[jamsat-news:2808] ANS-094 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-094

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

********************************************************************
* The AMSAT team is preparing for the 2010 Dayton Hamvention AMSAT *
*     Booth and activities. For the latest information go to:      *
*    http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2010/Dayton.php     *
********************************************************************

In this edition:

* AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention 2010
* 2010 AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting
* FUNcube at United Kingdom Space Conference 2010
* Delfi-C3 Survives Orbital Near Miss
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* Update on the ISS Columbus Module Amateur Radio Station


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-094.01
AMSAT at Dayton Hamvention 2010

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 094.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 4, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-094.01

The 2010 Dayton Hamvention will be held this year on 14-16 May 2010.

This is the 59th year of the Dayton Hamvention, sponsored by DARA 
(Dayton Amateur Radio Association). As has been the case for the 
many years Hamvention will be at the Hara Arena Complex on the north 
side of Dayton. Further information on Hamvention 2010, including 
advance ticket sales and motel accommodations, can be found at 
http://www.hamvention.org 

AMSAT will occupy the same booths (444-449) in Ball Arena, right 
across from the ARRL area and just inside the door from the Satel-
lite Demonstration area. Plan to visit all of the AMSAT activities!

AMSAT Activities at Dayton
---------------------------
AMSAT has planned a number of great activities during Hamvention. 
There will also be a number of new offerings at the AMSAT booth 
as well as special deals.

The AMSAT theme for 2010 is "Space Technology for Hams". We will 
have multipe exhibits of the new AMSAT satellites on display. 

ARISSat
-------
ARISSat has continued to develop this past year. We will have on 
display one of the operational development prototypes. We expect 
the satellite to be launched later this year. 
 
AMSAT Thursday Night Get-together
---------------------------------
We will be at Tickets Pub & Eatery this year. The menu is great 
and a nice change of pace. Check it out at TicketsPub.com

AMSAT Forum
-----------
The AMSAT Forum will be on Saturday May 15 in Forum Room 5 from 
11:15 am - 1:30 pm.

AMSAT/TAPR Banquet
------------------
The fourth annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be Friday night May 14 at 
the Kohler Banquet Center. TAPR will be providing the keynote speaker.
The price for the Banquet is $30. Seating is limited and reservations 
are required. Follow the Dayton Banquet 2010 link below for information 
about reservations and additional information. Additional information 
as it becomes available.

AMSAT Hotel
-----------
AMSAT has a limited block of rooms reserved at the Country Inn & Suites 
in Fairborn, OH. Please contact Martha at the AMSAT office for room 
price and availability during Hamvention. Priority for rooms will be 
given to those volunteering to work in the AMSAT booth for multiple 
2 hour shifts during Hamvention. The phone number for the AMSAT office 
is 301-589-6062. Other hotels in the immediate area of the Country 
Inn & Suites include the Fairfield Inn, Ramada Inn, Hampton Inn, 
Fairborn Holiday Inn, Red Roof Inn and the Homewood Suites if addi-
tional accommodations are needed. 

[ANS thanks the AMSAT Dayton Hamvention Team for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-094.02
2010 AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 094.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 4, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-094.02

AMSAT announced the 2010 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held in Chicago 
on Friday, October 8th through Sunday, October 10th.

Features planned for this exciting weekend of Amateur Radio in Space:

+ Space Symposium with Amateur Satellite Presentations
+ Operating Techniques, News, & Plans from the Amateur Satellite World
+ Board of Directors Meeting open to AMSAT members
+ Meet Board Members and Officers
+ Annual General Membership Meeting
+ Annual Banquet—Keynote Speaker and Door Prizes

This year we have selected the Chicago/Elk Grove Holiday Inn just west
of Chicago at 1000 Busse Road, Elk Grove, IL. The hotel is near O’Hare 
Airport and has free hourly shuttles.

Watch the ANS bulletins and the AMSAT Symposiumweb page for the latest
updates: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2010/Dayton.php

[ANS thanks the 2010 Symposium Committee for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-094.03
FUNcube at United Kingdom Space Conference 2010

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 094.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 4, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-094.03

The United Kingdom Space Conference was held from March 24-28 in 
Godalming Surrey. This premier event always attracts a stellar 
cast of speakers and this year was no exception. The launch of 
the UK Space Agency in same week added to the excitement. Many of 
the presentations are available for view from the Ustream server

AMSAT-UK attended to explain their exciting plans for the FUNcube 
satellite. As well as the Amateur Radio SSB/CW transponder FUNcube 
will provide an in-orbit tool for science education outreach and 
hands-on training in space and all the STEM subjects (Science 
technology Engineering & Mathematics)The telemetry system is 
designed for easy reception by school pupils using extremely 
simple hand held VHF receive equipment connected to a PC sound-
card or USB port.

The satellite contains a materials science experiment and pupils 
will be able to receive the results direct from space and compare 
them with similar reference experiments in the classroom.

The FUNcube stand at the conference included a mock-up of the 
new satellite and a demonstration of the telemetry. FUNcube is 
expected to be launched in early 2011

Michael Castle, G1ZVN, gave a short introduction on FUNcube during 
one of the education sessions and FUNcube was also featured in a 
presentation on the UK National Cubesat project.

During the 5 days over 1000 people attended the event and the con-
cept behind FUNcube was well received.

There will be more demonstrations of FUNcube at the AMSAT-UK Inter-
national Space Colloquium to be held in Guildford from 31 July to 1 
August.

