Software Defined Transponder to fly on Phase 3-Express satellite
The Board of Directors of AMSAT-DL (Germany) plans to fly a Software Defined Transponder (SDX)
on its Phase 3-Express (P3E) spacecraft. "This is outstanding news," said AMSAT-NA President Rick
Hambly, W2GPS. "The opportunity to fly SDX on P3-Express will provide an early opportunity to
demonstrate the potential of SDX in orbit and gives AMSAT-NA the benefit of in-orbit testing before
placement on the Eagle-class satellites." Putting the SDX on P3E also will provide a test platform to
evaluate the its weak-signal processing capabilities that could prove valuable for the Phase 5-A deep
space mission that AMSAT-DL is evaluating. Along with improved receiver performance, SDX offers the
ability to program configuration changes while in orbit and the integration of uplink and downlink bands
via digital connections.. "This announcement and the follow on work reinforce the close cooperation
between AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK as we develop the next generation of high-Earth-orbit
amateur radio satellites," Hambly commented. P3E will be placed into a highly elliptical Earth orbit and
may launch as early as his year.--AMSAT-NA/AMSAT-DL
AMSAT Space Symposium set for October
The 2006 AMSAT Space Symposium will take place October 5-11 in the San Francisco Bay area (Crowne
Plaza San Francisco Mid-Peninsula Hotel in Foster City). Registration will open and a first call for papers
and presentations will be issued approximately April 1. This year's Symposium will include meetings of the
AMSAT-NA Board of Directors, the AMSAT general membership, the Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS) international delegates, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Satellite
Advisors Committee and the AMSAT international delegates. Additional information is available on the
AMSAT Web site.
Nominations Invited for 2005 ARRL Technical Awards
The League is accepting nominations from ARRL members and affiliated clubs for its three technical
awards for the year 2005. The deadline is March 31 to submit nominations for the ARRL Technical
Service Award, the ARRL Technical Innovation Award and the ARRL Microwave Development Award.
ARRL Field Day 2006 Packages, Rules Now Available:
The 2006 ARRL Field Day package
http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/06-fd-packet.pdf
and rules
HTML version:
http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/rules-fd-2006.html
; PDF version
http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/06-fd-rules.pdf
are available on the ARRL Web site. "The only rule
change in 2006 involves the GOTA ('Get On The Air') station bonus-point structure," says ARRL
Contest Branch Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. "An individual operator may earn a 50-point bonus
for completing 50 QSOs at the GOTA station. They may earn an additional 50 bonus points when they
reach 100 QSOs." Henderson notes there's a 100-QSO cap for bonus points per individual GOTA
operator, but additional GOTA operators may earn the bonuses for the club, up to a maximum of 500
GOTA bonus points. ARRL Field Day 2006 will be Saturday and Sunday, June 24-25.
ARRL Headquarters Looking for a Few Good People
The ARRL is looking for a few good people. Specifically, the League has openings at its headquarters in
Newington, Connecticut, for a Business Services Manager, a Membership Manager and an Assistant
Editor. All three positions are fulltime with benefits. Full Story (ARRL Web Page)
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