March 28, 2008 by kb3ljm.

• AMSAT Field Day rules have been uploaded to: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/awards/amsatfd.php They will appear in the next issue of the AMSAT Journal. Field Day will be June 28/29, 2008. Start preparing your Field Day stations and offer assistance to local clubs in assembling a station and instruct them in the best ways to operate the satellites.

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March 28, 2008 by kb3ljm.

This week marked the passing of Arthur C. Clarke, author of more than 100 published books in which he foresaw the future of technology, promoted the possibilities of human innovation and exploration and combined these with the ability to explain these to non-scientific readers.

The most famous example is from 1945, when he first proposed the idea of communications satellites that could be based in geostationary orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground.
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March 19, 2008 by kb3ljm.

Slow Scan TV from Space Station Mir, 10 years later. On December 12, 1998 the crew members of the Russian Space station Mir activated the Marex SSTV system. Over the next two years the system broadcasted over 20,000 SSTV images back to earth via Amateur Radio. For the 10 year anniversary of the successful imaging project, the Marex team is planning on upgrading their web page system to accommodate the many images that were transmitted during the project’s 2 year run. In 1998 we just did not have the resources in place to handle the hundreds of images coming in every day. As a result only a small select on of the images were ever posted for public enjoyment.

73 Miles WF1F MAREX-MG
[AMSAT]

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/

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March 17, 2008 by kb3ljm.

Bruce, KK5DO, AMSAT Store Manager is quite pleased to announce a new item just added to the AMSAT store. It is the long awaited 2007 AMSAT Symposium DVD. To order yours contact Martha at the AMSAT office, telephone 301 589-6062. This is a must for anyone that was not able to attend the 2007 AMSAT symposium in Pittsburgh or those that attended who would like the Symposium on DVD.

This DVD has all of the 2007 papers, PowerPoints and audio of the presentations. Additional features of this DVD are the Symposium papers from 2004 and 2005, ISS Columbus module video
and much more.

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March 17, 2008 by kb3ljm.

AMSAT will once again have a block of rooms available for members at the Dayton Hamvention. The AMSAT rate will be available from May 14 Through May 18. To reserve a room you can e-mail Martha at the AMSAT Office (martha@amsat.org) or call her at (301) 589-6062; fax at (301) 608-3410. She will need to know your name, your daytime phone number, dates room needed, credit card number and expiration date. Remember, “if you snooze, you lose”!

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January 29, 2008 by kb3ljm.

On January 24, 2008 AMSAT President Rick Hambly W2GPS testified before the Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in support of Senate Bill 80 that would prohibit “homeowners associations from restricting or prohibiting the design, placement, screening, height, or use of specified amateur radio equipment.” It is hoped that we will also get a hearing before a House committee in a few weeks. There was no opposition to this bill during the hearing, unlike previous years. For more information see: http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/sb0080.htm and http://n3ij.home.comcast.net/. [AMSAT]

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January 25, 2008 by kb3ljm.

Bob, KF4KSS, AMSAT Lab Manager provided an update on the work to bring the new Pocomoke City, MD facility shared with the Hawk Institute of Space Sciences on-line.

• January will close the cleanroom construction activities.
• February will begin the tower and all the RF for the satellite control station including U, V, L, S and HF bands. Details will be published as they are completed.
• After the tower installation, we will begin work on the engineering unit of the structure for the AMSAT Eagle amateur radio satellite. We plan on having parts of it complete in time for the Dayton Hamvention in May.
• An on-line gallery of Lab pictures can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/bob2leo

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/

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January 11, 2008 by kb3ljm.

• A Powerpoint Presentation (in PDF format), “Satellites for Beginners” can be downloaded from: http://www.amsatsa.org.za/Satellites%20for%20Beginners.pdf

• Jay, AA4FL made an AO7 Mode B contact with PY4AJ in grid GH70un. He is on the fringes of the footprint with a few other stations in the south of Brasil/Northern Argentina and will be looking for more contact opportunities. Jay invites e-mail at: drjay@gatordental.com to set up schedules.
• Jim G3WGM, Hon Sec AMSAT-UK announced the dates for the next AMSAT-UK Colloquium are 25/26/27 July 2008. Location and general arrangements will be similar to last year’s event. More details later. Please note the date in your diaries now.
• Gould, WA4SXM says the parts list and other documentation for the LVB Tracker are now available at http://www.LVBTracker.com. This website will carry the latest information available for this project.

[AMSAT]

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/

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January 4, 2008 by kb3ljm.

NASA has signed a $465.7 million contract modification with Lockheed Martin, New Orleans, for space shuttle external tanks. [AMSAT]

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/dec/HQ_C07065_Shuttle_ET.html

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January 4, 2008 by kb3ljm.

Astronomers funded by NASA are monitoring the trajectory of an asteroid estimated to be 164-feet wide that is expected to cross Mars’ orbital path early this year. [AMSAT]

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/dec/HQ_07284_Mars_Asteroid.html

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