AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-158 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: [email protected] ********************************************************************** * 2009 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting October 9-11 * * Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport * * Details - http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2009/index.php * ********************************************************************** In this edition: * Call for Nominations AMSAT Board of Directors * 2009 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium - Call for papers * New Members Welcomed to AO-51 Operations Committee * AMSAT Awards * Hotel Booking Details for AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium July 25-26 * COMPASS Satellite Team Releases New Commands for Amateur Radio * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-158.01 Call for Nominations AMSAT Board of Directors AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 7, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-158.01 Pursuant to AMSAT-NA Bylaws, ARTICLE III Meetings and Election of Directors; Section 2: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/AboutAmsat/documents/bylaws.php Written nominations of Members for the position of Director, which nominees shall have agreed to serve if elected, shall be received by the Secretary on or before June 15 of each year. The deadline for nominations for the 2009 AMSAT Board of Directors elections to be received at the AMSAT office is no later than June 15, 2009. A nomination requires either one AMSAT Member Society or five current AMSAT members. A director serves 2 years. Nominations must be in writing and send via regular mail to: AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave #600, Silver Spring, MD 20910. E-mail nominations cannot be accepted. The seats on the Board that are up for election include, Rick Hambly, W2GPS; Barry Baines, WD4ASW; Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA; and Gunther Meisse, W8GSM. The AMSAT Office reports at press time, the following people have been nominated: Anthony Monteiro, AA2TX; Bill Ress, N6GHZ; Barry Baines, WD4ASW; Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA; Alan Biddle, WA4SCA. Gunther Meisse, W8GSM has advised the Board that he will not run for another term. Gunther said, "With the increased pressure of my day job and the economic pressures that are present for the public media, I need to spend 110% of my time with the family's Radio and Television stations. I have enjoyed the wonderful time with the brilliant brain trust within AMSAT, but business calls. It is my hope that the membership will elect new, young, innovative thinkers to the BoD. AMSAT, just like my industry, is changing and we need new thinkers to deal with the new realities. I send my special thank you to all the members who have supported my ideas over the last few years. It has been fun and educational. Never stop seeking out new things to learn!" Rick Hambly, W2GPS also will not seek re-election to the Board this year. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Board of Directors for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-158.02 2009 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium - Call for papers AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 7, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-158.02 This is the first call for papers for the 2009 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held October 9 - 11 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by September 1, 2009 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV, at [email protected]. [ANS thanks Dan, N8FGV for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-158.03 New Members Welcomed to AO-51 Operations Committee AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 7, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-158.03 AMSAT VP Operations, Drew KO4MA announced, "I'm proud to welcome Doug Papay, KD8CAO and Ed Clayo, N8BBQ to the AO-51 Operations Com- mittee. Doug and Ed are both consummate AO-51 operators, and have supported past AMSAT special events." Drew continued, "The response for our call for volunteers last month was outstanding and I want to thank all of those who applied, and encourage them to continue to support AMSAT by volunteering in some way." The Operations Committee also welcomed Mark Hammond, N8MH aboard joining the AO-51 command team now that AO-16 operations are on hiatus until the next period of increased illumination. Drew noted, "As AO-51 approaches 5 years in orbit this month, the satellite is becoming more demanding of our control team and Mark will be a fine addition to the team." [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-158.04 AMSAT Awards AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 7, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-158.04 AMSAT Director Contests and Awards Bruce, KK5DO says congratulations are in order for the amateur radio operators on his AMSAT Awards list. We would like to welcome the following to the Satellite Communicators Club for making their first satellite contact. Michael Klomfass, DH5MK Michael McMahan, KC9NXP Steve Rish, K8SAR The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Sexagesimal Communications Award: John Papay, K8YSE, #148 Michael Klomfass, DH5MK, #149 Bruce also noted that the he AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award is approaching certificate #500. Bruce predicted that someone may possibly reach this milestone in the next week or two. If you have not sent in for this award yet, now is the time to do it. To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-158.05 Hotel Booking Details for AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium July 25-26 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 7, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-158.05 As you may have heard, the location of the AMSAT-UK Colloquium (25/26 July 2009) has been switched from Manchester to Guildford. This is to ensure the best possible event for the largest number of