[amsat-bb] ANS-318 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

[JoAnne Maenpaa]

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-318

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 Amateur Radio Satellite Awards
* Live Web Cast From MFJ on November 16
* Hams Like Science: Impact Earth Simulator For Your Shack
* Hams Like Free Stuff: Download E-Book Understanding LF and HF Propagation
* K8OCL, Silent Key
* ARISS Status Report November 8, 2010


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-318.01
AMSAT Amateur Radio Satellite Awards

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 318.01
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 14, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-318.01

AMSAT offer a range of Amateur Radio Satellite awards, starting with the 
single contact Satellite Communicator's Club.

On the AMSAT bulletin board Clint Bradford, K6LCS, writes:

AMSAT has offered several awards over the years. 
And you do not need 100 contacts to get awarded for your accomplishments: 
a single documented satellite contact qualifies you for the AMSAT Satellite
Communicator's Club award!

Current and past AMSAT awards include ...

-Satellite Communicator's Club
-Satellite Communications Achievement
-South African AMSAT Award
-OSCAR Sexagesimal Award
-OSCAR Century Award
-WA4AMI 1000 Award
-WA4AMI 5000 Award
-51 on 51 Achievement Award

Details on the AMSAT awards available at ...
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/awards/

In addition, the ARRL recognizes satellite efforts, too, with their 
WAC, DXCC, WAS, and VUCC awards.

- Worked All Continents Award (WAC) - Make one satellite contact with 
any station on each of the six continents.

- DXCC Award with Satellite Endorsement - Make one satellite contact 
with any station in 100 different DXCC countries.

- Worked All States Award - Make one satellite contact with any station 
in each of the 50 states.

VHF/UHF Century Club Award - Make one satellite contact with any station 
in 100 different grid squares. Endorsements for each additional 25 grid
squares.

ARRL Awards information -
http://www.arrl.org/awards/

Congratulations to these hams who have recently earned their VUCC Award 
with a Satellite Endorsement:

VUCC Satellite #203 Bob Herrell, AJ5C
VUCC Satellite #204 Zack Beougher, KD8KSN 
VUCC Satellite #205 Greg Butler, KI4OTG  

[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-318.02
Live Web Cast From MFJ on November 16

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 318.02
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 14, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-318.02

Tom, W5KUB will run a live web broadcast giving you a video guided tour of
MFJ, Cushcraft, Hygain, Ameritron, Mirage, and Vectronics on Tuesday,
November 16, starting at 0800 Central Standard Time, or 1400 UTC. Prizes
will be given to lucky viewers. All you have to do is be logged in to be
eligible for the drawings.

You can log into view the web video and join the on-line hamradio chat via
Tom's web page at: http://w5kub.com. You can also join the live chat by
pointing your IRC client to /server irc.liveharmony.org and then /join
#hamradio.

Tom, W5KUB is well known for his live internet web casts from Dayton and
from the Huntsville Hamfest every year.

[ANS thanks Tom, W5KUB for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-318.03
Hams Like Science: Impact Earth Simulator For Your Shack

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 318.03
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 14, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-318.03

UniverseToday.com reported on Impact Earth, an interesting web page for
scientifically oriented readers who may like to predict the effects of an
asteroid impact before it happens.

All you have to do is input the parameters of the asteroid on the recently
updated "Impact Earth" website:
http://www.purdue.edu/impactearth

You'll find out everything about what an impactor will do to Earth,
including an estimate of the size of the crater, how far away you'll need to
be in order to avoid being affected by the impact (and if that is possible),
tsunami wave height, and other details of the subsequent disaster. This
version does not predict if your amateur radio antenna will remain standing.

The original Impact Earth website was created in 2002 for use by NASA and
homeland security. The new version, built in a collaboration between
Purdue University and Imperial College London, is more user-friendly for the
general public, as well as providing more visual details of an impact.
Besides being rather fun to play around with, the website is highly
educational about what a various sized impacts would do Earth, depending on
if it hit ground or water.

