[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[jamsat-news:599] ANS-208 WEEKLY BULLETINS
un-subscribe or change your Internet address for any of the AMSAT
lists. You may request to be added or deleted from the following
lists: AMSAT-BB, ANS, SAREX, or KEPS. Please *do not* send such
requests to the lists themselves.**
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.01
PHASE 3-D LAUNCH UPDATE
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 208.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 27, 1997
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-208.01
On Wednesday July 16 a meeting was held in Marburg, Germany between Dr..
Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, the Phase 3-D Project Leader and AMSAT-DL President,
and Werner Haas, DJ5KQ, AMSAT-DL Vice President; and officials of the
European Space Agency (ESA). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss
the launch schedule for Ariane 502, on which the Phase 3-D spacecraft is
to fly. At this meeting, the ESA officials re-iterated their intent to
launch A-502 at the end of September and said that the launch campaign for
this flight has already begun.. They stated that, as part of this launch
campaign the Phase 3-D spacecraft must arrive in Kourou by August 10th.
Earlier, ESA had informed AMSAT that, following analysis of data from the
Ariane 501 flight, they had significantly increased their estimates for the
acceleration and vibration environments which spacecraft riding on Ariane
502 are expected to encounter. As a result of this new information, AMSAT
has been re-evaluating the structural capabilities of the Phase 3-D
spaceframe. As a part of this effort, an independent structural engineer
was brought in to review the spacecraft's design and construction. His
conclusions were recently presented to Dr.. Meinzer and AMSAT-NA people.
His report stated that, in order to be confident of surviving these
increased launch environments, a number of modifications must be made to
the spacecraft. Since that report was presented, substantial effort has
been taking place at the Phase 3-D Integration Laboratory in Orlando,
Florida to manufacture and install the recommended structural parts
necessary to increase the spacecraft's vibration and acceleration
capability.
At the Marburg meeting, Dr.. Meinzer made it clear to the ESA officials,
that
this work, made necessary by ESA's new environmental information, would
prevent AMSAT from delivering the spacecraft to Kourou by the specified
August 10th date. Thus, it was the conclusion of the meeting that, as a
result of these ESA specification changes, the Phase 3-D schedule and that
of ESA for Ariane 502 are not compatible. Thus, unless, something
changes, which ESA does not presently contemplate, Phase 3-D will not be
able to be launched on Ariane 502. Furthermore, in order to maintain the
planned mass characteristics of the Ariane 502 vehicle, AMSAT must supply
a mass simulator representing the Phase 3-D spacecraft to be sent aloft on
the flight. This must be in Kourou by September 5th.
Despite, this very bad news, Dr.. Meinzer and other AMSAT officials
expressed
some degree of confidence the Phase 3D may yet fly on Ariane 502. They
based this on a number of activities taking place in the preparation of
the launch vehicle that, they believe, could cause a slip in the currently
published ESA schedule. The ESA officials attending the Marburg meeting
said that, if a slip should occur, which they do not currently
contemplate, which, results in the two schedules again becoming
compatible, efforts would be made to substitute the Phase 3-D spacecraft
for the mass simulator. Therefore AMSAT is continuing in the work of
completing the necessary structural modifications to the spacecraft,
and conducting environmental testing.
Keep tuned to ANS for developments as they become available.
[ANS thanks Phase 3-D Project Leader Dr.. Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, and AMSAT-NA
President Bill Tynan, W3XO, for this information.]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.02
MIR TNC PROBLEM
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 208.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 27, 1997
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-208.02
This message was sent to ALL by Mike Foale onboard Space Station
MIR:
Posted : 07/25/97 09:53
To : ALL
>From : R0MIR :
Subject: MIR status
Lost power to tnc again - lost all messages. Possibly will get new
tnc, with memory protection, in August, with next crew. We are doing
experiments, especially Vassily and Sasha, even though they now have
very little time leiroda and Krisctal still without
power, but a little drier now, though still dark. I planted the first
ever space produced seeds, two days ago, in Greenhouse. No sprouts yet.
Mike. kb5uac.
Other MIR messages can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/~ik1sld/mirmsg_frame.htm
[ANS thanks Claudio Ariotti, IK1SLD , for this news.]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.03
MIREX UPDATE
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 208.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 27, 1997
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-208.03
A serious problem with de-sensing of the 2-meter receiver
exists on the MIR space station, and this has caused frustration on the
part of the cosmonauts, groundstations, and the MIREX team. MIR is using
multiple commercial VHF channels to send voice and data down to earth
based tracking stations around the world. One of the commercial VHF
transmitters operating on 143 MHz is de-sensing the 2-meter Amateur
Radio Station. Because of the de-sensing problem, the 2-meter station
is OFF the air or unable to copy groundstation signals most of the time.
