[jamsat-news:2142] ANS-001 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-001

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:
* EAGLE
* XI-V Pictures
* AMSAT Awards
* AO-51 news & AMSAT Kid's Day on AO-51
* Visible Re-entry in January
* ARISS Status - 26 December 2005


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-001.01
EAGLE

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 001.01
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
January 1, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-001.01

AMSAT Eagle, an HEO bird, is in need of support via funding.  In order
to get off the ground and become a reality, a good foundation of initial
funding will be needed to begin the basic construction efforts by the
"Eagle Team." Presently, all members of AMSAT have received an envelope
for donations towards this effort.  AMRAD and others have put out
requests to all to make every effort to contribute to this satellite so
do your part and spread the word to fund the project from this beginning
phase through launch. Please visit the AMSAT website to donate to this
Eagle appeal.

[ANS thanks Barry Baines, WD4ASW for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-001.02
XI-V Pictures

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 001.02
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
January 1, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-001.02

The small cubesat that was released from the SSETI satellite is sending
pictures back to us of the Earth.  Find these at:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/xivpict2.htm

This cubesat was put together by JAMSAT and is functioning as predicted.

[ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-001.03
AMSAT Awards

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 001.03
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
January 1, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-001.03

This week, congratulations go out to all of the following.

The following 51 on 51 Awards were posted in the order they were
received via email and U.S. mail. I did not post #50 to the web so
that no one knew when #50 would arrive giving everyone an equal
chance at earning Award #51.

Bill Greene,      VE7WFG, 51 on 51 Award #50 (Dec 15)
Emily Clarke,     W0EEC,  51 on 51 Award #51 (Dec 16)
Leslie Scofield,  W4SCO,  51 on 51 Award #52 (Dec 21)
Steven Jepsen,    AI7W,   51 on 51 Award #53 (Dec 22)
Takuya Yoshihori, JE1FQV, 51 on 51 Award #54 (Dec 24 05:38 am)
Yasuo Mikashima,  JR6LDE, 51 on 51 Award #55 (Dec 24 06:25 am)
Tim Pepper,       K8NWD,  51 on 51 Award #56 (Dec 24 10:00 am)

The AMSAT 51 on 51 Award is given to any station that makes contact
with 51 different stations on AMSAT's newest satellite, AO-51, during
the year 2005.

To receive the award, you must submit your log entries either electron-
ically or by photocopy. Entries must indicate date and time (UTC) of
the contact, callsign and grid square of the contacted station, and
mode used. Only contacts made between 1 January, 2005 and 31 December,
2005 are eligible.  Logbooks may be submitted until 30 April, 2006.

QSL cards are not required, however logbooks may be checked against
other applicant's logs.  The donation for the award is $10.00 (US Funds)
and AMSAT members receive a $5.00 discount. Award fees may be paid
through the AMSAT Online Store once you have received confirmation of
eligibility from the Director of Contests and Awards.

To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org.

[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-001.04
AO-51 news & AMSAT Kid's Day on AO-51

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 001.04
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
January 1, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-001.04

AMSAT-Echo AO-51 News of the Week

Mike Kingery, KE4AZN, AMSAT Vice-President Operations, announced a
new version of TlmEcho, the Telemetry Decoding Program for AO-51,
is now available on his website:
http://home.centurytel.net/ke4aznsatellite/echo.htm.

TlmEcho software will allow the user to view and capture telemetry
that is downlinked by Echo in real time.

If you have used a previous version of TlmEcho then you can just down-
load Version 1.1.1 and place the new files in the existing directory
on your computer.  This is all you need to do to upgrade to the new
version.

If this is your first time using the TlmEcho program, then you need to
download the full installation which is Version 1.0.5.  Install this
older version first and then upgrade to Version 1.1.1.  Instructions
are on the web page.

Also a new EchoCoef file has been placed on the site for download.  This
file has better high and low limits for the Tlm Channels.

The Echo Operations Team plans to enable the high power mode on AO-51
on January 4, 2006.  Use 145.920 mhz FM, 67 hz PL tone for the uplink
on this day.  The FM downlink will be on 435.300 Mhz.  Echo is planned
for high power downlink operation on January 8 also in support of Kid's
Day activities.

AMSAT-NA, the AO-51 Command Team, and the AO-51 Operations Team will
sponsor Kid's Day on AO-51 on January 8, 2006.  The event will run from
approximately 0100 utc 8 January until 0345 utc 9 January.  The event is
open to all kids, worldwide.  We ask all amateur radio stations to give
this short time window to promote satellite operations with kids, by
actually showing a kid how to make contacts via AO-51, providing a
station to contact, or stepping aside to allow others to make contacts
with the kids.

During the event, please limit contacts to stations that are operating
with kids at the microphone.  This should allow the kids to have a nice
QSO and pass some information.  Kids can tell their name, age, who is
helping them operate on AO-51, where they live, and other information
about themselves.

AO-51 will be configured in the following mode during the event.  Please
note the change in the uplink frequency for the event.  The PL tone will
be turned off for the event.

