AMSAT News Service – Page 71

Space Symposium Auction Announced

June 28, 2017August 22, 2014 by amsat admin

Greetings Amateur Radio in Space Enthusiasts!

At this year’s AMSAT Space Symposium, we are trying a few new things and we hope you will enjoy them. One exciting facet we are adding this year is an auction. All proceeds from the auction will support AMSAT’s two major initiatives—the development and launch of the FOX satellite series and the ARISS program.

As we prepare for the auction, we are asking for your help in donating specialty items for auction (minimum value $100) that will attract symposium attendee’s attention and get them bidding up the item price. If you have any items that are ham related (no boat anchors please), items of historical value, space related and/or autographed items, or even sports tickets or time shares, we would love to get your donations. Think out of the box on this—what exciting things would you like to see in this auction?

If you have something to donate to the Symposium auction, please send an e-mail to Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, who will work with you on getting your item or items into the auction. Frank’s e-mail address is ka3hdo at verizon.net

This auction, while adding a fun experience to the AMSAT Space Symposium experience, will also serve to keep amateur radio’s spirit thriving in space through its donations to FOX and ARISS.

On behalf of AMSAT, I thank you for your donations in advance. And I encourage each of you to attend and participate in this year’s AMSAT Space Symposium to be held in Baltimore Maryland Oct 10-12. For more information, see:

http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/?page_id=1555

73 from Your Symposium Committee Co-Chairs:

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO and Janet Bauer

Possible ISS Voice Contacts on Field Day

June 28, 2017June 24, 2014 by amsat admin

ARISS NEWS RELEASE no. 14-02
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
David Jordan, AA4KN – ARISS Public Relations

Current discussions between the ARISS team and NASA suggest the possibility of voice contacts with the International Space Station (ISS) during Saturday’s ARRL Field Day activities this coming weekend.

In a June 23 email, Kenneth Ransom, the ISS Ham Radio payload developer, stated “I have received a response from astronaut (Reid) Wiseman that he is willing to try and work some stations on Saturday. Pass times begin very soon after the start of Field day.” Wiseman would operate under the call sign, NA1SS. Should Alex Gerst participate, he would use the call sign, DP0ISS.

If voice operation does occur, It will likely take place from the Columbus (COL) module using the standard Region 2 uplink frequency of 144.49 MHz and 145.800 MHz for downlink. It’s expected that the packet system will be operational on 145.825 MHz during periods when the crew is not available.

It’s not clear whether any of the Russian crew would participate from the Russian module, but if so, they would be directed to use 437.550 MHz for any contacts using the call sign RS0ISS. The COL would also be available to their crew using the VHF frequencies above, if Wiseman is not operating.

Listed below are approximate pass times and a chart showing ISS passes for the Field Day weekend. The pass times shown are not definite, scheduled times with the crew. They may or may not be able to support these times. And, updates to this tentative plan will be released as they become available.

Saturday, June 28:

Click for full size image. Each segment starts and ends when the U.S. coastline is on the horizon of the ISS.

N. America (18:11-18:33 UTC)
Hawaii (19:36 – 19:47 UTC)
N. America (19:48-20:10 UTC)

OSCAR Number for LituanicaSAT-1

June 28, 2017June 8, 2014 by amsat admin

In a message to the LituanicaSAT-1 team, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced, “LituanicaSAT-1 has met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number. My findings from information provided to AMSAT-NA and IARU officials confirm this to be true. Accordingly, under the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I do hereby assign LituanicaSAT-1 the designation LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78, or LO-78. I, and all of the amateur radio satellite community, wish LituanicaSAT OSCAR-78 a long and successful mission.”

On behalf of the LituanicaSAT-1 team, Simon Kareiva, LY2EN replied, “It is my honor and pleasure to accept this assignation. Our team is focused to keep LO-78 operational for the benefit of amateur radio as long, as it is possible for a small cubesat. Thank you very much, Simon LY2EN.”

The LituanicaSAT-1 team has announced activation of the FM transponder. A general rule to find out if the transponder is working at the moment is to monitor the beacon frequency on 437.275 MHz. If you can hear CW FM beacon it means that transponder is off, if you cannot hear it – the transponder is on. The transponder frequencies are approximately 435.1755 MHz (+/- 10 kHz Doppler shift) for the downlink and 145.950 MHz for the uplink with 67 Hz CTCSS.

[ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO, AMSAT-NA OSCAR Number Administrator for the above information]

First Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers

June 28, 2017June 3, 2014 by amsat admin

This is the first call for papers for the 2014 AMSAT Annual Meeting
and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 10-12, 2014,
at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Baltimore-Washington International
Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. Proposals for papers, symposium
presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of
interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative
title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than
August 1. The final copy must be submitted by September 15 for
inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be
sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv at amsat.org

[ANS thanks the 2014 Baltimore Symposium Committee for the above
information]