[ans] AS-121 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins

> From: "David Johnson" <g4dpz@mac.com>
To: <ans@amsat.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 6:43 PM
Subject: [ans] AS-121 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-121

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:
* Ron Broadbent - SK
* HAMSAT Launch
* AMSAT-UK Colloquium
* ARISS Status
* Space Day
* ARRL FD - AO-51

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-121.01
Ron Broadbent MBE, G3AAJ - SK

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 121.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 1, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-121.01

Dear Members of AMSAT,

I am very sad to report that Ron Broadbent MBE G3AAJ passed away in
hospital early in the morning on Sunday 24th April of a heart attack
following a fall the previous week in which he broke his leg.  Ron,
known as 'Mr AMSAT-UK' to many around the world was the Hon. Sec. of
AMSAT-UK between 1978 and 1994 and built the society into a vibrant
and respected organisation serving radio amateurs not only in the UK
but worldwide. His energy and robust character was a driving force
in AMSAT-UK, as well as the RSGB and IARU, and perhaps particularly
at the annual AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium which he helped found and
then organised for many years. Ron believed passionately in the
principles of amateur radio as a hobby and his commitment and effort
given willingly over many years and supported by his wife, Beryl,
were greatly appreciated by amateurs worldwide. Not one to suffer
fools gladly, Ron's sometimes gruff exterior hid a deeply generous
personality and one who was always ready to roll up his sleeves
and get to work rather than just talk. He will be sadly missed and
we send our condolences and sympathy to Beryl and the family. We
have lost one of amateur radio's real characters and a gentlemen.

Martin Sweeting G3YJO

[ANS thanks the AMSAT-UK committee for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-121.02
HAMSAT Launch

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 121.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 1, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-121.02

Hi all

Hamsat launch is now scheduled for 5 May 2005 appx time is 4.52 GMT
Team Members will be at ISTRAC mission centre to experience the pre
launch checks , countdown, Tlm and oribital commands etc.

As it will help hams to experience and gain knowledge of such
activities specially of their own Hamsat programme.

ISTRAC is the Indian Sat Tracking Centre at Bangalore

Doordharsan TV known as DD ( Govt run TV  Ch ) have taken video
clipping for an exclusive news story about the HAMSAT. This will be
aired on 2 or 3 May.  In the mean time a new ham station is setup at
ISTRAC apart from the other Ham Stn VU2URC at ISAC.

VU2WMY Mani ( ISAC ), VU2FBS Singh ( ISTRAC ) have been assigned the
payload evaluation jobs from ISRO.

Last evening and this morning the new Ham stn at ISRAC was contacted
via the AO-51, stns active here were VU2WMY, VU2FBS, VU3TYG, VU2GUR
and myself VU2POP. ISTRAC ham stn was setup by VU2WMY Mani and
VU2FBS Singh within a couple of days with the FT-767, FT-726, FT
-8800 new G-5500 rotator, 2 UHF, VHF cross yagis, NOVA tracker etc.

They have sucessfully tracked and copied beacon / Tlm of other sats.

We hope the other centres of ISRO too will activate ham stns soon.
More than 30 hams are in various centres of ISRO.

At the same time there is excitement around with VU Hams who are
gearing up for the Hamsat activity and we hope to hear many new stns
coming up on the Sat modes

Looking forward to the Hamsat.

[ANS thanks Pop, VU2POP for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-121.03
AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2005

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 121.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 1, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-121.03

The dates of the AMSAT-UK Colloquium for 2005 are Friday 29 July to
Sunday 31 July. The venue is as previous years at the University of
Surrey, Guildford, UK

This will be our 20th Colloquium, and as usual, we hope to hope an
interesting and fun programme for all our visitors.

Special for this year will be the ARISS-Internation meeting which
will be held on the 2 days after the Colloquium, ie Mon and Tue 1
and 2 Aug. Although primarily for ARISS delegates, this meeting is
open for anyone to attend as an observer. Its an excellent
opportunity to get more aquainted with the movers and shakers behind
the ARISS programme. More information on ARISS can be found here.

