Date: October 22nd 2006

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-295

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:

Japanese HITSAT Designated as HO-59
AO-27 Still Silent
OSCAR-11 Heard Again
Tax Deductible Gifts to AMSAT
Satellite DX Opportunities for Africa and Asia
Good News From Ariane 5 Launch
NASA Offers Challenge to K-12 Students
ARISS Status for the Week of October 16, 2006

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 01 Japanese HITSAT Designated as HO-59

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 01

AMSAT's OSCAR Designation Coordinator, Bill Tynan, W3XO announced this week that the Japanese HITSAT satellite has been given an OSCAR number

Bill wrote to the HITSAT Team at the Hokkaido Institute of Technology, "By the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I am pleased to issue an OSCAR number for the HIT-SAT amateur radio satellite From what I can determine, HIT-SAT complies with all of the requirements for an OSCAR number Therefore, HIT-SAT will henceforth be known as HIT-SAT-OSCAR-59 or HO-59 "

Bill concluded with, "AMSAT-NA and I wish to congratulate you and your entire team for the successful construction, testing and launching of HIT-SAT Your work inspires others to follow your lead "

The CubeSat has the callsign JR8YJT At present it is transmitting CW telemetry on 437 275 MHz with a transmitter power of 100 mW The 1200 baud FM Packet downlink on 437 425 MHz is active only when the satellite is over Japan

Once it's fully operational, HIT-SAT will permit Earth station opera- tors to request certain parameters by transmitting DTMF commands on the 145 980 MHz uplink The satellite can report back time/date, temp- erature and power supply voltages and thank the Earth station by call sign Only HIT-SAT ground station controllers can access the satellite at this point, however

[ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 02 AO-27 Still Silent

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 02

Michael, N3UC, one of AO-27's controllers reported on October 17, "For the last 5 weeks ground controllers have been trying to contact AO-27 At this point we have not been able to turn it on We still have a few tricks that we are planning on trying but these take time We are hoping that we can re-establish communications At this time, we don't have an estimate for when AO-27 will be back on the air The satellite is now in its 14th year on orbit We will continue to try to recover AO-27 until we run out of ideas "

AO-27 was last heard in May 2006 prior to its entering its eclipse season When the satellite's solar cells were not receiving enough illumination it meanth the batteries are dropping below the watchdog values and turning off the controller schedule

The latest AO-27 information can be found on-line at: http://www ao27 org

[ANS thanks Michael, N3UC for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 03 OSCAR-11 Heard Again

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 03

Clive, G3CWV reports that OSCAR-11 is back! He said, "It was first heard by Peter ZL3TC, October 18, and later by Paul KB5MU It had been silent since August 26 Many thanks for those reports "

OSCAR-11 requires illumination of its solar panels to work Clive continued, "I heard very strong signals on October 19 07:28 UTC pass If the watchdog cycle continues to operate normally, the 145 826 MHz beacon should transmit until around 28 October "

More OSCAR-11 information can be found at Clive's website: http://www users zetnet co uk/clivew/

[ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 04 Tax Deductible Gifts to AMSAT

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 04

Gunther, W8GSM, AMSAT Treasurer said this week, "Often AMSAT members have asked if they can make a contribution to AMSAT via their local United Way drive?"

According to Leslie J Talley, Director, Community and Public Sector Workplace Campaigns at the National U-W office who informed Gunther that there are NO national agencies within U-W Every agency that wishes to be eligible to receive donations must go through that local U-W campaign office and seek approval

Gunther continues, "With that in mind, I would encourage anyone who wishes to make such a gift to call their local U-W director and ask if they will allow such a gift to AMSAT AMSAT does not have the staff to canvas the country and establish these hundreds of relation- ships "

One alternative is to just reduce your U-W gift and write a check to AMSAT Both are tax deductible as charitable donations (Check with your individual tax advisor to review your specific circumstances and deductibility)

U S Federal Employees - Again this year AMSAT is a member of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) The mission of the CFC is to promote and support philanthropy through a program that is employee focused, cost-efficient, and effective in providing all federal employees the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all As the world's largest and most successful annual workplace giving campaign, each year, more than 300 CFC campaigns throughout the country and internationally help to raise millions of dollars for eligible non-profit organizations

Gunther Meisse, AMSAT treasurer has announced that any Federal employee can make a contribution to your Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation when they complete their pledge for 2006

