SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.01 2005 AMSAT Symposium is Cancelled AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.01 The AMSAT-NA Board of Directors in special session held September 6 via teleconference has made the decision to cancel the 2005 AMSAT Symposium which was scheduled to take place in Lafayette, LA October 7-9. While Hurricane Katrina spared Lafayette in terms of physical damage, the city is now the home to thousands of evacuees who left the Gulf Coast and are now housed in Lafayette's hotels and other accommodations for the near future. Over the past week AMSAT-NA has been looking into the possibility of relocating the Symposium to an alternative site. A number of options were explored (such as Baltimore-Washington, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Orlando, Tampa, San Francisco, and Tulsa) as several AMSAT teams investigated if the Symposium could be relocated on short notice. This required finding appropriate hotel facilities and putting local host committees together to coordinate Symposium at each potential location. It became obvious that with less than five weeks before the Symposium was scheduled to take place, there would be insufficient time to make a suc- cessful change in location. Altering the Symposium dates was not viewed as practical since many attendees have to schedule their vacation time well in advance and most individuals already have commitments for later weekends. "We regret that Symposium will not be held this year," says AMSAT-NA President Rick Hambly, W2GPS. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims on the Gulf Coast who are now relocated to Lafayette and sur- rounding states." Rick went on to note that the Board was concerned that attempting to relocate on such short notice would impact the quality of the Symposium. "The task of hosting a Symposium would potentially strain the host committee tasked with handling the Symposium with less than 30 days notice." "Many thanks to our AMSAT members who stepped forward to identify potential locations. Clearly, these volunteers have worked very hard to find an alternative site and would have done their best to host a Symposium. Unfortunately, time is working against us" notes Barry Baines, WD4ASW AMSAT's VP-Marketing & User Services. The Board also wishes to thank Nick Pugh, K5QXJ for the extensive work that he has done to plan for the Lafayette Symposium and to his team for organizing what would have been an excellent Symposium in Louisiana. The Board also noted that donations are needed to assist the relief efforts on the Gulf Coast. Given that this year's Symposium is cancelled, the Board hopes that individuals will decide to donate a portion of their funds to be used to cover their cost of attending the Symposium to an organization (such as American Red Cross) aiding the relief effort on the Gulf Coast. AMSAT-NA Office Manager Martha Saragovitz will handle the process of providing refunds for registration fees already collected. Checks will be sent to those whose fees had previously been processed. In some cases, registrants had completed the registration process on the AMSAT web site by their credit cards. These charges will be destroyed. Checks covering registration that have been sent by mail and not processed will be returned to the sender. Attendees holding reservations at the Holiday Inn should cancel their reser- vations prior to the scheduled arrival date in order to avoid first night room charges. The Holiday Inn in Lafayette has been experiencing telephone problems, so it may be best to contact the Holiday Inn Reservation Center (888-HOLIDAY) or use the Holiday Inn website: http://www.holiday-inn.com if the individual has their confirmation number for their reservation. [ANS thanks Barry Baines, WD4ASW, and the AMSAT Board of Directors for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.02 AMSAT-NA Reschedules Key Meetings AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.02 With the cancellation of the 2005 AMSAT Symposium in Lafayette, LA due to Hurricane Katrina, the AMSAT Board of Directors Meeting will now be held on Thursday and Friday, October 6 & 7 at the Wyndham Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. Following the BOD Meeting which is expected to end by noon on Friday, the Eagle Team will have their meeting starting around 1400 on the 7th and conclude late Saturday. However, if discussions are continuing, provisions have been made to allow the Eagle Team to continue meeting on Sunday morning, October 9. In addition, in order to comply with AMSAT Bylaws that require that an AMSAT Annual Meeting be held in October or November of each year, this meeting will take place on Friday evening as well, though the specific time has not yet been finalized. AMSAT is also investigating the feasi- bility of using various teleconference methods to allow AMSAT members to participate who are not on site. With the exception of when the Board of Directors is in Executive Session, all three meetings are open to those who wish to attend. Information on the Wyndham Hotel where these meetings are taking place may be found at: http://www.wyndhampittsburghairport.com The IARU meeting that was scheduled for Sunday morning, October 9 in Lafayette, LA has not been rescheduled. [ANS thanks Barry Baines, WD4ASW, and the AMSAT Board of Directors for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.03 2006 AMSAT Symposium Plans Announced AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.03 Recognizing that most of the 2005 Symposium attendees had already purchased non-refundable airline tickets to fly to Lafayette, Baton Rouge, or New Orleans, the Board also made a decision on the location for the 2006 AMSAT Symposium. 