AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-081

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:
* SOHLA-1 Begins Operations
* Radio Club of America Donates Station to Florida Club
* AMSAT Awards
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* ARISS Status - 16 March 2009


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-081.01
SOHLA-1 Begins Operations

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 081.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 22, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-081.01

SOHLA-1 examination use started on 17 March 2009. The reception report
was as a powerful signal in 18 March. The normal operation will start
from 25 Mar. The examination use schedule of then as follows.

The current amateur mode is only the broadcast of AFSK signal.
437.505MHz, AFSK 1200bps, AX.25

OBJECT E
1 33496U 09002E 09077.41247038 .00000497 00000-0 92137-4 0 1659
2 33496 098.0280 188.1849 0006449 198.4659 161.6367 14.69427465 7946

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/sohlacwe.htm

[ANS thanks Mineo, JE9PEL, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-081.02
Radio Club of America Donates Station to Florida Club

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 081.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 22, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-081.02

The Education Committee of the Radio Club of America says that it has
received its first donation of a complete amateur radio station that will
be given to the Lake Monroe Amateur Radio Club in Orlando, Florida. The
Lake Monroe Amateur Radio Club has a specially equipped trailer that it
takes to schools to demonstrate amateur radio communications. It also goes
into schools and children's hospitals to demonstrate how to make contact
with the International Space Station via ham radio. The club says it's
extremely grateful to The Radio Club of America for the donation of the
much-needed equipment.

[ANS thanks Newsline for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-081.03
AMSAT Awards

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 081.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 22, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-081.03

The beginning of 2009 has been the busiest for AMSAT Awards since I took
over processing awards in 2001.

We would like to welcome the following to the satellite community. They
have made their first satellite contact and are now members of the AMSAT
Satellite Communicators Club.

Jack Barbera, WA1ZDV
Marilyn Tillman, N4MGT
Mount Nebo VHF Contest Club, NE5BO
Rick Tillman, WA4NVM
Chris Meyers, KC0YBM
Richard Allen, N0CFL


The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement
Award.

Mount Nebo VHF Contest Club, NE5BO #483
Rick Tillman, WA4NVM #484
David Webb, KB1PVH #485


The following have earned the AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications
Achievement Award.

Douglas Anoman, KC9MLN #US130
Rick Tillman, WA4NVM #US131
David Webb, KB1PVH #US132


The following have upgraded their AMSAT Sexagesimal Satellite
Communication Achievement Award

Rick Tillman, WA4NVM #147


To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or
http://www.amsatnet.com

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

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-081.04
Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 081.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 22, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-081.04

+ The AMSAT-DC WORKSHOP will be held on Saturday, April 25, at the NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Watch ANS news for the
Latest announcements. Contact information for Pat Kilroy via e-mail
is .

+ Martha at AMSAT headquarters reminds members that rooms are available
In the AMSAT block. To get a room in the AMSAT block, you must be an
AMSAT Member, Volunteer to work the AMSAT Booth, and call Martha NOT
The hotel. Martha's office phone number is 301-589-6062.

+ Check out http://echoesofapollo.com/ for information about the "World
Moon Bounce Day" on June 27th 2009. This will feature several very
large dish stations which may allow reception on your VHF and UHF
Stations. An example of one of the large dishes can be seen at:
http://www.jamesburgdish.org/

+ The March edition of the AMSAT India Newsletter has been uploaded
to the archive at http://www.amsatindia.org/Newsletter/

+ The SwissCube Amateur Radio Cubesat planned to operate on a downlink
frequency of 437.505 MHz is planned for launch on the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from India at the end of April 2009 along with
BeeSat, UEW-2 and ITU-pSat. See the details in the article on-line at:
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/mar..._slideshow.htm

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-081.05
ARISS Status - 16 March 2009

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 081.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 22, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-081.05

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Parkside Community College in Parkside, Cambridge, U.K. has been scheduled
for
an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on
Monday,
March 30 at 17:00 UTC. Station GB4FUN will handle the connection.

