[jamsat-news:2383] ANS-203 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-203

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:
* Nagesh Upadhyaya, VU2NUD, SK
* Satellite Demo Leads to Successful First QSOs
* AMSAT Field Day 2007 Statistics
* OSCAR-11 REPORT - 16 July 2007
* ARISS Status - 25 June 2007


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-203.01
Nagesh Upadhyaya, VU2NUD, SK

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 203.01
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 22, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-203.01

The following was received from K.V.Prasad,VU2RRG/ROC, National 
coordinator, AMSAT-IN.

It is with profound grief and sorrow that we express the accidental
demise of our most revered ham technologist shri Nagesh
Upadhyaya,VU2NUD.  He is a noble soul who remains in our ham
technologists minds and hearts.  His dedication and valour will forever
inspire the young ham technologists and future generations of scientists
towards higher glory.

A devoted and dedicated scientific officer/ham technologist from
AMSAT-IN left for heavenly abode. Its pride to the National
International fraternity of AMSAT ham technologists/scientists to have
such a dynamic star. May God (the most beneficient & the merciful in the
world) bless his noble soul.

[ANS thanks  K.V.Prasad,VU2RRG, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-203.02
Satellite Demo Leads to Successful First QSOs

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 203.02
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 22, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-203.02

Since March, Patrick, WD9EWK/VA7EWK has been conducting a series 
of satellite operating demonstrations at the Thunderbird Amateur
Radio Club. W7TBC in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona.

At the club's June meeting, kits for a WA5VJB "Cheap Yagi" for the
FM satellites were distributed consisting of 2 elements on 2m, 5 
elements on 70cm, plus the 2m/70cm "duplexer" or band splitter.  
Other Thunderbird club members were ready to try FM satellite
operation via AO-51 with the telescoping whip on their HT.

Two Thunderbird club members made their first satellite contacts
under Patrick's mentoring.  He reported, "Jeff W0NWA worked Bernardo
6I2HWB in southern Baja California (DL44), and Bob K7UNL worked
me followed by Jeff, K7WIN in southeastern Arizona."  Patrick
made a total of 8 contacts on that pass.  Other club members were
able to hear AO-51 for the first time.

Patrick summarized, "The weather was still 105F/41C outside with
a bit of humidity.  We had a great time, and for a couple of the club
members they now have satellite contacts for their logs.  We may do
another of these hands-on demonstrations in a few months, when it is
not so hot outside."

Thank you to Patrick, and congratulations are in order for the 
Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club!

[ANS thanks Patrick, WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above information]

/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-203.03
AMSAT Field Day 2007 Statistics

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 203.03
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 22, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-203.03

Bruce Page, KK5DO reports that he has finished entering AMSAT Field Day
reports into his computer.

Statistics for AMSAT Field Day 2007:
13 entries
5 satellites operated
207 total qso's scored
2 stations operating commercial power
11 stations operating emergency power
1 emergency station was operating battery
2 stations operating from home
11 stations operating from the field
The least reported score was 3 QSOs

QSOs per satellite:
AO-27 8
SO-50 11
AO-51 14 (includes both l/u and v/u)
AO-07 69 phone
AO-07 21 cw
VO-52 30 phone
VO-52 4  cw

Look for the complete article with pictures and comments in the upcoming
issue of the AMSAT journal.

[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-203.04
OSCAR-11 REPORT - 16 July 2007

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 203.04
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 22, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-203.04

I have now updated the  telemetry archive on my website to include all
the telemetry received in 2007.  The news archive has also been updated.
The URL is www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew

During the period 15 June to 15 July 2007, no signals have been received
from the satellite's 145.826 MHz. beacon. I have not received any
reception reports.

The satellite is currently subject to solar eclipses, which will
continue until 20 August.  The duration of the eclipses is now
decreasing and will reach a time of 10 minutes, around 10 August. At
that level the satellite may be able to sustain continuous operation,
however it is not possible to predict when the satellite will switch ON.
If there was failed attempt to switch ON just before 10 August, then it
could be the end of August before the satellite resumed continuous
transmissions.

The battery can no longer power the satellite during the eclipse season.
When the battery voltage decreases to a preset level, the watchdog timer
resets, and the beacon is turned off for approximately 21 days.  When
the satellite restarts, eclipses could cause the beacon to switch OFF,
after a short time, probably less than one orbit. This short
transmission could occur any where over the world, and could be repeated
at 20.7 day intervals.

Owing to the lack of accurate timings, it is impossible to predict when
and where the satellite will be heard during these short transmission
periods. It is just possible that someone tuning around 145.826 MHz. may
hear the satellite, by chance.

The Beacon frequencies are -
VHF 145.826 MHz.  AFSK FM  ASCII Telemetry
UHF 435.025 MHz.  OFF
S-band 2401.5 MHz. OFF

Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my website. The
current monthly bulletin contains further details of the satellite's
status. If you need to know what OSCAR-11 should sound like, there is a
short audio clip for you to hear. The website contains an archive of
news & telemetry data. It also contains details about using a soundcard
or hardware demodulators for data capture.  There is software for
capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry.  The URL is
www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/

If you place this bulletin on a terrestrial packet network, please
use the bulletin identifier $BID:U2RPT135.CWV, to prevent duplication.

73 Clive G3CWV   xxxxx@amsat.org (please replace xxxxx by g3cwv)

[ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-203.05
ARISS Status - 16 July 2007

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 203.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 22, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-203.05

1. ARISS Contact with Canadian High School Students 

Manitoba high school students attending the Manitoba Space Adventure
Camp held at the Canadian Air Force 17 Wing in Winnipeg spoke to Clay
Anderson, KD5PLA, on Thursday, July 12. During the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) contact, Anderson answered 18
questions posed to him by twelve students, while other camp attendees
and the media looked on. The event received excellent television
coverage by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Canadian
television (CTV).  Four repeater nodes were among the 18 connections
made to EchoLink by ham operators in Germany, India, Canada, USA, Japan,
and the UK. 

The CBC news article can be viewed at this link:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/07/12/space-talk.html#skip300x250#skip300x250

The Winnipeg Sun article may be found here:
http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Manitoba/2007/07/13/4335853-sun.html

Another cnews story has also been posted:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/2007/07/12/4334628-cp.html


2. Upcoming School Contacts

The Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, in Oregon, Ohio has been
scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) contact on Wednesday, July 25 at 11:38 UTC. The center has a
science lab that is used for the summer camp programs, and schools from
northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan participate in the programs which
reach approximately 3000 students each year.  


3. ARISS TIM Held

A productive Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) was held the week of July 9 -13 in
Houston. Discussions included the ARISS radio systems, SuitSat-2 and
education.

[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


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