SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-085.01 ARRL Band Plan AMSAT News Service Bulletin 085.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 26, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-085.01 Recently, we had the wonderful happening of "Suitsat" that spurred the interest of many young minds. The frequency of 145.990 is in the OSCAR sub band (145.800-146.000) as indicated by the ARRL in their Well publicized band plan. Many interlopers find their way into this clear portion of 2 meters unknowingly using these sub bands causing headaches to those that were straining to hear this event. Even using nearby Freqs cause problems when the super ears are listening for the birds. Also, 145.800 the ISS downlink, is in this same sub band and is being used in many metro areas for chit-chat and other experiments. We must remind each other that the band plan was put in place to assist us in utilizing the spectrum effectively. Those that just hear nothing and start a QSO should be reminded about how wide their signal is and that they are causing many well intentioned hams trying to make contact with these satellites and happenings unintentional interference. There may not be a satellite signal every minute of the day in these sub bands but when they are there, terrestrial stations are not listening with big enough ears as someone with an OSCAR caliber setup. Point these sub bands out to all at your next club meeting or get together. [ANS thanks Dee, NB2F, for this information revue] SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-085.02 AMSAT Net Milestone AMSAT News Service Bulletin 085.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 26, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-085.02 The weekly 2 Meter AMSAT Net in the Boston area has been on the Air every Thursday 8:30-9:30 on the Waltham Repeater 146.640- since March 14, 1996. The latest milestone was March 16, 2006 with its 10th Anniversary. Next milestone will be net number 500 coming up on May 11, 2006. The following stations checked in March 16, 2006 for the 10th Anniversary Net!!! Thanks to all who have checked in over the years !!!!!!!!! Net control, Ernie MacLauchlan, K1ELA, sent out certificates to all stations that checked in on March 16, 2006. Some net trivia as of March 16, 2006 Total Check-ins 7300+ Average per net 15 Individual People 774+ [ANS thanks Ernie, K1ELA, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-085.03 A Note from the ISS AMSAT News Service Bulletin 085.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 26, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-085.03 To the Amateur Radio Community, As Expedition 12 draws to a close onboard the International Space Station, a note of gratitude is due. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the world-wide amateur radio community for your participation in this great adventure. Clearly, one of the benefits for Amateur Radio is bridging the distances between us. Through your parti- cipation, you helped realize the potential for the human exploration of space to do exactly that. Thanks to you, over the past six months, the International Space Station has been more international than ever before. Together, we achieved many significant milestones from space, DXCC, WAC, WAS, and most importantly, 35 school contacts (as of March 21). Special thanks go to Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, without whose tireless efforts to coordinate our activities onboard none of this could have been achieved. Kenneth provided invaluable technical advice, as well as raising the bar as each goal was achieved. I would also like to thank the ISS Fan Club for your enthusiastic support of ARISS. And personal thanks to Cor - PD0RKC in The Netherlands, Alain - IZ6BYY in Italy, Keith - ZS6TW in S. Africa, and Patrick - WD9EWK in Arizona for enlisting the participation of the stations we needed to meet the goals for Expedition 12. It is with no small degree of sadness to realize that soon I will no longer be able to float to the aft part of the station, dial up our frequency pair and call “CQ”, knowing that a host of friends are waiting to talk. Good luck to you all. Thank you, again, for your participation in this greatest of all human endeavors. I look forward to listening as you continue your enthusiastic support of the International Space Station and, one day, human colonies on the Moon and Mars. 73 de NA1SS Bill McArthur, KC5ACR Commander, Expedition 12 International Space Station [ANS {& the entire Ham community} thanks Bill, KC5ACR for going above & beyond ] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-085.04 PCSATs AMSAT News Service Bulletin 085.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 26, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-085.04 ob Bruninga, WB4APR, wrote about the latest status of the satellite fleet belonging to the US Naval Academy Satellite Lab PCSAT-1 and PCSAT-2. Bob reported, "PCSAT2 remains in 145.825 simplex PACKET mode with its PSK-31 transponder also enabled. To activate the PSK-31 transponder, simply use your 2 meter packet system on 145.825 to 'connect to PCSAT2'. When the PCSAT2 sees the con- nection , it will turn on the PSK-31 transponder and keep it on as long as you maintain the packet connection." Continuing with PSK-31 operating hints, Bob wrote, "You will need HIGH power on the 29.401 MHz uplink. The downlink is on 435.275 ± Doppler FM. CW is welcome too since we need any signals at all to see what we can hear. Remember, we have extreme signal loss on the uplink since 2 weeks after launch, so while we don't hear anything usually this may be due to groundstations not running enough power to overcome this loss." The older Naval Academy satellite, PCSAT-1, which is operational only in sunlight apparently reset itself this past week when it seemed to be overloaded with too many stations attempting access. Bob summarized PCSAT-1's status, "Fortunately the Naval Academy Satellite Lab was able to restore low-power mode during the same pass, and so we hope we recovered it in time. But if not, then PCSAT-1 goes back into hybernation mode until next winter with occasional usability during mid-day passes with maximum sunlight illuminating its solar cells. In summary, Bob said, "Please go lightly on PCSAT-1, and please don't attempt to access PCSAT-1 when it is in the dark. Do not leave automatic beacons running via PCSAT-1." [ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR, and the US Naval Academy Satellite Lab for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-085.05 New OSCARS AMSAT News Service Bulletin 085.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 26, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-085.05 Subject: [bod] OSCAR Numbers for CubeSats XI-IV and XI-V Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 10:59:52 -0600 To: Ryu Funase, JQ1YCX By the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I am pleased to issue OSCAR numbers for your CubeSat amateur radio satellites. Henceforth, XI-IV launched in 2003 will be known as CUBESAT-OSCAR-57, or CO-57 and XI-V launched with SSETI Express in 2005. will be known as CUBESAT-OSCAR-58 or CO-58. AMSAT-NA and I wish to congratulate you and your entire team for the successful construction, testing and launching of these innovative spacecraft. Your pioneering work certainly inspires others to follow your lead. 73 and Best Wishes, William A. (Bill) Tynan, W3XO [ANS thanks Bill,W3XO for the above information] /EX