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[jamsat-news:1926] ANS-165 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE

ANS-165

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:
*  ECHO integration report
*  Eagle Team Meeting
*  SO-50 Turn-on Procedure Released
*  2004 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting - Call for papers
*  ARISS Status  07 June 2004
*  This Week's News in Brief


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.01
ECHO integration report

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.01 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 13, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-165.01

While ECHO is enroute to the launch site in Kazakhstan, here is a brief
report on activities leading up to ECHO's departure on 09 June 2004.

On 01 June, Chuck Green, N0ADI and Jim White, WD0E, teamed up to begin
reviewing the test procedures that would be run and making a plan for the
activities upcoming in the days ahead.  During the next several days a few
minor harness changes where made and several run-throughs of the launch
site test procedure were accomplished.

Final close out work on the modules began on 04 June 2004.  This involved
cleaning the inside of each module, putting RTV on every screw head and nut,
and securing wiring with cord and RTV.  Also, the fuse from the main
computer board was removed and replaced it with a zero ohm resistor and the
Watchdog Enable jumper was replaced with wire.  Chuck added, "After dinner I
worked on the solar panels.  Each needs it's wiring added, it's connector
installed, and a thermistor added and wired.  I finished one of the six
before it was midnight again."  By 06 June, work on all six solar panels had
been completed.

07 June after spending some time troubleshooting a balky laptop used for
testing, the ground test software was moved to Lyle Johnson's, KK7P,
computer.  Using Lyle's computer, ECHO passed its tests very well. By the
end of the day the last module was put on the stack and the wiring harness
installed for the final time.  Chuck said, "I secured all the screws and I
replaced the coax in the chimney."  The solar panels were packed for
shipping along with the magnetic rod and corner reflectors.

08 June we solved the mystery of Chuck's serial port.  The umbilical cable
between the laptop computer and Echo was not wired correctly, and the ground
pin was tied to pin 8 rather than pin 9.  So, going to launch, we now have
two independent laptops checked out with the umbilical.

The final checks the day before packing ECHO for shipping were discussed in
ANS-161 on 09 June.

[ANS thanks Chuck, N0ADI for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.02
Eagle Team Meeting

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.02 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 13, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-165.02

The Eagle Team will be meeting in Orlando, FL on 16-18 July 2004 to review
the status of the AMSAT OSCAR "Eagle" satellite design project and to
perform a thorough review of Eagle's mission and all of the requirements to
fulfill the objectives of the mission.  The meeting will be held at the
Airport Clarion, 3835 McCoy Road, Orlando, FL (www. airportclarion.com).

Rick Hambly, W2GPS, AMSAT Executive VP says, "These meetings represent an
opportunity to bring the Eagle Team together for a period of very intense,
and focused hard work".  Rick added, "The complexities and challenges of
designing, building and launching a HEO spacecraft demand that we look to
expand our pool of participants".

Anyone wishing to attend the Eagle meeting should contact Rick Hambly at
w2gps@amsat.org by 30 June 2004 to allow adequate time to plan meeting
logistics.

[ANS thanks Rick, W2GPS for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.03
SO-50 Turn-on Procedure Released

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.03 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 13, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-165.03

Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, President of AMSAT-NA reports that, "I have been
advised that I can now publish the tone to allow all users to open SO-50 as
the power availability appears to be good."

The order of operation is thus (allow for Doppler as necessary):

1) Transmit on 145.850 MHz with a tone of 74.4 Hz.  This will arm the 10
minute timer on board the spacecraft.

2) Now transmit on 145.850 MHz  (FM Voice) using 67.0 Hz to PTT the
repeater on and off within the 10 minute window.

3) Sending the 74.4 Hz tone again within the 10 minute window will reset the
10 minute timer.

Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, a member of SO-50's command team adds, "Please!!!
All new users, be VERY SURE that your equipment is good enough to hear the
satellite before attempting to enable it with the 74.4 Hz tone."  He asks
that, "If you have any doubts at all, let someone else turn it on."   Drew
noted that, "What will be disastrous is if some of the users that have
marginal receive systems spend half the pass transmitting the 74.4 tone at
50 watts. 2 seconds is enough, and the receiver is VERY sensitive."

The spacecraft repeater consists of a miniature VHF to UHF repeater with a
receive sensitivity of -124 dbm, having an IF bandwidth of 15 kHz. The
receive antenna  is a 1/4 wave vertical mounted in the top corner of the
spacecraft. The receive audio is filtered and conditioned then gated in the
control electronics prior to feeding it to the 250 mW transmitter.  The
downlink antenna is a 1/4 wave mounted in the bottom corner of the
spacecraft and is canted at 45 degrees inward.

