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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-092

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:

ans-editor@amsat.org

In this edition:

* AMSAT Part of eBay Giving Works Program
* AMSAT Gains Increased Presence at Dayton 2006
* PCSAT2 Returns to UHF
* OSCAR-11 Report March 27, 2006
* ARISS Status March 27, 2006
* Space Probe VOYAGER 1 Received by AMSAT-DL Group
* AMSAT-Florida Announces Net and Email List
* Amateur Radio Satellite News Archive Announced

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.01
AMSAT Part of the eBay Giving Works Program

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.01

Are you selling something on eBay?

Are you a seller on eBay? Would you like to make a donation of all or part 
of the proceeds from your auction to AMSAT?

AMSAT is now listed with Missionfish.org, part of the eBay Giving Works 
program. After entering the starting price of your auction item on eBay, 
there is a "Donate percentage of sale" question. If you make this selection, 
you will be taken to the Missionfish web site (http://www.missionfish.org) 
where you will be able to select your charitable organization (AMSAT). After 
selecting AMSAT, you will register yourself with Missionfish. Upon 
completion of your auction, if your item sells, your donation ($10 minimum) 
will be sent to AMSAT. It is quick, easy and benefits AMSAT.

Next time you or your friends place an item on eBay, please consider making 
a portion of the sale a donation to AMSAT. If you have questions about 
AMSAT's participation with Missionfish, please contact, Bruce Paige, KK5DO 
at kk5do@amsat.org.

[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.02
AMSAT Gains Increased Presence at Dayton 2006

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.02

AMSAT will have an increased presence at Dayton this year. We have 
additional booth space, where we will demonstrate an SDX (Software Defined 
Transponder) like the one that will fly on our EAGLE satellite. We will have 
additional forum time and presentations in a larger room. A great line up of 
speakers and topics have been chosen. We will also have live satellite 
demonstrations outside the Area, not far from the AMSAT booth. Additional 
information will begin to be posted on the AMSAT web site during the next 
week.

Make your plans to join your fellow amateur satellite enthusiasts May 19-21, 
2006 at the Dayton Hamvention.

Gould Smith, WA4SXM
Director Field Operations

[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.03
PCSAT2 Returns to UHF

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.03

PCSAT2 has now returned to its 435.275 downlink to avoid any potential for 
QRM to ARISS school contacts. It will remain in this mode for several weeks 
until we see how the new crew schedule works out.

Modes remaining available:

* Packet up on 145.825 and down on 435.275
* High power PSK-31 and CW up on 29.401 also with downlink on 435.275.

To activate the PSK transponder, just connect to PCSAT2 on the packet 
uplink.

For more information see:
http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/pec/pc2ops.html

[ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.04
OSCAR-11 Report March 27, 2006

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.04

The following OSCAR-11 report was provided by Clive, G3CWV:

On 01 March OSCAR-11 achieved 22 years in orbit, and in spite of numerous 
problems, it still continues to transmit good signals.

During the period 14 February to 26 March 2006 the VHF beacon on 145.826 
mHz. has been heard from 22 February to 04 March, and from 14 to 24 March.

Signals have been very consistent and excellent copy has been obtained on 
all passes received. If the current mode of operation continues, the beacon 
should switch ON around 04 April 2006.

The on-board clock continues to show a very large accumulated error. On 24 
March it was 22.14308 days slow. However, the clock is now very stable. 
During the last month it gained 2.5 seconds, which is approximately half the 
monthly gain, observed when the satellite was fully operational! The 
observations of clock errors suggest that the clock may slow or stop when 
the battery voltage is low.

All the analogue telemetry channels, 0 to 59 are zero, i.e. they have 
failed. The status channels 60 to 67 are still working.

The satellite is now in continuous sunlight until around 06 May, when 
eclipses will start again. This should help the satellite to continue 
transmitting, although continuous sunlight can cause problems due to 
excessive temperatures. Power supply problems can be caused by poor pointing 
attitude, i.e. the sunlight illuminating the ends of the satellite, instead 
of the solar arrays.

The watchdog timer now appears to have resumed operation on the 20 day 
cycle. During the last two months the ON/OFF times have been very 
consistent, and many observations show this to be 20.7 days, i.e. 10.3 days 
ON followed by 10.4 days OFF. However, at any time, poor solar attitude, and 
battery problems, may result in a low 14 volt line supply, which may cause 
the beacon to switch OFF prematurely, and reset the watchdog timer cycle.

I am indebted to Bob, G4VRC, Gustavo, LW2DTZ, Mike, DK3WN, John, K7RQN and 
John, G4PWG for their reception reports. All have reported good signals from 
the VHF beacon. Many thanks for those reports.

