SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-099.01 Invitation to Join AMSAT Alternate Activities at Dayton AMSAT News Service Bulletin 099.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 9, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-099.01 Gould, WA4SXM, AMSAT Director Field Operations, invites radio amateurs attending the Dayton Hamvention to join us for these great alternate activities planned during the evenings. On Thursday, May 18, we will have our sixth annual 'Pizza and Suds' gathering at Marion's Pizza. Join fellow satellite enthusiasts for a fun time in a relaxing atmosphere. The party begins at 6:30 PM. On Friday evening, May 19, we will host the annual AMSAT Banquet at the Amber Rose Restaurant. Great food and an opportunity to chat with fellow AMSAT members and officers. Happy hour begins at 6:00 PM with the meal served at 7:30 PM. Following the meal, Lou McFadin, W5DID will be our speaker, talking about SuitSat-1 and SuitSat-2. Please make your reservations for both events early by contacting Nancy Makley at KC8GYW@AMSAT.ORG. Directions to these events will be available on the AMSAT web site shortly. [ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-099.02 Satellite Conference, Colloquium, and Symposium Opportunities AMSAT News Service Bulletin 099.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 9, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-099.02 The 3rd Annual Cubesat Workshop will be held from April 27-29 on the Cal Poly campus in San Luis Obispo, CA. For more info see: http://littonlab.atl.calpoly.edu/pages/workshops/cal-poly-2006.php Alexander, RW3DZ reports that Moscow State University will conduct the UNVERSAT-2006, a conference devoted to microsatellites used for science and education. The dates of this conference are June 26-30, 2006. For more information refer to: http://cosmos.msu.ru/universat2006/ The AMSAT-UK Colloquium will be held at the University of Surrey from July 28-30, 2006. Information will be posted on the AMSAT-UK website when it becomes available: http://www.uk.amsat.org/ The AMSAT 2006 Space Symposium and Annual meeting will be held October 5-11, 2006 in San Francisco. The Symposium will again be a joint meeting with the ARISS International Delegates and will also include the IARU Satellite Advisory Panel annual meeting, and a meeting of AMSAT International Delegates. See http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/ for more information. [ANS thanks the conference sponsors for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-099.03 ISS Crews Continue Record Breaking Amateur Radio Activity AMSAT News Service Bulletin 099.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 9, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-099.03 QSL cards from all 50 of the United States of America have now arrived at the ARRL QSL bureau in Newington, CT and the process to file for a special "WAS from Space" for Bill McArthur can begin. McArthur will depart the International Space Station on April 8 after serving on board for nearly 190 days. He will take several amateur radio achievements to Earth with him: + First to work all states (CONFIRMED) + First to work all seven continents on VHF and UHF + 37 school contacts, the most ever worked by an individual + First to work 100+ DXCC entities from space + Only expedition to work Peter I Island + Over 1700 general contacts Ricardo, PY3VHQ reported that on April 3, 2006, Marcos Pontes PY0AEB, the first brazilian ham radio operator in space, made contact with his station and other Brazilian stations on 145.800 MHz. When PY0AEB spoke in the Portuguese language, Brazilian amateur radio operators were very happy for this. A recording of the QSO can be heard at: http://portal.ucpel.tche.br/py3vhq/home/satelite/QSOcMarcosPontesPY0AEB.mp3 [ANS thanks Kenneth, N5VHO and Ricardo, PY3VHQ for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-099.04 AO-51 to Enable 38k4 Pacsat Mode AMSAT News Service Bulletin 099.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 9, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-099.04 The AO-51 Command Team/Operations Group plans to enable the 38k4 Pacsat Broadcast Protocol BBS mode on the 435.150 MHz digital downlink for the week long period between April 17-24. The BBS uplink is on 145.860 MHz and uses 9k6 Pacsat Broadcast Protocol. For more information refer to: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/ControlTeam.php [ANS thanks The AO-51 Command Team and Operations Group for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-099.05 ARISS Status for the week of April 3, 2006 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 099.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 9, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-099.05 1. Cleveland Heights School Contact Update On March 17, students at Cleveland Heights High School in Ohio spoke with Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, on board the International Space Station via amateur radio. Prior to the contact, NASA engineer Glenn Lindamood gave presentations on living and working in space and satellite tracking to 100 students. A video/audio link was set up to join those in the contact room to the rest of the student body gathered in the auditorium. Teacher Al DeGennaro was interviewed by radio station WTAM 1100 AM. Katherine Martin from the NASA Glenn Media Relations Office was present as was the Cleveland Heights Sun newspaper, the high school local paper and members of the board of education. A write up was posted by the Glenn Amateur Radio Club (whose members provided assistance with contact) to their website. See: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/Clubs/NA8SA/ariss_chuh.htm 2. Bradley, Illinois High School Contact Successful Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School spoke with Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, on Tuesday, March 28. Fifteen students were able to ask 20 questions of the astronaut before the ISS went over the horizon. Approximately 300 students, teachers and parents gathered in the auditorium as the rest of the 2000 students watched the contact via video. Teacher Jim Schreiner, K9BIG, acted as control operator and was assisted by numerous members of theİKankakee Area RadioİSociety (KARS).