For more information about AMSAT-UK follow these links:
FUNcube: http://www.FUNcube.org.uk/
AMSAT-UK: http://www.uk.amsat.org/
Ustream Server: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/uksc-2010

[ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-094.04
Delfi-C3 Survives Orbital Near Miss

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 094.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 4, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-094.04

This week the Delft University of Technology in the Netherland's 
Delfi-C3 satellite survived a close encounter with orbiting COSMOS 
debris. On March 30 the two spacecraft passed near each other with
a head-on velocity of 15 km/sec and an estimated clearance of 492 
meters. As of April 2, Wouter was able to report, "Delfi-C3 and the 
COSMOS debris missed each other by more than 700 meters, so no harm 
was done as far as we know. Delfi-C3 is still performing nominally."

The Delfi-C3 Operations Team invites amateur radio operators to have 
a look at the mission operations page at:
http://www.delfic3.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=12
2
for frequency info and the latest RASCAL download.

Due to Delfi-C3's habit of sometimes switching off from science mode, 
you might hear nothing while Delfi-C3 is fine. Don't panic! but please 
do listen the orbits after and post your findings on the satellite 
status page at: http://oscar.dcarr.org

[ANS thanks Wouter Weggelaar, PA3WEG for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-094.05
Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 094.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 4, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-094.05

+ Nick, KB1RVT reported working OX/N0RC, Reid on HO-68 from Green-
  land (grid FQ56) at 1544 UTC on April 1. Ib, OZ1MY reported he
  could copy Reid in Copenhagen during the same pass. Reid will be 
  using OX/N0RC for his call since OX3RC never came in. Reid added
  that his trip to Greenland has been extended until the end of May.

+ If you want to read a straight-forward guide to Software Defined 
  Radio check out the web pages produced by Tobias Wellnitz DH1TW:
  http://www.dh1tw.de/understanding-the-sdr-concept

+ Gabriel, EA6VQ reported DX-Sherlock now provides satellite-specific 
  real-time maps and QSO lists. See:
  http://www.vhfdx.info/spots/map.php?Frec=SAT

+ OSCAR-11 achieved 26 years in orbit on 01 March! It was designed,
  built and launched within a period of six months, using commercially
  available 'off the shelf' components (COTS). Once again, congratula-
  tions to Professor Sir Martin Sweeting G3YJO, his team at the Univer-
  sity of Surrey and groups of radio amateurs who also contributed to 
  the project. Unfortunately, the satellite wasn't transmitting on its 
  birthday, but was heard briefly, three days later. Due to eclipses, 
  deterioration of the battery and other parts of the satellite, it's 
  not possible to predict when the satellite will be heard in the coming 
  months. It is likely that it may be heard occasionally, by stations 
  tuning around the beacon frequency: 145.826 MHz. AFSK FM ASCII Tele-
  metry. Please send reception reports to g3cwv at amsat dot org.

+ JI5RPT plans to operate as JD1BLY from Chichijima Island (IOTA 
  AS-031) Ogasawara on 40m to 6m and Satellite (CW/DIGI/SSB) between
  May 2 to May 7, 2010. QSL via his home callsign JI5RPT. Logsearch 
  will be on his website. http://www.ji5rpt.com/jd1/ (via Makoto, JI5RPT 
  via NG3K-DX-News and MakeMoreMilesonVHF Newsletter).

+ Eric, ON4HF has set up a new satellite forum and invites interested
  radio amateurs to register and enjoy the site at:
  http://www.on4hf.be/forum

+ Listen for Brock, W6GMT on the FM satellites as he begins his annual 
  trip north to the summer QTH in Minnesota on Wednesday, April 7th. 
  His trip will take him through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and
  Minnesota. I will activate grids using his FT-817 and an Elk antenna. 
  He will accept grid requests via e-mail at w6gmt@bak.rr.com. QSL to 
  his Minnesota address. 

+ And, LU4FLJ worked Sebastián, W4AS via AO-7, Mode B on 3/21/2010 at 
  23:22 UTC.

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-094.06
Update on the ISS Columbus Module Amateur Radio Station

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 094.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 4, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-094.06

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
international team met for the monthly teleconference on March 16.
Two highlights of the meeting include the planned installation of
VHF and UHF FM amateur radio equipment and possible digital amateur
television from the Columbus module at the International Space 
Station.

The installation of the Ericsson radio used by ARISS in the Columbus 
module is scheduled to be done by astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT on 
the STS-134 shuttle flight planned for late July 2010. ESA hopes to 
have a special contact to commemorate the first operation of amateur 
radio in the Columbus Module.

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF reported that the Amateur Radio - Columbus 
(ARCOL) Working Group is currently proposing the flight of a digital 
amateur television (DATV) system to downlink TV on S-band. ARISS US 
team members Mark Severance N5XWF; Mark Steiner K3MS; Lou McFadin 
W5DID; Kenneth Ransom N5VHO; Rosalie White K1STO; and Carol Jackson 
KB3LKI are assisting.

The Digital Television capability, under consideration for installation
by the ESA in December, 2010 poses technical challenges. The biggest 
technical challenge is the obtaining of a suitable power supply. Gaston 
is working with ESA to resolve this.

While DATV from the Columbus module will open up an exciting new capa-
bility for education contacts, it will require a more capable ground 
station to receive the S-band DATV signals. This has implications for 
the existing telebridge stations, including how the DATV images would 
be routed to the event sites. Gaston will be establishing a working 
group to help tackle these two challenges (reception and passing to 
the event site), and is actively soliciting volunteers to help out.

The ARCOL group has already accomplished the assembly and installation of 
the L- and S-band patch antennas mounted on the exterior of the Columbus 
Module.

[ANS thanks the ARISS team 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. And with that
please keep in mind the tale of the man who walks into a hardware store 
and asks if they have a tool for breaking up some hard ground. The shop 
assistant points to a row of suitable tools along the wall and replies, 
"Certainly sir, take your pick." After that the bloke tried a career as
a gold prospector, but it didn't pan out.

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
K9JKM at amsat dot org


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