SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-235.01 Hurricane Charlie Hits Orlando Lab AMSAT News Service Bulletin 235.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 21, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-235.01 Hurricane Charlie made its way across Florida, passing directly over the Orlando Executive Airport, home of the AMSAT Laboratory. Hurricane Charlie hit Orlando about 8pm EDT August 13, 2004 with sustained winds estimated at about 100mph. These photographs were taken by Lou McFadin W5DID on August 18th, five days after the hurricane hit. Fortunately the AMSAT members in the area survived with relatively minor damage but the hangar that houses that AMSAT Lab has been condemned due to structural damage and will have to be torn down. AMSAT's equipment and parts inventory are in good shape but AMSAT has less than two weeks to move out and find temporary storage for our equipment. We will also need to begin a search for a new facility to support the Eagle satellite development. AMSAT's insurance does not cover the costs of temporary storage or of moving to a new facility. Please help by sending a tax deductible donation to AMSAT's Hurricane Fund that will be used to get the AMSAT Lab back in operation as soon as possible. AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation should be tax deductible in the U.S. [ANS thanks Rick Hambly, W2GPS for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-235.02 ECHO Operations Update AMSAT News Service Bulletin 235.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 21, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-235.02 - Telemetry Capture Thanks to all stations that collected and submitted Telemetry this week. Also, a new version of TlmEcho has been released. Please upgrade to version 1.0.5. When commissioning is complete, and Echo is running smoothly, we will work on improvements to the software package. - FM Voice Mode over the weekend of 21 August We will again run the FM voice repeat transmitter (TXB, 435.300) at higher power levels over the weekend. This will begin on 21 August (1700 utc) and end on 23 August (0300 utc). The times are approximate. During this period the Digital Transmitter (TXA, 435.150) will be turned off except over the command stations. This past weekend, during the High Power test, TXB was at the following power levels (again, times approximate): 14 Aug 0200 to 15 Aug 1500, TXB = 1.06 watts 15 Aug 1500 to 16 Aug 0200, TXB = 1.45 watts 16 Aug 0200 to 17 Aug 0200, TXB = 1.87 watts - Experimenters Wednesday This week we will test the S Band transmitter on Exp Wed. Between 25 Aug at approximately 0155 utc, and 26 Aug at 0250 utc, Echo will be configured for Mode V/S, FM repeat. The uplink will be on the 145.920 mhz user receiver, and the downlink on 2401.200 mhz. The PL tone function will not be used in this mode, therefore the 67 hz tone is not needed. The S Band transmitter will be turned on continuously, so those stations not uplinking will still be able to monitor and practice their Doppler correction. During this time, the Digital Transmitter will be turned off. We understand that running VHF for the uplink will cause some stations to be unable to uplink to the satellite, having to use their VHF transceiver for the S band downlink. But please understand, this is the best way for us to test the S Band Transmitter over multiple orbits. We will be collecting WOD while the transmitter is turned on to monitor the power usage and temperature while in this mode. After studying the data we will schedule a Mode L/S test. Good luck and enjoy the first opportunity to use Echo's S band transmitter. [ANS thanks Mike Kingery, KE4AZN for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-235.03 ARISS Status Update AMSAT News Service Bulletin 235.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 21, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-235.03 - Tennesee Schools Contact Successful Good Shepherd School and St Paul School, both located in Tennessee, experienced a successful contact with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, on Tuesday, August 10 at 1340 UTC. Over two hundred people watched as students from both schools asked 13 questions of the astronaut. Five TV stations, 3 radio stations, and 4 newspapers covered the event. The Tullohoma News ran a story on the contact. See "Hello, Space Station, Tullahoma's on the line," at: http://tinyurl.com/6xp7z The ARRL also ran an article covering the event. See: "Space Station Tour Providing Lots of Reading Time, Astronaut Tells Youngsters," at: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/08/13/4/?nc=1 - Upcoming School Contacts Challenger Learning Center at Prairie Aviation Museum in Bloomington, Illinois has also been scheduled for an ARISS contact. It has been planned for Monday, August 16, at 1805 UTC. - Astronaut