AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-079

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: * ARISS Contact-Fair Lawn, NJ * China EME and Satellite Expedition * 2M1EUB/P Satellite Operation Begins from Scotland * AMSAT India March Newsletter Available for Download * ARISS Status - 14 March 2011 * Fastrack Satellites Separated * AO-51 in eclipse * UK Space Agency UKube-1 Cubesat Takes Shape * ISS Reboost March 18th

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 01 ARISS Contact-Fair Lawn, NJ

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 01

This past Monday, March 14, 2011, The Fair Lawn ARC conducted a successful ARISS Contact It was the fruition of a few years of applications, paperwork and sweat Equity After initial instructions giving specific details, the last weekend a Complete change of Astronaut and frequency of OPS was dictated The operating Group quickly made necessary changes The School system involved was thrilled after hearing Paulo Nespoli, IZ0JPA, calling back from NA1SS after our student Zack, KC2RSS, gave the initial calls Everyone Breathed a sigh of relief after that All questions were answered by a gracious Paulo On the ISS and applause was given after the contact by the 200 plus people that attended The contact Everyone involved felt a great deal of pride and accomplishment ARISS has made it a Smooth ride for all that decides to get involved and show local school officials What is involved and the scientific aspects of making such a contact http://www northjersey com/news/031411_Fair_Lawn_students_talk_to_orbiting_a stronaut html

[ANS thanks Dee, NB2F, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 02 China EME and Satellite Expedition

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 02

BJ8TA Amateur Radio EME & Satellites Expedition

AMSAT-China Chief Executive Officer Alan Kung, BA1DU reports that AMSAT-China is organizing an expedition to southwest China for EME experiments and amateur satellite communications The expedition team will use special technology experiments amateur radio call sign BJ8TA

BJ8TA team will be active on the available satellites, including AO-51, VO-52, AO-7, AO-27, FO-29, SO-50, SO-67 etc, during the expedition period

Initially the team will operate from Shangri-La County(NL97ut), Yunnan Province of China during March 20-23 This will mark the first time amateur radio EME communications in grid NL, the communications scheme on the 6m, 2m and 70cm bands, using Yagi antennas with PA of one kilowatt

And then, the team will move to Yunnan Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Chengjiang county, it is located in grid OL14kq The EME communications will use the 11 meter diameter radio telescope antenna with gain of 29dbi on the 70cm band These operations will be from March 28 to April 1

BJ8TA Amateur Radio EME & Satellites Expedition is supported by the Bureau of Radio Regulation of China and Yunnan Astronomical Observa- tory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

BJ8TA team members:

VIP operators: Xie Feibo, BA1XIE, Director General of the Bureau of Radio Regulation of China Yin Hu, BD1AZ, Land Service Department of the Bureau of Radio Regulation of China Chen Ping, BA1HAM, Deputy Secretary General of the Amateur Radio Committee of Chinese Radio Association Li Jian, Land Service Department of the Bureau of Radio Regulation of China

Team leader: Fan, BA1EO Operators: Alan, BA1DU; Wang, BA4RN; Wang, BH4REQ; Zhao, BH4RLO; Jin, BA4TA; Michael, BD5RV;and Chen, BA7CK Logistics: Zhu, BG5FCB; Zhang; BG8SF QSL manager: Alan, BA1DU (P O Box 8091, Beijing 100088, CHINA)

[ANS thanks Alan Kung, BA1DU for the above information]

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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 03 2M1EUB/P Satellite Operation Begins from Scotland

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 03

2M1EUB/P Satellite Operation Begins from Scotland

Paul, 2E1EUB says he will begin portable satellite operation from Scotland as 2M1EUB/P beginning on March 20 and continuing for one week

Paul has spent the winter preparing his van for operating which he plans to drive up into the mountains weather permitting

Paul's information for both callsigns can be found at http://www qrz com

[ANS thanks Paul, 2E1EUB for the above information]

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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 04 AMSAT India March Newsletter Available for Download

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 04

AMSAT India March Newsletter Available for Download

AMSAT INDIA Secretary Nitin, VU3TYG announced this week that AMSAT INDIA's March 2011 Newsletter is available for download at: http://amsatindia org/Newsletter/AMSATINDIA-News-March_2011 pdf

Content of the March Newsletter include: 1 Update on the Technical talk held on February 20th 2011 2 Update on the Cubesat Transponder project by AMSAT INDIA 3 Report by Anantha - VU3GPF on the scheduled contact with ISS with his school in India 4 VU4PB - DXpedition by Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) to Andaman and Nicobar 5 News from AMSAT Organizations worldwide

Archives of previous newsletters are also available on-line at: http://www amsatindia org/Newsletter