The MIREX team has constructed a special filter for the 2-meter MIR radio
station to help eliminate the de-sensing problem. However, because of
higher priorities on onboard the MIR complex at the present time, the
MIREX team has not been able to acquire all of the required permissions
to deliver the filter to the cosmonauts on MIR. MIREX is still actively
working on the situation. Pat Kilroy, WD8LAQ, reports that an effort is
underway to send the filter with the Mir24/NASA5 crew. This task is
being led by Will Marchant, Dave Larsen, and Miles Mann.
One of the options to get around the de-sensing problem is to temporarily
move MIR Amateur radio operations to 70 cm. However, this would open up
a whole new set of problems. Most 70 cm transceivers cannot work MIR for
the following reasons:
1. Most transceivers sold in the USA do not transmit in the satellite
subband between 435.000 MHz and 438.000 MHz.
2. Most transceivers cannot make the channel steps smaller than 5 KHz.
A 1 KHz channel step works best when compensating with Doppler shift.
3. The Doppler shift on 70cm during a 10 minutes pass is +/- 10 KHz.
This means groundstations need to adjust their transmitters and
receivers in opposite directions at the same time, and the adjustments
need to be made every 10 to 30 seconds for the duration for the pass.
This is much too complicated for beginners.
4. MIREX has always felt that 2-meter 1200 baud simplex packet operations
are the best for all that are new to satellite operations and is the
most cost effective.
Note 1: Any comments about the 145.800/200 frequency should be directed to
SAFEX.
Note 2: The reason MIR is sometimes heard on 145.985 MHz simplex is because
the crew is using the 2-meter station as a backup source of family message
traffic. The sysops N6CO and WF1F are uploading family message traffic
daily. When MIR is in range of Europe, the crews (if they are not busy)
will switch back to 800/200.
Remember the name of the 2-meter project on MIR is called the PMS Personal
Message System. It is not a Public Bulletin Board System.
[ANS thanks John Magliacane, KB2BD, and SpaceNews for this
update.]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.04
STS-85 TLE's
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 208.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 27, 1997
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-208.04
Below is the nominal OMS-2 State Vector and Keplerian Elements for
STS-85. The vector data comes from NASA; the Keplerian Elements
were computed from the vector.
This file may be read by VEC2TLE version 9648 to update your
Keplerian Elements text file.
Vector format = 10117
Satellite Name: STS-85
Catalog Number: 99985
Epoch MET: 0.02694288194
0/00:38:47.865 MET
EFG E: 9312888.2997 ft
F: 19528753.2625 ft
G: 3386153.5174 ft
Edot: -9779.3058815773 ft/s
Fdot: 8295.0387295085 ft/s
Gdot: -20910.457822872 ft/s
ndot/2 (drag): 0.00029652672 rev/day^2
nddt/6: 3.68109E-09 rev/day^3
Bstar: 8.58271E-05 1/Earth Radii
Elset #: 1
Rev @ Epoch: 1.47042961084
Scheduled Launch: 07-AUG-97 / 14:41 UTC
Note that 99985 is a temporary Catalog Number. A permanent Catalog
Number and International Designator will be assigned following the
Launch of STS-85.
The following Keplerian elements were computed by VEC2TLE from this
vector, using a 1.0 drag multiplier:
STS-85
1 99985U 97219.63874844 .00029653 36811-8 85827-4 0 12
2 99985 57.0000 76.4760 0008548 266.7495 262.6168 15.92299149 11
Satellite: STS-85
Catalog number: 99985
Epoch time: 97219.63874844
Element set: 1
Inclination: 57.0000 deg
RA of node: 76.4760 deg
Eccentricity: 0.0008548
Arg of perigee: 266.7495 deg
Mean anomaly: 262.6168 deg
Mean motion: 15.92299149 rev/day
Decay rate: 2.96527e-04 rev/day^2
Epoch rev: 1
Checksum: 354
VEC2TLE may be downloaded from:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sarex/orbit.html
[Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, for this information.]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.05
P3D DXPEDITION PLANNED
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 208.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 27, 1997
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-208.05
LARC Dxpedition organizers have chosen St.. John, U.S. Virgin islands as
the site of next year's fourth LARC-sponsored Dxpedition. The date has
tentatively been set for the week of March 6-13, 1998. This date is
dependent upon the successful launch of AMSAT's Phase 3-D satellite,
which according to the latest word, is still set for the end of September,
1997. There will be about a three month period between the date of the
launch and the expected availability of the satellite for use by amateurs,
so the timing of the launch is critical to Dxpedition planning. If the
launch is delayed beyond the end of November, 1997, then the date of the
Dxpedition will most likely have to be moved as well. Airline and hotel
reservations will not be made until after the launch and until some
preliminary data becomes available relative to the anticipated release
(availability) date of the satellite and the status of the spacecraft
and its various components.
