AMSAT at the ARRL Centennial Celebration

AMSAT is preparing for its participation at the ARRL Centennial Celebration and National Convention in Hartford Connecticut July 17 through 19.

On Thursday an AMSAT team with present the all day Training Track, “An Introduction to Amateur Satellites.”

AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW will be the facilitator for the event which will begin at 8:30 am and run through 4:30pm. Baines explains, “The training session is to serve as a ‘Soup to Nuts’ approach to getting started with working Amateur Radio Satellites.”

Baines will lead the training with an Overview of the History of Amateur Radio in Space, including our future.

Director of Educational Outreach Joe Spier K6WAO will cover Understanding Orbits, Kepler Elements and Doppler Shift.

V.P. for Educational Outreach E. Mike McCardel KC8YLD will discuss Satellite Tracking and Tracking Software with an emphasis on SATPC32.

Director Field operations Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK/VA7EWK and Area Coordinator Peter Portanova W2JV will address Station Configuration and Satellite Operation including general operation, Easy Sats, FM Birds, CW and SSB Birds and telemetry;

AMSAT Fox-1 Software Team Co-Leader Burns Fisher W2BFJ will present an overview and discuss the capabilities of AMSAT’s Fox-1 Satellite due to launch in 2015.

AMSAT will also host a Forum, “An Overview of AMSAT” Friday at 2pm in room 25. Immediately following the Forum Peter Portanova W2JV will present “Working the Amateur Radio FM Satellites with Your HT”, in the same room.

Throughout the weekend AMSAT will be staffing Booths 500 and 501. The booth will feature the legacy of Amateur Radio in Space with prototypes and models of OSCAR-1, AO-07, and Fox-1 on display.

During the weekend an ARISS contact will be held nearby the convention venue at the Connecticut Science Center. Local students will be asking questions directly to an astronaut via Amateur Radio. The contact time has yet to be determined.

For more information on the ARRL Centennial and National Convention visit WWW.ARRL2014.org.