In-flight Education Downlinks

Wouldn’t it be great if students could talk with an astronaut or cosmonaut on the International Space Station and ask them a question about their studies? Well, they can! Your school or education organization can host an In-flight Education Downlink with space station crew members. READ MORE

AubieSat-1 succesfully launched. Go hams go

Students and amateur radio fans all over the world: help them get data from AubieSat-1 after the launch.

Telemetry Format

Transmissions are in boldface while notes are italicized. For all transmissions, arbitrary digits represent digits in base 10, capital R denotes a decimal point, and FFFF is in hexadecimal.

AubieSat-1 downlink frequency: 437.475 MHZ

Keplerian Elements

Epoch: 28 Oct 2011 11:26:20 UTC

Period: 5841.68 sec

Eccentricity: 0.0253027

Inclination: 101.648 deg

Argument of Perigee: 295.263 deg

RAAN: 233.359 deg

True Anomaly: 198.658 deg

The satellite will start transmitting on 28 Oct 2011 at 12:17:20 UTC

Basic Beacon 20wpm (for 20 sec total)

Every 1 min (Unless AS-1 is in outreach mode)

HI HI DE KI4NQO AUBIESAT 1 VB 3R68 SK (Beacon includes battery voltage)

Outreach Beacon 20 wpm (for 75 sec total)

Every 5 min (Only when AS-1 is placed in outreach mode)

HI HI DE KI4NQO AUBIESAT 1BT (Initialize transmission)

FFFF BT (Minutes since deployment)

01 VB 3R68 TB 39R2 BT (Battery voltage and temperature)

02 P1 3R68 P2 3R68 BT (Solar Panels 1 & 2 Max Power)

EOT DE KI4NQO 73 SK (End of Transmission)

WEBSITE

FCC Affirms BPL Rules, Makes Minor Refinements

Access Broadband over Power line (BPL) places broadband data on existing electrical wiring—outdoor distribution and to the home—using radio frequencies ranging between 3 MHz and 80 MHz. These are the same frequencies used for shortwave radio broadcasting, amateur radio communications, and the low VHF TV band (channels 2-6). READ MORE

ARCTOWSKI Antarctic Award

The "AAA" is issued under the auspices of Polish Academy of Sciences, Department of Antarctic Biology in Warsaw.
The President of Polish Amateur Radio Union is the Patron of this Award.
Rules
1. The award is available to OMs and SWLs ho can make evidence to have make 2 way contacts (or SWL reports) with stations HFØPOL, HFØAPAS
and others, operating from ARCTOWSKI POLISH ANTARCTIC STATION on King George Island in Antarctica,
or with operators active from different National Antarctic Stations.
Special event stations such as HF….POL and HF….APAS, will also count.
2. There is no limit of dates, so any contacts any year will be valid.
3. The applicants should collected 15 points according to the following criteria:
a. QSO with HFØPOL, HFØAPAS and other callsigns operating from
ARCTOWSKI Station, count - 10 points,
b. QSO with any other operators, working from other Nation's Bases
in Antarctica , count - 5 points.
c. QSO with Special Event Stations HF….POL, HF….APAS,
also count - 5 points,
d. One QSO with HFØPOL or HFØAPAS; HF….POL or HF….APAS is
obligatory.
e. Repeated/Duplicated QSO/SWL are not allowed.
4. The application (GCR list or QSL card photocopy/scan copy for HFØPOL, HFØAPAS and other Antarctic stations are mandatory)
are accepted in any form and should be sent to the following postal address:
Janusz Slowinski
Bankowa 1,
42-460 Mierzecice,
Poland,
or by email: bonaterra _at_ interia.pl
5. Award is free of charge, but the applicants have to send sufficient postage to cover the Mail costs, such as:
4 Euro or 5USD or 5 new valid IRCs. For SP 10 PLN.

My posts in your blog

If you want to add my posts to your blog here is a simple widget to help you. Simply get the widget et voilà.


Copy the embed code and paste it into your blog or web page.