[ANS thanks Jim Kelly, KK3K, for this Dxpedition news.]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.06
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 208.06 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 27, 1997
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-208.06
MIR:
Mike Foale, KB5UAC, has been active on amateur radio...
Frequencies with activity have been 145.985 MHz and the 145.200/800 MHz
split.
SAFEX, MIR 70 cm Repeater
(Uplink 435.750 MHz FM, Downlink 437.950 MHz FM,
Subaudible tone 141.3 Hz)
Not operational at this time.
RS-10
(Uplink 145.865-145.905 MHz CW/SSB, Downlink 29.36-29.4 MHz CW/SSB)
RS-10 Still silent.
RS-12
(Uplink 21.21-21.25 MHz CW/SSB, Downlink 29.41-29.45 MHz or
145.91-145.95 MHz CW/SSB)
Operational.
The passes will remain somewhat inconvenient
through July for those of us with day jobs, occurring in the late
morning and the very late evening as they do. August will result in
more convenient times during the weekdays.
[ANS thanks Dick Montgomery, N3DV, for this update.]
RS-15
(Uplink 145.858-145.898 MHz CW/SSB, Downlink 29.354-29.394 MHz CW/SSB)
Operational.
WT0N reports that downlink signals are still weak from RS-15,
but the bird is still workable.
(Hint: If SSB doesn't work for you, try CW. CW is very easy
to hear on the downlink!)
RS-16
At 1605Z on July 24, 1997, RS-16 had both 70cm beacons on...The 504
beacon was downlinking its normal telem data at a +10 signal level. The
upper beacon was only S2. No ten meter beacon and no transponder
[ANS thanks Bennie Hall, WY4D, for this report.]
RS-16 CW Telemetry.
P PSU voltage Volts.................. x0.1
O Solar panel voltage Volts........... x0.1
N Solar panel current mA
M TX 29 MHz Output Power mW............ x10
L TX 29 MHz current mA
K TX 29 MHz voltage 7V nominal
J TX 435 MHz Output Power mW........... x10
I TX 435 MHz current mA
H TX 435 MHz voltage V................. x0.1
G U of the transponder V............... x0.1
F U of stabilizer V................... x0.1
E Temperature of the charger in C deg.
D Temperature TX 29 MHz in C deg.
C Temperature TX 435 MHz in C deg.
B Temperature RX 145 MHz in C deg.
A Temperature of the stabilizer in C deg.
Parameters M, L, J, I are valid in FM mode only!
Transponder information on RS-16.
Uplink = 145.915 - 145.948 MHz
Downlink = 29.415 - 29.448 MHz
Beacons = 29.408 , 29.451 MHz
Pwr 29 MHz Down = 1.2 W /4 W
Beacon 1 = 435.504 MHz
Beacon 2 = 435.548 MHz
Pwr 435 MHz Beacons = 1.6 W
FO-20
(Uplink 145.9-146.0 MHz CW/LSB, Downlink 435.8-435.9
MHz CW/USB)
Operational. FO-20 in mode JA continuously.
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report.]
KO-23
(Uplink 145.85, 145.9 MHz FM, Downlink 435.175 MHz FM,
9600 Baud FSK.)
KO-23 operating normally.
KO-25
(Uplink 145.980 MHz FM, Downlink 436.5 MHz FM,
9600 Baud FSK.)
KO-25 operating normally.
[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for his reports on
KO-25 and KO-23.]
AO-27
(Uplink 145.85 MHz FM, Downlink:
436.792 MHz FM (As of April 1, 1997)
Operating normally.
This information can be found at www.umbra.com
AO-27 TEPR (Timed Eclipse Power Regulation) States are as follows
As of July 6, 1997
TEPR STATE Time TX Status
----------------------------------------
1 n/a OFF
2 n/a OFF
3 --- OFF
4 21 OFF
5 17 ON at Med Power
6 --- OFF
The TEPR States are defined as follows:
Tepr 1, Started when the satellite Enters the Eclipse
Tepr 2, Started at (tepr 1 time) after the satellite enters the eclipse
Tepr 3, Started at (tepr 1 time) + (tepr 2 time) ...
Tepr 4, Started when the satellite enters the Sun
Tepr 5, Started at (tepr 4 time) after the satellite enters the Sun
Tepr 6, Started at (tepr 4) + (tepr 5) ...
