AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-060

ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North
America,
The
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a
worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest
in
designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and
digital
Amateur Radio satellites.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:




In this edition:
* Richard Garriott, W5KWQ to speak at the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet during
Hamvention
* AMSAT INDIA Certificates for Two Way VO-52 Contacts
* SuitSat-2 Meeting in Phoenix
* ARRL Satellite Handbook Now Available at AMSAT Online Store
* Amateur Radio Balloons Over North East Texas (ARBONET) Weekly Net
* Call for Papers - NEMS and MEMS for Space Applications
* ARISS Status - 23 February 2009


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-060.01
Richard Garriott, W5KWQ to speak at the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet during
Hamvention

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 060.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 1, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-060.01

We are pleased to announce that Richard Garriott, W5KWQ will be the
keynote
speaker at the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet during
Hamvention 2009. The Banquet will be on
Friday evening, 15 May 2009. Richard was aboard the ISS (International
Space
Station) in October 2008 and delighted many amateur radio operators and
school
children with contacts. He was the sixth private citizen to make the
trip.
In
1983, Richard's father Owen Garriott, W5LFL was
the first person to make amateur
radio contacts from the Space Shuttle. In addition to the banquet
speech,
Richard will give a short presentation at the AMSAT Forum on Saturday
morning,
and visit the AMSAT & ARRL booths.

There is limited seating for the banquet, and tickets may be purchased
for
$30
by contacting Martha at the AMSAT office. Banquet tickets will also soon
be
available through the AMSAT web store.

Thanks to Frank Bauer and Rosalie White for making the arrangements.

[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-060.02
AMSAT INDIA Certificates for Two Way VO-52 Contacts

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 060.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 1, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-060.02

AMSAT INDIA will issue a certificate for Radio Hams who establish two
way
contact thru VO-52 from the period January 26th 2009 until May 5th 2009.

The first fifty certificates have been sponsored by a well-wisher
including
postage. This certificate will also be available for a fee which will be
announced on a later date.

Please send us your QSL card which has details of the QSO on VO-52 to
the
following address. Please provide us the exact mailing address where you
would
like to receive the certificate.

AMSAT India (Regd.)
No. 201, 2nd Main Road,
Mahalakshmi Layout,
Bangalore 560086
India.

[ANS thanks Nitin, VU3TYG, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-060.03
SuitSat-2 Meeting in Phoenix

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 060.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 1, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-060.03

Many of the members of the SuitSat-2 team participated in a working
meeting
at the Microchip complex 20 - 22 Feb 2009. Most of the modules were
demonstrated and a great deal of work followed to improve the interfaces
between the modules. Gould, WA4SXM is working on SuitSat-2 web pages
that
will provide details of the work and photographs of the modules and team
members. These pages will be added to the AMSAT site soon.


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-060.04
ARRL Satellite Handbook Now Available at AMSAT Online Store

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 060.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 1, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-060.04

The ARRL Satellite Handbook by Steve Ford,
WB8IMY, is now available at the AMSAT
online store. Visit http://www.amsat.org and
click on Online Store from the menu
on the left. Follow the link to Publications.

[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-060.05
Amateur Radio Balloons Over North East Texas (ARBONET) Weekly Net

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 060.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 1, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-060.05

The Amateur Radio Balloons Over North East Texas (ARBONET) Weekly
Information
Net is held Wednesday evening at 8:30 PM CST via the facilities of the
North
Texas Repeater Association Repeater Network (NTXRA)

Dallas: 442.025 MHz Offset: +5 MHz PL Tone: 127.3
Ft. Worth: 443.450 MHz Offset: + 5 MHZ PL Tone: 127.3
McKinney: 442.575 MHz Offset: + 5 MHz PL Tone: 127.3

The NTXRA network has IRLP capabilities, The node number is 945, channel
1.

Repeaters outside the coverage area of the NTXRA network who have IRLP
capabilities can link into the network to participate in the weekly
nets.

Anyone interested in Amateur Radio High Altitude Balloon flights or in
participating in ARBONET activities is invited to join this weekly
on-the-air
activity.

[ANS thanks Doug, W5BL, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-060.06
Call for Papers - NEMS and MEMS for Space Applications

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 060.06
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 1, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-060.06

2009 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition

The symposium will be held at the ASME Congress
on November 13-19, 2009, on-site
at Lake Buena Vista, Florida (Walt Disney World). The call-for-paper is
for
Track 13 (Micro and Nano Systems), Topic5-NEMS and MEMS for Space
Applications.
Please note that the goal of this symposium is forward looking and on
current/future technologies that can lead toward the goal of highly
integrated
Nano/Pico-satellites.

The goal of this topic is on space sciences and technology with NEMS and
MEMS.
The continuing trend towards smaller satellites has produced operational
NanoSats (1-10kg) and PicoSats (1kg). These satellites will transform
the
way
we study space and terrestrial sciences by providing currently
non-existing
capabilities such as instantaneous field measurements, ultra large
arrays,
and
sacrificial missions. Key attributes of these satellites are smaller,
lighter,
cheaper, and expendable. Naturally, the miniaturization and high density
integration capability of N/MEMS are the future for these missions and
satellites.

