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[jamsat-news:2385] ANS-210


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-210

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:
* NASA and ESA Prepare Columbus(L & S Transponder onboard)
* AMSAT-UK Colloquim News
* AO-51 Features SSB Uplink to FM Downlink Experiment
* AO-7 Log Page
* ARISS Status - 23 July 2007


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-210.01
NASA and ESA Prepare Columbus(L & S Transponder onboard)

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 210.01
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 29, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-210.01

NASA and ESA Prepare Columbus for Flight

A press release from the European Space Agency reports that NASA
plans to resume testing and integration work on the ESA Columbus
Space Laboratory to prepare it for connection with the International
Space Station.

Columbus was flown to Florida back in May, 2006, to get in line for
its launch to the station. Earlier this year, it was removed from
temporary storage, and engineers equipped it with experiment racks
and orbital hardware. After a break over the summer, workers will
continue preparing it for launch. If all goes well, it will blast
into space atop the space shuttle Atlantis as early as December 6th,
2007 on the STS-122 Shuttle Flight.

Also aboard Columbus will be amateur radio equipment to support a
linear transponder with an L-band uplink and S-band downlink.

ESA information on the Columbus Space Laboratory can be found at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJY2HYX3F_index_0.html.

[ANS thanks ESA and Universe Today for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-210.02
AMSAT-UK Colloquim News

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 210.02
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 29, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-210.02

Satellite News From 2007 AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium

Good news about interesting amateur satellite projects has
been released upon the conclusion of the 2007 AMSAT-UK
Space Colloquium.

Amateur Radio satellite Delfi-C3 video available
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2007/delfi_c3_video.htm

AMSAT-OZ Satellite on a PCB - AMSAT-UK Colloquium Paper
and PowerPoints at http://wiki.amsat.dk/

P3E Update
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2007/p3e_update.htm

The UK to get it's first Cubesat?
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2007/uk_cubesat.htm

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and Trevor, M5AKA for the above information]


/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-210.03
AO-51 Features SSB Uplink to FM Downlink Experiment

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 210.03
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 29, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-210.03

AO-51 Features SSB Uplink to FM Downlink Experiment

On July 24 AO-51 controllers enabled the satellite's SQRX
receiver to allow for operation utilizing a 145.880 MHz SSB
uplink with an FM downlink on 435.300 MHz.  This experiment
also caused changes in the way that telemetry is handled.
Gould, WA4SXM, AO-51 Command Station described the config-
uration, "I turned off Transmitter A last night when I
switched modes as the schedule did not include the telemetry
downlink.  If I use the SQRX receiver, then I need to decrease
the transmitter power for the batteries to make it through
eclipse."  In the meantime AO-51 was collecting telemetry,
but not transmitting telemetry.

Alan, WA4SCA was active on the new mode and wrote, "It is
very obvious who has computer control of the radio.  Intel-
ligibility is as with any of the passband birds, except on
AO-51 you fall completely out of the passband quickly. In
this mode the RX is relatively sensitive, but I did need a
beam to get a good uplink, though my output was only 1-2
watts."

In the period between July 27-July 31, controllers returned
AO-51 into its V/U FM Repeater mode with the uplink on 145.920
MHz and downlink on 435.300 MHz.  9k6 telemetry transmission
was re-enabled on 435.150 MHz.

[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM and Alan, WA4SCA for the above
  information]


/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-210.04
AO-7 Log Page

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 210.04
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 29, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-210.04

AO-7 Log Page

John, LA2QAA, AO-7 Resource Web Page Administrator, reminds users
that the AO-7 log page (http://www.planetemily.com/ao7/ao7log.php)
remains operational.  John asks, "Please remember this page is des-
igned to be an "activity" log.  It is not designed to be a log to
see who can collect the most points.  Please refrain from entering
multiple QSO's on different lines for the same orbit because this
will then give false overall results."  John is available to answer
questions via e-mail at his <callsign>@amsat.org address.

[ANS thanks John, LA2QAA for the above information]


/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-210.05
ARISS Status - 23 July 2007

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 210.05
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
July 29, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-210.05

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report
July 23, 2007



1.	Successful ARISS Contact with Hospitalized Children

On Tuesday, July 17, long term hospitalized children at the Arnold
Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Florida, spoke with astronaut
Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, aboard the ISS, via the telebridge station W6SRJ
in California. Anderson answered the childrenÃÔ 20 questions which had
been prepared for the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) event,  and with extra time available, he answered an additional
13 posed to him by the 10 patients. An ARISS team member gave a
presentation to the children covering amateur radio and the ARISS
program. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW
(277 208) servers, and into the IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010. Twenty
connections were made to EchoLink, of which 7 were repeaters, from 8
countries, including the Czech Republic and Croatia.  Central Florida
News, Channel 13, ran a story with video on the event. See:
http://www.cfnews13.com/Health/YourHealth/2007/7/18/sick_kids_get_special_talk_with_astronaut.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. The audio from this event
will be fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208)
servers, as well as being fed into the IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has
been planned for the 21st World Scout Jamboree in Chelmsford, England. A
Special Event Station, GB100J, will operate at the Jamboree from July 27
to August 8, 2007. Approximately 40,000 scouts from 200 countries are
expected to attend this event. The audio will be broadcast on the
Jamboree FM Radio Station and will be webcast on the radio stationÃÔ
website.  It will also be fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and
JK1ZRW (277 208) servers, but it is unlikely that it will be fed into
the IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010. The contact will take place on
Saturday, August 4 at 21:10 UTC.

3.	ARISS International Team Meeting Held

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
International Team teleconference was held on Tuesday, July 17.  Agenda
items covered included the ARISS Kenwood and Ericsson radio systems and
SuitSat-2 status.  Minutes have been posted to the ARISS website. See:
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2007-07-17.htm

4.	Crew Debrief Scheduled

A crew debriefing session with Expedition 14/15 member Sunita Williams
has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, July 24. Williams completed
33 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts
with school children around the world while aboard the ISS.


[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















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