SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.01 Another Year AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.01 Well, 2006 is about to be history. Satellite activity should be ramping up in 2007 with HEO birds on the horizon. Our group, ANS, has brought many late breaking news items and wish to thank all those that keep us in the loop to inform our international readers about these happenings. Please continue to do so. From all of us, Joanne, K9JKM, Lee, KU4OS, Dave, G4DPZ & myself, Dee, NB2F, we wish you a Happy, healthy, New Year. Remember, SKN Jan1, '07! [ANS thanks the ANS News Crew for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.03 AO-51 News AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.03 Due to a problem with the onboard software the BBS on AO-51 has been turned off. It will remain off until a command station can do a full reload, probably sometime after January 1. When the reload begins, the repeater will also be off until it is finished. Sorry for the inconvenience. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations [ANS thanks Drew, K04MA for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.04 ARISS Status - 25 December 2006 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.04 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report December 25, 2006 1. Swedish School Contact Update On Sunday, December 17, students attending school at Thunmanskolan in Knivsta, Sweden spoke with Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, KE5CGR/SA0AFS, on board the ISS. Hundreds attended the event and half of the 50 connections made to Echolink were from Swedish stations. Many media outlets covered the contact. To view the article in the Swedish newspaper UNT, see: http://www2.unt.se/avd2/1,3908,MC=72-AV_ID=562618,00.html The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) also ran an article covering the event. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/12/19/100/?nc=1 Television coverage may be viewed here: http://www.aftonbladet.se/atv/player.html?catID=10&clipID=13482 2. Upcoming School Contact An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact between the Kashiwabara Community Center in Sayama, Japan and astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria has been scheduled for Wednesday, December 27, at 12:22 UTC. Kashiwabara Community Center will plan and support this children’s event with the two area schools: Kashiwabara Elementary School and Kashiwabara Junior High School. The children will be taught about the ISS, space and amateur radio, and will take a field trip to visit the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Members of JAXA will also be invited to the event. 3. Training Status On Thursday, December 14, astronaut Tim Kopra and future space participant Charles Simonyi took and passed their amateur radio license exams. Callsigns have since been issued. Charles Simonyi received the callsign KE7KDP and Timothy Kopra was issued the callsign KE5LUT. Congratulations to both! [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.05 RSGB Proposes Expanding Amateur Satellite Allocations in Region 1 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.05 AMSAT-UK reported this week that a number of papers relating to expanding frequency allocations for the Amateur Satellite Service have been submitted by the RSGB to the IARU Region 1 Interim Con- ference which will be held in Vienna February 24-25, 2007. The preliminary RSGB document is on-line at: http://www.iaru-r1.org/vienna_2007_preversion.pdf The sections in the above file of interest to the Amateur Satellite community include these: B01 - Increased Amateur Satellite Service 2 Metre Usage - RSGB Proposes the segment 144.315-144.365 MHz for CW/SSB Linear Transponder Downlinks B02 - Bands above 275 GHz - RSGB All proposed bands to be for Amateur Satellite Service as well. B13 - Allocations at 3400 MHz - RSGB Proposes Region 1 Amateur and Amateur Satellite allocation. B14 - Microwave Spectrum Threats - RSGB Details threats to our allocations B15 - 23cms Bandplan - RSGB 1240-1250 MHz B16 - Amateur Satellite Service Spectrum Additional VHF and Microwave Satellite allocations [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.06 SKN on OSCAR 2007 To Be In Memory Of K7RR AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 31, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.06 All radio amateurs, worldwide, are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2007. This year, the event is dedicated to the memory of Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR. Cliff was an enthusiastic and longtime SKN participant on both OSCAR and HF, as well as a perennial Best Fist winner. He will be sorely missed. Participating in SKN on OSCAR 2007 is easy. No rules, no scoring and no need to send in a log. Just operate CW through any OSCAR between 0000 and 2400 UTC on 1 January 2007, using a straight hand key. In keeping with the friendly nature of this event, all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for "Best Fist." Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard, just of those you worked. Please send your nomination to w2rs@amsat.org. A list of those nominated will appear in ANS and The AMSAT Journal. [ANS thanks Ray, W2RS for the above information] /EX