Soyuz ready for launch in Kourou

Club meetings

Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club clubhouse, 6909 Tierra Verde St., Port Richey. Meetings are held the fourth Monday of the month. All HAM radio operators and those interested in HAM radio and emergency communications are welcome and encouraged to attend. Join the group during its club radio net at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday nights on the club's repeater WA4GDN, 146.670 MHz. For information, call Bill at (727) 869-0784.

Spring Hill Amateur Radio Club (SHARC) meets at 7 p.m. the third Thursday of every month at the Oak Hill Hospital Partner's Club, 11375 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville. Anyone interested in Ham Radio is welcome to attend. Testing for an FCC license is conducted at 6:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month at the same location. The club operates a 2-meter repeater on 146.805 MHz (no tone). Every Tuesday the club conducts two nets: a SKYWARN Weather Net at 7:15 p.m. and a Club net at 7:30 p.m. Anyone with a Ham Radio license is welcome to participate in both nets and attend monthly meetings. For club information, visit www.kf4ixu.org or call Dave KB3GYN at (352) 684-3925.

Living alone on a Lighthouse

“The Lighthouse Endeavor” is an Education and Preservation project that depends upon the residency of a single individual, attempting to be the first in the 164 year history of the most northeastern island lighthouse in the United States, to live alone for one year, for the sole purpose of creating a unique platform of on-site and distance-learning programming. This will address a wide range of subjects from math and science to ecology and preservation, be universally accessible to educators, organizations and the public, provide a multimedia chronicle of his daily life on this remote island, and raise awareness and funding for the ongoing preservation of this lighthouse, and other lighthouses around the world. READ MORE

Another satellite is falling on Earth (ROSAT)

The ROentgen SATellite (ROSAT) is expected to re-enter around between 22 and 23 October 2011.
Stay informed HERE 

Artist's impression of the ROSAT satellite as it orbits the Earth. ROSAT was used to conduct research into X-ray sources. Credit: EADS Astrium.

SOHO Comet Hunting

SOHO is the most successful comet discoverer in history, having found over one thousand eight-hundred comets in over thirteen years of operation! What's even more impressive is that the majority of these comets have been found by amateur astronomers and enthusiasts from all over the world, scouring the images for a likely comet candidate from the comfort of their own home. Read what you need to hunt the comets HERE

GB2COS hits the airwaves for JOTA

WEBSITE

First Issue of Space Quarterly Magazine Released

The first issue of Space Quarterly Magazine with both the U.S. and Canadian editions is now available for FREE as a digital PDF download. The next issue of Space Quarterly is already being worked on for a December release. READ MORE

Suggest new RSS feeds for 425 toolbar

The 425 toolbar, among its features, lists HAM RSS feeds (see below). Some of them are no more active. Do you have new feeds to suggest ? I'll be very happy to add them to the 425 toolbar. Add comments and links to this post. Don't forget the toolbar is completely FREE. 

2 weeks stranded on Solovetsky Islands (EU-066)

A sailor spent more than two weeks stranded on a deserted island without food, water and hope after his fishing boat was wrecked by storm. He was found by the rescuers on a tiny piece of land of a size of a football field surrounded by ice-cold sea. READ MORE

Suggest a new name for the Very Large Array!

The most famous radio telescope in the world is about to get a new name. The NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA) is nearing completion of an amazing transformation. Its original, 1970s-vintage electronics have been replaced with state-of-the-art equipment, increasing its technical capabilities by factors of as much as 8,000 and greatly increasing the array's scientific impact.

The result is a completely new scientific facility.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) seeks ideas for a new name for the VLA. Click the link below for an online entry form to submit a name suggestion. You may enter a free-form name, or a word or phrase to come as a prefix before "Very Large Array," or both.

Entries will be accepted until 23:59 EST on December 1, 2011, and the new name will be announced at NRAO's Town Hall at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, January 10, 2012.

Suggest a name for the VLA!

Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI

WFDU (FM) Celebrates 40 Years on the Air!

Forty years ago on August 31st, WFDU (FM) began broadcasting to the New York region and became a laboratory for students of Fairleigh Dickinson University to learn the art and craft of broadcasting.

To commemorate this exciting occasion, the station, located at 89.1 on the FM dial and available on the web at www.wfdu.fm, will host a free media symposium and a meet and greet concert event.