AMSAT is listed as Agency Number CFC 2944

Your contribution directly supports AMSAT's educational outreach and satellite construction projects including work on AMSAT-Eagle Pledges may be made by Federal civilian, postal and military donors during the campaign season

The campaign runs from September 1st to December 15th, 2006

To learn more about CFC visit the CFC website at: http://www opm gov/cfc/

[ANS thanks Gunther, W8GSM for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 05 Satellite DX Opportunities for Africa and Asia

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 05

Nicolas F4EGX announced he will be active on satellites during his travel to the Archipelago of Crozet from Possession Island between mid-November to early December 2006 During his spare time, he will operate FT1WM on the amateur radio satellites

South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Antarctic will be within range for contacts from Crozet via AO-51, SO-50, and the ISS reapeter if it is active Possible digital activity via ISS or PCSAT-1 will be attempted

More information is available at: http://f4avi homelinux net/f4egx/cro2006 html

A satellite DX opportunity for Asian satellite operators was received this week The TAMSAT Group and Siam DX Group have announced a trip to Cambodia during November 20-26, 2006 The group will use an XU7 callsign from Seehanuview or Kumpongsom QSOs are planned for the FO-29, SO-50, AO-51, and VO-52 in CW, SSB, FM modes, as appropriate Additional information will be available on the group's website at: http://www tamsat org/bb

[ANS thanks Nicolas, F4EGX for the Crozet information and Tanan, HS1JAN for the Cambodia information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 06 Good News From Ariane 5 Launch

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 06

The fourth Ariane 5 launch Of 2006 performed flawlessly On 13 October 2006, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two satellites into geostationary transfer orbits and deploy a demonstration antenna The satellites were accurately injected into the correct transfer orbits about 30 minutes later

The payload satellites were DIRECTV 9S, which will supply television broadcast services to the contiguous United States of America, Alaska and Hawaii, and Optus D1, which will provide fixed communications and satellite broadcast services over Australia and New Zealand

The mission also carried an additional passenger, mounted on the Ariane Structure for Auxiliary Payloads (ASAP) platform at the base of the payload stack The Japanese Space Agency's LDREX-2, a 1/25th scale version of an antenna that will be used on the ETS-8 engineering test satellite, was flown to validate the deployment process of the lightweight reflector

[ANS thanks SpaceDaily com for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 07 NASA Offers Challenge to K-12 Students

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 07

The International Space Station is growing, and NASA's Node 2 is the next U S pressurized module scheduled for installation on the orbiting laboratory The node will provide more room for station crews to live and work, but it needs a name

Students in kindergarten through grade 12 attending U S schools and children of American personnel overseas are being asked to help NASA name the module and become part of the history of the station The module is at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla , and is targeted for launch in late 2007 The node will be a connecting port and passageway to additional international science labs and space supply vehicles It also will be a work platform for the station's robotic arm

Name the International Space Station Node 2 Challenge requires students to work together as a class or school to create their own Node 2 model Students will name their node, write a brief description explaining the choice and take digital pictures to send to NASA

The submitted image of the model will not be judged, but it will be the ticket to enter the name challenge Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of NASA scientists, engineers and educators The deadline to submit model images and names is Dec 1 The winning entry will be announced in early 2007 To register a school or class, teachers or administrators should send an email to: NASA-ESC@nasa gov

For information about Node 2, visit: http://www nasa gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/node2 html

For additional information about the Space Station Node 2 Challenge, visit: http://esc nasa gov

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-295 08 ARISS Status for the Week of October 16, 2006

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 295 08 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD October 22, 2006 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-295 08

Upcoming School Contacts

The school contact that was tentatively planned for the end of October was not approved due to the Progress 23P docking and related activities ARISS continues to work on scheduling school contacts for Expedition 14

ARISS International Meeting Held

The ARISS International Team meeting was held in San Francisco on Monday and Tuesday, October 9 Ã‚Â– 10 and a SuitSat-2 technical discussion took place on October 8 Presentations given included delegate reports from each region, onboard radio systems, and slow scan television (SSTV) Minutes and presentations will be posted to the AMSAT and ARISS websites in the near future

Expedition 13 Crew Debrief

The ARISS-U S team has compiled questions for the crew debrief with Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ ARISS-Russia expects to speak with the crew this week

[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, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA http://amsat org/mailman/listinfo/ans

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/list/[list]

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at: