay of about two minutes between transmissions. That is, about 40-60 seconds ON, then about two minutes OFF (silence).

If you are able to make an audio recording of the signals from ARISSat-1, Douglas would be very interested in obtaining a copy of your recording. He is most interested in recordings of the CW and BPSK signals, but if are able to record the voice and SSTV signals he is interested in those too.

If you can make an SDR recordings (I and Q) with a Funcube dongle, FlexRadio, or SDR-IQ, record at the highest rate that your hardware and software supports. If you are making a regular audio recording, set the sampling rate to the "highest quality." If you can choose sample sizes, for example between 8-bit and 16-bit samples, choose the largest size.

Douglas is interested in collecting as large of a sample set of received ARISSat-1 signals as possible. Please save your recordings as .WAV files. Don't use MP3 format and don't convert the record- ings into MP3 recordings. Leave the recordings as huge .WAV files.

If you successfully record ARISSat-1's signals, please contact Douglas via e-mail for details on how to get the recording file(s) to him: dquagliana@aol.com.

[ANS thanks Douglas Quagliana KA2UPW/5 for the above information]

/EX

More information on the transmission schedule and overall mission of ARISSat-1 can be found at:

ARISSat-1 Web site: http://www.arissat1.org AMSAT Web site: http://www.amsat.org ARISS Web site: http://www.ariss.org ARISS Facebook Page: Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) ARISS Twitter site: @ARISS_status

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) is a non-profit, volunteer organization which designs, builds and operates experi- mental amateur radio satellites and promotes space education. We work in partnership with government, industry, educational instit- utions and fellow amateur radio societies. We encourage technical and scientific innovation, and promote the training and development of skilled satellite and ground system designers and operators. Our vision is to deploy satellite systems with the goal of providing wide area and continuous coverage for amateur radio operators world- wide. AMSAT is also an active participant in human space missions and supports satellites developed in cooperation with the educational community and other amateur satellite groups.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a volun- teer program which inspires students, worldwide, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math through amateur radio communications opportunities with the International Space Station on-orbit crew. Students learn about life on board the ISS and explore Earth from space through science and math activities. ARISS provides opportunities for the school community (students, teachers, families and local residents) to become more aware of the substantial benefits of human space flight and the exploration and discovery that occur on space flight journeys along with learning about technology and amateur radio.