Friday, May 14, 2010

MT Annual Airshow Guide Released Online

The 2010 Monitoring Times Airshow Guide has been released in Adobe Acrobat PDF format this afternoon on the MT website. Now in its 11th year, the Airshow Guide is one of the most anticipated references published each year in Monitoring Times. As a way to give back to the monitoring community, whose field reports help produce the guide, the editorial staff of MT post it to the Internet each Spring to help scanner monitors from all over the country enjoy monitoring their favorite flight demo team.

In return we do ask that if you attend an airshow and use the guide, please file a report of what you heard or didn't hear with the author, MT assistant editor Larry Van Horn. It is these on site reports that help us produce the next edition of the guide that will appear in the March 2011 Monitoring Times. Even if the frequency is listed in our guide, we use that information to keep active frequencies on our list.

You can download your free copy from the MT website at the link below.

http://monitoringtimes.com/MT_Air_Show_Guide_2010.pdf

Uniden Open House 2010 in the DFW Metroplex!

Uniden America has just released this announcement.

You Are Invited!

"Uniden invites you to attend the 2010 Uniden Open House on Saturday, June 26, 2010 at Uniden America Corporation Headquarters.

"We are firing up the grill this Summer, and want to invite you over for some burgers, hot dogs, and other treats. We'll be announcing a revolutionary new scanner product on July 1, but attendees will get a sneak preview and introduction to the product from Uniden's Scanner Product Manager, Paul "UPMan" Opitz. Plus, hear from other guests including Lindsay Blanton, owner of RadioReference.com, the source for radio system information as well as other special guests.

"We'll be opening the doors at 10:00 AM and starting the program at 11 AM. This is an event that you will not want to miss.

"Because we want to be sure to have plenty of food and other goodies, we are asking you to register for this event. To do so, please go to: Open House Registration and fill out the form.

"Looking forward to seeing you there!"

Definitely an event you want to attend and you may even see ye ole blog editor at this major scanner event.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Out-of-control satellite threatens other nearby spacecraft

Article from FloridaToday.com

PARIS - An adrift Intelsat satellite that stopped communicating with its ground controllers last month remains out of control and has begun moving eastward along the geostationary arc, raising the threat of interference with other satellites in its path, Intelsat and other industry officials said.

In what industry officials called an unprecedented event, Intelsat's Galaxy 15 communications satellite has remained fully "on," with its C-band telecommunications payload still functioning even as it has left its assigned orbital slot of 133 degrees west longitude 36,000 kilometers over the equator.

Galaxy 15 stopped responding to ground controllers on April 5. The satellite's manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia, has said an intense solar storm in early April may be to blame. It was launched into space in 2005.

The first satellite likely to face signal interference problems from the adrift Galaxy 15 is the AMC-11 C-band satellite owned by SES of Luxembourg and stationed at 131 degrees west, just two degrees away from Galaxy 15's starting position.

Rob Bednarek, chief executive of the SES World Skies division, which operates AMC-11, said Intelsat and SES have been meeting since April 5 to coordinate how to minimize the Galaxy 15 impact on AMC-11's media customers.

Adrift in space

In an interview Friday, Bednarek said that while it remains unclear whether SES World Skies will be able to avoid a signal interference problem as Galaxy 15 enters the AMC-11 orbital territory, the company has benefited from full disclosure on the part of Intelsat, SES's biggest competitor.

"The cooperation with them really has been very good," Bednarek said. "We all realize that we could be in the same position tomorrow. We are neighbors in space."

Alan Young, chief technology officer at SES World Skies, said the company's best estimate is that Galaxy 15 will enter AMC-11's neighborhood — meaning one-half of one degree distant — May 23. It will continue traveling at its own pace through the AMC-11 slot, exiting on the east around June 7.

You can read the rest of the story at http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100503/NEWS02/100503027/1086/Out-of-control+satellite+threatens+other+nearby+spacecraft