READ MORE

Take a video tour of their historic transmitter site and our station with Barry Sheffield

Beware of cannibals in OC-027

Teeth found among charred human remains on a remote island in French Polynesia are those of a missing Hamburg yachtsman who, German police suspect, was killed, dismembered and eaten by a cannibal tourist guide. READ MORE

ARISSat-1 CW Contest

The ARISSat-1 mission is to provide a variety of information through its many broadcast modes promoting STEM based education initiatives in the classroom. One of its modes is CW transmission. CW stands for “continuous wave” and is transmitted in Morse code. To entice student interest in receiving Morse code, a CW contest has been created and all listeners are invited to participate. READ MORE HERE

Sputnik 54 years later amateur radio celebration 21.060 MHz

On 4 Oct 2011 amateur radio operators fired up transmitters built with Sputnik valves, like those used aboard the Sputnik satellite that circled the earth 54 years ago. Low power transmitters were heard on 21.060 MHz sending CW and beacons were active to celebrate the 54th anniversary of Sputnik.

Donate to CE4A DXpedition

Here is the list of the donors. Don't forget to support the DXpedition !

Rudy, DJ3XG
Lutz, DK8UH
Mike, DL5MX
Patrick, F-59706
Alain, F6BFH
Victor, G0APV
Derek, G4SOZ
Daniele, I1-12387
Aldo, I1WAL
Joe, I2YDX
Icko, JA1BPA
Gou, JA1QXY
Mom, JA8MS
Kazu, JH1QVW
Toshi, JM1PXG
Bob, KD1CT
Ray, N6VR
Willy, OE3WWB
Michael, OE6IMD
Ulf, OH2BCK
Alain, ON4BAV
Ghis, ON4CD
Johan, PA3EXX
Tom, SM3DMP
Eugene, UA9YJO
Pavel, UA0YAY
Luke, VK3HJ
Dave, W5BXX
Charles, W5VFO
Bob, WB2YQH

CE4A WEBSITE

CW Freak Monthly Ranking (SEP, 2011)

No. Call Score WPM

1 DJ1YFK 268551 91

2 IN3LBQ 184338 77

3 JF3KQA 161699 73

4 DK9PY 140701 68

5 IN3FHE 132537 65

6 JE8KGH/7 123847 61

7 YT2T 120471 61

8 JF2IWL 118159 59

9 SV2HWR 116147 59

10 SV2KBS 115127 59

11 DK1WV 111448 58

12 YU1AU 103771 54

13 KQ1X 102543 54

14 IK4VFD 100559 55

15 JA2NGN 98749 54

16 DK9MH 98291 54

17 JA7FYF 96553 51

18 KC0VKN 92113 48

19 DL3HRT 89520 49

20 JP7AWQ 89448 50

21 SV8GKE 84637 47

22 HS8JYX 81669 43

23 AG6BD 81386 47

24 JF1AZQ 78916 43

25 IK5PWB 78382 44

26 JL2FKQ 78057 48

27 JN1BBO 77001 46

28 IZ1DFF 73168 41

29 IN3EBZ 71872 41

30 JQ1KRT 71651 39

31 JP6NWR 70909 40

32 IZ1GIP 69858 39

33 JA7QIL 69569 38

34 JF1LEO 69326 40

35 JF1OPO 69097 40

36 IW1ARB 67785 37

37 SV1OAA 67166 39

38 JK6JAB 66994 42

39 JM1IDR 65666 37

40 BN 64924 40

41 JF3VAX 62623 35

42 JP3AWA 60856 38

43 JG3IHE 60358 37

44 JO1KXP 60144 35

45 IN3EGF 59300 35

46 JA5IVG 58195 39

47 JG1TBV 57846 36

48 JF9EXF 57275 33

49 JF1UOX 55748 34

50 JO1UHK 54094 32

51 JM7TKK 52900 32

52 JG1BGT 50293 33

53 JQ3XZJ 49297 33

54 JO3UBN 46340 29

55 JR0KQK 46295 29

56 JI2GZC 43754 26

57 JM2LSJ 38579 25

58 JP1QYO 37234 26

59  JRKQK 35379 25

60 HS8FLU 32774 24

61 JE1SSW 32366 25

62 JH0LCP 30841 23

63 JG1XRJ 28542 22

64 2E0EAN 25347 22

CW FREAK

The Adventures of Zack and Max - Ham Radio To The Rescue!