The Girl's Middle School (GMS) in Mountain View, California has been
scheduled
for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on
Monday, March 30 at 18:22 UTC via telebridge station K6DUE in Maryland. The
contact is planned with spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi,
KE7KDP/HA5SIK.
GMS is a small, independent school for girls in 6th - 8th grade. The
school's
mission is to nurture and empower girls during
this pivotal time in their lives.
It looks for non-traditional educational opportunities to help girls
expand
their horizons.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been
scheduled for Marcelino Canino Canino Middle School in Dorado, Puerto Rico.
The
contact will take place on Tuesday, March 31 at 15:36 UTC. The student body
is
made up of 577 students of which approximately
77% live under the poverty level.
100% of the students receive Title I services and over 100 students receive
special education services. A Microsatellite Student Program has been
implemented where students design, construct, build and launch
microsatellites
which are then tracked and recovered with the help of amateur radio
operators.
The coordinating teacher has prepared a NASA
Explorer Schools proposal and other
science oriented proposals in the school to help motivate its largely
underprivileged population to become competitive professionals in the global
economy. Two contests have been held at the school - one for an activity
logo
and another for an essay. Scientists, state government functionaries,
Department of Education representatives, and
students from other grade levels in
elementary and high school have been invited to attend the event. Of major
interest to the students is the fact that Joseph Acaba, the first astronaut
of
Puerto Rican descent, will be going to the ISS on STS 119. The school is
planning its own press releases and expects media coverage.

Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Florida has been scheduled for an Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, April
1
at 17:55 UTC via telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium.

Carl Sandburg Elementary in the Lake Washington School district in Kirkland,
Washington has been approved for an Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) contact. The contact is slated for Thursday, April 2 at
19:35
UTC, assisted by telebridge station W6SRJ in California.


2. Contacts Cancelled

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts that
were
planned for the Sewickley Academy and the DaVinci
Science Center on March 12 and
14, respectively, were both cancelled due to scheduling issues. The DaVinci
contact will be rescheduled in the near future.


3. Astronaut Training Status

An Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) basic operations and
school contact training course was held with Satoshi Furukawa, KE5DAW, on
Friday, March 6. Furukawa is currently assigned as a back up crew member for
Expedition 22.


4. Italian School Contact Update

On Wednesday, February 25, students attending 1 Circolo Didattico G. Marconi
in
Casamassima, Italy participated in an Amateur Radio on the International
Space
Station (ARISS) contact with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT. News items covering the
contact are now available. See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=571IBetr5l8

http://www.thenewspaper.it/articles.php?article_id=100

http://www.thenewspaper.it/articles.php?article_id=89



5. ARRL Article on Discovery

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran a short Web story on the STS-119
mission which will carry ham astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA, to the ISS.
See:
http://www.arrl.org/?artid=8825

The story was also posted in the ARRL Letter:
https://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0313/

The ARRL Web site has 100,000 regular readers; the e-newsletter has a
circulation of 115,000.


6. ARRL QST Covers ARISS News

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) published an Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) news item in its April 2009 issue of
QST.

It ran a short article called "NJ Scouts Fly
High." It is about Boy Scouts from
the Central New Jersey Council earning their
Radio Merit Badges, mentored by the
Delaware Valley Radio Association and the David Sarnoff Radio Club. The
highlight of the educational activities was when Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, gave a
presentation to the boys about his time on the ISS and used Amateur Radio to
be
interviewed by students. There was a photo of the boys readying for their
own
QSOs on the air.

The ARRL monthly journal has a circulation of 150,000.


7. ARISS in Amateur Radio Newsline Article

On March 13, Amateur Radio Newsline (Report
#1648) ran a story on the Radio Club
of America (RCA) which donated a radio station to the Lake Monroe Amateur
Radio
Club in Orlando, Florida. The club gives demonstrations to schools and
children's hospitals on how to contact the International Space Station with
amateur radio. The article, "Radio Education: RCA Donates Station to
Florida
Club," may be viewed at: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt

[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