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One week earlier, on Saturday, June 11, the AO-51 "Echo" satellite will be on the air and specially configured for AMSAT Kid's Day. AO-51 ground controller and AMSAT-NA Vice President-Operations Mike Kingery, KE4AZN, says the satellite will be available from approximately 1420 UTC on June 11 until approximately 0450 UTC on June 12.
"The event is open to all kids, worldwide," he says. "We ask all amateur radio stations to give this short time window to promote satellite operations with kids by actually showing a kid how to make contacts via AO-51, providing a station to contact, or stepping aside to allow others to make contacts with the kids."
He asks satellite ops to limit contacts to stations that are operating with kids at the microphone. Kids can tell their name, age, who is helping them operate on AO-51, where they live and other information about themselves.
AO-51 will be configured with an uplink frequency of 145.880 MHz, FM voice (note change in frequency for this event) with a 67-Hz tone, and a downlink of 435.300 MHz, FM voice. The digital transponder on 435.150 will be turned off during the event.
AMSAT run its Kid's Day twice a year on AO-51 on or close to the same day as ARRL Kid's Day.
A certificate is available from the AO-51 team to any youngster making a successful AMSAT Kid's Day contact. To obtain one, send a QSL card (or other suitable verification) to Kid's Day Certificate, c/o Michael Kingery, KE4AZN, 1251 County Rd 445, Enterprise, AL 36330 USA.
Kingery invites comments from youngsters about their AMSAT Kid's Day experience. "Some of the best cards and notes will be used for a future AMSAT Journal article," he says. Send digital photos and notes to Kingery via e-mail ke4azn@amsat.org. The certificate is free, and no return SASE is required.
"Have fun and enjoy AO-51!" he says.
More information on AO-51 and AMSAT Kid's Day is available on the AMSAT Web site.