Volume 7 of The Adventures of Zack and Max begin as they share with us what they learn about emergency preparedness and communication. Zack, Max and Mady, along with their family and friends, participate with their ham club in an emergency drill. At the drill they learn how to set up a station during an emergency, experience advances made in digital modes and help others in their community through amateur radio. Enjoy "Super Max" as he helps old and new friends get on air, and help others!

LINK

The Adventures of Zack and Max -Lets Go Island DXing!

Volume 6 of The Adventures of Zack and Max takes us on a journey with HF amateur radio. Zack, Max and Mady, along with their family and friends, take a weekend road trip and have their own mini DXpedition. This means that they went to a nearby yet remote location (Orcas Island, one of Washington States San Juan Islands), and while camping tried to make as many world wide contacts as possible. They discover that HF is a way to contact the whole world, and that one does not need to spend a lot of money or go to the ends of the earth to have fun with ham radio DXing.

LINK

News from CE4A

Preparations for the CE4A expedition are on track and progressing very well. For transportation we have retained the services of Manual Berrios, a very experienced sailor and fisherman, who will be available 24 hours per day during the expedition, including any delay due to unfavourable weather conditions. In view of the serious landing challenges, the landing team has been reinforced with Christian (CA3TAM), who is an experienced diver and fisherman, very enthusiastic about this adventure. The supporting team will include Marisa (CE2MT), Pepe (CE3BCO), and Julio (CE3OPE). At least one of them will be available on mainland at any time. Any information from the operating team will be posted on this website through our webmaster, Maury (IZ1CRR).

Our purpose is to service as many members of the IOTA community as possible. As such, please refrain from logging us on different bands and modes. Give others a chance. Also, please remember that the operator’s instructions are not optional! If we are switching bands/modes is to target different regions around the world and operators who are not comfortable wCW. Generators, chargers, batteries and waterproof drums have been rented/purchased and checked. If the weather cooperates, we should be on the air on November 20.

I will not return back to Canada before the end of November. Keeping in mind that December includes some winter holidays, it is unlikely that the QSL cards will be designed, printed, shipped to me, and mailed to those with direct requests all in time for the annual upgrade submission. I hope that the IOTA chasers will understand.

Thanks, Cezar, VE3LYC   

CE4A WEBSITE

YouTube Space Lab - What Will You Do?

http://www.youtube.com/spacelab

U.S. Ham Radio License Exams To Be Held In Costa Rica

The Volunteer Examination Coordinators of the American Radio Relay League will be holding an examination session for United States amateur radio licenses, to be given in Costa Rica.

READ MORE

ARRL Handbook 2012

The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications has kept technologists—amateur, professional and students—immersed in the radio art for generations. As innovations in wireless communication march (and race!) ahead, The ARRL Handbook has maintained its place at the forefront—a single resource covering electronic fundamentals, radio design, and loads of practical treatments and projects. You’ll read it, study it, and turn to it…again and again. READ MORE

VK100ARV: Centenary goes on air

For the month of November 2011 the special callsign VK100ARV is well sought after and qualifies toward the Amateur Radio Centenary Award.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Amateur Wireless Society of Victoria, formed in 1911, quickly changing its name to the Wireless Institute of Victoria, and today is known as Amateur Radio Victoria.

A special QSL card is on offer for contact with VK100ARV. On the front it features defining words capturing the spirit of the founding of the organisation and a gallery of Presidents and the information panel on the back.

The Amateur Radio Centenary Award certificate has a montage of the organisation over the decades. Both the QSL card and certificate are worth obtaining for display and will show the Centenary logo.

Valid contacts with VK100ARV earn ten bonus points towards the Award. Contact with VK3WI during the Remembrance Day Contest, International Lighthouse and Lightship Week, and the Oceania DX Phone Contest October 1 & 2, and the Oceania DX CW Contest October 8-9 also gained bonus points.

For Australian stations a total of 100 points are required and DX stations 25 points. Valid contacts with members during the celebratory period August 1 to November 30, 2011, earns two points towards the award.

Also in the celebration are stations set up in Victorian National Parks operating under the Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award (KRMNPA) rules, on November Friday 18 through to Sunday 20.

The Award Manager Tony Hambling VK3VTH vk3vth@amateurradio.com.au thanks all who have so registered for VK100ARV or the extended weekend focused on the KRMNPA.

A roster for VK100ARV will appear on the website www.amateurradio.com.au and a list of National Parks and times also.

For the rules of the Amateur Radio Centenary Award and the Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award can be read on the website under Awards.

The Centenary has already featured the successful world's first DATV QSO Party from the digital amateur television repeater VK3RTV. Peter Cossins VK3BFG gave a presentation of the highlights, which by all accounts went extremely well.

Antarctic Concordia Base is calling for ideas

Announcement of Opportunity

Duration of the experiments should be up to two years; longer projects must be resubmitted after this period. Multidisciplinary research is welcome.

Interested scientists are asked to send Letters of Intent before 4 November; a proposal workshop will be held at ESTEC in the Netherlands on 21 November.

The final proposals are due on 9 January 2012.

Depending on their complexity, some proposals may be implemented for the 2013 winter season, implying shipping of equipment and crew training in autumn 2012. The other selected projects will begin in the following seasons.

READ MORE

Photo credits: IPEV

HB9SPACE awards

The HB9SPACE-Awards in bronze, silver and gold are delivered to OM’s that have contacted HB9SPACE three, four respectively five times in different years during the World Space Week.

READ MORE

On This Day: Sputnik Satellite Launched Into Orbit

The launch of Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, inaugurated the Space Age in 1957.
Read more HERE © Asif Siddiqi, 2007

SOTA activities by HB9HAT

Take a look at these other wonderful photos

Space Gallery Competition

Would you like to see your own space artwork on the ESA Kids site? Here’s your chance! Every month ESA Kids is looking at a different theme in more detail, seen in the 'Focus On' section. Themes include everything from orbits and planets to astronauts and asteroids.
Artwork could be a drawing, a painting, model or mobile…use your imagination!

This month's Focus On: Know where you are
Entries to reach us before 31 October 2011

The best entries will be selected to go into the Space Gallery, and the overall winner will receive a special prize from the European Space Agency.
Email entries to: kids@esa.int
or send to: ESA Kids, c/o Ms. Asa Ericson, ESA-ESRIN, Via Galileo Galilei, C.P. 64 I-00044 Frascati, Italy.
Please note: art work cannot be returned. Maximum age limit for competition entries is 14.
SOURCE

1000 posts on my blog

Today I wrote my 1000th post on this blog.

What a great score ! 

Thanks to my followers.

GRAIL Naming Contest

Now that the GRAIL mission is underway, the two robotic spacecraft, currently dubbed "GRAIL-A" and "GRAIL-B," need real names -- ones that capture the spirit and excitement of lunar exploration.

Students, choose names for the two GRAIL spacecraft and explain your choice.

Your justification can be any length, from a short paragraph to a 500-word essay. 

The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission is designed to create a gravity map of the moon, using two spacecraft that orbit the moon at very precise distances. The mission will enable scientists to learn about the moon's internal structure and composition, and give scientists a better understanding of the moon's origin. Accurate knowledge of the moon's gravity could also be used to help choose future landing sites on the moon.

GRAIL's student-run MoonKAM cameras will provide close-up views of the lunar surface, taking tens of thousands of images and sending them back to Earth.

Contest Deadline is: Friday, Nov. 11, 2011

Questions should be sent to: grailcontest@jpl.nasa.gov

SOURCE

Sky's the limit for start-up's satellite antenna

The team, which have set up university spin-out company Flish, have developed an innovative antenna that can pick up satellite signals automatically – potentially consigning the satellite dish on the side of your house to the bin. According to Flish, the “high-gain antenna” has the ability to “point” to distant signals such as a satellite. Currently satellite dishes have to be aligned; many are bulky and have moving parts. READ MORE