Also, for those trying this sat out for the first time, bear in mind that
with a single 1/4 wave whip for the downlink transmitter on the satellite
you will experience occasional severe fades caused by A) cross polarization
if using a linear antenna or B) the spacecraft body blocking your view of
the antenna. Blocking happens even with large AO-13 class stations with a
preamp. Drew concluded saying "This week I've noticed the downlink is
particularly good at the beginning of the ascending passes, and not so good
near the end of the pass."

[ANS thanks Robin, VE3FRH and Drew, KO4MA for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.04
2004 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting - Call for papers

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.04 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 13, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-165.04

This is the third and final call for papers for the 2004 AMSAT Space
Symposium and Annual Meeting to be held October 8-10 in Arlington, Virginia.
This symposium will be held in conjunction with the ARISS International
Meeting that is planned for October 10-13.

Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are
invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite program. An
emphasis for this year is AMSAT's educational outreach activities, including
our educational outreach efforts with universities and the International
Space Station.  In particular, papers on the following topics are solicited:
Students & Education, ARISS, Echo, Eagle and other satellite-related topics.

We request a one-page abstract by June 15, 2004. Camera ready copy on paper
or in electronic form will be due by August 1, 2004 for inclusion in the
printed symposium proceedings.

Abstracts and papers should be sent to:
Daniel Schultz N8FGV
14612 Dowling Drive
Burtonsville, MD 20866

or by e-mail to: n8fgv@amsat.org

[ANS thanks Dan, N8FGV for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.05
ARISS Status  07 June 2004

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.05 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 13, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-165.05

1.  Walton High School Contact Successful

Walton Central High School in Walton, New York experienced a successful
contact with the ISS on Wednesday, June 2 at 1757 UTC. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT,
answered 16 questions posed by eight physics students. The contact was
performed via the telebridge station, NN1SS, at GSFC, while Mark Steiner,
K3MS, sat at the controls. ARRL's web story covering the contact, "No Pets,
Voting Booths in Space, Astronaut Tells High Schoolers" can be found at

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/04/100/?nc=1 and provides a link to
the audio from the ARISS event.


2.  Expedition 8 Crew Debriefing

The ARISS-U.S. Team debriefed Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, on
Friday, June 4. The discussion covered operations, school contacts,
hardware, and computer availability on board the ISS. Mike had a favorable
impression of the ARISS program, and provided suggestions for further
improving the project.


3.  Field Day 2004

The ARRL will hold its annual Field Day event the fourth full weekend in
June. This year, Field Day will run from Saturday, June 26 at 1800 UTC (2 pm
ET) to Sunday, June 27 at 2100 UTC (5 pm ET). Both Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, and
Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, have been invited to participate in the event. The
ARISS team should learn in the next couple of weeks as to whether they will
be participating in Field Day.


4.  ISS Ham Technical Team Meeting

The ISS Ham Technical Team held a teleconference on Tuesday, June 1.
Discussions included a new third party agreement, which came out of the
World Radio Conference, and how these changes might help the ARISS program.
Also discussed were the steps to be taken for future EVAs - shutting down
the radio equipment prior to an EVA, and bringing the systems up again,
afterwards.


5.  ARRL to Update School Applications

ARRL has made plans to go through the older ARISS school applications in
September (when school starts up again). Teachers will be contacted and
asked to update their information and to provide schedules of vacations for
the school year.

[ANS thanks Carol for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-165.06
This Week's News in Brief

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 165.06 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 13, 2004
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-165.06

**  International Launch Services (ILS) has received authorization from the
U.S. Air Force to begin integration of the Space Test Program-1 (STP-1)
mission on the Atlas V rocket, scheduled to launch in September 2006. This
multi-payload mission will launch seven separate satellites and perform a
series of on-orbit maneuvers to deliver these satellites to their respective
orbital locations. --SpaceDaily

**  The FCC's Media Security and Reliability Council has published a new
booklet titled the "Readiness Guide for Local Media on How to Prepare
for Emergencies."  This colorful pamphlet is good for a quick
overview of what the media should do in times of emergencies. The PDF
version is at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-
244522A1.pdf.  --Newsline

**   On June 11, the Cassini orbiter will fly within about 1,200 miles of
Saturn's moon Phoebe. Data and images will be returned on June 12.  Phoebe's
surface color appears almost black when observed by powerful telescopes,
scientists say. The moon, which is about 130 miles in diameter, reflects
only 6 percent of the sunlight it receives. Because of its dark color, and
because Phoebe's orbit is irregular (elliptical, outside the plane of
Saturn's equator and retrograde), scientists think the moon is probably a
captured object, possibly a comet, asteroid or Kuiper Belt Object
(KBO). --SpaceDaily

/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.

AMSAT has developed an on-line volunteer survey, designed to
identify the interests and skills of those who may be available to directly
help in efforts to develop the amateur satellite program. The survey is
designed to be completed and returned on-line, and takes only a few minutes
to fill out.  To request the survey, simply send an e-mail request
to:volunteer at AMSAT.org

73,
This weeks ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KU4OS, ku4os at AMSAT.org

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