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NASA is seeking U.S. formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, contact between the dates of Jan. 15 and July 15, 2012. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is July 15, 2011.

During the first six months of 2012, crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in amateur radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via amateur radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space. Due to the nature of human spaceflight, organizations must demonstrate the flexibility to accommodate changes in contact dates and times.

Interested parties should contact Teaching From Space to obtain information related to expectations, content, format, audience, proposal guidelines and forms by sending an e-mail to JSC-TFS-ARISS@mail.nasa.gov or by calling 281-244-2320.

Additional information can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/students/ariss.html.

US auction of radio spectrum for broadband wireless could affect amateur radio, emergency management volunteers

A federal bill aimed at improving public-safety communication 10 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks instead could hamper emergency-management response, local officials said.

A proposed auction of radio spectrum to fund a broadband wireless network for public-safety agencies would reduce the available frequencies for amateur radio users and emergency-management volunteers, said Dave Dahl, emergency management director for the city of Hudsonville.

"Radio communication is critical to all our operations," he said. "The frequencies that would be taken away by this bill are the frequencies we use. It would significantly reduce our coverage in Ottawa County."

The Broadband for First Responders Act would auction the frequencies used by emergency-response teams for search-and-rescue operations, storm spotting and management of events such as Tulip Time, the Coast Guard Festival and the Hudsonville Holiday Parade, Dahl said. It also would restrict frequencies available to radio hobbyists and render useless certain radio equipment often used in outdoor activities like camping or hiking, he said.

Ottawa County Sheriff's Office also uses ham radio volunteers in many ways, said Beth Thomas, the county's emergency management director.

"They assist the Red Cross with First Aid at large events. They help line up parades. They are communication in the event that any other type of communication would not be available," she said. "They also do our Skywarn spotter system."

A U.S. Senate version of the bill would pay for the proposed wireless network without affecting those frequencies. Lobbying by the American Radio Relay League may result in similar tweaks to the U.S. House bill that local radio ham Ron Fredricks called "ill-conceived."

"We're like second responders or third responders," said Fredricks, a former Grand Rapids Amateur Radio Association officer who has a "ham shack" in his Georgetown Township home. "They would take this band, use it for first responders, and then they would sell to commercial people space in the 420 (mega-hertz) to 440 (mega-hertz) part of the band that the hams use right now.

"There are thousands of hams operating on (those frequencies). They must have thought that nobody ever used it."

The American Radio Relay League opposes the House version of the bill, but has stated support for either of two Senate versions that would not impact amateur radio. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, will evaluate the bill when it comes out of committee, spokeswoman Lauren Phillips said

RESCUE RADIO:  NEW EMERGENCY SERVICES DX GROUP ON FACEBOOK

A new amateur radio group has been formed for hams who are
also members of one of the various emergency services.
Based in the United Kingdom, the group will initially be
coordinated via the Facebook social networking site with
membership open to retired or serving members of any of the
emergency services.  The group is free to join.  Simply
search for Emergency Services Amateur Radio DX Group on
Facebook and sign up, or contact GM0GMN directly at his
callbook address.  (Southgate)

Click to join SheffieldDXNet

Spain opens up 2.3, 5.7GHz and 10GHz bands
There is good news for amateurs in Spain for 2011. Traditionally the country has very restrictive allocations in the microwave bands. The Spanish Government has granted a broad one-year permit for operation in the 2.3, 5.7GHz and 10GHz bands, with only 2.3GHz needing specific prior notice of use. The permits are all aligned with the DX sections of the IARU Region 1 bandplan

Getting Ready for the Next Big Solar Storm

June 21, 2011: In Sept. 1859, on the eve of a below-average¹ solar cycle, the sun unleashed one of the most powerful storms in centuries. The underlying flare was so unusual, researchers still aren't sure how to categorize it. The blast peppered Earth with the most energetic protons in half-a-millennium, induced electrical currents that set telegraph offices on fire, and sparked Northern Lights over Cuba and Hawaii.

This week, officials have gathered at the National Press Club in Washington DC to ask themselves a simple question: What if it happens again? Modern power grids are vulnerable to solar storms. Photo credit: Martin Stojanovski

"A similar storm today might knock us for a loop," says Lika Guhathakurta, a solar physicist at NASA headquarters. "Modern society depends on high-tech systems such as smart power grids, GPS, and satellite communications--all of which are vulnerable to solar storms."

She and more than a hundred others are attending the fifth annual Space Weather Enterprise Forum—"SWEF" for short. The purpose of SWEF is to raise awareness of space weather and its effects on society especially among policy makers and emergency responders. Attendees come from the US Congress, FEMA, power companies, the United Nations, NASA, NOAA and more.

As 2011 unfolds, the sun is once again on the eve of a below-average solar cycle—at least that's what forecasters are saying. The "Carrington event" of 1859 (named after astronomer Richard Carrington, who witnessed the instigating flare) reminds us that strong storms can occur even when the underlying cycle is nominally weak.

In 1859 the worst-case scenario was a day or two without telegraph messages and a lot of puzzled sky watchers on tropical islands.

In 2011 the situation would be more serious. An avalanche of blackouts carried across continents by long-distance power lines could last for weeks to months as engineers struggle to repair damaged transformers. Planes and ships couldn't trust GPS units for navigation. Banking and financial networks might go offline, disrupting commerce in a way unique to the Information Age. According to a 2008 report from the National Academy of Sciences, a century-class solar storm could have the economic impact of 20 hurricane Katrinas.

As policy makers meet to learn about this menace, NASA researchers a few miles away are actually doing something about it:

"We can now track the progress of solar storms in 3 dimensions as the storms bear down on Earth," says Michael Hesse, chief of the GSFC Space Weather Lab and a speaker at the forum. "This sets the stage for actionable space weather alerts that could preserve power grids and other high-tech assets during extreme periods of solar activity."

 Nottingham RAYNET to restart
Edward Rippon, M0EPR is interested in starting up the Nottingham RAYNET group again. The group will be primarily for emergency communications. There will be training events taking place around Nottingham, providing communications for local authorities and for local events, horse trails, fun runs and the Santa train. The group will also promote amateur radio within the community. If you are interested, please contact Edward Rippon on 0797 449 1299 or email m0epr.sarcyahoo.com.

HAM RADIO NEW SPACE:  ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ANNOUNCE
PLANS FOR NEW HAMSAT

Students at Istanbul Technical University in Turkey are
working on a CubeSat ham radio satellite that will host a
linear transponder for SSB and CW amateur radio
communications.

Dubbed TURKSAT-3USAT the bird will carry a 50 kHz bandwidth
2 meter to 70 centimeter linear transponder, a beacon and
telemetry downlink.  Planners hope to launch this new bird
into a Sun Synchronous orbit of around 680 kilometers
sometime in early 2012.

This will be the Istanbul Technical University's first ever
communication satellite.  More on the project is in
cyberspace at tinyurl.com/6hyxh7h.  We will have more ham
radio space related news later on in this weeks Amateur
Radio Newsline report.  (Southgate)