[BCMA] News Release: Amateur Radio Satellite Demonstration, June 5

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

news release

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For Immediate Release
May 31, 2010


Amateur Radio Satellite Operator Transmits from Museum
- Saturday, June 5, 2010, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.


This Saturday your local Museum will be looking up at the sky and asking the ultimate question: is there anybody out there? Join amateur radio operator Ron Place on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Okanagan Heritage Museum as he transmits to satellites orbiting Earth as part of a demonstration on amateur satellite radio communication.

"What a lot of people don't realize is that there are hundreds of ham radio satellites in orbit," says Place. "These satellites vary in size, from as small as a baseball to the size of a fridge. When these satellites are in orbit over Kelowna we try and connect with them and there can be hundreds of them within range at a time."

One object of particular interest will be within range on June 5: the International Space Station. "While communicating with orbiting satellites this Saturday, there is a very small chance that we may connect with the Space Station as it passes over our part of the world," comments Place, whose call sign is VA7PL. "The Space Station basically acts as another satellite, and it may receive our signal if it's in the right place at the right time."

Place's interest in amateur radio started when he was 14. "I remember when they launched Sputnik," he recalls. "Commercial frequencies couldn't pick up its signal, so a bunch of us were huddled in my ham shack because I could pick it up on my amateur radio equipment." At 19, his knack for amateur radio landed him a job with CBC Radio where he worked for the next forty years, traveling Canada and the world setting up radio towers, filming, and recording for various radio programs.

"While we try to reach the Space Station, we encourage people to come out and learn more about amateur radio satellite communication," says Patti Kilback, Associate Director of Exhibitions & Programming for the Kelowna Museums. "And of course, we have the amateur radio exhibit CQ: Is There Anybody Out There on display until July 3 and we welcome the public to come view the exhibit at the same time."

This event is admission by donation.

The Okanagan Heritage Museum is located at 470 Queensway Avenue at the corner of Ellis and Queensway, downtown in Kelowna's Cultural District. For more information please call 250-763-2417 or visit www.KelownaMuseums.ca<http://www.kelownamuseums.ca/>.

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Media Contact:
Risti Lespérance
Marketing & Special Events Coordinator
Kelowna Museums
250-763-2417 ext 22
Events at KelownaMuseums.ca<mailto:Events at KelownaMuseums.ca>
www.twitter.com/kelownamuseums<http://www.twitter.com/kelownamuseums>




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