As in previous years, you DO NOT have to be a member of AMSAT to
attend, and you can either stay over night in the Universities
student accomodation, or attend as a "Day Visitor" for one or more
days.

A booking form, and registration details can be found on the AMSAT-
UK web site:

http://www.uk.amsat.org/Colloquium/default.php

[ANS thanks the AMSAT-UK Committe for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-121.04
ARISS Status, April 25, 2005

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 121.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 1, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-121.04

Italy Schools Contact Successful

On Monday, April 18, two Italian schools, Istituto Tecnico
Industriale Liceo scientifico Tecnologico G. Marconi, IK0WGF, in
Civitavecchia and Ist.Tecn.Comm.Einaudi-Mattei & Ist.Statale Istr.
Sup. Malignani In, IW3QKU, in Palmanova shared a contact with
Roberto Vittori, IZ6ERU.   The two schools, linked via Skype, took
turns asking questions, of which eight were answered.

Princess Elettra Marconi, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, attended
the event, and extended her greetings to Vittori. The event was
webcast by RAI, the national Radio and Television Institute of
Italy. The audio was also transmitted by EchoLink and had 11
connections from the UK, Slovakia, Germany, Italy and the USA. An
article (in Italian) written about this event and the ESRIN
contact may be found on the website of the Ministry of Communication
(Lazio province). See:

http://www.mincomisplazio.it/A%20VITTORI.htm

Successful Swiss School Contact

On Tuesday, April 19, Switzerland experienced its first ARISS
contact. Sixteen students from Schulhaus Feld 1 in Richterswil were
able to ask twenty questions of Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW.  This contact
was the twenty-third for Leroy Chiao.  He now holds the record for
the most ARISS contacts performed during one mission while on board
the ISS. Congratulations to Leroy!

ESRIN Contact Successful

The winning classes (approximately 120 children) of the European
Space Agency competition for primary schools in the Lazio region
gathered at the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) in
Frascati, Italy, on Wednesday, April 20. Twelve students spoke with
Roberto Vittori, IZ6ERU, via the telebridge station NN1SS. The audio
was fed into the Echolink servers, and fifteen connections were
made from the U.S.A, Russia, Italy, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the
U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. An article, written in Italian and
entitled, "La i spazio parla con I bambini", can be found on the ESA
website. See:

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eneide_Italian/SEMCOYW797E_0.html

Video of the school contact can be found at:

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Eneide_Italian/SEMJGUW797E_0.html

Upcoming School Contact

Albany Hills State School in Brisbane, Australia has been approved
for an ARISS contact.  It has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 4,
at 0749 UTC via the telebridge station, NN1SS, located in Greenbelt,
Maryland.  The audio from this contact will be fed into the EchoLink
AMSAT (node 101377) and the EDU_NET (node 77992) conference servers.

ARRL Article on New Hampshire Contact

Maple Avenue Elementary School in Goffstown, New Hampshire
experienced an ARISS contact on April 13. The ARRL wrote an article
about the event. See Second Time the Charm for New Hampshire School
Space Contact, at:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/04/20/3/?nc=1

ARRL Articles on ISS Crew Change

ARRL April 18th web story covers the new crew members joining the
Expedition 10 crew on the ISS. To view the article, "New all-ham
crew now safely aboard ISS"
go to:

http://www.arrl.org/

Another ARRL article, entitled, "ISS Expedition 10 Crew Passes the
Baton to New Two-Ham Team," covers the ISS handover from Expedition
10 to the Expedition 11 crew. See:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/04/22/3/?nc=1

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-121.05
Space Day, Thursday, May 5

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 121.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 1, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-121.05

AMSAT will be taking part in Space Day, Thursday, May 5 at the
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles
Airport.  Hours are 10 AM - 2 PM for student groups, 2 - 4 PM for
the general public, and 4 - 9 PM for families.  Parking will be free
that day.

