[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][JAMSAT Home]
[jamsat-news:2286] ANS-323 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-323
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:
* AMSAT-NA Signs Agreements to Build Eagle at a UMES Facility
* 24th Space Symposium Proceedings Available in AMSAT Store
* EaglePedia Upgraded
* SatPC32 Version 12.6 is Released
* Call for AMSAT Journal Articles
* Cambodian Satellite Opportunity
* AMSAT Awards
* STSORBIT Plus Author David Ransom SK
* ARISS Status Report for the week of November 13, 2006
* First Live HDTV Broadcast From Space
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.01
AMSAT-NA Signs Agreements to Build Eagle at a UMES Facility
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.01
AMSAT-NA has accepted an offer to co-locate its Satellite Integration
Lab with the Hawk Institute for Space Sciences (HISS), a division of
the Maryland Hawk Corporation which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational
organization affiliated with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore
(UMES). HISS is located in Pocomoke, Maryland, on the eastern shore of
the Chesapeake Bay. Pocomoke is about a 3-hour drive southeast of the
Baltimore-Washington International airport.
AMSAT-NA has been actively searching for a suitable location for the
past two years as AMSATÃÔ most recent lab at the municipal airport in
Orlando, Florida was condemned due to damage by Hurricane Charley on
August 13, 2004. With the unanimous approval of the AMSAT-NA Board of
Directors, AMSAT-NA has executed two Memoranda of Understanding, one
with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and the other with Mary-
land Hawk Corporation, formalizing the relationship. These MOUs give
AMSAT-NA essentially no-cost access to the HISS facility in return for
sharing its equipment and ideas with HISS.
In addition, the agreement with UMES calls for AMSAT-NA to work collabor-
atively with UMES to identify opportunities to work together on satellite
and related technology projects as well as to work with their students
and faculty to enhance hands-on studies and dissertation research. The
possibility also exists for AMSAT-NA scientists and engineers to receive
Adjunct status at the UMES.
AMSATÃÔ VP Engineering, Bob McGwier N4HY, commented Ū consider these
happenings to be a serious beginning of the activities towards a real
spacecraft.AMSATÃÔ lead mechanical engineer, Bob Davis KF4KSS, is also
an employee of HISS, resulting in AMSAT having a representative on site
at all times. Bob Davis was AMSATÃÔ mechanical design expert in the Orlando
lab during the AO-40 satellite campaign.
HISS is currently constructing the interior walls for their new 8,000 square
foot facility. It is being designed around AMSATÃÔ dual clean room, which
was used for AO-40 and is in storage at Florida Space Institute. AMSAT will
move the clean room and the parts and equipment currently in storage in the
Orlando area to the new lab in the next few months. The facility will
also include adequate meeting and office space for visiting AMSAT personnel.
The agreement with HISS also provides AMSAT limited access to NASA Wallops
Flight Facility with its environmental testing, machine shop, rocket manu-
facturing and launch facilities.
AMSAT members Bob Davis KF4KSS, Rick Hambly W2GPS, Tom Clark K3IO, Jim
Sanford WB4GCS and Bob McGwier N4HY have worked very hard on this project.
AMSAT members are encouraged to volunteer to work in the new lab, come by
and visit (call first), and donate to the P3E and Eagle satellite funds.
[ANS thanks Rick, W2GPS for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.02
24th Space Symposium Proceedings Available in AMSAT Store
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.02
Bruce, KK5DO, wearing his AMSAT Store Manager hat, says that the 24th
AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings from San Francisco are now available
online at the AMSAT Store. You can purchase your copy and with a credit
card conveniently online and have it sent to your door.
It is full of interesting topics. In fact, 284 pages and almost two
pounds of interesting stuff.
Bruce continues, "Another neat new item is our AMSAT back pack. It is
ideal for carrying all your stuff and boasts the AMSAT logo on the
front."
Other items for your holiday wish list include wall clocks, desk clocks,
shirts, and more. Be sure to bookmark the AMSAT store for that special
person in your life so they can find the things you really want that will
not break the bank.
Order yours today at the AMSAT Online Store http://www.amsat.org
[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.03
EaglePedia Upgraded
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.03
AMSAT-NA's EaglePedia was upgraded this week. Webmistress Emily, N1DID
reported, "EaglePedia is back online and most everything is working."
She recommends that EaglePedia users investigate the release notes to the
upgraded version on-line at:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/EaglePedia/index.php/EaglePedia_1.1_rel
ease_notes (watch the line wrap)
[ANS thanks Emily, N1DID for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.04
SatPC32 Version 12.6 is Released
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.04
Erich Eichmann DK1TB has donated SatPC32 as a fund-raiser for AMSAT. If
you use SatPC32, please support amateur satellite programs by purchasing
a SatPC32 registration password.