Uplink:  145.880 mhz FM voice
Downlink:  435.300 mhz FM voice

The digital transponder on 435.150 will be turned off during the event.

See http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html on the ARRL website for
more Kids Day information.

Have fun and enjoy AO-51!

73 KE4AZN
Amsat VP-Operations
Echo Command Station

[ANS thanks Mike KE4AZN for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-001.05
Visible re-entry in January

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 001.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
January 1, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-001.05

When the NASA probe Stardust sample return capsule nose dives back to
Earth in January, it will become the fastest human-made object to streak
through the atmosphere. Scientists and engineers are at the ready to
observe the spectacular sky show預nd savvy skywatchers can join in on
the aerial action too.

If all goes to plan, Stardust will release its sample return capsule
carrying comet and interstellar dust particles on Jan. 15 at 12:57 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time (EST). Four hours later, the capsule will enter
Earth's atmosphere, zooming toward Utah and a parachute landing at
roughly 5:12 a.m. EST.

During its plummet into Utah, the heat-thwarting capsule will skyrocket
across the Western United States [map].

[ANS thanks Space News for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-001.06
ARISS Status - 26 December 2005

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 001.06
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
January 1, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-001.06

ARISS Status
December 26, 2005

1.	Michigan Contact Successful

On Wednesday, December 21, eighteen students from Carman Park Elementary
School in Flint, Michigan asked one question each of Bill McArthur,
KC5ACR, via the telebridge station, WH6PN in Hawaii. An audience of
approximately 300 people attended the event, with media coverage that
included the Flint Journal. The contact audio was webcast, and was fed
through EchoLink AMSAT (node 101 377) and EDU_Net (node 77 992)
conference room servers and was broadcast into the IRLP Discovery
Reflector 9010. Streaming audio was also available from the Discovery
Reflector website, http://www.discoveryreflector.ca/

Forty-four connections were made to Echolink from stations in Argentina,
Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Slovenia,
Thailand, U.K., and U.S.A., which included 15 simplex nodes and 7
repeater nodes.

The Flint Journal article, 適ids' questions zip into outer space,may
be found at:
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1135266661268160.xml&coll=5

Photos of the Carman Park event may be found at this website:
http://www.expedition12.com/charlie/charlie.html

2.	Upcoming School Contacts

The 25th Asia-Pacific Scout Jamboree contact has been approved for
Saturday, December 31 at 09:12 UTC.  The jamboree is held once every
four years with scouts, ages 12-18 and will be held this year from
December 28 to January 3 in Sattahip, Chonburi Province in Thailand.
The hosting committee expects a turnout of 25,000 participants from the
around the world, but especially from the 23 member countries in
Asia-Pacific. There will be a live broadcast of the contact through the
internet at: http://jamboree.siamportals.com . The audio will be fed to
the Echolink Bangkok (node number 106 440), AMSAT (node number 101 377),
and the EDU_Net node (77 992) conference room servers.

STS Escola de Aviacao Civil in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has been scheduled
for a contact with the ISS on Monday, January 2 at 15:54 UTC.

3.	ARRL Article on Sanderson, Mt. Carmel Contacts

The students at Sanderson High School in Sanderson, Texas, and those at
Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, California experienced ARISS
contacts on December 8 and 15, respectively.  ARRL covered the contacts
in the article, 鄭stronauts Don't Spend Much Time in Space, ISS
Commander Tells Students. See:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/12/21/100/?nc=1

4.	Astronaut Training Status

Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes is tentatively scheduled for a
training session at JSC on Monday, January 9, at which time he will be
introduced to ARISS operations and school contacts.  Pontes is scheduled
to fly on a taxi flight to the ISS in the spring of 2006.

5.	ARRL Article on McArthur Contacts

Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, continues to work stations around the world. On
Saturday, December 17, Bill made a contact with Palmer Station in
Antarctica, and now qualifies for the Worked All Continents award.  ARRL
ran an article entitled, 展eekends Best Time to Catch NA1SS on the Air.  See:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/12/23/2/?nc=1

6.	Russian Special Event

Space Patrol, a Russian special event, was planned for December 25 - 26
to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of cosmonaut Gennady
Strekalov, U6MIR. Cosmonauts at Energia, using the callsign R3K, and
those at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), using RK3DZB,
operated HF radios on December 25, and cosmonauts are expected to
operate at GCTC on December 26.  Two contacts with the ISS were
scheduled as part of the event one on December 25 at 2056 UTC and
another on December 26 at 1947 UTC. In addition, the Kenwood radio may
be placed in cross band repeater mode from December 27 -31.

7.	Japanese Magazine Runs SuitSat Article

The Japanese CQ magazine is writing an article on SuitSat which
references ARISS Chairman Frank Bauer痴 paper, 典HIS IS SUITSAT-1,
AMATEUR RADIO STATION RS0RS!!The ARISS team provided photographs to be
included in the news write up, which will appear in the Japan CQ痴 next
issue.  SuitSat is expected to be deployed on February 2, 2006.

[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 & Happy 2006 from the ANS team
This week's ANS Editor,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F
nb2f at amsat dot org
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