'Non-refundable' means the airline will not return the airfare to the individual due to cancellation but the value of the reservation may be applied to a future flight as long as cancellation occurs prior to the original flight. Other restrictions on making changes to non-refundable reservations may also apply. Some airlines have waived 'change fees' for altering a reservation associated with current reservations into New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. The AMSAT Board of Directors voted September 6 nigh to accept an offer from Project OSCAR to host the 2006 Symposium in the San Francisco Bay area in the month of October. Emily Clarke, W0EEC will serve as host chairperson and will coordinate the Symposium. "San Francisco is a great place to hold the Symposium," says Emily. "The roots of the Amateur Satellite Service can be found here as Project OSCAR began building the first amateur satellites in the Bay Area." Emily also notes the allure of the area for both 'geeks' and families alike. "We have everything from beaches to mountains, cities and wine country - so come to the Symposium and plan your vacation, too!" In addition to the AMSAT Symposium, San Francisco is planned as a joint meeting with the ARISS International Delegates. "We're looking forward towards another successful joint meeting with AMSAT" says ARISS International Chairman and AMSAT VP-Human Space Flight Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. Details about exact dates and hotel for the 2006 Symposium will be announced via ANS and posted on the AMSAT website later this month as they become available. Individuals holding airline reservations into Lafayette should hold off making changes until the dates and exact location of the 2006 Symposium are announced. In the meantime, AMSAT-NA looks forward towards an outstanding Symposium in October 2006 in the Bay Area. [ANS thanks Barry Baines, WD4ASW, and the AMSAT Board of Directors for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.04 ESA Award for SSETI Express telemetry download competition AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.04 The Education Department of ESA, the European Space Agency, is delighted to announce details of the award that will be offered to the amateur radio community in relation to the downloading of telemetry from their SSETI Express student built satellite. The award will be given to the amateur who submits the largest number of valid telemetry and payload packets regardless of which band it is received on. SSETI Express is scheduled for launch on September 27th from Plesetsk in northern Russia at approx 06:52 UTC. It will downlink telemetry and payload data in AX25 format at 9k6 on 437.250MHz and at 38k4 on 2401.835 MHz. It will later also be available for radio amateurs to use as a single channel FM transponder. All radio amateurs around the world are encouraged to download the necessary software from the www.sseti.org/express website (this will be available starting approximately September 12) and to use the SERACC system to forward the telemetry and payload data to SSETI Express Mission Control. Submissions will be automatically recorded and the leaderboard will be shown on the website. The winner will be offered the opportunity to visit the STEC06 Conference and Exhibition in Germany in Spring 2006. STEC, the Student Technology Education Conference, follows previous events in 2004 in Lausanne in Switzerland and in 2005 in Aalborg in Denmark. The three day event is similar to the AMSAT-NA Symposium and the AMSAT-UK Colloquium but with more breakout technical sessions in addition to the Keynote Speeches. The meetings are always interesting and thought provoking and great enthusiasm and passion is shown by all the attendees. The post meeting attitude adjustment sessions have also proven to be exciting. The winner will also be encouraged to present a paper on how he/she achieved their success - but this is not mandatory! In addition to attending the STEC 06 Conference, the winner will be invited to visit ESA's Mission Operations Centre - ESOC - near Darmstadt in Germany where they will be given a private escorted tour of the facil- ities. ESOC currently controls the many exciting orbital and deep space ESA missions and will be responsible for the European Columbus module when it joins the International Space Station For more information on the STEC events - check http://www.stec2005.space.aau.dk/ to see what this year's event included and for a few details of the ESOC facility, visit http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ESOC/ The winner will be the amateur at the top of the leaderboard at 00:00 on January 1, 2006. The prize will include economy class travel from your home location, accommodation and a "small" daily subsistence allowance. AMSAT-UK wishes to congratulate and thank ESA for their generous prize, a first in the field, and is confident that it will add to the great enthusiasm for the SSETI Express project which already exists within the amateur radio community. It will be a great opportunity for us to demonstrate that the amateur radio groundstation "network" is a valuable resource for satellite projects which are able include useful amateur payloads. [ANS thanks Graham, G3VZV for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.05 SSETI Express Mission Pages Updated AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.05 The SSETI Express Mission Pages at: http://sseti.gte.tuwien.ac.at/WSW4/MOPWS/news.php has a short report with some photos of the work being done at the assembly facility at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome assembly facility. Both the UHF and S band units have been tested and all appears ok so far. Please continue to keep those fingers crossed for us [ANS thanks Graham, G3VZV for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.06 ARISS Status for Week of September 5, 2005 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.06 1. World Expo 2005 Contact Successful The Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) set up a radio station at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan. On Friday, September 2, twenty-one students, ranging in ages from 6 - 15, came from Aichi