[jamsat-news:2968] ANS-163 Bulletins

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-163

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:

* ARISSat-1 Reception Challenge
* Call for Papers
* AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Due by June 15th
* New Items in AMSAT Store
* Grid Trip to Slovakia
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* 2011 AMSAT Field Day Competition
* ARISS Report
* AMSAT Server Upgrade

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.01
ARISSat-1 Reception Challenge

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.01
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.01


ARISSat-1 Reception Challenge

ARISSat-1 is scheduled for deployment from the ISS in July. It has a
composite VHF downlink that will easily fit into the FUNcube Dongle
receive spectrum. The telemetry is 1000 bps BPSK and can, of course,
also be received with a normal SSB 2 metre receiver.

The expected signal levels from ARISSat should be similar to those we
expect from FUNcube itself (and also eventually from UKube) and the
team are keen to discover what will be the minimum and best type of
antennas for schools to use with a FCD. Therefore user experience with
the ARISSat signals will be very valuable in making this determination.

To encourage everyone to receive ARISSat signals we are offering a FUN
reward for listeners!

There are a number of categories for this challenge including:

1. The first FCD user, from each continent, who can post a spectrum
    recording of the received signal together with evidence of decoding
    the data using the ARISSat software and of sending it to the ARISSat
    data warehouse.

2. The first non-FCD user, from each continent, who can provide evidence
    of having decoded the signals and of sending it to the ARISSat data
    warehouse.

3. The listener, using a FCD or not, who can demonstrate satisfactory
    reception of the telemetry in the same ways as described above, 
using
    the "smallest" possible receive antenna. The actual closing date for
    this part of the challenge will be announced later.

4. All other entrants who can demonstrate that they have been having 
FUN!

Please submit your "entries", including your location, station details
(including FCD serial number where applicable), postal address and 
reports
to g0auk<at>amsat.org.

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and the Southgate ARC News Site for the above
  information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.02
Call for papers

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.02
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.02


Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 30th Annual ARRL
and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 16-18,
2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. These papers will also be published in the
Conference Proceedings (you do NOT need to attend the conference to have
your paper included in the Proceedings). The submission deadline is
July 31, 2011. Please send papers to:

Maty Weinberg
ARRL
225 Main St
Newington, CT 06111

Or... you can make your submission via e-mail to: maty@arrl.org

Papers will be published exactly as submitted and authors will
retain all rights.

73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY
ARRL

[ANS thanks Steve, WB8IMY, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.03
AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Due by June 15th

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.03
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.03


It is time to submit nominations for the upcoming open seats on the
AMSAT-NA Board of Directors. The deadline is June 15th. A valid
nomination requires either one Member Society, or five current
individual members in good standing, to nominate an AMSAT member
for the position.

Four director's terms expire this year:

Barry Baines, WD4ASW
Alan Biddle, WA4SCA
Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA
Tony Monteiro, AA2TX

The four candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be
seated as full Board members for two year terms.  The two candidates
receiving the next highest number of votes will be seated as alternate
Board members for one year terms.

Beginning this year, in addition to traditional submissions of written
nominations which remains unchanged and is the preferred method, initial
nominations may be made by electronic means.=A0 These include e-mail,
FAX, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be
sent to MARTHA@AMSAT.ORG or faxed to 301-608-3410. Written nominations,
consisting of names, calls, and individual signatures, should be mailed
to:

AMSAT-NA
850 Sligo Ave #600
Silver Spring, MD, 20910

No matter what method is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June
15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written
nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e.
electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at
the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the
close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS
SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXIST- ING AMSAT-NA 
BYLAWS.

Alan Biddle
WA4SCA
AMSAT Corporate Secretary

[ANS thanks Alan, WA4SCA, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.04
New Items in AMSAT Store

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.04
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.04

Hot off the presses, you don't want to miss out on these new
  additions to the AMSAT online store for 2011.

  The latest from Gould, WA4SXM, Getting Started With Amateur
  Satellites - 2011. Excellent for the beginner to learn the ins and
  outs of the most popular satellites. Also contains information on
  ARISSat-1, P3 Express and AMSAT Fox.

  There is a new 2011 Frequency chart, updated May, 2011 by Mike, N1JEZ.

  Catch a fly ball or keep the sun off your head with the new 2011
  Baseball Cap

  Show off your support for ARISSat-1 with a handsome red Polo Shirt or
  gray T-Shirt

  Visit the AMSAT online store and see pictures and pricing to your 
door.
  http://www.amsat.org click on link in left margin.

  73...bruce
  (AMSAT online store manager)


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

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.05
Grid Trip to Slovakia

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.05
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.05

OM3BD Looking for North America Satellite Contacts

Bill, NZ5N says he is heading for his annual 7-week trip to Slovakia,
grid locator JN88mf. He has been issued a new Slovak callsign OM3BD.

Bill wrote, "I will be active on the satellites.  North American 
stations,
please contact me for OSCAR 7 mode B skeds, if we will have any mutual
footprints. Time permitting, there's also a possibility of some portable
operations to different grids, and/or satellite expeditions to Austria
and Hungary Both are less than 20 miles from my Slovakian QTH."

Bill said last year he was able contact Ohio and Virginia via AO-7 from
this location.