[ANS thanks Nitin, VU3TYG for the above information]

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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 05 ARISS Status - 14 March 2011

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 05

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report March 14, 2011

1. School Contacts

The Fair Lawn High School, Fair Lawn, New Jersey contact was a great success And the contact on Monday was rebroadcast on Echo Link March 14 at 15:48 UTC The contact was integrated into the curriculum covering space and earth science as well as human anatomy and physiology
http://www northjersey com/news/031411_Fair_Lawn_students_talk_to_orbiting_a stronaut html Is the link to local newspaper coverage There were over 200 people in attendance to hear Paulo Nespoli graciously Answered the questions of the various age students from 2nd, 5th & High School levels The Fair Lawn ARC was involved along with local AMSAT Volunteers to assure the contact went smoothly and without any last minute Murphy adventures

Students from five schools in Plock and Liszyno, Poland jointly participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, March 17 at 09:21 UTC Through this activity and related studies, students will learn about space and space exploration, communication and technology The Scout Amateur Radio Club SP5ZBA will handle the radio connection for the contact

An ARISS contact has been accomplished for Luitpold-Gymnasium Muenchen, Munich, Bavaria, Germany on Thursday, March 17 at 14:05 UTC Preperations for their contact, seventeen year olds took the course “Spaceflight” were joined by children from lower grades to learn about aeronautics and scientific work The ESA ISS Education Kit was used in their studies and the German amateur radio organization (DARC) gave the youth a comprehensive introduction to amateur radio on the ISS

ISIP Cossar / Da Vinci, Gorizia, Italy was realized for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, March 19 at 08:38 UTC The radio contact, the telecommunication equipment Installed and used in the school as well as the collaboration with a local group of amateur radio operators will offer telecommunications students the chance to test instruments able to connect to listening posts 300 km away

1. Recent ARISS Contacts

On Tuesday, March 8, youth from ICS “Marco D’oggiono”, Oggiono, Italy spoke with Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA via an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact The astronaut fielded 13 questions before the ISS went over the horizon Students wanted to know for example, what one needs to do to become an astronaut and what type of research is performed on the ISS The contact was the featured event of lessons emphasizing astronautics, astronomy, radio techniques and English Nearly 400 students and teachers and about 100 visitors were present for the contact Regional television, local media and newspapers covered the event

An ARISS contact took place between youth attending Schulhaus Dorf in Richterswil, Switzerland and on-orbit astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH on Tuesday, March 8 Coleman answered the 22 questions prepared for her with time left to exchange greetings The contact was the culmination of science

lessons on space and gave the students the opportunity to practice their English

Students from “Francesco d’Assisi” Middle School and “Don Lorenzo Milani” Primary School in Modugno, Bari, Italy, experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, March 12 The event

was held at “Cittadella Mediterranea della Scienza” in Bari where an audience of approximately 150 students, teachers, visitors and media were assembled

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA on the ISS spoke with the youth over 2 consecutive passes, answering 30 questions about what it is like to live in space He answered a final question concerning the earthquake in Japan and expressed his concern for the Japanese Regional television, local media and newspapers covered the event

On Saturday, March 12, Shri Krishna Vithyaalayam Matric School in Pollachi, India participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with ISS astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH via telebridge station I K1SLD in Italy Twelve questions were asked and answered The contact was integrated into science lessons about astronomy, satellites and the ISS and included radio classes taught by the Anamalai Amateur Radio Club located at the school

1. Astronaut Training Status

Astronauts Luca Parmitano (Expedition 36) and Chris Cassidy (Expedition 35) both passed their amateur radio license exams on March 8 Their call signs should be issued within a week

On March 9, Michael Hopkins completed his ARISS introductory course and is currently preparing for his amateur radio license exam Hopkins is slated to

fly with Expedition 37 in September 2013

An ARISS refresher course was provided to Chris Hadfield, KC5RNJ/VA3OOG on March 11 Hadfield is currently scheduled for Expedition 34, November 2012

1. ARRL QST Covers ARISS Activities

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) printed a few ARISS items in its April issue of QST, which has a circulation of 156,000 Under its "Media Hits" column was a piece about ARISS and the newspaper articles and TV news stories about Adobe Bluffs Elementary School's ARISS contact and about Foster Heights Elementary/Nelson County Area Technical Center in Kentucky The "Inside HQ" column, a column giving ARRL 2010 highlights, had a paragraph on education programs including the 48

ARISS QSOs of 2010 (not NASA's fiscal year 2010), and ARISS's 10th anniversary

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

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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 06 FASTRAC Satellites Separated

