SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-078.01 PCSAT2 Operations Plan AMSAT News Service Bulletin 078.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 19, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-078.01 PCSAT-1 and PCSAT2 are still flying in constellation on the same simplex digipeater frequency of 145.825. Several dual hop packets have been seen. To attempt a dual hop use VIA WIDE2-2 or VIA ARISS,ARISS. This arrangement will be maintained this as long as PC1 stays alive. The next several days will have several PCSAT2 configuration changes as follows: 17 March Two ARISS school contacts in USA. At 1823z PC2 shifted back from UHF to 2m. 19 March 2047z PC2 OFF for Soyuz re-docking. 20 March 0645 - 0715 Soyuz undock/re-dock. 1101z PC2 re-enabled and switched to 2m. 21 March 0817z PC2 switches from 2m to UHF. 1354z ARISS School contact in UK. 1817z ARISS school contact in USA. 1827z PC2 switches back from UHF to 2m [ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-078.02 AMSAT-UK Colloquium First Call for Papers AMSAT News Service Bulletin 078.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 19, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-078.02 This is the first call for speakers for the 21st Amsat-UK Colloquium which will be held at Surrey University, Guildford, Surrey, U.K., from Friday, 28 July to Sunday, 30 July 2006. AMSAT-UK invites speakers, about amateur radio space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for the "Proceedings" document which will be published at the same time but printed papers are not mandatory. We normally prefer authors to present talks themselves rather than having someone else give them in the authors' absence. We also welcome "unpresented" papers for the Proceedings document. Offers of talks should be submitted as soon as possible; the final date for full documents to be received is mid-June 2004 in order that the "Proceedings" document be available to participants. Submissions should be sent *ONLY* to David Johnson, G4DPZ, via the following routes: Internet e-mail: g4dpz@amsat.org SnailMail: QTHR from http://www.qrz.com AMSAT-UK also invites anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on specific subjects will be included in the future call. Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other information to G4DPZ. Additionally, AMSAT-UK will be running sessions specifically for beginners to amateur satellite operating on the Friday; volunteers are wanted to speak at these sessions. 73 Jim, G3WGM Hon Sec AMSAT- UK [ANS thanks Jim, G3WGM for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-078.03 3rd Annual CubeSat Workshop AMSAT News Service Bulletin 078.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 19, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-078.03 The 3rd Annual CubeSat Workshop in April is approaching fast and registration is now open! For event information, visit the CubeSat Workshop Webpage. Be sure to complete the registration form online if you plan on attending. For other information, visit the CubeSat Website, www.cubesat.org A schedule of events will be posted on the website shortly. The workshop will start at 12 noon on Thursday, 27 April to accommodate anyone flying into San Luis Obispo in the morning. Special hotel rates for the workshop have been reserved at the Holiday Inn Express and Sands Suites and Motel. There are several other events going on that weekend, and these two hotels have the best rates. Go to the accommodations page on the CubeSat Workshop webpage for more information. Shuttle service will be provided at the Holiday Inn Express to the workshop and the Sands Suites and Motel is adjacent to the Holiday Inn Express. [ANS thanks Roland for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-078.04 Satellites and Spaghetti AMSAT News Service Bulletin 078.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 19, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-078.04 The Indian River Amateur Radio Club will hold their annual "Satellites and Spaghetti" event on 01 April 2006. This year the event will be held at Kelly Park East on Merritt Island, Florida. "We begin setting up about 1300Z and hope to be on the air by 1400Z", says Lee, KU4OS. Lee continued, "This year there will be fourteen passes allowing us a chance to make contacts on six different satellites". The Satellites and Spaghetti event will be use the Club callsign, W4NLX and anyone interested in amateur satellites is welcome. [ANS thanks Lee, KU4OS for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-078.05 ARISS Status - 13 March 2006 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 078.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 19, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-078.05 1. German School Contact Successful On Wednesday, March 8, Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, spoke with students from the school, Evangelisches Gymnasium Lippstadt in Lippstadt, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. ARISS lesson plans were incorporated into the school's curriculum and all students participating in the contact took and passed their amateur radio exams. Twenty-one students asked one question each of the astronaut as 400 students, teachers and parents gathered in the school's assembly hall to witness the event. Media coverage included the TV channel Westdeutscher Rundfunk WDR, the newspaper "Der Patriot," and the two radio channels Hellweg-Radio and WDR 1 Live. Der Patriot's article, "Erfolgreich ins All gefunk," may be found on this website: http://www.derpatriot.de/index.php?content=lokal_artikel&ID=Pr-214936&RESSORT=LP&PHPSESSID=596fedd8b7b18d324b31ac3183747ec0 2. Upcoming School Contacts Circolo Didattico Statale (G.Settanni), Rutigliano, Italy, has been approved for a contact on Tuesday, March 21 at 13:55 UTC. Sir James Lougheed Elementary School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has been approved for a contact with the ISS. It is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21 at 18:19 UTC. 3. ARRL Article Covers Country Day and Hallyburton Contacts ARRL ran a web story on the Cincinnati Country Day and Harry Hallyburton Elementary School contacts. The article, "Ohio, North Carolina Youngsters Help ISS Commander Boost His QSO Record," may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/03/10/1/?nc=1 4. McArthur Still on the Air As Increment 12 winds down, McArthur continues to contact stations on the ground. His list of DXCC entities worked continues to grow and currently totals 128 countries. On March 9, ARRL ran a web story on McArthur's general contacts with stations in Hawaii. "NA1SS QSOs bring smiles in Hawaii" may be found on the website: http://www.arrl.org/ 5. Harry Hallyburton Elementary School Contact Burke County Public Schools posted a short summary of the Harry Hallyburton Elementary School - ARISS contact on its website. "Hallyburton Students talk to the International Space Station!" may be viewed at this location: www.burke.k12.nc.us 6. Astronaut Commends ARISS Member Bill McArthur relayed a compliment to ARISS member Tony Hutchison for a job well done. Tony operates the Australian telebridge station VK5ZAI for the ARISS program. 7. Astronaut Training Status On 28 February 2006, astronauts Jim Dutton, Shane Kimbrough, and Tom Marshburn took and passed their amateur radio exams. They have been issued the following callsigns: Thomas H. Marshburn, KE5HOC Robert S. Kimbrough, KE5HOD James P. Dutton Jr., KE5HOE [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information] /EX