Amateur radio group praised in Brazil floods

Civil defence forces in Nova Friburgo praised the efforts of a local group of amateur radio enthusiasts who had helped them co-ordinate the rescue efforts in the first hours after the landslides, according to a report on the BBC News website.

"Without their help, we couldn't have done anything in those first two days," Lt Col Roberto Robadey said of the group, which took their radio equipment to key points across the town to provide a communication link between rescue groups.

The Brazilian Air Force said it was installing a communication centre in Itaipava, so people could make phone calls and access data in their attempts to track down missing relatives.

Read the full BBC News story at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12200299

Source: http://www.southgatearc.org

NASA seeks Amateur Radio operators' aid

The US Space Agency NASA has asked for the help of Amateur Radio operators to help in receiving the signal from NanoSail-D on 437.270MHz.

The NASA Press release says:

Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 11:30 a.m. EST, engineers at Marshall SpacemFlight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirmed that the NanoSail-D nanosatellite ejected from Fast Affordable Scientific and Technology Satellite, FASTSAT. The ejection event occurred spontaneously and was identified this morning when engineers at the center analyzed onboard FASTSAT telemetry. The ejection of NanoSail-D also has been confirmed by ground-based satellite tracking assets.

Amateur radio operators are asked to listen for the signal to verify NanoSail-D is operating. This information should be sent to the NanoSail-D dashboard at:
http://nanosaild.engr.scu.edu/dashboard.htm .

The NanoSail-D beacon signal can be found at 437.270 MHz.

The NanoSail-D science team is hopeful the nanosatellite is healthy and can complete its solar sail mission.
After ejection, a timer within NanoSail-D begins a three-day countdown as the satellite orbits the Earth. Once the timer reaches zero, four booms will quickly deploy and the NanoSail-D sail will start to unfold to a 100-square-foot polymer sail. Within five seconds the sail fully unfurls.

Read the full NASA Press Release at
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/
releases/2011/11-009.html

Thanks to David Taylor W8AAS for spotting this item.

Source: http://www.southgatearc.org