[amsat-bb] ANS-152 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

Sat May 31 18:19:02 PDT 2008

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-152

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 at amsat.org

In this edition:

* AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nomination Announcement
* SatPC32 Version 12.8 Released
* FCAL Mission Patch Winners
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* Two Opportunities to Fly Your Name and Callsign in Space
* ARISS Status Report for the Week of May 26, 2008

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.01
AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nomination Announcement

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 1, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-152.01

Nominations are open for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors (BOD). 
The nominations must be in writing and received at the AMSAT 
office by end of business June 15, 2008.

AMSAT-NA member societies or five current individual members may 
make nominations of fellow members to serve a 2-year term. Three 
of the seven seats must be filled this year. 

The board members whose terms are expiring are:

Tom Clark, K3IO
Lou McFadin, W5DID
Bob McGwier, N4HY

Prospective AMSAT-NA BOD members generally attend two meetings 
each year, usually during the first and third quarters of the 
year. Attendance at the meetings is mandatory. Travel expenses 
for BOD meetings are paid for by AMSAT-NA.

Nominations must be in writing and mailed to:

AMSAT-NA
Board of Director Nomination
850 Sligo Ave #600
Silver Spring, MD 20910

The nominations with descriptive information about each candidate 
will be mailed out July 15, 2008.  Ballots must be received in 
Silver Spring,MD by September 15, 2008.  Only active members as 
of July 24, 2008 are eligible to vote.

[ANS thanks AMSAT HQ for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.02
SatPC32 Version 12.8 Released

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 1, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-152.02

Erich Eichmann DK1TB has released SatPC32, version 12.8, a satellite
tracking program which now contains improvements for Windows Vista 
compatibility, CAT control of multiple radios, and CAT control of 
Icom half-duplex radios.

Erich Eichmann DK1TB has donated SatPC32 to AMSAT, so all proceeds 
support amateur satellite programs.  Please support amateur satel-
lites by registering your copy of SatPC32.

A demo version may be downloaded from the author's web site:
http://www.dk1tb.de/indexeng.htm.  Some users of the new SatPC32 
v12.8 have experienced a few minor problems with this release and 
Erich is investigating these reports.

Registered SatPC32 users may use their existing registration code 
to activate the downloaded new version.  New users are encouraged to 
purchase a registration code from AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL, or AMSAT-UK.  
The online store is down at the moment but you may purchase a regis-
tration code by calling Martha at the AMSAT office at 888-322-6728. 
Version 12.8 will not be available on CD until the existing stock 
of 12.7 CDs is depleted.

Here are the changes listed in the 12.8 "What's New" file:

+ The setup program has been updated to the the latest 32-bit Vista 
  compatible version of Installshield Express.

+ The CAT steering functions of SatPC32 have been expanded to now
  include the ICOM IC-706MKIIG, IC-7000 and compatible radios.

+ Full duplex satellite operation with 2 separate radios for uplink 
  and downlink has been improved. Numerous devices can be combined, 
  e.g. the Yaesu semi-duplex transceivers with each other or with 
  Icom semi-duplex radios or single band radios or Icom radios with
  each other.

+ The Vista compatibility has been improved. 

+ SatPC32 now includes a simple text editor that can alternatively
  be used besides Notepad to edit auxiliary files (data files,
  i.e. Doppler.SQF).

+ Further improvements include operation of narrow FM mode of 
  the IC-910H. The program now shows the file date of the 
  selected Keplerian data file.  CAT steering of the FT-736R 
  has been fixed.

[ANS thanks Erich Eichmann, DK1TB for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.03
FCAL Mission Patch Winners

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 1, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-152.03

Ivan Galysh, KD4HBO wrote on behalf of the FCAL satellite mission,
"Now that FCAL is down, I went through all the emails sent with FCAL 
data. I received data from Mike Ruppercht DK3WN, Armando Mercado 
N8IGJ, Bent Bagger representting AMSAT-OZ, and Edward Chuang BX1AD."

Ivan continued, "All will receive an FCAL mission patch plus a mission 
coffee mug. One surprise about the mission patch. These are STP 
mission patches that have flown on the space shuttle when FCAL and 
ANDE were released. I will include the letter of authentication that 
indicates these patches flew in space. Thanks for all your help. Hope 
to do it again soon."

[ANS thanks Ivan, KD4HBO for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.04
Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 1, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-152.04

+ Congratulations are in order for 10 year old Piyumi, VE4WPL
  in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for making her first satellite 
  contact on AO-51. She used an Icom IC-W32A handheld at 5 watts 
  with an Arrow antenna to make the contact.

+ Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK represented AMSAT at the Yavapai Amateur 
  Radio Club (YARC) and Verde Valley Amateur Radio Club (VVARA)
  joint hamfest on Saturday, 31 May 2008.  He set up an AMSAT 
  table at the hamfest and provided on-air demonstrations using 
  the AO-51 satellite.

+ Allen, N5AFV was also active in promoting amateur radio satellite
  activity on the weekend of May 31 - June 1.  On May 31 Allen op-
  erated via satellite from the second highest point in Texas at
  the top of Enchanted Rock.  June 1 gave Allen the opportunity
  to operate using the Ten Ten International club call sign, W6OI
  from 20th Annual Ten Ten Hill Country Picnic.  QSL information 
  for both operations is to N5AFV with an SASE.

+ Richard, N2SPI managed the AMSAT Booth at the 2008 Rochester (NY) 
  Hamfest this weekend.  He was also on the air with live satellite
  demos.  If you have an opportunity to promote AMSAT at a hamfest
  near you contact Martha at AMSAT HQ for materials.

+ Martian weather data from the Canadian Space Agency's weather 
  station aboard the Mars Phoenix lander can be viewed on your
  computer using tool available from http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/.
  Mac OSX 10.4.3 (or higher), or Vista is required. 
  (Via UniverseToday.com).

+ Word has been received from VU2POP that AMSAT-India has completed
  construction of the Hamsat-2 transponder built by one of their student 
  members.  They are now working on flight plans for an orbit similar to
  to VO-52 and hopefully higher if possible. 

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.05
Two Opportunities to Fly Your Name and Callsign in Space

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 1, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-152.05

Although not totally amateur satellite related many AMSAT folks
still enjoy all aspects of space exploration so here are a couple 
of fun things for you to enjoy, and perhaps involve young folks
also.

Send your name to the moon ...
NASA invites everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to send 
your name to the Moon on board the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The 
LRO mission site has a form to send your name, embedded into a compu-
ter chip, into orbit around the moon.  The link to sign up is:
http://lro.jhuapl.edu/NameToMoon/index.php.  More information about
the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission can be found at:
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/moonfacts.html.  

Send your name into solar orbit ...
Kepler is NASA's first mission capable of detecting Earth-size and 
smaller planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. Planned 
to be launched from Kennedy Space Center in February 2009, the space-
craft will be launched into orbit around the Sun. When you submit your 
name, you may also chose to provide a message of 500 words or less of 
why you think the mission is important. Your will be stored on a DVD 
and rocketed into space on board the Kepler spacecraft.  The link to
sign up is at: http://namesinspace.seti.org/

The deadline to submit your name for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
mission is June 27, 2008; the deadline to submit your name for the
Keppler Mission is November 1, 2008.

[ANS thanks NASA, SETI, and UniverseToday for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.06
ARISS Status Report for the Week of May 26, 2008

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
June 1, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-152.06

1. Delta Researchers School Contact Successful

On Friday, May 23, Delta Researchers Schools 2008 Space Expo in 
Noordwijk, the Netherlands, experienced an ARISS contact via tele-
bridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Garrett Reisman, KE5HAE, answered 
15 questions posed to him by children from twelve Dutch primary 
schools.  The audio for this event was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT 
(101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) servers. Photos and audio will be 
posted on the ARISS-Europe Web site when available.

2. ARISS Delegate Receives CQ's Radio Hall of Fame Award

ARISS delegate and mentor Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, was inducted 
into CQ magazine's Amateur Radio Hall of Fame for making a sig-
nificant contribution to amateur radio and our planet. This award 
is given to persons who not only excel in personal performance in 
amateur radio, but also give back to amateur radio in a significant 
manner. On May 16, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran a 
web story covering this news. See:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/05/16/10100/?nc=1

3. ARRL QST Articles on ARISS Activities

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) June QST published an item 
under "Media Hits" (page 12) about Yi So-yeon launching to space 
to perform ARISS ham activities.

Also posted in the June QST is a Field Day multi-page insert.  Under 
ideas for fun things to do on Field Day is a suggestion for hams to 
listen for general contacts being made from the International Space 
Station.

4. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

The ARISS monthly meeting was held on Tuesday, May 20. Topics of 
discussion included the ARISS Face to Face Meeting to be held in 
Moscow in July and the status of SuitSat-2.  Minutes have been 
posted.  See:  http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2008-05-20.htm

[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