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 06

FASTRAC Satellites Separated

FASTRAC Student Program Manager Sebastian Munoz, KE5FKV, wrote, "First of all I wanted to thank the HAM community all over the world for supporting our project, your support has been incredible that we really value "

On March 15, after a few months of initial operations, FASTRAC started one of the most exciting phases of the project by separating both satellites so they can compute on-orbit real-time relative navi- gation solutions while both of them are freely drifting from one another

The two Amateur Radio FASTRAC AX 25 satellites are: FASTRAC-1 Sara Lily 437 345 MHz FM FASTRAC-2 Emma 145 825 MHz FM

A FASTRAC Beacon decoder program is available on-line at: http://www dk3wn info/software shtml

[ANS thanks FASTRAC Student Program Manager Sebastian Munoz, KE5FKV for the above information]

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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 07 AO-51 in Eclipse

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 07

AO-51 Enters Eclipse Periods Again

AO-51 Command Station, Mark Hammond, N8MH said this week, "Eclipses are back for AO-51, and the length is increasing every day Eclipses are now lasting about 1-2 mins per pass, and it goes up pretty fast, gaining a minute every day or two They will become rather long in the coming weeks/months (as long as 20 mins or more as I recall) "

DK3WN's Illum program illustrates what is ahead for AO-51 operations This free download is available at: http://www dk3wn info/software shtml

AO-51 is still running under power management in single transmitter Mode on the 435 300 MHz downlink running approximately 1 3 watts The satellite will be OFF during eclipses (and probably right before, and soon after) You'll probably still hear the transmitter cycling OFF and ON around eclipse times But most voice users will appreciate the stronger signals

AO-51 be in this mode until further notice

Keep up with the latest AO-51 Control Team News on-line at: http://www amsat org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews php

[ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH for the above information]

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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 08 UK Space Agency UKube-1 Cubesat Takes Shape

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 08 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 08

UK Space Agency UKube-1 Cubesat Takes Shape

This week the UK Space Agency revealed the instruments and experi- ments that will be launched into orbit onboard the UKube-1 CubeSat in early 2012

UKube-1 - a nanosatellite that will allow the UK to test new tech- nologies and carry out new space research quickly and efficiently is an exciting and novel collaboration between the UK Space Agency, industry and academia, and is envisaged as the pilot for a full national CubeSat programme

As well as providing a fantastic opportunity for innovative UK com- panies and UK academics to collaborate on a national space project, UKube-1 is also useful for training the next generation of space engineers

A radio subsystem provided by AMSAT-UK, derived from the FUNcube program will provide a downlink for science education, and a mater- ials science experiment from which school students can receive data The system, funded by volunteer members and friends of AMSAT-UK, will be integrated with UKube-1 as part of the program

The winning payloads from the UK Space Agency's payload competition include:

• The first GPS device aimed at measuring plasmaspheric space weather

• A camera that will take images of the Earth and test the effect of radiation on space hardware, using a new generation of imaging sensor

• An experiment to demonstrate the feasibility of using cosmic radia- tion to improve the security of communications satellites and to flight test lower cost electronic systems

• A payload made up of 5 experiments that UK students and the public can interact with

A complete list of the experiments is listed on the UKube-1 web page at: http://tinyurl com/5v8g2a4 (bis gov uk/ukspaceagency)

The FUNcube sub-system which will be included on UKube-1, will have exactly the same functionality as the "original" FUNcube cubesat - including a U/V linear transponder Full details of the whole FUNcube project can be found here http://funcube org uk/

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and the UK Space Agency for the above information]

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SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-079 09 ISS Reboost on March 18 Changes AOS at Your QTH

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 079 09 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD March 20, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-079 09

ISS Reboost on March 18 Changes AOS at Your QTH

Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency has announced the ISS was reboosted 3 7 km on Friday, March 18 The readjustment is necessary to ensure the best conditions to dock Russia's Soyuz TMA-21 piloted spacecraft and the U S Endeavor space shuttle Russia's Soyuz TMA-21 is expected to travel to the ISS sometime in early April, while the U S Endeavor will blast off from Cape Canaveral on April 19

According to the Roscosmos press release the maneuver was conducted using the two main engines on board the European Space Agency's Auto- mated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-2), named after Johannes Kepler

Since the orbital period changes roughly 1 2 seconds for each 1 km of altitude, observers on the ground should see almost 5 seconds of change The usual caveats about tracking program ISS discrepancies should be kept in mind until the Keplerian Elements catch up

The Roscosmos press release can be found on-line at: http://www federalspace ru/main php?id=2&nid=11541&lang=en

[ANS thanks Roscosmos and information provided by Alan, WA4SCA via the sarex@amsat org list for the above information]

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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, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org

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