AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-109

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:
* AMSAT Activites at Dayton 2009
* AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Note
* HAMSAT
* SumbandilaSat: From Sub To Space
* Satellite Shorts
* Balloon Launch-Assist in Tracking
* ARISS Schedule


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.1
AMSAT Activites at Dayton 2009

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 19, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-109.1

In addition to being the keynote speaker at the AMSAT/TAPR
Banquet on Friday, Richard Garriott, entrepreneur, game
programmer and space tourist will being visiting the AMSAT
booth on Friday and Saturday. Come by and meet Richard,
the specific times will be available soon. We will be
having our Thursday night get-together at a new location
this year - Tickets Pub in Fairborn. The menu has many
tasty items, so come by and visit with your AMSAT friends.
Drew and Keith will be leading the outdoor satellite
demonstrations this year. They will have two types of
stations setup and operational - computer controlled
station and handheld station.
This is the 40th Anniversary of AMSAT, we have a great
tee design by Steve Kenwolf to celebrate the event as
well as many pices of AMSAT memorabilia on display.
Members of the SuitSat-2 team will have a complete
operational SuitSat protoype with an experiment. As
always there will be new publications, frequency
chart, LVB Trackers and premiums for membership
renewal. The AMSAT Forum is Saturday moring
11:15 to 13:30 in Room 5. Visit the AMSAT web
site for additional information. Come by booths
444-449 during the May 15-17 2009 Dayton Hamvention.

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

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.2
AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Note

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 109.2
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 19, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-109.2

The Dayton AMSAT/TAPR banquet is just about 1 month away.
Our Guest Speaker is Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. If you have
not registered, go to the AMSAT website and look on the
left hand side. There will be a box that says
Dayton Hamvention. Click on that and it will lead you
to the banquet registration. You MUST be pre- registered
to attend. You cannot register at Dayton.

--
[ANS thanks Martha, AMSAT Manager, for the above information]
/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.3
HAMSAT

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 109.3
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 19, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-109.3

Hi All
Hamsat 4th Birthday is coming up next month, 5 May 2009 and
Hamsat has been the most popular Amateur Sat for beginners
and veterans all over the world.

Hamsat is very healthy and should serve the ham
community for many more years.

Amsat India is pleased to announce that we are conducting
a Workshop to coincide with the 4 th anniversary celebrations
of the Hamsat.
( Note this is an advance infomation, complete programme
schedule is frozen and will be announced shortly)

Date 10 May 2009
Starts at 8 AM with registration and breakfast Morning
sessions include various topics Lunch Afternoon session
Tea & close by 4 pm

Venue : Little Lilly English School, Vidyaranyapura,
Bamgalore Delegate fee Rs 100/-

Detailed programme schedule etc will be announced
shortly on these email groups, local nets etc.
You may also check our web page www.amsatindia.org
email :

We request all hams and wouldbe hams interested in
Amateur Satellite activity to kindly participate
and make the event a grand success.
Looking forward to your participation.
Best 73
Pop
VU2POP
Secy Amsat India

[ANS Thanks Pop, VU2POP, for the above info]
/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.4
SumbandilaSat: From Sub To Space

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 109.4
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 19, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-109.4

A Sat News Daily story dated April 12, 2009, says
SumbandilaSat to launch in June from a sub.

SumbandilaSat: From Sub To Space
http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story...mber=195613620

SatNewsDaily were quoting from a South African
Business Report story -

Russian sub to launch second satellite
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fS...icleId=4930464

The South African Business Report website last
year carried a story on the use of Soyuz launcher
at Baikonur.
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fS...icleId=4596130

The Southern Africa AMSAT website is still quoting
Baikonur http://www.amsatsa.org.za/

[ANS Thanks, Trevor, M5AKA, for the above info]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.5
Satellite Shorts
AMSAT News Service Bun 109.5
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 19, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-109.5

Good DX via AO-7

This week AO-7 continued to surprise and delight amateur radio
satellite operators with opportunities for good DX. On April 12
Tim, N3TL reported, "At 21:33 UTC today G1WPR answered my "CQ DX"
on AO-7 Mode B. I was sending CW with the straight key I picked
up for Straight Key Night on AO-51, and Terry called me in SSB
so we completed a cross-mode QSO of more than a minute with a
few exchanges. I am thrilled!"

Tim also logged more trans-Atlantic AO-7 QSOs on April 16, "PH7PCF
in the Netherlands answered my CW "CQ DX" with a hello in SSB. Then,
a couple of minutes later, F2IL returned my CW in some CW from France.
What a hoot!"

The equipment at N3TL consists of a Yaesu FT-857D for TX and a Yaesu
FT-817ND for RX (both used radios). He uses a Diamond MX-72H duplexer
to connect them to a dual-band Elk log periodic, which is hand-held,
manually tracking the satellites. Computer doppler control was done
with Simon's HRD Satellite Tracker. Of the CW operation Tim described
his setup, "I have the "CQ DX" call set up in a memory buffer on my
FT-857D. But when somebody responds, the straight key takes over."

Turning 35 years old on November 15, 2009 AO-7 still carries lots of
amateur satellite traffic. Joe, K3SZH says Igor UA9CS Igor has now
logged over 6000 QSOs via the bird. Also, this month Mike, KC9ELU
has reached his 1000th QSO via AO-7.

[ANS thanks Tim, N3TL and Joe, K3SZH for the above information]

/EX


W0YPT Silent Key

AMSAT received the sad news that Telmer G. Olson, W0YPT became a
silent key at age 91 this week. Telmer had worked the satellites
from the earliest OSCARs to the modern satellites. Jerry, W0SAT
remembered, "He elmered me and helped me get on the satellites in
1996. I knew him as a great friend that I called on for advice all
the time. I used to visit him at his QTH and went to hamfests with
him too. I and all the people who ever had contact with will always
remember the many QSO,s and contacts we had with him."

ANS thanks Jerry, WOSAT for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.6
Balloon Launch-Assist in Tracking

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 109.6
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 19, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-109.6

The NS3 group of Cornell University engineering graduate students
will launch PBH-9 (Project Blue Horizon) from Lockheed Martin in
Owego NY on Sunday evening, 19Apr09, at approximately 21:00EDT
(Monday, 20Apr09, 01:00UT) This ARHAB flight (Amateur Radio
High Altitude Ballooning) will ascend and then float for up to
50-hours while drifting to the east.

The payload will include a KC2TUA-8 144.390 APRS beacon
(track via (http://findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=KC2TUA-8)
and HF CW position report and telemetry downlinks on 7.104MHz
and 10.148MHz. The NS3 PBH-9 team requests distant ground
stations receive and report HF telemetry via
including reception UT date and time.

Distant receiving stations are welcome to also submit HF
reception reports to for the ARHAB 50MHz
telemetry reception record,
see http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/ARHABrecords.htm.

Additional PBH-9 information including HF telemetry transmit
schedule and format is available via
http://showcase.netins.net/web/walli...ouncements.htm.
Flight updates are available from the NS3 PBH-9 team
via http://twitter.com/pbh3.

[ANS thanks Ralph, W0RPK, for the above information]

/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-109.7
ARISS Schedule

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 109.7
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 13, 2009
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-109.7

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Students from Ulvila Upper Secondary School in Ulvila, Satakunta,
Finland have been preparing for an Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) contact. It was completed on
Friday, April 17 at 07:40 UTC. They have studied physics
and astronomy and have researched the ISS. They have written
essays and created posters on related subject matter.
Students have also learned about amateur radio. Newspaper,
radio and television coverage is anticipated.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
contact has been scheduled for St. Edward School in Ashland,
Ohio, U.S.A. on Monday, April 20 at 16:36 UTC. The ARISS
contact has been integrated into the science curriculum
which covers topics on satellite images, global positioning
of satellites, telescopes, and radio waves. Students read
science related books and poems, conducted informational
internet searches, wrote stories and informational articles,
interviewed amateur radio operators, and studied and applied
science and math objectives. Media coverage is expected.

2. Japanese Contact to be Rescheduled

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
contact was scheduled for Thursday, April 9 between Kawanishi
Seiwadai Community Center in Hyogo, Japan and Koichi Wakata,
KC5ZTA onboard the ISS. Due to technical difficulties, the
contact did not take place. The contact will be
rescheduled in the near future.

3. Parkside Contact Video

On Monday, March 30, students from Parkside Community
College in Cambridge, U.K. took part in an Amateur Radio
on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with
Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK.
Video of the contact is now available.
See: http://www.it-sparkles.co.uk/ARISS/Parkside.aspx

4. Article Posted on ARISS - Kalori Contact

On Wednesday, April 1, Kalori Catholic School students in
Wallaroo, Australia experienced an Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Mike
Fincke, KE5AIT. The Yorke Peninsula Country Times
published an article covering the event. See:
http://www.ypct.com.au/index.php?opt...=4840&Ite mid
=66

5. ARRL Article on CLC Contact

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran a story about an
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
contact that took place in October 2008 between the
Indianapolis Challenger Learning Center (CLC) and Spaceflight
Participant Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. The article,
"Hams Mentor Challenger Center Students for Garriott
Contact," may be found he
http://www.arrl.org/news/features/20...08/10758/?nc=1

The ARRL Web site has 100,000 regular readers.

6. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline

On April 3, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1652 included an
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
news item. The story, "Ham Radio in Space: KE7KDP, KE5AIT
and RA3DT Return from the ISS," summarizes the ARISS
accomplishments of Charles Simonyi and Mike Fincke
during their missions. To view the story,
go to: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt

7. Astronaut Training Status

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
team provided another training session to Mike Fossum on
Thursday, April 9 to prepare him for his amateur radio
license exam.

8. ARISS Report to WIA

The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) will hold its
Annual General Meeting (AGM) over the May 1-3 weekend.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
mentor and telebridge station operator Tony Hutchison, V
K5ZAI will give his ARISS 2008-09 report. It has been
posted on the ARISS Web site under "Latest News."
See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm

9. ARISS-Related Article in NASA HQ News Briefs

NASA Headquarters News Service cited an op-ed found in the
Times of London. The item, written by Lucy and Stephen
Hawking, mentions Richard Garriott's mission and how he
inspired youth through his numerous radio contacts while
onboard the ISS.
See:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co....ent/books/arti
cle6027988.ece

10. Simonyi PowerPoint Presentation

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) volunteer prepared a PowerPoint presentation on
Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi's mission and used
this during the Milwee Middle School (Longwood, Florida)
contact on April 1. To view the slideshow, go to
www.mydrive.ch/en. Enter username, "plethra2" and password,
"aa4kn_1". Select the "ARISS SLIDE SHOW" folder and
download the available files.

11. SuitSat-2 Meeting Held

A SuitSat-2 meeting was held in Phoenix, Arizona on April 3 - 5.
The team primarily worked on software, but there was also
some final coordination on the cabling and hardware.
The software team was able to run some integration tests
and achieved the first radio frequency (RF) output of the
system. During the testing, the team demonstrated the
continuous wave (CW) and voice message transmissions. Work
continues on the solar panel mounting. Amateur Radio on
the International Space Station (ARISS) plans to have
SuitSat-2 hardware ready for delivery by September.



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

/EX


73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F