İ The school's club callsignİK9BHS was used for the contact. The event was simulcast using video streaming and audio streaming, with the video stream receiving nearly 900 hits. This event was broadcast live on the local Comcast cable channel 4.İİRadio stations WKAN 1320 AM, WVLI 95.1 FM, WGFA 94.1 FM, and the Kankakee Daily Journal and the Chicago Tribune newspapers were also present to cover the contact. The event was filmed and produced by the BBCHSí Communications class. The video has been posted to their website: http://www.bbchs.k12.il.us/ISS/index.htm 3. Australian School Children Speak to Astronaut On Friday, March 31, students at Briar Hill Primary School in Briar Hill, Victoria, Australia spoke with Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, via the telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia. Twenty-two students asked one question each. Approximately 100 students, teachers and parents attended the event as did the Banyule City mayor, and state government representatives. Local papers picked up on the news story prior to the event and the coordinating teacher was interviewed by both local and national radio stations. The audio was streamed over the internet courtesy of Verizon Conferencing, and Echolink and IRLP were both used successfully for the contact. Echolink received 10 connections from 5 countries, and three nodes connected to IRLP from Canada and Australia. 4. Thank You Note for Briar Hill Contact The ARISS team received a thank you note from one of the parents whose step son was involved in the Briar Hill contact. She said of her son, "He has wanted to be an astronaut for as long as he's been old enough to know what one is. Any time he wishes on a star or birthday candle he says, ëI wish I could go to space school.í This will have just fueled his interest which we are more than happy about!" 5. Additional School Contacts Robert McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada completed a contact with the ISS on Tuesday, April 4. Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil had a contact with visiting Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes, PY0AEB on Wednesday, April 5. Marcos Pontes, PY0AEB, also had a contact with students at Escola Camilo Castelo Branco in Carnaxide, Portugal on Thursday, April 6. 6. ARRL Article on Rutigliano, Calgary Contacts The ARRL ran a story on the 1† Circolo Didattico Statale and Sir James Lougheed school contacts. To view, ìStudents in Italy, Canada, US Explore Space via Ham Radio,î see: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/03/29/2/?nc=1 7. ARRL Articles on Expedition 13 Crew On March 27, 30 and 31, ARRL ran short articles on the Expedition 13 crew, Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, and Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS. See: http://www.arrl.org/ 8. School Children from Holland Experience Amateur Radio On March 25, the Octopus School in Holland held an Amateur Radio event for school children. Activities included amateur television, foxhunting (radio hide and seek), electronic circuits, DARES emergency radio and Morse code. The International Space Station was another topic covered and as Bill McArthur was on the air during these events, the teacher had the good fortune to demonstrate over several passes how to make contact with the ISS. The school director was then given 8 radios to distribute to 8 schools so that students would be able to listen to other ARISS contacts in the future. 9. Amateur Radio to be Used for Family Contacts Due to work expected due to the construction of the ISS, the Ku-band antenna may be unusable for 18 ñ 21 days at a time, causing an interruption in IP phone availability. The timeframe for this work may be as early as January 2007. During this time the crew may use the ISS Ham radio equipment for family contacts. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-099.06 Venus Express Arrives This Week AMSAT News Service Bulletin 099.06 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 9, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-099.06 After its five-month journey ESA's Venus Express spacecraft will arrive at Venus on April 11. Venus Express mission controllers at the ESA Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, are making intensive preparations for orbit insertion. This comprises a series of telecommands, engine burns and manoeuvres designed to slow the spacecraft down from a velocity of 29000 km per hour relative to Venus, just before the first burn, to an entry velocity some 15% slower, allowing the spacecraft to be captured into orbit around the planet. ESA TV will cover this event live from ESOC in Darmstadt. The live transmission will be carried free-to-air. Complete video coverage details are listed at http://television.esa.int. The event will be covered on the web at http://venus.esa.int and will feature regular updates, including video coverage of the press conference and podcast from the control room at ESA's Space Operations Centre. [ANS thanks ESA for the above information] /EX