We will have tables set up in the Space Hangar around the OSCAR
satellite display-case so we can explain how hams build and operate
satellites.  We'll show CalPoly's Cubesat model and other small
satellite hardware, and we will also talk about OSCAR 1 and PCSat
located in the display-case.

We are hoping to have members of the ARISS team explain ARISS and
Naval Academy people explain PCSat.

If you haven't yet seen the new Space Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy
Center, May 5 is a perfect opportunity.  The Museum is open to 9 PM
that day so you can visit after work, and parking (normally $12) is
free.  It's also a chance to meet the Shuttle Return to Flight
astronauts and other VIP's.

Here is further information from the Air and Space Museum's website

http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=298

[ANS thanks the Perry, W3PK for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-121.06
ARRL Field Day - AO-51

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 121.06
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
May 1, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-121.06

For the ARRL Field Day Event this year AO-51 will be configured in
Mode V/S FM Repeater.  The uplink will be 145.920 mHz with the 67 Hz
tone enabled.

The downlink will be 2401.200 mHz.  There will be two long duration
operating sessions leading up to Field Day when AO-51 will be
configured in Mode V/S to give users the opportunity to test their
Field Day stations.  In May there is a 6-day session that has
already been announced via the ANS bulletin and on the AMSAT AO-51
schedule page.   In June, AO-51 will also be in Mode V/S the weekend
and entire week before Field Day.  Take advantage of these operating
sessions to setup and test your Field Day station before the actual
day arrives.

Working the Mode S downlink on AO-51 does not require a large
investment in equipment for your Field Day station.  A satellite
dish is not required to operate this mode.  Gould, WA4SXM, copied
the S downlink using just his G3RUH patch feed during the early days
of testing the S band transmitter on Echo.  Drew, KO4MA, has
operated portable with a Transystems downconverter using the dipole
feed and a corner reflector on numerous occasions.  Mike, KE4AZN,
has operated portable with either a 3.5 turn helix feed (feed only,
no dish) or a homebrew K5OE patch antenna, held out the window of
the car.  Mike has also operated mobile on Mode V/S by attaching the
helix feed and  downconverter to the trunk of the car.  Clare,
VE3NPC, has reported excellent receive signals using a 3.5 turn
helix and a K5GNA downconverter.

Any of these Amsat members can be contacted at their "@amsat.org"
email address and would be happy to help Field Day users get setup
for Mode V/S.

If your IF is on VHF (which most are), an HT or other mobile FM rig
will work fine as your downlink receiver.  The large 5 kHz steps of
these radios actually make tuning the fast moving Doppler on S band
much easier.

Use the scheduled Mode V/S sessions to practice before heading out
for Field Day.  If you have not worked the S band downlink on AO-51
previously, a few passes monitoring the downlink and practicing the
Doppler correction will be very helpful.  The Doppler shift on an
AO-51 pass is approximately +/- 50 kHz.  There will be lots of
activity on Field Day, therefore getting your Receive capability
working well before transmitting to the satellite, will keep your
station from causing unnecessary QRM.

The uplink for AO-51 does not require a large Yagi antenna to be
successful. Any good mobile omni direction whip antenna or other
omni directional antenna will work fine, especially if all stations
work together during the passes and not try to dominate the
satellite.  Therefore, it should not be difficult to setup an
antenna that will work for the uplink to AO-51.  If you have a Field
Day station with Mode V/U capability, you already have the uplink
covered.

A webpage will be setup with a few pictures and text on various AO
-51 Mode V/S station options.  This will not include every option
available, but will hopefully assist a new Mode V/S user with some
ideas to get started setting  up their station, and show that is it
not difficult to get setup and working the S downlink on AO-51.

Web URL:  www.graceba.net/~mkmk518/echofieldday.html

With the V/S configuration of AO-51 and the other satellites
available, we will have a nice compliment of modes to operate during
Field Day.

73 KE4AZN
Echo Command Team
Amsat VP Operations

[ANS thanks the KE4AZN 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 weeks ANS Editor,
Dave Johnson, G4DPZ
g4dpz at amsat dot org
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