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AMSAT Announces 2010 Space Symposium

AMSAT announces the 2010 Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, October 8 through Sunday, October 10. This year we have selected the Chicago/Elk Grove Holiday Inn which is near O'Hare Airport for the event. This is the same hotel that recently has hosted the Central States VHF Conference, TAPR and W9DXCC events.

All Amateu
r Radio Operators interested in space communications are invited to participate in the Symposium offerings including:

  • 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
  • President's Club Reception
  • Area Coordinator's Breakfast
The Chicago/Elk Grove Holiday Inn is located at 1000 Busse Road, Elk Grove, IL (near O’Hare Airport with free hourly shuttles). The Hotel booking code for the Elk Grove Village Holiday Inn is AMS for the AMSAT convention. The $79 per-night room rate will apply for those using this group code.

At the conclusion of the Symposium activities you are invited to participate in a tour of the Tevatron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory at Noon on Sunday. Plans include a tour of the multi-megawatt RF portions of the particle accelerator as well as a tour of the new Super Conducting RF Test Facility.

Watch the AMSAT Symposium Page for more news as it becomes available.

2010 Space Symposium Call for Papers, Posters & Presentations

This is the first call for papers for the 2010 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting to be held October 8 - 10 at the Chicago/Elk Grove Holiday Inn near O'Hare Airport.

The Symposium Committee invites proposals for:
  • Papers for publication in the Proceedings
  • Symposium Presentations
  • Poster Presentations
  • Equipment and Operating Demonstrations
These can be on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your paper/presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by September 1, 2010 for inclusion in the printed proceedings.

Abstracts and papers should be sent via e-mail to the Proceedings Editor.

Click here for the 2010 Symposium Author's Guide

Updated: 27 Jun, 10

South Pacific Total Solar Eclipse Captured
in AO-51 Telemetry Data

On July 11 a total solar eclipse was observed in the southern Pacific Ocean. The path of totality stretched across the South Pacific Ocean, but the Moon's umbral shadow didn't make landfall except for a few spots such as the Cook Islands and Easter Island, and southern Chile and Argentina. A partial eclipse was visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific and southern South America.

Masa, JN1GKZ noted a glitch in AO-51's Whole Orbit Data file (WOD) in the Total Array I current while AO-51 was located east of Argentina at the time. AO-51 Control Station, Mark, N8MH replied, "You have made a great observation, and I think you are exactly right about the cause of the observed 'glitches' in the telemetry. Usually at this point in its orbit we would observe AO-51 charging its batteries at a steady rate from fully illuminated panels."

Mark plotted some of the telemetry collected from 1800-2130utc can be downloaded here.

A screenshot of AO-51 at the time of the eclipse can be seen here.

Alex, OZ9AEC ran a simulation using the Celestia space simulator and observed a partial solar eclipse as seen from AO-51. He recorded this simulation to a video and you can watch here.

The AO-51 Whole Orbit Data file for the eclipse can be decoded with the DK3WN Decoder.


AO-51 Off During Eclipse

AMSAT-NA VP Operations, Drew KO4MA says the AO-51 Command Team and Operations Group has set the July AO-51 Schedule to the following due to poor battery condition aboard the spacecraft:

AO-51 will be off during eclipses. Until further notice AO-51 will operate in the V/U repeater mode:

FM Repeater, V/U
Uplink: 145.920 Mhz FM, PL 67Hz
Downlink: 435.300 Mhz FM

The 67Hz PL tone is required to activate the repeater, which will run unsquelched for two minutes after hearing a valid tone. Within that two minute period, no tone is required.

The AO-51 Operations Group is made up of AMSAT Members who are also AO-51 users. The Operations Group works with the Command Team to create the monthly schedule for the satellite. The AO-51 Operations Group members are: OZ1MY, VK5HI, N8BBQ, KD8CAO. The Command Stations are KO4MA, WA4SXM, WA6FWF, and N8MH.

You can keep up with the latest AO-51 Control Team News on-line here.


New Distance Record for AO-7 DX

A new distance record of 7843 km (4898 Miles) via AO-7 was established on July 15 between Luciano, PY5LF and Joe, K3SZH. The estimated maximum range of AO-7 is ~7,900 km. Pirajá, PS8RF noted that the log of QSO can be seen on the unofficial AO-7 web site. Congratulations to both Luciano and Joe!

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Updated: 19 Jul, 10

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NASA Image of the Day

Tweetup at HQ

NASA astronaut TJ Creamer talks about his experience in space during a "Tweetup" at NASA Headquarters, Thursday, July 29, 2010, in Washington. Creamer, who spent 161 days living aboard the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 22/23 crew, set up the orbiting outpost's live Internet connection and posted updates about the mission to his Twitter account, sending the first live tweet from orbit. Image Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers
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