Specific areas of interest related N/MEMS include, but are not limited
to:

* Attitude determination and control systems
* Integrated bus
* Navigation and positioning
* Power
* Propulsion
* Thermal control
* Communication
* Science instruments

[ANS thanks Adam Huang and Eui-Hyeok Yang for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-060.07
ARISS Status - 23 February 2009

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 060.07
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 1, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-060.07

1. Upcoming Simulated Contacts

Several simulated Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS)
contacts have been scheduled. These training sessions are
terrestrial-based
amateur radio contacts using ARISS-equivalent
equipment. Audio will be available
on IRLP. All times are approximate.

Wednesday, March 4:
14:30 UTC * Technopolis, Belgium and Andre Kuipers, PI9ISS
14:45 UTC - Bedford South School, Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada and Chris
Hadfield, VA3OOG
15:00 UTC - Bedford South School, Bedford, Nova
Scotia, Canada and Cady Coleman,
KC5ZTH


2. South Park Students Speak with ISS

On Tuesday, February 17, an Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station
(ARISS) contact took place between South Park Elementary Center in South
Park,
Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh native Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, on the ISS.
Telebridge
station K6DUE in Maryland facilitated the
contact. An audience of approximately
460 watched as twenty questions were asked and
answered. The audio was fed into
the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 7 connections from
stations
in England and the U.S. The event received extensive media coverage
from
television stations and newspapers. The links follow.

CBS affiliate:


ABC affiliate:
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...l.html?taf=pit

NBC affiliate:
http://www.wpxi.com/news/18729533/detail.html

Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com.../949857-52.stm

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_612166.html


3. Salluit Students Question Astronaut via Radio

Students attending Salluit Schools in Salluit, Quebec, Canada
experienced an
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on
Thursday,
February 19 via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. Mike Fincke,
KE5AIT,
answered 15 questions posed to him by the students. The audio was fed
into
the
EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 6 connections from the
U.S.,
Spain, Italy and England. Approximately 450
parents, elders and students (out of
a village of 1000) were present for the contact. Parents were out and
about
early in the day, indicating this event was a huge accomplishment, as
they
do
not normally come out early this time of year due to the severe cold.
ARISS
mentor Steve McFarlane remarked, “The contact was a huge success *
these
people
really enjoyed the experience and are ever thankful to the parties
involved
for
their work in showing their children that there are incredible
discoveries
and
adventures to be had * all they have to do, is believe... apparently
we
moved
them a little closer to that today....”


4. Erie Planetarium Contact Successful

On Saturday, February 21, Erie Planetarium in Pennsylvania participated
in
an
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with
Mike
Fincke, KE5AIT, via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. Twelve
students
asked 21 questions of the astronaut in front of a crowd of 200. At
least
one
television station reported on the event. The audio was fed into the
EchoLink
AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and had 13 connections, including one repeater,
from 8
countries. Among those listening were stations in
China, New Zealand and Spain.

A ham operator who was manning a Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
(AMSAT)
exhibit table at a Yuma, Arizona hamfest used his
radio to listen to the contact
as part of his demonstrations. Even though only the ISS side of the
contact
was
heard, the crowd enjoyed hearing Mike answer the questions.


5. SuitSat-2 Meeting Held

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team held a
SuitSat-2 meeting on Friday * Sunday, February 20 - 22 in Phoenix,
Arizona.
Status reports of the different modules were given and reviewed and the
team
began integration testing.


6. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) held its
monthly
teleconference on Tuesday, February 17. Agenda items discussed included
the
upcoming face-to-face meeting to be held in the Netherlands in June,
Charles
Simonyi’s planned activities during his mission in March and a status
on
SuitSat-2. The minutes have been posted to the ARISS Web site. See:
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-02-17.htm


7. ARRL Letter Article on Dieter Schliemann

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team member
Dieter
Schliemann, KX4Y, passed away on Monday, February 9. Dieter had been
responsible for coordinating and expanding the educational outreach of
ARISS
through the use of Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) with Internet
Radio
Linking Project (IRLP) and EchoLink. As his health deteriorated, Dieter
continued his support, making sure that others would carry on in his
absence.
He will be sorely missed. Dieter was a member of the Radio Amateur
Satellite
Corporation (AMSAT) and the American Radio Relay
League (ARRL). The ARRL Letter
posted an article on his contributions:
https://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0220/


8. German School Contact Update

Städtisches Gymnasium Herzogenrath in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS)
contact with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, on Saturday, February 7. New links
are
available for related photos, audio, video and newspaper articles. See:
http://www.darc.de/g14/ARISS.html

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]

/EX


In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's
Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT
Project
Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application
forms
are
available from the AMSAT Office.

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KU4OS