SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.01 SuitSat Possible Activation December 2005 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.01 A note to readers of ANS. Since the SuitSat project encompasses both a free floating unmanned satellite and is being hand launched from a Manned satellite, there will be some double postings regarding the SuitSat project on both the SAREX and AMSAT-BB mailing lists. If you are not currently on the SAREX list, you may want to check the AMSAT link to sign up for both so you do not miss the additional projects coming this year, and early 2006. http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/maillist.php SuitSat, Slow Scan TV from ISS in 5 weeks? Slow Scan TV from the SuitSat project, launched from the International Space Station, may be activated in as little as 5 weeks. Note: All dates are subject to change. At the present time there are tentative plans to have a Space Walk (EVA) taking place from ISS sometime around December 8, 2005. It is possible that during this Space Walk, the ISS crew may "Hand" launch the ARISS SuitSat project during that EVA mission. Again, all date are subject to last minute changes. Please Keep monitoring the ARISS and AMSAT web pages for more updates. The SuitSat project is a free floating Unmanned satellite that will be running on Batteries Only! The life span of the project will be limited to the power in the batteries. SuitSat may last as little as 1 week or as long as 6 weeks. So it is very important for you to get your satellite monitoring station ready now. You should not wait for the Official activation date, because you may miss the opportunity to hear the new bird. I will keep posting updated links for the SuitSat project as they become available. SuitSat Specific links: AMSAT front page: http://www.amsat.org SuitSat Article: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/SuitSat/ AMSAT Video News: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/information/videoNews.php (and watch the SuitSat video) Frank Bauer's, KA3HDO, article "This Is SuitSat-1 RS0RS": http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/BauerSuitsat/index.php "SuitSat," New ARISS SSTV Gear Arrives at International Space Station. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/09/16/2/?nc=1 SSTV details: The SuitSat project will transmit, Telemetry, Pre-Recorded Voice messages and one SSTV image. The whole process will repeat approximately every 9 minutes. (Robot 36 format). All transmissions will be in FM mode and will be on the 2-meter amateur radio satellite band. The current frequency for SuitSat is 145.990 FM Downlink only (There is no uplink for this satellite). This means that the Doppler frequency drift will not be much of a problem and you will be able to use your existing 2-meter station or a police scanner to hear and decode the signals SuitSat. If you have already have been successful in working the Packet station or talked to the ISS crew on 2-meter voice, than you already have most of what you need. What's left is to connect your computer to the speaker of your radio and some SSTV decoding software, such as ChromaPix or similar software. See: http://www.barberdsp.com/ So have fun, find your best setup and start practicing how to decode SSTV on 2-meters. Slow Scan TV Decoding Software: Here are just two of the many Share-Ware SSTV applications on the market. There may be many more. W95SSTV by Silicon Pixels http://www.barberdsp.com/w95sstv/w95dload.htm MMSSTV http://mmhamsoft.ham-radio.ch/ There are also many High quality pay software applications that offer many more features, such as multiple windows that allow your to simultaneously receive an image while preparing your next image that you want to transmit. CPIX http://www.barberdsp.com/ What is Slow Scan TV: On this web page you will find many links to help you learn more about Slow Scan TV: http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html Tips on how to use ISS, SSTV, Packet and Voice: http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html Location of Hardware on ISS: This link will show you images of some of the amateur radio hardware already installed on ISS: http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/radiohardware.html Marexmg Web Page http://www.marexmg.org [ANS thanks Miles, WF1F for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.02 SSETI Express Designated XO-53 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.02 The SSETI Express Team has met the requirements to earn their satellite the official designator of Express Oscar 53, or XO-53. Bill Tynan, Past AMSAT President, and presently OSCAR number coordinator, wrote to the SSETI Team, "From the information you have sent to the AMSAT-NA Board and officials regarding this project, it has been determined that the SSETI Express spacecraft IS qualified to receive an OSCAR number." Bill continues, "Therefore, by the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I am pleased to issue this new amateur satellite the designation Express OSCAR - 53, or XO-53 as you requested. "Congratulations to all involved in the successful completion and launch of XO-53". For information about the requirements