Receives Call Sign Swedish ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang prepared for his Amateur Radio license exam with the help of Nick Lance and Kenneth Ransom at JSC. He took and passed his test and on August 11, he received his new call sign, KE5CGR. Christer will now be able to participate in the ARISS Program. Congratulations! - Monroe Elementary School Spreads the Word on ARISS Students from Monroe Elementary School, in Santa Barbara, California, spoke with Mike Foale, KB5UAC, on December 17, 2003. The school is now circulating a videotape at ham radio events which covers their experiences with the ARISS Program. - ARISS Paper Referenced The September issue of ARRL's monthly journal, QST, contained an article about radio antennas needed for radio contacts with the International Space Station. The author referenced a resource item written by ARISS team members Frank Bauer, Lou McFadin, Will Marchant and Carolynn Conley, entitled, "2001: An Amateur Radio Space Odyssey on the International Space Station." [ANS thanks the ARISS Team for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-235.04 AMSAT Eagle Project Updates Posted AMSAT News Service Bulletin 235.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 21, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-235.04 New pages have been added to the Eagle section of the AMSAT Web site. The Eagle page can be found at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/ The Eagle Report is posted at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/Eagle_Fall_2004.php This report is also available in PDF format from the same link. There are some pictures from the design review meeting available at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/EagleThumbs.php [ANS thanks Emily Clarke, W0EEC for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-235.05 This Week's News in Brief AMSAT News Service Bulletin 235.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 21, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-235.05 ** NASA has decided to try to save the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope by possibly sending a Canadian-made robot to fix it, agency officials said. Nasa Administrator Sean O'Keefe has told researchers at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland about the plan and instructed its engineers to begin serious work to put the robotic mission into space in 2007. It will cost at least US$1 billion ($1.7b) and possibly US$1.6b to save the telescope, which has peered back to the very beginnings of the universe, found planets outside our solar system and taken dramatic pictures of stars being born. Scientists who have used the telescope to explore the origins of the cosmos and look for places that extra-terrestrial life might exist are delighted by the decision. --Electric New Paper ** The Americom-15 (AMC-15) satellite of SES Americom, an SES Global Company, has been delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome to be prepared for its scheduled September 24 launch aboard a Proton launch vehicle. The A2100AX model spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) will feature one of America's first operating Ka-band payloads, carrying 12 -125 MHz Ka-band spot beams, along with 24 - 36 MHz, 140 watt Ku-band transponders. --SpaceDaily.com ** One of NASA's Mars rovers has sent pictures relayed by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter for the first time, demonstrating that the orbiter could serve as a communications link if needed. The link-up was part of a set of interplanetary networking demonstrations paving the way for future Mars missions to rely on these networking capabilities. The American and European agencies planned them as part of continuing efforts to cooperate in space exploration. --SpaceFlightNow.com ** The majority of US Internet users now connect using broadband, according to a report by Nielson/NetRatings. There are 63 million broadband users (51%) and 61 million (49%) dial-up users in the US. Broadband was most prevalent among people ages 18 to 20. --NetworkWorld Fusion ** A private-sector consortium led by Itochu Corp. says it plans to put two earth observation satellites into orbit in fiscal 2009. The group intends to sell images taken by the satellites to domestic and foreign government agencies and companies, which will use the images to monitor forests and search for mineral resources, among other things. The satellites are capable of taking clear images of objects as small as about 1 sq. meter from altitudes of between 500 kilometers and 800 km. They will be the first commercial satellites launched by private-sector companies in Japan. Each satellite will carry a Hyper-Spectral Sensor, the world's first sensor capable of distinguishing objects by material rather than by their color and shape. --asahi.com /EX