The Beacon frequencies are -

VHF 145.826 mHz. AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry

UHF 435.025 mHz. OFF

S-band 2401.5 mHz. OFF

Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my web site which 
contains an archive of news & telemetry data. It also contains details about 
using a sound card or hardware demodulators for data capture. There is 
software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry. The URL is:
www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/

[ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.05
ARISS Status March 27, 2006

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.05

1. Successful Contact with Maryland High School

On Friday, March 17, students from Bowie High School in Bowie, Maryland had 
the chance to speak with Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, on board the International 
Space Station. Ten students posed twenty questions to the astronaut 
including two questions asked and answered in Russian. Fifty students, 
teachers and parents gathered in the library for the contact as other 
classes listened in. Kathy Kurtz, Regional Assistant Superintendent and 
AMSAT President Rick Hambly also attended.  Media coverage included a local 
cable television station, CTV-76, the Washington Post, and several local 
newspapers. Some of the articles follow:

 "Students at Bowie High communicate with space station"
http://www.gazette.net/stories/031706/princou152802_31960.shtml

"Space Station calls home to Bowie - High school students communicate with 
astronaut via amateur radio"
http://www.gazette.net/stories/032306/bowinew185511_31939.shtml

"A Chat That's Out of This World"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032201250

"Bowie High students speak to astronauts by ham radio"
http://www.bowieblade.com/vault/cgi-bin/bowie/view/2006B/03/23-20.HTM

2. Ohio High School Contact Successful

Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, participated in a second contact on March 17 as he 
spoke with a group of teens at Cleveland Heights High School in Cleveland 
Heights, Ohio. He answered 22 questions posed to him by 15 students. 
Echolink was used during the contact and had 30 connections from 10 
countries which included Belgium, Germany, Greece, and Hungary. Three nodes 
connected to IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010 and shoutcast audio streaming was 
available on the following web site:
http://www.discoveryreflector.ca

3. Successful ARISS Contact with Italian School Children

On March 21, children from three schools participated in the ARISS contact 
held at 1°Circolo didattico Giuseppe Settanni in Rutigliano, Italy. Two 
elementary schools, "1°Circolo didattico Giuseppe Settanni" (500 pupils) and 
"2°Circolo didattico Aldo Moro" (475 pupils) and one middle school, 
"Alessandro Manzoni" (615 pupils) participated. Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, 
answered 17 questions that were relayed to him by amateur radio operator 
Michele Mallardi, IZ7EVR. Audio and video links were made from the radio 
shack at the "Giuseppe Settanni" school to the assembly halls of the two 
other schools where students, teachers, military representatives, civilian 
authorities and Princess Elettra Marconi, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, 
watched. Five television stations (RAI3, Telenorba, Telepuglia, Telebari and 
Teleregione), one radio station (Canale 103), and 4 newspapers (Gazzetta del 
Mezzogiorno, La Repubblica, Blu and Fax) covered the event.

4. Canadian School Experiences a Contact with the ISS

Students from Sir James Lougheed Elementary School in Calgary, Alberta, 
Canada experienced a successful ARISS contact on March 21.  Twelve children 
asked 14 questions of astronaut Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, as 400 students and 
teachers looked on. Dignitaries present included a federal member of 
Parliament and executives from the school board and other corporations. The 
video of the event was seen many times on provincial wide distribution and 
acknowledged by other forms of media.

5. ARRL Covers Lippstadt School Contact

On March 16, ARRL ran a web story on the ARISS contact with Evangelisches 
Gymnasium entitled, "Space QSO Helps Introduce Amateur Radio to German 
Students."
See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/03/16/1/?nc=1

6. ARRL Article on Contacts with Bowie, Cleveland Heights Schools

ARRL ran an article covering the Bowie High and Cleveland Heights Elementary 
School contacts. "ISS Commander on a Roll, Completes Another Set of 
Back-to-Back School QSOs" may be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/03/23/1/?nc=1

7. ARRL Article on Contacting ISS

A "how-to" guide for making contacts with the ISS has been posted on the 
ARRL web site. "Making a Voice Contact with the International Space Station" 
may be found on:
http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2006/03/15/1/?nc=1

8. McArthur Wows Tonga

An article has been posted online covering McArthur's general contact with 
an amateur radio operator in Tonga. To view "Space station astronaut 
communicates with outer island," go to:
http://www.matangitonga.to/article/tonganews/outerislands/nasa_space_station_to

9. SuitSat Continues to Receive Media Coverage

ARISS member Lou McFadin was interviewed by Electronic Design Magazine last 
month and talked about his participation in the SuitSat project.  The story, 
"Latest Amateur-Radio Satellite Is No Empty Suit," has been posted to this 
web site:
http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=12096

10. ARRL Runs McArthur's Thank You Note

ARRL posted a thank you note to earth bound hams from Bill McArthur.  "ISS 
Commander Says 'Thank You!' to the Amateur Radio Community" may be found on 
the ARRL web site:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/03/22/2/?nc=1

11. Student Inspired by Amateur Radio Contact

A student who participated in a SAREX contact with astronaut Ken Cameron in 
1994 is now an Air Force Academy graduate.  She dreams of becoming an 
astronaut and attributes much of her interest in flying to her participation 
in that contact years ago. As a little girl, she was able to ask her 
question, "How does a fish swim in space?" Today she is a pilot and she 
continues her flight training in flying fighter jets.