+ A new control button enables the user to toggle between two timer
display modes: A fixed AOS/LOS time of the satellites or, alternatively,
a countdown of the remaining hours and minutes until the next AOS or LOS.
+ Show the maximum elevation of the next pass of all selected satellites.
+ Output an acoustic message when a satellite is rising.
+ The sub tone steering functions of the program have been expanded.
These functions support now also the Kenwood TS-790A
+ The programs now ignore any characters in brackets after the satellite
names in Keplerian element text files. This allows the user's existing
Doppler.SQF file to be compatible with the new Keps file format from
Celestrak.
The downloadable version is a "trial" version that requires the user to
enter their lat/lon every time they start the program. To make the
program fully functional, a registration password must be purchased from
AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL, or AMSAT-UK. Your existing registration password
may be used for the new version.
SatPC32 version 12.6 is now available for download from the author's web
site: http://www.dk1tb.de/downloadeng.htm
[ANS thanks Wayne, W9AE for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.05
Call for AMSAT Journal Articles
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.05
Ed, WA4SWJ, Editor of The AMSAT Journal says, "It's that time again. If
you have any articles for the November/December issue of The AMSAT Journal
please let me know by e-mail to my [callsign] at amsat.org."
Ed continues, "I have some content already and to those authors - thank you!
I'm always looking for more. Regular contributors - please get going!"
Here's your chance to tell your mom you got your name in the paper.
[ANS thanks Ed, WA4SWJ for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.06
Cambodian Satellite Opportunity
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.06
The TAMSAT Group and Siam DX Group will include amateur satellite
operations on their 2006 Micro-DXpedition to Cambodia. They plan
to use Cambodian callsigns for this event running between November 23
to November 28. Operation is planned to include AO-7, FO-29, SO-50,
AO-51, and VO-52 using CW, SSB, and FM. Their planned Satellite
Operation Schedule is posted at: http://www.tamsat.org/xu7/sch/
[ANS thanks Tanan, XU7ADN and the TAMSAT group for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.07
AMSAT Awards
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.07
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.07
Bruce, KK5DO, wearing his AMSAT Director Contests and Awards hat says,
"This week, congratulations go out to all of the following:"
We would like to welcome the following to the satellite community.
They have made their first satellite contact and are now members of the
AMSAT Satellite Communicators Club:
Alan Sieg WB5RMG
Eric Christensen KF4OTN
AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award
Alan Sieg WB5RMG #440
Eric Christensen KF4OTN #441
South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award
Eric Christensen KF4OTN, US100
To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com
[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.08
STSORBIT Plus Author David Ransom SK
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.08
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.08
Ken Ernandes, N2WWD told AMSAT the sad news of the passing of STSORBIT
PLUS author David Ransom on 5 November 2006. While not a ham, Dave was
a long-time supporter of AMSAT and a major player in providing Space
Shuttle orbital data to the AMSAT and NASA communities. Dave and Ken
worked collaboratively to modify STSORBIT PLUS such that it would provide
[manual] Doppler tuning information, thus making the software a useful
tool for amateur satellite communications.
Amateur Satellite operators around the world will remember Dave for his
contributions to AMSAT and will miss him.
[ANS thanks Ken Ernandes, N2WWD for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.09
ARISS Status Report for the week of November 13, 2006
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.09
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.09
1. Belgium Contact Successful
The Flanders Science Festival contact took placed on Friday, November 10.
Eleven students, ages 11 12, from Henri déaese Primary School in Gent-
brugge, Belgium spoke with astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, KE5GTK, via
the telebridge station W5RRR in Houston, Texas. Twenty questions were
asked and answered in front of an audience of 25 students and 3 teachers.
The audio was webcast and was fed into the Echolink AMSAT server. Three
television stations, one radio station and several newspapers covered the
Gentbrugge event. It is estimated that approximately 1 million people in
Flanders, Belgium and the Netherlands heard the contact.
2. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) contact has been approved for Landes
museum fuer Technik und Arbeit (Mannheim Museum) in Mannheim, Germany. The
contact will take place on Monday, November 20 at 14:42 UTC via the tele-
bridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. This is a European Space Agency (ESA)
Special Event with ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR. The audio will be
fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) servers and into
the IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010.The audio will also be webcast.
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been
approved for Centre Hastings Secondary School, a rural school located in
Madoc, Ontario, Canada with a student body of approximately 975 students.
Centre Hastings, in conjunction with Stirling Senior School, will involve
students from several grades by tracking the Space Station, calculating the
speed, rate of travel and distance from Earth. They will design and build
a space station, write questions to ask the ISS crew, and design and create
posters to advertise the event. The school intends to webcast the event on
http://www.hpedsb.on.ca. Newspapers and television are expected to cover
the contact which is scheduled for Monday, November 20 at 16:35 UTC.