[ANS thanks Bill, NZ5N for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.06
Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.06
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.06

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ NASA has released photos of Endeavour docked at the International
   Space Station (ISS). These are the first ever images taken of a
   space shuttle while still attached to the orbiting lab complex
   from the perspective of a crewed Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The
   photos were captured by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli from the
   Soyuz TMA-20 vehicle as he and two crewmates were departing the ISS
   for their return trip to Earth. See:
   http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/e27depart.html

+ NASA's Spirit rover on Mars stopped transmitting in March 2010 when
   it went silent at the onset of the cold and dark Martian winter.
   Assembled by Dr. Ken Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo from publicly-avail
   able NASA imagery, these mosaics show Spirit's final resting place:
   http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1106/05spirit/

+ NASA Science News posted "A Salute to Spirit" at:
   http://tinyurl.com/3ce4zp2 (science.nasa.gov)

+ Video of the June 7 Soyuz launch with NASA astronaut Mike Fossum,
   Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Japan Aerospace Exploration
   Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa can be viewed at the UniverseToday
   web site: http://tinyurl.com/6c2gews

+ A new yahoo group dedicated to Digital Amateur Television has been
   created. The purpose of the group is to share knowledge & experiences
   using & developing DATV technology for amateur use. You can join the
   group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalATV/  (Mark, WB9QZB)

+ Copenhagen Suborbital, a group of amateur rocketeers successfully
   launched the world's first amateur-built rocket made for human space
   travel. Two videos of the launch can be found at:

http://www.universetoday.com/86306/copenhagen-suborbitals-launch-videos/

+ Send an audio report of your SumbandilaSat contact and you may be one
   of 3 lucky winners drawn to receive a first day postal cover of the
   SumbandilaSat. Closing date is 30 June 2011. E-Mail to:
   saamsat@intekom.co.za (http://www.amsatsa.org.za/)

+ Martha at AMSAT Headquarters says she now has 7 Elk Antennas in stock.
   The cost is $125 plus shipping. She also has the bag which is $25. If
   you are interested, please call the AMSAT Office at 301-589-6062. A
   portion of your purchase price benefits AMSAT.

+ Andy, VK3ASI hopes to operate the FM satellites Oscar 50 and 51 from
   Spitsbergen next week. Some of the operation may be maritime mobile.

+ The Central States VHF Conference will convene in Irving, TX on
   July 29 - 30. Most attendees traveling from a good distance will
   arrive on July 28th and checkout on July 31st. Information will be
   posted at: http://www.csvhfs.org/

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.07
Reminder-2011 AMSAT Field Day Competition

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.07
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.07


Field Day is June 25 & 26.
Annual readiness excersize is a great way to demo Satellite Operations.

AMSAT Director of Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO says, "It's that time of
year again: Summer and Field Day!"

Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day
as an emergency preparedness exercise. The event takes place during
a 24-hour period on the fourth weekend of June.  For 2011 the event
takes place during a 27-hour period from 1800 UTC on Saturday
June 25, 2011 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 26, 2011.
Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 25 can operate only
24 hours.

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version
of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held concurrently
with the ARRL event.

Bruce advises, "If you are considering ONLY the FM voice satellites like
AMRAD-OSCAR-27, SaudiSat-Oscar-50, or AMSAT-OSCAR-51 for your AMSAT 
Field
Day focus. Don't, unless you are simply hoping to make one contact for 
the
ARRL rules bonus points."

The congestion on FM LEO satellites was so intense in prior years that 
we
must continue to limit their use to one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. This
includes the International Space Station. You will be allowed one QSO
if the ISS is operating Voice. You will also be allowed one digital QSO
with the ISS or any other digital, non- store-and-forward, packet 
satellite
(if operational).

Please refer to these links for the full document of the AMSAT Field
Day rules:
http://www.amsat.org/ (link on AMSAT.org front page to PDF file) And,
an alternative site is:
http://www.amsatnet.com/2011fd.doc (MS-Word Doc File)
http://www.amsatnet.com/2011fd.pdf (PDF File)

These documents also cover the message exchange format, scoring
requirements, reporting requirements, station classes, etc.

[ANS thanks AMSAT Director of Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO for
the  above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.08
ARISS Report

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.08
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.08

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report
June 6, 2011


1.	Amateur Radio Newsline on ARISS

On June 3, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1764 included a story on 
the
new ARISS proposal process for U.S. schools.  “Ham Radio in Space:  New 
US
Only Selection Process Announced for ARISS Contacts” may be found at:
ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt

2.	Astronaut Training Status

An ARISS simulated contact is planned with Kevin Ford, KF5GPP on June 
13.
Ford is scheduled to fly with Expedition 33 in September 2012.

Don Pettit, KD5MDT and André Kuipers, PI9ISS are scheduled for an ARISS
preflight session on June 22.  The two astronauts are part of Expedition
30 which will launch in November 2011.

3.	ARISS Presentations at Ham-Com 2011

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) National Convention will be held
at the Ham-Com 2011 in Plano, Texas on Friday and Saturday, June 10 - 
11.
Several ARISS presentations will be given during the event:

ARISSat-1 a Satellite for STEM Education and Fun
Presented by Keith Pugh, W5IU

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
Presented by Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO

Introduction to Amateur Radio Satellites
Presented by Douglas Quagliana, KA2UPW

For more information, see: http://www.hamcom.org


[ANS thanks Carol Jackson, KB3KLI, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-163.09
AMSAT Server Upgrade

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 163.09
> From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 12, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-163.09

AMSAT Server Upgrade News

AMSAT's network manager Paul Williamson, KB5MU reminded users of the
http://www.amsat.org features and news that, "The AMSAT.ORG computer
has been upgraded and moved to a new location. Although it still re-
mains on the UCSD campus, the new location required that a new IP ad-
dress be assigned. The transition should theoretically be seamless,
but some users may have trouble until their network's DNS servers
take notice of the update."

Unless your network admin has done something unusual, any problems
should clear up by themselves within a few days at most.

Please report any ongoing problems to Paul via kb5mu@amsat.org or
paul@mustbeart.com if the problem prevents email from getting
through to amsat.org.

[ANS thanks Paul Williamson, KB5MU for the above information]

/EX

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F
nb2f at amsat dot org
nb2f at amsat dot org

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