that must be satisfied in order to obtain an OSCAR designation refer to: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/information/faqs/numbers.php [ANS thanks Bill, W3XO for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.03 ARISS Status November 7, 2005 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.03 1. Kawachi School Contact Successful On November 3, students from the Kawachi Citizen's Committee for Youth in Miyoshi, Hiroshima, Japan experienced a successful contact with astronaut Bill McArthur, KC5ACR. Nineteen children each posed a question to Bill during the Q & A session, as an audience of approximately 110 students, parents and others gathered for the event. Media coverage included 5 television stations and 3 newspapers. The audio and video of the contact are available on the following website: http://jk1zrw.dyndns.org/kawachi.html.en 2. Upcoming School Contacts Hermann Middle School in Hermann, Missouri has been scheduled for a contact on Wednesday, November 16 at 18:58 UTC. 3. Astronaut Training Status Astronaut Nicole Stott took and passed her amateur radio exam on Friday, October 28, and was issued the callsign, KE5GJN. Stott is currently in the future ISS crew selection pool. The last 6 unlicensed astronaut candidates from the class of 2004 were tentatively scheduled for an amateur radio license training session on November 10. 4. Expedition 11 Crew Debrief The U.S. debrief session with Expedition 11 crew member John Phillips, KE5DRY, is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, November 15 at 4:00 pm ET. (Note the change in date.) 5. ARRL Article on ISS Anniversary On November 1, ARRL posted a web story covering the fifth anniversary of the ISS and amateur radio. "Ham radio has role in five years of continuous ISS human habitation," may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/ 6. ARISS International Teleconference Held The monthly ARISS International teleconference was held on Tuesday, October 25. Among the agenda items discussed were the Columbus Module antennas and SuitSat status. The next international meeting will be held on November 15. 7. Astronaut Active on Voice Astronaut Bill McArthur has been engaging children in his school contacts, but he also has hams around the world smiling as he makes voice contacts with the general public. McArthur was active over Australia on Friday, October 28, and again over Europe on November 3, making contacts with stations in the U.K. and Italy. 8. ARISS Mini-TIM Planned The ARISS team may hold a Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) in the Goddard Space Flight Center area in early January 2006. Agenda items are being compiled as team members begin to plan for the conference. 9. ARISS International Face-to-Face Meeting The minutes and presentations from the ARISS International Face-to-Face Meeting held in the U.K. in August 2005 have been posted to the AMSAT website. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/2005_Surrey/2005_Surrey_ARISS-I_Minutes.pdf [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.04 PCSAT2 Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.04 On all USA passes on 14 Nov, PCSAT2 (on ISS) will be operating with a one-way NET Control voice downlink to acknowledge packet checkins from any packet hams on 145.825 uplink as part of Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day. During these passes over the USA only, the normal ARISS digipeater may be disabled. Users desiring to participate simply transmit their packet as usual on the 145.825 PCSAT2 uplink using the path VIA ARISS and listen for voice downlink acknowledgment on 437.975 +/- Doppler. Their packet should also be digipeated on 435.275 downlink. These details are posted on the PCSAT2 web page: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/pcsat2.html [ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-317.05 AMSAT Volunteer In-Kind Reporting System AMSAT News Service Bulletin 317.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 13, 2005 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-317.05 Attention all AMSAT members who volunteer time for AMSAT projects: Just a reminder that we wish to keep track of all your efforts on behalf of AMSAT projects.. Please keep track of your hours and report them to AMSAT via the VRS (Volunteer Reporting System) on amsat.org. We are nearing year end and are well behind last years numbers. If you are new to the VRS system, it works like this: Go to amsat.org Select: "Become a Volunteer" from the panels on the left side of the Home Page. Select #2: "Read "About the Volunteer Reporting System" and create a VRS account". This will give you full details. To become a user: Send an e-mail to in-kind@amsat.org. Include the USER NAME you wish to use when reporting hours to the AMSAT database. (CASE SENSITIVE) We will confirm receipt of your request and then you will be ready to participate. Upon opening an account: Report hours as often as you wish. Remember, your filings are confidential. We will only publish grand totals with no names or hourly rates made public. Thank you for your support of this important AMSAT system. [ANS thanks Gunther, W8GSM for the above information] /EX