visitors. The venue has been changed to the Holiday Inn Hotel at Guildford - this is very close to the Surrey University where the event has been held previously. It is just off the Cathedral roundabout on the A3. The 2009 AMSAT Colloquium will now commence at 10am on Saturday July 25th and close at approximately 4.30 pm on the Sunday. The new venue will enable visitors to attend at a significantly lower cost than last year and experience greatly improved accommo- dation. The two days will be filled with presentations covering all the latest amateur satellite happenings and developments. The new GB4FUN trailer will also be in attendance and available to demonstrate satellite operations. An informal social gathering is also planned for those who are able to arrive on the Friday evening Full details of the booking arrangements are below. Check our website for any late breaking news. http://www.uk.amsat.org/ and also full details of how to get to Guildford etc. Members and non-members will be equally welcome. AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2009 - Booking Information ---------------------------------------------- Special rates at the hotel have also been negotiated for the Friday and Sunday nights should delegates wish to arrive early, or depart late. To book your place at the Colloquium, YOU MUST BOOK WITH THE HOTEL. (Please do not attempt to book with AMSAT-UK as in previous years) The easiest way to do this is to phone the special Conference Office at the hotel on +44 (0) 1483 784444 and quote reference R0F (That's R zero F). You must lodge your credit card details with the hotel. If you wish to book over the internet, then please email the hotel on [email protected]. PLEASE NOTE THAT IN ORDER TO GUARANTEE A ROOM AT THE HOTEL FOR THE SAT NIGHT YOU MUST BOOK BEFORE FRIDAY 3 JULY. Bookings for the Fri/Sun nights, or ones made after this date cannot be guaranteed. YOU ARE ADVISED TO BOOK EARLY, AS THE HOTEL WILL ONLY HOLD A LIMITED NUMBER OF ROOMS FOR US. Costs ----- The complete package, including tea/coffee, attendance at all present- ations, a gala dinner on Saturday evening, bed and breakfast on Sat pm through Sun morning is only UK Pounds £128. This price does NOT include lunch, which may be taken at the hotel, or elsewhere. (Cost of a three- course buffet style lunch at the hotel is £15, alternatively the hotel offers bar meals/snacks) The special rate for bed and breakfast on either Fri/Sat or Sun/Mon is UK pounds £75.00 per night. If you do not wish to stay at the hotel overnight (for example, if you live locally), you can book attendance at the presentations at the rate of £25.00 per day (includes tea/coffee, excludes lunch) and/or the Gala Dinner on Saturday evening at £20.00. Again these booking must be made directly with the hotel. Jim Heck, G3WGM Hon Sec AMSAT-UK [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-158.06 COMPASS Satellite Team Releases New Commands for Amateur Radio AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.06 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 7, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-158.06 The COMPASS satellite team is happy to announce three DTMF commands to the Amateur Radio community to say THANK YOU for your support. The uplink frequency for COMPASSis 145.980 MHz FM, and the new DTMF tones for Amateur Radio operator to request information from the satellite include: **35## - request a test beacon CW **36## - request a test packet 1k2 AFSK FM (UI-Frame) **60## - request a housekeeping frame in 1k2 AFSK FM (KISS frame) Every command will be confirmed with a short "beep" on the CW beacon frequency of 437.275 MHz. Packet data is sent on 437.405 MHz. A news blog can be found at http://www.raumfahrt.fh-aachen.de/news.htm. COMPASS telemetry decoding software is available on-line from: http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml. Please send your received data to [email protected] Also, if you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask us at this e-mail address. Henk, PA3GUO has posted a video describing his reception of Compass-1 AFSK telemetry at http://www.vimeo.com/4911267. To play the movie full-screen, click on the right bottom button in the player. Also there is a HD button, ensure it is showing "HD is on". [ANS thanks Mike, DK3WN for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-158.07 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 158.07 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 7, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-158.07 + Piraja, PS8RF reported copying Jean-Jacques, ON7EQ via AO-7 over a distance of 4757 miles, or 7616 Km. He has a video of the DX event posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggNmQqxARWY. + Once again we are approaching the 4th full weekend in June and that means Field Day. The AMSAT 2009 Field Day rules have been posted at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/awards/amsatfd.php + Amateur Radio operators are reporting receiving the AMSAT-India VO-52 Award in the mail. AMSAT-India Secretary Nitin, VU3TYG says the award continues to be available with details on-line at: http://www.amsatindia.org + Robert, NH7WN in Honolulu reported contact with Patrick, WD9EWK and copied Michael WB7QXU via AO-51. Patrick reported, "It appears we covered a path of just over 2900 miles (almost 4700km) with that brief contact. Clint, K6LCS reported that NH7WN sounded great in Riverside, California. + Tim, N3TL has been experimenting with 500 milliwatt power on his AO-7 uplink. He reports contact with K8YSE. Tim also thanks Rick, WA4NVM, Pete, WB2OQQ, and others who were listening for him on these tests. + Raul, CA3SOC has posted several videos of his satellite operation with his FT-847 and Ham Radio Deluxe software at: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ce3soc&view=videos + A graphic satellite tracker can be viewed at: http://www.opensats.net [ANS thanks everyone 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. With that please keep in mind that if you go duck hunting in a swamp try not to get stuck in the quackmire! 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
