AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-315

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: * HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE: HAM BALLOON WILL TRY ATLANTIC CROSSING * Call for Papers at 12th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference * AO-16 partially recovered * Satellite Shorts * ARISS Status - 5 November 2007

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.01 HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE: HAM BALLOON WILL TRY ATLANTIC CROSSING

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 11, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-315.01

Here is a mission for all you Satellite enthusiasts to follow and give reports to. Amateurs at the University of Tennessee Amateur Radio Club are launching a balloon with a beacon in the 10 MHz Amateur Band that may travel across the Atlantic.

The latest Icarus X mission designated UX-19, will hopefully launch about the time we go to air. The payload will include a GPS unit and computerized unit that will regulate the balloon's altitude and send telemetry on 10.123 MHz in CW and RTTY formats. In addition to the 30m beacon there will also be an APRS beacon AA4UT-11 on 144.390 MHz FM. The dates are TBA (soon).

The flight has been dubbed 'The Spirit Of Knoxville' after Lindbergh's first trans-Atlantic flight. The 10 MHz transmitter will run 3 watts output into a half wave dipole hung below the balloon. The goal of its 5 day mission is to be the first Amateur Radio equipped helium balloon to cross the Atlantic.

More is on-line at www.utarc.org (UTARC)

[ANS thanks Dan, K2VOL, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.02 Call for Papers at 12th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 11, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-315.02

April 25th and 26th, 2008 Orlando, Florida

The Southeastern VHF Society is calling for the submission of papers and presentations for the upcoming 12th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference to be held in Orlando, Florida on April 25th and 26th, 2008. Papers and presentations are solicited on both the technical and operational aspects of VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal amateur radio. Some suggested areas of interest are:

Transmitters Receivers Transverters RF Power Amplifiers RF Low Noise Pre Amplifiers Antennas Construction Projects Test Equipment And Station Accessories Station Design And Construction Contesting Roving DXpeditions EME Propagation (Sporadic E, Meteor Scatter, Troposphere Ducting, etc.) Digital Modes (WSJT, etc.) Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Software Defined Radio (SDR) Amateur Satellites Amateur Television

In general papers and presentations on non weak signal related topics such as FM repeaters and packet will not be accepted but exceptions may be made if the topic is related to weak signal. For example, a paper or presentation on the use of APRS to track rovers during contests would be considered.

The deadline for the submission of papers and presentations is February 29, 2008. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word (.doc) or alternatively Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files.

Pages are 8 and 1/2 by 11 inches with a 1 inch margin on the bottom and ¾ inch margin on the other three sides. All text, drawings, photos, etc. should be black and white only (no color).

Please indicate when you submit your paper or presentation if you plan to attend the conference and present there or if you are submitting just for publication. Papers and presentations will be published in bound proceedings by the ARRL. Send all questions, comments and submissions to the program chair, Steve Kostro, N2CEI at svhfs2008@downeastmicrowave.com.

For further information about the conference please go to www.svhfs.org and/or www.flwss.net.

[ANS thanks John Logsdon, K2STO, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.03 AO-16 partially recovered

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 11, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-315.03

After being off the air for several months, I'm happy to announce that AO-16 has been partially recovered and is transmitting on 437.026 Mhz. The satellite was recovered to the boot loader by Mark Hammond N8MH with guidance from Bruce Rahn WB9ANQ and others. Further reloading of the satellite is underway. The AO-16 team could use your help collecting the binary MBL telemetry for now, and the regular telemetry once the reload is completed.

If you receive any telemetry from AO-16, please submit it (preferably as a .KSS file attachment) to telemetry AT quagliana DOT com and put the words "AO-16 Telemetry" in the subject of your email. Please include your callsign (if any), your latitude/longitude (or grid square), and the date and time when the telemetry was collected.

73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops

[ANS thanks Lee, KU4OS, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.04 Satellite Shorts

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 11, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-315.04

John, G7HIA and Robert, G8ATE announced this week that an award certificate is available to all Stations that have worked GB5OSO for the 50th Anniversary of SPUTNIK-1. Additional information can be found at: http://www.turlington.supanet.com. Over 300 contacts in 33 DXCC countries on AO7, AO27, SO51, AO51 and VO52. More than 170 stations were logged and many were worked on more than one sat- ellite. Two stations who I worked on all 5 birds: G1OCN and ON5NY. JA0CAW and JH1EKH organized a conection via EchoLink to SO50 and AO51 over Japan.