and the surrounding county to take part in this ARISS contact. John Phillips, KE5DRY, answered all twenty-one ques- tions posed to him by the students, as approximately 150 people looked on. Eight newspapers and one television station provided media coverage of the event. Photos, video and audio of the contact may be found on the following website: 2. Upcoming School Contacts The Matthew J. Kuss Middle School in Fall River, Massachusetts, has been scheduled for a contact on Friday, September 16 at 1824 UTC. Kuss is a 2003 NASA Explorer School and has established its own radio club. 3. ARISS Videos Posted on AMSAT Website ARISS participated in the Dayton Hamvention 2005 held over the May 20 - 22 weekend. ARISS Chairman Frank Bauer and ARISS Deputy Program Manager Mark Steiner attended, giving a presentation entitled, "Human Spaceflight Update: ARISS, the Moon and Mars,” at the AMSAT Forum. Videos of the ARISS presentation and of the Hamvention activities are available on the AMSAT website. AMSAT and ARISS members also participated in Space Day at the Udvar Hazy Center on May 5, 2005. A video clip which includes coverage of the exhibition booth and an interview with Frank Bauer is also available for viewing. For all videos, see: 4. Progress 19P to Include SuitSat and SSTV The SuitSat hardware and the SSTV system will be launched on Progress 19P, which was scheduled to fly on September 8. The Russian EVA to deploy SuitSat is expected to take place in early December. 5. Cosmonaut Receives Birthday Wishes Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, made several general contacts during the last weekend of August. Stations from several countries spoke with the cosmonaut, wishing him a happy birthday. The contacts were made by operators in Kuwait, Malaysia, Columbia, Thailand, Argentina, U.S., Brazil, Australia, Puerto Rico, and Chile. Krikalev turned 47 on Saturday, August 27. To listen to a sample of the contacts, go to: 6. Astronaut Training Status Astronaut Sandy Magnus is preparing to take her amateur radio exam in the near future. Astronaut Nicole Stott is scheduled for a ham radio training session at JSC on Tuesday, September 6. [ANS thanks Carol Jackson, KB3LKI for the above information. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.07 Heads Up - Alderney DXpedition May Include Satellite Activity AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.07 The Alderney DX Team announced plans for a DXpedition to be on the air Wednesday, October 12 to Wednesday, October 19, 2005. This is a group of four amateur radio operators from around the U.K. who will be oper- ational on all HF bands, 6 meters, VHF APRS, VHF/UHF SSB and hope- fully, some satellite activity, from the Island of Alderney, the most northerly island of the Channel Islands group. The first calls are planned to be made during the evening of October 12 most probably on 40 and 80 meters. Additionally, Worked All Britain and Lighthouse activity may take place, depending on the availability of portable power supplies or a generator. Further information available from: dave at g1ocn dot com Skeds are welcomed and encouraged. QSL route(s) are: GU5XW via G5XW GU1OCN via G5XW MW0JZE via G5XW MU3SDE via M3SDE Further information available under individual call signs on QRZ.COM. A further updates will be sent prior to departure. [ANS thanks the Alderney DX Team for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.08 Software Updates Available for Satellite Programs AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.08 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.08 * Simon Brown, HB9DRV, announced FT-847 support has been added into the Ham Radio Deluxe software and is working well. Still to be added are further updates for proper same-band Doppler support. See: http://www.ham-radio.ch/forums/viewtopic.php?p=15785#15785 * Stefano Bravi, an SWL in Italy, announced a new version (1.2) of his PCSAT2 Telemetry Decoder program is available for download. See: http://fc.retecivica.milano.it/~stefano.bravi/pcsat2dec_12.zip * Erich Eichmann DK1TB has released version 12.4 of the popular satellite tracking program SatPC32. The program has two significant new features. First is automatic internet download of Keplerian elements such as the amateur.txt file from celestrak.com. Second is an improved user interface for initial configuration of user location, radio and rotor interfaces, etc. The program may be downloaded from the author's personal web site: http://www.dk1tb.de/indexeng.htm Click the "downloads" button on the left frame, then choose the appro- priate "SatPC32 Demo" version (9.7 MB download). The demo version is fully functional except that the user must enter their lat/lon every time when launching the program. If you already have a SatPC32 regis- tration code you may use that code to make the 12.4 version fully functional. If you have never purchased SatPC32 you may purchase a registration code from the AMSAT online store: http://www.amsat-na.com/item.php?id=100020 DK1TB has generously donated SatPC32 to AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-UK, and AMSAT-DL. If you use SatPC32, please purchase a registration code from one of these groups. All of the purchase price will go to support amateur satellite programs. [ANS thanks Simon, HB9DRV, Stefano, Wayne, W9AE, and Erich, DK1TB for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-254.09 AMSAT Awards AMSAT News Service Bulletin 254.09 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 11, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-254.09 Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, announces this week congratulations go out to John Sagi, N3YZ, for earning the Satellite Commun- icators Club Award and also a new member of AMSAT. Reminder: There is still time to earn your AMSAT 51 on 51 Award which is good for contacts between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005. To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information] /EX