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Eagle 70cm Receiver Testing Resumes
After a short break while the 70cm receiver traveled to Dayton, Juan, WA6HTP, has resumed testing of the
firstprototype of Eagle's 70cm receiver. Detailed information regarding the receiver design and testing can
be found in Eaglepedia on the AMSAT web site.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/EaglePedia/index.php/U-Band_Receiver
Shuttle Launches Another Ham to Space Station
The space shuttle Atlantis launched Friday, June 8 at 2338 UTC. The STS-117 mission carries US astronaut
Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, to the International Space Station to replace Suni Williams, KD5PLB. Anderson will
join Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, and Flight Engineer Dr Oleg Kotov. Suni will be
returning to Earth aboard the Atlantis after a six month stay on the ISS beginning last December. Atlantis
Commander Rick Sturckow and his six crewmates will spend 11 days in space and take part in three
spacewalks. During this mission the ISS's power capability will be increased in preparation for the arrival of
new sciencemodules from the European and Japanese space agencies.
[ANS thanks Lee, KU4OS, for the above information]
Satellite Shorts From All Over
Congratulations to Terry, G1WPR, for making his 2000th contact on AO7 Mode B on June 5, 2007. (K3SZH)
The Techsat Ground Control Station, 4X6EM / 4Z7DFC, advises users of the GO-32 satellite that its BBS
services went down on June 5, 2007 for software upgrade to version 9.87. The BBS content was lost. The
Techsat team apologizes for the inconvenience. They hope it will take less than 10 days to complete this
upgrade.
ARISS Presentation at Huntsville Hamfest
A NASA engineer and amateur radio operator plans to give a presentation on the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) program at the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville, Alabama, which is
held annually during the third full weekend in August. This year the event, to be held on August 18-19,
will also host the American Radio Relay League National Convention. For more information, see:
http://www.hamfest.org/
Vayama.com niches global travel
A new airfare booking site is targeting international U.S. travelers with promises of savings by tapping into inventory that its creators say hasn't been available online before.
Vayama.com, which launched last week, offers not only regular published fares but also its own negotiated fares and consolidator inventory. It's backed by the Netherlands-based travel company BCD Holdings.
"Domestic travel has been organized very well in the U.S. on sites like Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia. But not all international choices are online," co-CEO Wim Butte says.
The site accesses fares from 100-plus airlines flying from the USA to 191 countries and ferrets out unusual pairings — San Francisco to Sydney on Hawaiian Airlines and New York to London via Air India, for instance — that can mean savings.
Southwest eyes BWI for European flight options
Baltimore could be one of Southwest’s first international gateways
once that carrier begins selling international tickets through its
partner airlines. The Baltimore Sun (free registration) writes that Southwest “expects to offer connections to Europe through Baltimore-Washington International … by 2010, its chief executive said yesterday.” The Sun
adds that Southwest CEO Gary Kelly says the airline will expand its
current passenger-sharing alliance with ATA to offer international
flights to places such as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by 2009. “We
promise to do that,” Kelly is quoted as saying by the Sun.
The paper adds that “similar marketing arrangements, called codesharing, that would allow Southwest to sell tickets to Europe could come shortly after that, once the airline upgrades its computer systems to allow multiple partnerships, (Kelly) said.” As Southwest’s fourth-busiest city and its top East Coast base, Kelly says Baltimore could make a good launching point for international service, according to the Sun.
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