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.06
Space Probe VOYAGER 1 Received by AMSAT-DL Group

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.06
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.06

On March 31, 2006 an AMSAT-DL/IUZ team received the American space probe 
VOYAGER 1 with the 20 m antenna in Bochum. The distance was 14.7 billion km. 
This is a new record for AMSAT-DL and IUZ Bochum. The received signal was 
clearly identified through means of Doppler shift and position in the sky. 
The receive frequency was exactly measured and compared with the information 
provided by NASA.

This distance equals approximately 98 times the distance between Earth and 
Sun. VOYAGER 1 is the most distant object ever built by mankind. This again 
proves the superior performance of the Bochum antenna. Most probably this is 
the first time VOYAGER 1 has been received by radio amateurs.

VOYAGER 1 was launched on September 5, 1977 by NASA. It transmitted the 
first close-up pictures of Jupiter and Saturn. In 2004 VOYAGER 1 passed the 
Termination Shock Region, where the solar wind mixes with interstellar gas. 
VOYAGER 1 today is still active, measuring the interstellar magnetic field.

The following radio amateurs were involved:

Freddy de Guchteneire, ON6UG
James Miller, G3RUH
Hartmut Paesler, DL1YDD
Achim Vollhardt, DH2VA/HB9DUN

Special thanks to Thilo Elsner, DJ5YM of the IUZ Bochum, Roger Ludwig of Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena USA and the Deep Space Network 
Tracking Station in Madrid, Spain for their cooperation.

For more information please visit

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov
http://www.amsat-dl.org/cms under "News"

[ANS thanks Hartmut Paesler, DL1YDD and AMSAT-DL for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.07
AMSAT-Florida Announces Net and Email List

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.07
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.07

A coordinated effort by AMSAT-Florida is underway to establish a regional 
AMSAT net in Central Florida. The Central Florida AMSAT Net began operation 
last Thursday, March 30 at 19:30 ET on the N4HHA 443.100 mHz repeater 
located in Orlando, and will continue meeting every week on this same day 
and time. Preparations are being made to link the Orlando repeater to the 
NI4CE repeater system that provides coverage throughout west central 
Florida. More information on this network may be found at www.ni4ce.org. 
When completed the net should be accessible from a large portion of Central 
Florida, and in many areas on multiple frequencies. Future plans call for 
the net to be available via Echolink.

Special thanks go out to the owners and operators of the repeater systems on 
which the net is held, without which this net could not be possible.

Orlando Repeater
N4HHA, Mike Burke

West Central Florida Group
NI4CE System
NA4AR, Paul Toth
KG4YZY, Dave Anderson
WA4ISB, Ed Allen

In addition to the net, AMSAT-Florida would like announce the AMSAT-Florida 
email list, a general satellite discussion list with a local flavor for 
Florida AMSAT enthusiasts. Users may subscribe via the majordomo 
instructions found at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/ with a 
list name of "amsat-florida".

Any inquiries for the Florida AMSAT Net can contact:
AA4KN at aa4kn@amsat.org
KO4MA at ko4ma@amsat.org
KI4HXT at ki4hxt@amsat.org

[ANS thanks Rob, KI4HXT for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-092.08
Amateur Radio Satellite News Archive Announced

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 092.08
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
April 2, 2006
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-092.08

For many years, Richard, G3RWL prepared monthly bulletins of Amateur Radio 
Satellite news. The bulletins were usually broadcast on the last Sunday of 
each month, in the AMSAT-UK 80 meter net. They were also distributed via 
packet radio and as hard copy. Many of the early bulletins were produced 
before the internet was available.

Clive, G3CWV, has now obtained a complete set of these bulletins which were 
broadcast from May 1985 to July 2004

This is a very detailed and useful archive, especially for research and 
preparation of lectures. The archive comprises 239 text files, one for each 
month, which are zipped into four packages for convenience. Also included 
are some reports of the AMSAT-UK Colloquium and reports about individual 
satellites.

Upon making the archives available, Clive stated "I would like to 
congratulate Richard for a fine achievement in preparing these bulletins and 
to thank him for granting permission to distribute the archive."

The archive may be downloaded from Clive's web site. See:
www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/satnews.htm

[ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV 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,
Al Marote, WA1LBG
AMSAT LM-1957
wa1lbg at amsat dot org
----
Via the ans mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe ans" to Majordomo@amsat.org

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