AMSAT-DL Building Mars Probe
German Radio Amateurs are building a replacement for Oscar 40 called P-3E and another Oscar 40
successor, P-5A, to go to Mars! Much of the material on the satellites is in German. I've written a summary
in English, with links to the English material and to the German material via the Babelfish translator. Read
it at Technocrat.net. - Bruce Perens K6BP (eham.net)
AMSAT announces new "51 on 51 Award"
AMSAT has announced its new 51 on 51 Award, given to a station making contact with 51 different stations
on AMSAT's Echo satellite (AO-51) during 2005. "The award is designed to promote friendship, and
encourage contact with handheld and first-time satellite users," says AMSAT Contests and Awards Director
Bruce Paige, KK5DO. Contacts may be in any mode (Voice/Packet/PSK31) and on any band configuration
(V/U, V/S, L/S, L/U, H/U). To receive the award, submit log entries electronically or in hard copy form.
Entries must indicate date and time (UTC) of the contact, call sign and grid square of the contacted station
and mode used. Only QSOs made in 2005 are eligible. The deadline to submit 51 on 51 logs is
April 30, 2006. QSL cards are not required. The donation for this award is $5 for AMSAT-NA members and
$10 for nonmembers. Since production costs for this award have been underwritten by an anonymous
donor to honor Robin Haighton, VE3FRH--who served as AMSAT president during the construction and
launch of AO-51--all fee receipts will be applied to the AMSAT Eagle launch fund.
Amateur Satellites Lost in Space
Amateur satellites ‘Ralphie’ and ‘Sparkie’ were launched on 21 December
but unfortunately US Air Force officials have now acknowledged that an
"anomaly" occurred and the two nanosats were lost after not reaching
orbit. The satellites’ mission was to conduct a technical investigation to
demonstrate packet radio for inter-satellite links using a frequency of
437.5MHz.
VK0MT on the air from Macquarie Island --
The Daily DX reports that VK0MT is on the air from Macquarie Island. Dave Taylor, VK3KR, a senior
communications technical officer with Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) is
operating from Macquarie Island during his spare time, most likely during evening hours. VK0/M is
considered among the top 50 most-wanted DXCC entities. Taylor is equipped with an Icom IC-706
running 100 W. He's expected to be on the island until late March. The Daily DX reports VK0MT has
been heard on 80, 40, 20, 17 and 15 meters on SSB. Plans call for him to active on PSK31 and "slow
CW" on all bands from 2 to 160 meters. QSL direct only via JE1LET.
Echolink Node in Baghdad is now on the Air
Ian Abel, G3ZHI reports that the Echolink node in Baghdad is now on the air. YI1IRQ-L , node
number 209608, is operating on 144.225 MHz and covers most of the city of Baghdad. (GB2RS)
CAATN Joins ATN
According to Ron Cohen, N3ZKO, the Central Atlantic Television Network (CAATN) is now a
member of the Amateur Television Network (ATN), based in California. For more information,
Ron can be reached at: rcohen@voicenet.com
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