+ Fred Parker, KF0AK invites radio amateurs to join a satellite net on 3.937 MHz at 8:00 PM CST Thursday evenings. Depending on band conditions a link the local repeater K0GPZ-R Echolink node 349368 may be available.

+ Motorola USA announced its intention to acquire a controlling interest in Vertex Standard Co, Ltd. Vertex Standard is the parent company of Yaesu.

+ Microwave antenna enthusiasts may find a paper from the Microwave Update Conference by Paul, W1GHZ interesting. It can be found on-line at http://www.w1ghz.org/antbook/conf/Enhanced_Septum_Feed_MUD07.pdf

+ Graham, G3VZV sent information about a position open at the European Space Agency that may be of interest. See: http://www.esa.int/hr/YGT/ESTEC_001.pdf

+ SpaceDaily reported this week that China plans to open moon probe projects to the public to attract participation of competent institu- tions and enterprises in the moon program, said a spokesman with the China National Space Administration (CNSA). This could include scien- tific research organs, universities and also private companies.

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.05 ARISS Status - 5 November 2007

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 11, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-315.05

1. ARISS - Italian School Contacts Successful

IIS Deambrosis-Natta in Sestri Levante and the Engineering Faculty of the University of L’Aquila, Italy experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, October 29. Approximately 200 attended IIS Deambrosis-Natta and another 350 students, teachers and correspondents were present at the University of L’Aquila. STS-120 Commander Pam Melroy first greeted the students and then Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA, answered thirteen questions posed to him over two consecutive passes. Newspapers, television stations and radio stations reported on the event. The audio from this event was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) servers, and into the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Discovery Reflector 9010. A summary of the contact was posted to the ARISS-Europe Web site with audio and a photograph. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2007_10_29.htm

The European Space Agency (ESA) ran an article on the ARISS contact: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Esperia/SEMJC4FWB8F_0.html

2. Second Successful School Contact with Italian Schools

On Wednesday, October 31, students attending Liceo Scientifico G.Galilei in Civitavecchia, Roma and others at ITI-LST Mottura in Caltanisetta, Italy participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA answered 10 questions from as many students during the question and answer session. Approximately 200 and 300 students were in attendance from Civitavecchia and Caltanisetta, respectively. Audio from this event was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) servers and received 14 connections including 3 repeaters, from 8 countries. The audio was also fed into the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Discovery Reflector 9010. Television stations, radio stations and newspapers covered the event. For more information, see the ARISS-Europe Web site: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2007_11_02.htm

The European Space Agency (ESA) ran a story on the Nespoli contact. See: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Esperia/SEMAT1NHE8F_0.html

3. Malaysian School Contacts Update

Malaysian space visitor Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, 9W2MUS, participated in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program while on board the ISS. Five different groups of Malaysian school children gathered at the National Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur and spoke with Shukor, directly via 9M2RPN. All five of the successful contacts took place over the week of October 14. Approximately 90 people attended each of the 1st and 3rd- 5th sessions; the second contact had an audience of 50 students, teachers and others. The National Planetarium provided the youth with shows related to space exploration during their visits and each student was issued a QSL (postcard) to commemorate the event. NASA astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson was present during the final session and gave talks about space. Three television stations, one radio station and 5 newspapers covered these events.

4. Status of ARISS School Contacts Schedule

Due to the very demanding schedules of the crew onboard the ISS, no Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts have been planned at this time. The ARISS team expects contacts to resume once STS-122 launches in December. For a more complete status of the ARISS program, go to: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/10day/msg01446.html

5. AMSAT Space Symposium Presentation

The 2007 Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) Space Symposium was held on October 26 -28 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Chairman Frank Bauer’s presentation given during the conference has been posted to the AMSAT Web site. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Presentations/AMSAT%20Symposiums/2007%20Sym...

[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, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org