[ANS thanks UniverseToday.com for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-318.04
Hams Like Free Stuff: Download E-Book Understanding LF and HF Propagation

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 318.04
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 14, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-318.04

Steve G0KYA and Alan G3NYK, of the Radio Society of Great Britain's
(RSGB) Propagation Studies Committee, have released a free ebook called
'Understanding LF and HF Propagation'

In 2008/2009 Steve and Alan wrote a series of features on LF and HF
propagation for the RSGB's "RadCom" magazine.

The features consisted of a month-by-month look at each HF band in turn,
showing the reader the propagation modes behind each band and explaining
some of the technicalities of ionospheric propagation.

Steve says: "I looked at the D, E and F layers, Sporadic E, the MUF/LUF,
using solar data, propagation programs, NVIS and much more.

"Alan then took over and wrote three detailed features on LF propagation. 
We are told that the features were well received and as a result I have
managed to persuade the RSGB to allow me to put them together into a single
document, which is now freely available for amateurs worldwide to download."

You can download your free copy of "Understanding LF and HF Propagation" 
at http://www.g0kya.blogspot.com

[ANS thanks the SouthGateARC News Site for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-318.05
K8OCL, Silent Key

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 318.05
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 14, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-318.05

Dee Interdonato, NB2F wrote this week, "It is with great sadness 
that I report Dr. John Champa, K8OCL, has become a silent key. I 
was friends with John since 1970 as we both served in the U.S. Army 
and were officers in the Ft. Gordon, Ga. Amateur radio club. His 
daughter, Rebecca, reported his passing after a formidable fight with 
an inoperable tumor."

John was on the BOD of AMSAT for several years and will be remembered
for his significant contribution to Amateur Radio in Space. Dee con-
cluded, "He will be missed by all and his important opinions (to me) 
will allow me to keep his  ideas alive and in the hearts of all AMSAT 
members."

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

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-318.06
ARISS Status Report November 8, 2010

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 318.06
  From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 14, 2010
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-318.06

1. Upcoming School Contact

St. Louis Charter School, St. Louis, Missouri contact on Thursday, 
November 11 at 18:07 UTC. was a success St. Louis is a public charter 
school with an enrollment of 930 students in grades K - 8. Additional 
students are enrolled in the school's Special Education Self Contained 
Classrooms. The school has integrated the ARISS contact into its science 
curriculum which covers the solar system, space exploration and space 
missions. Students have taken part in several hands on activities and 
research papers to prepare for the contact.  

2. Malaysian Contact Successful

On Tuesday, November 2, students from S.K. Bukit Damansara visited 
the National Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and participated 
in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) con-
tact. The youth posed questions to astronaut Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC 
about what it is like to live in space.  The contact was made in 
conjunction with the "Prime Minister's - National Space Challenge 
Trophy 2010" event. 

3. Crew Debrief Held with Caldwell-Dyson

Expedition 23/24 astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, KF5DBF participated 
in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) debrief 
session on Wednesday, November 3. The feedback she provided on the ISS 
Ham radio equipment and school contacts will aid the ARISS team in 
updating its program procedures.

4. Astronaut Training Status

On Friday, November 5, Aki Hoshide, KE5DNI was given an ARISS overview
training session and Suni Williams, KD5PLB was provided with a refresher
course on the ARISS program. Both astronauts are slated to fly on Exped-
ition 32.

5. Amateur Radio Newsline Covers ARISS

On November 5, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1734 ran three ARISS
related news items under Ham Radio in Space. "The ISS Celebrates its 
10th Anniversary" talks about the crew members who have flown on the 
Space Station, many of whom were ham radio operators.  "Second Ham Station 
for the ISS" covers the Ericsson radio which will be installed in the Col-
umbus module in early 2011 and "ARISSat-1 Passes Safety Test" is a status 
on the satellite which will soon ship to Russia for final integration and 
testing. All stories may be found at: 
ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt


[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information]

/EX

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F
nb2f at amsat dot org