February, 2007

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RAFT-1 and ANDE CubeSats get OSCAR numbers
AMSAT OSCAR coordinator Bill Tynan, W3XO, has announced that the RAFT-1 and ANDE Amateur Radio CubeSats have been issued OSCAR numbers. Both spacecraft were placed into Earth orbit from the space shuttle Discovery on December 21. Both are projects of US Naval Academy midshipmen. RAFT-1 has been designated as NAV-OSCAR-60 or NO-60. ANDE has been designated as NAV-OSCAR-61, or NO-61. "AMSAT-NA and I wish to congratulate you and your entire US Naval Academy Satellite Lab team for the successful construction, testing and orbiting of this very interesting spacecraft," Tynan said, responding to the request to assign OSCAR numbers. The RAFT-1 and ANDE ham radio payloads digipeat 1200 bps packet on 145.825 MHz. Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, of the US Naval Academy Satellite Lab says that when RAFT-1 and ANDE are within view of each other, dual-hop packet relays are possible via the two satellites. When it's enabled, RAFT-1 has a PSK31 uplink from 28.117 to 28.120 MHz with the downlink also on 145.825 MHz. For more information, visit the ANDE, RAFT, NMARS & FCAL Operations Web page. -- AMSAT News Service

The K7RA Solar Update (Jan 12, 2007)
Average daily sunspot numbers more than doubled this reporting period as compared with the previous seven days, rising 24 points to 43.4. This is a nice number for what should be the bottom of the sunspot cycle.

Cycle 23 could bottom out this summer
Radio wave propagation could be looking up after this summer, according to past and predicted sunspot and solar (radio) flux statistics this week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Environment Center. Those numbers indicate that current Cycle 23 will bottom out in July. As for Cycle 24, which should peak in approximately five years, the predictions are all over the map, with some saying it could be one of the most intense cycles in history and others calling for a weak or average cycle. This week's data predict a smoothed sunspot number of 9.5 and a 10.7 cm solar (radio) flux of 72.0 for July. More information on radio wave propagation is available on the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page.

AMSAT-NA Signs Agreements to Build "Eagle" at Maryland Facility
AMSAT-NA will co-locate its Satellite Integration Lab with the Hawk Institute for Space Sciences (HISS) in Pocomoke City on Maryland's Eastern Shore and construct its Eagle satellite there. A division of the Maryland Hawk Corporation, HISS is a non-profit educational organization affiliated with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).

Southeastern VHF Society issues call for papers
The Southeastern VHF Society has issued a call for papers and presentations for its 11th annual conference April 27-28 in Atlanta, Georgia. Topics may focus on both the technical and operational aspects of "weak-signal" VHF, UHF and microwave work. Suggested areas include: Transmitters, receivers, transverters, RF power amplifiers and low-noise receiving preamps; antennas, satellites; test equipment and station accessories; station design/construction; contesting and DXpeditions; EME; Amateur TV; propagation, and digital technology and modes. The deadline to submit papers and presentations is March 2. All submissions should be in MS-Word or Adobe Acrobat format, with black-and-white photos and graphics and 8-1/2 by 11-inch pages with a 1-inch bottom margin and 3/4 inch margins elsewhere. Those submitting papers and presentations should indicate if they plan to present their papers at the conference. Papers and presentations will be available from the ARRL in the conference Proceedings. Direct questions, comments and submissions to Technical Program Chair Jim Worsham, W4KXY. -- AMSAT News Service

New Argentine Amateur Radio satellite now in orbit
AMSAT-LU (Argentina) has announced that Pehuensat-1, the second Argentinian Amateur Radio satellite, now is in a 635 to 640 km sun- synchronous polar orbit (97.92 degree inclination). It was launched on January 10 from India. Once activated Pehuensat-1 will transmit voice messages in three languages -- English, Hindi and Spanish -- on 145.825 MHz followed by AX.25 1200 bps packet.

February, 2007

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