AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-179 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] In this edition: * ARISS Reaches 443 School Contacts * Alaskan Satellite Ops Planned * Original American Colonies Will Be Active on Satellite * Call for Papers--2009 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference * AMSAT Awards * ARISS Status - 22 June 2009 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.01 ARISS Reaches 443 School Contacts AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 28, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-179.01 A major milestone for the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station or ARISS school project. This as the total number of ARISS contacts between the astronaut hams on board the orbiting outpost and schoolrooms here on Earth has now reached 443. An average of 20 students are able to ask questions of an on-orbit crew during a normal ARISS contact. That totals out to well over 8000 school kids world-wide who have gotten a chance to vicariously visit the International Space Station via ham radio since the classroom contact program began. As space experimentation has progressed so has amateur radio's part in it. Today, the ARISS school contact program is an important part of this ongoing work by ham radio volunteers world-wide. Hams working with astronauts and cosmonauts to bring the science of spaceflight a little closer to kids here on Earth. [ANS thanks Bruce, K6PZW, & Newsline for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.02 Alaskan Satellite Ops Planned AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 28, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-179.02 Dan Littel, AJ9K has advised that he will be on vacation in Alaska between July 1 - 11, and will try to be active during a few passes during his stay. Dan will be using my 5w VX-5R HT and AL800 whip on AO27, SO50 and AO51, if in mode J. Here is Dan's expected schedule: 2 July2 BP51 Anchorage 3-4 July AO63 Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Isl 5-8 July BP64 Fairbanks 9-11 July BP42 Denali NP Dan may also be able to fit in a few more grids while in transit. Dan also noted that, "since this is a vacation, and I will have minimal control over my schedule (that's my family's job, and I'm only a minority voting member...). I hope to be as active as practical". [ANS thanks Dan, AJ9K, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.03 Original American Colonies Will Be Active on Satellite AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 28, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-179.03 During the period from July 1 through July 5 at least nine of the Original 13 American Colonies will be active on the amateur satellites as part of a special event organized by Ken, KU2US, in New York. Here is the Web site announcing the event, and the certificate available: http://home.comcast.net/~dzabawa/ThirteenColonies.htm Youll also find updates on Kens QRZ.com page look up KU2US. As of Wednesday, 24 June, there are commitments from stations in nine of the original 13 colonies, and they will be using the call signs for each that are listed on the special events page. Tim, N3TL provided the following example, "Ill be operating as K2G daily during the special event. I intend to work at least one pass of every satellite as K2G, every day." Listed alphabetically by Colony, here are the stations that have confirmed to date. The calls they will use are in parentheses: Georgia Tim, N3TL (K2G) Massachusetts Dave, KB1PVH (K2H) New Hampshire Rik, N1XED (K2K) New Jersey Marc, W4MPS (K2I) New York Peter, WB2OQQ (K2A) North Carolina Jim, ND9M (K2J) Rhode Island Fletch, N1RCN (K2C) South Carolina Art, K4YYL (K2L) Virginia Steve, NL7VX (K2B) As of the 24th, there are four of the original 13 colonies NOT scheduled to be active on the satellites: Connecticut Delaware Maryland Pennsylvania Can anyone help with any of them? The process is simple: 1 Please email [email protected] let him know of your interest. 2 You can work as many or as few satellite passes as you like during the special event. Its supposed to be fun, not work! 3 After the event, email your log(s) to KU2US, who will handle the certificates. Tim will provide more information after hearing from anyone who wants to activate one of the four remaining colonies. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to work one or more of us on passes from July 1 through July 5. You only need to work one station to get the certificate, but the more the merrier! [ANS thanks Tim, N3TL, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.04 Call for Papers--2009 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 28, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-179.04 Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 28th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 25-27, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. 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, 2009. Please send papers to: Maty Weinberg ARRL 225 Main St Newington, CT 06111 or you can make your submission via e-mail to: [email protected] Papers will be published exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. [ANS thanks Steve, WB8IMY, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.05 AMSAT Awards AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 28, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-179.05 We would like to welcome the following to the Satellite Communicators Club for making their first satellite contact. Nick Kucij, KB1RVT Dave Glow, AA1VX The following have earned the South Africa AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award. Peter Carr, WW3O #US133 Chris Lemon, KB9CL #US134 Thomas Lepley, KX3TL #US135 George Carr, WA5KBH #US136 The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award. Ham Operator, Your Call #500 Who will receive #500? Stay tuned, possibly coming in a week, two weeks, could be soon. If you have not sent in for your award yet, don't miss out on this opportunity. To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.06 ARISS Status - 22 June 2009 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 179.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 28, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-179.06 1. Upcoming School Contacts Inukjuak Space Camp in Kuujjuaq Quebec, Canada has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on July 2 at 17:58 UTC, assisted by telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Makivik Corporation, a non-profit organization that promotes economic growth of Inuit businesses, is supporting the event. Students from grades 1-6 have been involved in a space club to learn about space, the International Space Station and amateur radio protocol. Audio from this contact will be fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101377) and JK1ZRW (277208) servers. 2. ARISS International Meeting Held The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Face to Face Meeting was held on Thursday and Friday, June 18 -19 at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. Team members gave reports on their respective regions as well as status updates on the programs committees including education, publicity, operations and hardware. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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