On August 3, 2011, the Amateur Radio satellite, ARISSat-1 began its education-based mission after deployment from the International Space Station. Students, teachers and amateur radio operators are invited to learn more about the satellite as a tool for education and its other features at http://www.arissat1.org/

The ARISSat-1 mission is to provide a variety of information through its many broadcast modes promoting STEM based education initiatives in the classroom. One of its modes is CW transmission. CW stands for “continuous wave” and is transmitted in Morse code.

To entice student interest in receiving Morse code, a CW contest has been created and all listeners are invited to participate.

Throughout recent history, a number of amateur radio operators, also known as hams, have made significant strides in developing space communications via ham radio. These are hams such as Owen Garriot, W5LFL making the first amateur radio contact from space and Jim White, WD0E, a technical contributor to the amateur satellite program.

To celebrate their accomplishments, the call signs of over 200 of these hams have been digitally stored on board ARISSat-1 and are being transmitted in rotation using Morse code at 145.92 MHz. The call signs can be heard between the RS01S CW identification and the CW telemetry in the repeated code transmission sequence.

To be a participant in the CW contest, all you have to do is copy and submit any 6 of the 200+ call signs you hear during multiple satellite passes, then submit the following information to: cwreport@arissat1.org

+ Your name or group’s name
+ Your ham call sign if applicable
+ Time in UTC and date of reception of each call sign
+ Your City, State, Country
+ Your email address
+ Your list of 6 call signs you have received

A major goal for this contest is to promote student interest in learning Morse code which continues to play an important role in emergency communications and is a fun way of sending messages using ham radio. In that spirit, we ask that participants copy the code by hand and refrain from using artificial means, e.g., electronic decoders, to decode the call signs. Due to the possibility of interference or excessive ambient noise that might be present during the pass, recording the code for playback and deciphering after the pass is permissible.

A copy of this information on the contest can also be found by going to http://www.arissat1.org and choosing the subtitle marked CW CONTEST under the Education menu.

For more detailed information on how to receive and decipher the CW transmissions, visit http://www.arissat1.org/ and choose the menu labeled FAQ and subtitle Receiving ARISSat-1.

We invite everyone to participate and be an important part of the ARISSat-1 mission experience.

Questions concerning the contest should be directed to: kc0zhf@yahoo.com.

A Very Important Note:
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All ARISSat-1 listeners should refrain from publically disclosing any received call signs from their list. The call signs should only be posted to the CWreport email address mentioned above. Posting the contest call signs on the internet, amsat-bb, other bulletin boards or any areas for public viewing will result in the listener or group being disqualified from the contest along with the disclosed call signs.

More information on the transmission schedule and overall mission of ARISSat-1/KEDR can be found at:

ARISSat-1 Web site: http://www.arissat1.org/
AMSAT-NA Web site: http://www.amsat.org/
ARISS Web site: http://www.ariss.org/
ARISS Facebook Page: Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS)
ARISS Twitter site: @ARISS_status

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) is a non-profit, volunteer organization which designs, builds and operates experimental amateur radio satellites and promotes space education. We work in partnership with government, industry, educational institutions and fellow amateur radio societies. We encourage technical and scientific innovation, and promote the training and development of skilled satellite and ground system designers and operators.

Our vision is to deploy satellite systems with the goal of providing wide area and continuous coverage for amateur radio operators world-wide. AMSAT is also an active participant in human space missions and supports satellites developed in cooperation with the educational community and other amateur satellite groups.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a volunteer program which inspires students, worldwide, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math through amateur radio communications opportunities with the International Space Station on-orbit crew. Students learn about life on board the ISS and explore Earth from space through science and math activities.

ARISS provides opportunities for the school community (students, teachers, families and local residents) to become more aware of the substantial benefits of human space flight and the exploration and discovery that occur on space flight journeys along with learning about technology and amateur radio.

OSCAR News is published quarterly by AMSAT-UK and posted to members. To get your copy join AMSAT-UK online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/
Free sample issue at http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf