SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-207.01 W8JK, SK - 25 July 2004 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 207.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. July 25, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-207.01 Well-known radio astronomer, antenna designer, cosmic explorer and author John D. Kraus,W8JK, of Delaware, Ohio, died Sunday, July 18. He was 94 and reportedly was in failing health but alert to the end. While he enjoyed a worldwide reputation, Kraus is perhaps best known within the Amateur Radio community for his bi-directional wire beam antenna design--often dubbed the '8JK array. The antenna has remained popular among radio amateurs for decades. Other important Kraus antenna designs include the corner reflector and the helix antenna, often used in amateur satellite antennas as well as in commercial communications applications. The Michigan native was a pioneer of radiotelescope design and the father of the so-called "Big Ear" telescope, which ceased operation in 1997 after almost 40 years of service. In 1946, he joined the faculty of the Ohio State University. He served as a professor of electrical engineering and astronomy at OSU, where he founded and directed the OSU Radio Observatory (OSURO)--designing and overseeing construction of the "Big Ear" radiotelescope on the land owned by Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware. Kraus's classic text Antennas remains an engineering staple today. Kraus's classic textbook Antennas, now in its third edition, has been an engineering school staple for about four decades and can be found in virtually every antenna engineer's library. The advanced antenna theory book is an optional text for the ARRL "Antenna Design and Construction" (EC-009) Certification and Continuing Education course. Among his other titles are Electromagnetics, Radio Astronomy, Big Ear, Big Ear Two and Our Cosmic Universe. The Big Ear fell victim to development pressures and was torn down in 1998. Kraus spoke at a November 2000 dedication of a site marker. Kraus and his wife, Alice, have two sons--Jack and Nelson--and several grandchildren. [ANS thanks the ARRLWeb for the above information] SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-207.02 ECHO Update - 25 July 2004 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 207.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. July 25, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-207.02 All user receivers have been tested in the FM repeat mode through TXB. All worked fine. SQRX had a very nice signal through TXB on VHF. Mike, KE4AZN, said, "I ran the power all the way down on the FT-847 and could not tell a difference in my signal through the bird". SQRX was also tested via an L-band uplink in FM repeat mode through TXB. Echo sounds very good. PL tone function testing was not completed, so that will be continuing. Lately Echo has been sending Telemetry at the quickest rate, which is every 3 seconds. That data along with a WOD run was used to refine the attitude determination. From a quick look at the data, Echo's spin is slowing down, which is a good sign. So far the command team reports that they have had very good results with the users giving the room to commission Echo. They ask at the present time, that you continue to NOT transmit to Echo. Your patience in that regard up to this point has been appreciated by the command team. [ANS thanks Mike, KE4AZN for the above information] SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-207.03 ARISS News & Info - 25 July 2004 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 207.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. July 25, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-207.03 + Meizen School Contact Successful Meizen High School in Kurume-City, Fukuoka, Japan, experienced a successful contact with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, on Tuesday, July 13. Seventeen students (10 elementary, 3 junior high and 4 high school students) prepared 29 questions for the contact. They were able to ask 17 questions and Mike surprised the audience of 50 elementary, 20 junior high, and 250 high school students as well as 80 parents, when he answered the questions in both English and Japanese. Also attending the event were six TV stations, including NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), and 5 newspapers. Osamu Nakamura, NH7TA, a student of Meizen High School, was the control operator during this contact. He received his FCC license last November specifically for this event. All preparations for this contact were made by the Meizen High School students themselves - this was a first for Japan, and a very successful event for all! + Expedition 9 Video to Japan Astronaut Mike Fincke, requested that a video be sent to Habikino prior to its scheduled contact on July 29. The video, "Expedition 9 Tour," gives students a tour of the Space Station. Mike Fincke and Gennady Padalka both participate in the video, giving students answers to commonly asked questions such as "How do you eat and drink in space?" and "How do you use the bathroom in space?" The video is very well done and will make a nice addition to the ARISS contact for the students. A CD of the video was sent to Japan ARISS representative, Satoshi Yasuda, and it has been uploaded to the ARISS section of the AMSAT server. Please see: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Video/ + Gilmour Academy Contact Leads to New Hams Inspired by the ARISS Program, members of the Gilmour Academy community in Gates Mills, Ohio went on to earn their Amateur Radio licenses. Two students, Jess Noeth, KD8ACJ, and Britt Mawby, KD8ACL, as well as parent David Noeth, KD8ACO (Jess' dad) earned their callsigns after experiencing an ARISS contact with Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, on January 2, 2004. Congratulations to all! [ANS thanks the ARISS team for the above information] SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-207.04 This Week's News in Brief AMSAT News Service Bulletin 207.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. July 25, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-207.x04 ** Capping his three-decade struggle to explain an elemental paradox in scientific thinking, famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says black holes, the mysterious massive vortexes formed from collapsed stars, do not destroy everything they consume but instead eventually fire out matter and energy "in a mangled form." --CNN ** Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force have completed on-orbit checkout of the upgraded Global Positioning System satellite launched successfully June 23 from Cape Canaveral. The spacecraft has been declared fully operational for military and civilian navigation users around the globe. --Spaceflight Now ** After weeks of having a face free of large blemishes, the Sun now sports a Jupiter-size spot. Designated active region 10652, the sunspot is large enough to be visible without magnification ÷ all you need to see it is a sunny day and a safe solar filter. --Sky and Telescope ** SpaceDev has been awarded a small contract by Lunar Enterprise Corporation of California for the next phase in designing a mission and spacecraft for a lunar lander program. The low-cost, unmanned mission is intended to land a small dish antenna near the south pole of the Moon. --SpaceDaily ** A House of Representatives panel voted Tuesday to cut space, environment and science programs next year, including giving President Bush 7 percent less than the $16.2 billion he proposed for NASA. The cuts, including deep reductions in the funds Bush wants to prepare for manned missions to the Moon and Mars, were approved on the 35th anniversary of the day Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong took man's first steps on the Moon. --SkyNews /EX