3. ARISS Contact Inspires Students to Earn Licenses
In April 2006, Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro experienced an Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Marcos Pontes,
PY0AEB. As a direct result of that contact, several students became inter-
ested in learning more about amateur radio. The Amateur Radio and Space
Experiment (AMRASE), (a Brazilian non-governmental organization dedicated
to developing technical programs for use in schools) team developed a
special workshop for the students which covered radio communications,
antenna systems, space communication by satellites and the amateur radio
system on the International Space Station. Ten students have studied and
are prepared to take their amateur radio license exams.
4. ARISS Presentation at University of California, Fresno
This coming week, American Radio Relay League member Dave Smith, W6TE, will
give an Amateur Radio presentation to a college class at California State
University, Fresno.His talk will cover CubeSats, Student Space Exploration
and Technology Initiative (SSETI), andmateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS) including the satellites SuitSat-1 and SuitSat-2.
5. Students Testing SuitSat-2 Components
At its face to face meeting in San Francisco, the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) team approved a second SuitSat project,
an amateur radio system housed in an Orlan suit which has outlived its
usefulness for the ISS crew. Much of SuitSat-1ÃÔ design will be reused
in this second project but this time a software designed radio and solar
cells will be incorporated into the system. The hardware team has been
designing and developing the circuitry for the new satellite. The printed
circuit boards were delivered to AMSAT members Bob McGwier, N4HY, and
Frank Brickle, AB2KT, who are teaching an elective course on software
defined radios at The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State
College). The students enrolled in the course (approximately half of
the senior electrical engineering class) will test the boards.
6. ARISS Teacher Featured on Pride of Britain TV Program
On Tuesday, November 7, the United KingdomÃÔ television station, ITV1, aired
the Pride of Britain Awards in which the Teacher of the Year award was given
to Head Teacher, Linda Davies. Davies was the teacher who coordinated the
first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact in
Britain for her classes at Wiltshire's Neston Primary School and was commen-
ded for her work, which inspired students and promoted science at the
school.
7. JSC Training Session Status
A Space Flight Training Division Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) was
held at Johnson Space Center on November 6-10. The ARISS-Russian team from
Energia, representatives from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC),
and ARISS-U.S. members attended. As a result of the meeting, the ARISS U.S.
team may be tasked to perform more of the amateur radio training to reduce
the amount of time that U.S. crews spend in Russia.
8. ARHOP Meeting Held
On Wednesday, November 1, a meeting was held to discuss the charter for the
Amateur Radio Hardware and Operations Panel (ARHOP). The document is being
developed by Carlos Fontanot at Johnson Space Center in order to formalize
the multi-lateral agreement between all the participating ARISS partners,
and to define their roles and responsibilities.
9. Expedition 13 Crew Debrief Held
A crew debriefing session was held on Thursday, November 9 with Jeff
Williams, KD5TVQ. Williams provided the team with feedback on the ISS Ham
radio equipment and school operations.
10. ARRL Article Covers SuitSat-2
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran an article on a second SuitSat
project. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/11/09/101/?nc=1
11. Amateur Radio to be Highlighted on History Channel
In spring 2007, The History Channel plans to run a 13-segment series, "The
Secret Life of Machines." One segment will cover Amateur Radio, part of
which will focus on ham radio in space. ARISS delegate Rosalie White
described the roles of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio
Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and the Amateur Radio on the Inter-
national Space Station (ARISS) to the History Channel reporter, and provided
information on SuitSat-1 and SuitSat-2 and explained how the ARISS team
compiles components, and designs, tests and launches its systems.Follow-up
material, which covered SuitSat-1 and an ARISS school whose 5th graders
built 5 types of crystal radios and compared their qualities, was sent to
him.
[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-323.10
First Live HDTV Broadcast From Space
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 323.10
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 19, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-323.10
The first live HDTV broadcast from space took place last week. It
featured Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight
Engineer Thomas Reiter, serving as camera operator. The broadcast was
carried by Discovery HD Theater and NHK and was also shown at Discovery
Channel stores. Known as the Space Video Gateway, the system transmits
high bandwidth digital television signals to the ground that are not
only spectacular, but also valuable to scientists, engineers and managers.
The Expedition 14 crew continues spacewalk preparations. The Nov. 22
spacewalk includes a commercial golf experiment performed by Flight
Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. This experiment is dedicated to the 200th
anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between Russia and the
United States and to commemorate the golf shot of Alan Shepard Jr.
on the moon.
[ANS thanks NASA 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,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
K9JKM at amsat dot org
_______________________________________________
Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans