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Chinese Satellite XW-1 Receives OSCAR Designation
Less than one week after China’s first Amateur Radio satellite -- XW-1 -- was
successfully launched, AMSAT has designated it Hope-OSCAR 68, or
HO-68. “Amateur Radio Operators around the world have received beacon signals from XW-1,” said AMSAT-NA OSCAR
Number Coordinator Bill Tynan, W3XO. “XW-1 has been coordinated through IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency
Coordination Panel. As XW in Chinese means ‘hope,’ it had been requested that this word be used as the prefix
for the new OSCAR number. Therefore, with the above information and the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA
President, I hereby designate this latest Amateur Radio satellite as Hope OSCAR 68 or HO-68.” HO-68’s communications
payload includes a beacon and three crossband transponders operating in FM, SSB/CW and digital modes. Uplink and
downlink frequencies can be found on the CAMSAT Web site.
For the latest Keplarian elements for XW-1 and other satellites, check out the W1AW Keplerian Bulletins.
Hubble telescope looks into deepest space yet
A peek into the past, the Hubble space telescope's deepest view yet, released Tuesday by NASA scientists,
reveals galaxies born only 600 million years after the Big Bang. Using a newly-installed camera, Hubble
scientists repeated a view of the 2004 "Ultra-Deep" look into space made by the storied space telescope.
The look reveals a wide variety of galaxies already in existence about 13 billion years ago. In 2014, NASA
hopes to launch the James Webb space telescope, which is able to look at even-more-distant galaxies.
The goal: to view the first stars in the universe.
ARRL Licensing Study Guides Coming to an eBook Reader Near You
ARRL is pleased to announce that owners of Kindle -- an
electronic book reader sold by Amazon.com -- can now download
ARRL's Tech Q&A
directly from the online bookseller for use on their Kindle. Kindle is shaped much like a book with a paper-like screen that displays text and pictures.
Those who have the Kindle application installed on their Apple iPhone or iPod touch can also download the book to be used on these devices. When you download the Tech Q&A, you can gain access quickly and easily, smoothing the path to your first ham radio license within minutes. This ideal study tool -- whether you’re at home, in the office, traveling or just on the go -- lets you review the questions and answers from the entire Technician question pool so you can pass the 35-question exam. Kindle versions of the General Q&A and the Amateur Extra Q&A will be available sometime in January. All three can be purchased from Amazon.com for $9.99 each.
ARRL CEO, General Counsel Present ARRL's Stance on BPL to FCC Commissioners
ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, and General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, made the rounds of the
five FCC Commissioners' offices during November to acquaint them with the ARRL's position on the regulation of
interference from Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) systems. The meetings were
conducted in accordance with the rules governing ex parte communications in pending rulemaking proceedings, in this
case the Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM) in ET Docket No. 04-37.
ARRL's Logbook of The World Reaches New Milestones
Since its inception on September 15, 2003, more than 30,000 hams have signed on to Logbook of The World (LoTW), ARRL's online logging program -- an increase of more than 7000 hams since 2008. These 30,000 hams have made upwards of 250 million QSOs -- more than 58 million QSOs in 2009 alone. In 2009, there was an increase of more than 24 percent for both the number of registered users and the number of QSOs over 2008.
| January, 2010 | |
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