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PROGRAMME 

08:00  Registration 

08:30  Opening Address
            Prof Fambirai Takawira
           Head of the School of Electrical, Electronic and
           Computer Engineering
           University of KwaZulu-Natal

 08:45  SumbandilaSat and future of SA AMSAT
             Space Programme
            Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV
            President SA AMSAT 

09:00  Developments in the South African Space
            Arena
            Dr Valanathan Munsami 
           Manager for Space Science and Technology,
           Department of Science and Technology

The presentation will focus on developments around the space agency, DST's 10 year implementation plan and the National Space Science and Technology Strategy. 

09:30 The Indlebe Radio Telescope Project at the
           Durban University of Technology
           Stuart MacPherson ZR5SD
          Associate Director, Department of Electronic
          Engineering, DUT 

In 2006 the Department of Electronic Engineering at the Durban University of Technology embarked on a project to design and construct a radio telescope operating at the Hydrogen Line frequency of 1420 MHz, with the intention of having a fully functional instrument operational on the campus by 2009, to coincide with the International Year of Astronomy.  This presentation will focus on the progress made and current state of the project.

10:10  Refreshments 

10:30  An overview of celestial mechanics as
            applied to the process of satellite
            tracking           
           Michael E Brink  ZR6BRI. HND,
           Design Technologist.  

11:30  How to operate AO51 easily without fancy
            rigs or antennas.       
           Dave Long ZS5FR 

12:10  101 Uses of a GPS unit
            Peter Dreyer
           Astronomical Society of South Africa

GPS is the acronym for Global Positioning System, a satellite based navigation system consisting of twenty four satellites plus 3 spares. GPS was first created by the United States Department of Defense back in the 1980's?

12:40 Lunch break
           Light lunches are available at the cafeteria down
          stairs from the School of Electrical, Electronic and
          Computer Engineering 

13:00  Tour of the Electronic Laboratories 

13:30  Demonstration of a low cost UHF/SHF test
            equipment*
            Michael E Brink HND, ZR6BRI
            Design Technologist.

*Winner of the SA Amateur Radio Development Trust 2007 construction competition 

14:00  High Resolution in Radio Astronomy
            through Very Long Baseline  Interferometry
            (VLBI) - Ground and Space.
          Professor Roy Booth
            Director Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy
           Observatory 

Radio astronomers are always striving for better and better resolution to study stars and galaxies - interferometry provides the solution. The angular resolution of a single radio telescope (in radians) is the inverse of its diameter in wavelengths, while that of an interferometer is similarly related to the baseline separating the telescopes. Thus the HartRAO 26m dish has a resolution of about half a degree at a wavelength of 18 cm while the interferometer between HartRAO and European telescopes has a beam measured in milli-arcseconds! 

Right now radio astronomers are preparing for an interferometer with even higher resolution - working between a Japanese telescope in Space and the Ground VLBI networks. The maximum baseline will be more than three earth diameters and the maximum resolution will be around 50 micro-arcseconds. 

This talk will describe how VLBI works and the build up to Space VLBI, together with some of the exciting astrophysics that requires these resolutions.

14:45  How satellites and other radio sources may
            affect the SKA
            Adrian Tiplady
            Project Science and Radio Frequency
            Interference Square Kilometre Array
           South Africa 

15:15  Amateur Radio Satellites – the new reality
            Rick Hambly W2GPS
            President AMSAT NA (Link –up via landline
            connection)

The days of free or piggy back low cost launches for Amateur Radio Satellites seem something of the past. There is a distinct shift away from the aegis of government/military sponsored spaceflights in the USA and Europe to a field that will be more and more driven by commercial consideration. This development signifies that space missions will become driven by a business-case model. How will this affect the future of amateur satellites?

 16:00  Open forum discussion 

16:30  SA AMSAT AGM    

17:00 ends 

Registration: R75*

*Special rates are applicable to SA AMSAT, SARL and Astronomical Society Members. (See registration form for details.

Full time learners and students R10