You should note that TEPR states 1,2 and 3 happen during the Night Time
passes and TEPR states 4,5 and 6 happen during the Day time passes. These
occur during EVERY pass, not just over the U.S.A.
The times assigned to the TEPR states are chosen for the health of the
satellite over operation convenience. Therefore, during parts of the year
the satellite will turn on late or turn off early as seen by ground
stations.
Users are reminded that as an FM-mode repeater, AO-27 is subject to
FM "capture effect" and can only transmit one signal at a time. Users
are asked to cooperate, keep calls short, give breaks so as many
stations as possible can work a pass, and above all, listen before
and while transmitting. The satellite has a very sensitive receiver,
and stations running approximately 25 watts power to moderate-gain
omnidirectional antenna can get a good uplink signal into the
satellite. A sensitive UHF FM receiver with a preamplifier and
an omnidirectional antenna can receive AO-27's downlink with some
fading; moderate-gain directional arrays should provide a solid
receive signal. Remember to correct for the +/- 9 KHz of Doppler
shift on the 436 MHz downlink signal during a pass.
No Doppler correction is needed for the 145.850 MHz uplink signal.
Users are asked not to transmit on 145.85 MHz if they do not hear the
satellite's downlink so as to avoid possible interference to other
satellite uplinks and downlinks on adjacent frequencies.
[ANS thanks Michael Wyrick, N4USI, AO-27 Control-op, for this update.]
FO-29
Voice/CW Mode JA
(Uplink 145.9-146.0 MHz CW/LSB, Downlink 435.8-435.9 MHz CW/USB)
Digital Mode JD
(Uplink 145.85, 145.87, 145.910 MHz FM, Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud
BPSK)
Operational.
The latest FO-29 Schedule.
July 25 (Fri) 09:23z JA
Aug 1 (Fri) 08:17z JD1200
Aug 8 (Fri) 00:30z JD9600
Aug 15 (Fri) 01:08z JA
Aug 22 (Fri) 08:26z JD1200
Aug 29 (Fri) 00:40z JD9600
Sept 5 (Fri) 01:18z JA
Sept 12 (Fri) 00:13z JD1200
Sept 19 (Fri) 00:51z JD9600
Sept 26 (Fri) 08:09z JA
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report.]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.07
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 1208.07 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 27, 1997
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-208.07
AO-10
(Uplink 435.030-435.18 MHz CW/LSB, Downlink 145.975-145.825 MHz
CW/USB)
Operational. Many stations from Japan heard and worked during the
previous week. AO-10 still is in great shape.
[ANS thanks BJ Arts, WT0N, for this report.]
OSCAR-11
(Downlink 145.825 MHz. FM, 1200 Baud PSK. Beacon 2401.500 MHz..)
Operating normally.
An uneventful month for OSCAR-11. During the period 20-June to
17-July excellent signals have once again been received from the
145.826 MHz. beacon. The improved signals may be partly due to
increased power output resulting from lower beacon temperatures. In
the UK the change to Summer time, and the lighter mornings make the
early morning passes more socially acceptable. There is less
electrical interference and splatter from mobile radios in the early
mornings than in the afternoons.
The mode-S beacon has been heard by Dean, AL7CR in Anchorage, Alaska,
and from Joe , K0VTY, located near Omaha, Nebraska. Joe used a 60 cm
dish, Down East converter, into a Kenwood TR-781, with a Time Wave
DSP-9 filter. Telemetry nominal. The battery voltage generally around
14 volts. The internal temperatures reached minimum values
(battery -0.4C telemetry electronics -1.6 C), and have now started to
rise. The minimum value of solar illumination was about 72% of full
sunlight. Temperatures should now increase, as the solar illumination
reaches a peak of about 97% in October.
Two WOD surveys of channels 10, 20, 30, 40 (+Y, -X, +X array
currents, array voltage) dated 07-June, and 25 June respectively,
have been transmitted.
A single AMSAT-UK bulletin by Richard G3RWL has been uploaded. This
featured Sputnik-1 40th anniversary, MIR frequencies, and RS-10 news.
Bulletins always include current Keplerian elements for OSCAR-11, and
often Keps for satellites featured in the bulletin.
Richard always welcomes short news items for inclusion in the
OSCAR-11 bulletin. His e-mail address is g3rwl@amsat.org
The operating schedule is unchanged.
ASCII status (210 seconds)
ASCII bulletin (60 seconds)
BINARY SEU (30 seconds)
ASCII TLM (90 seconds)
ASCII WOD (120 seconds)
ASCII bulletin (60 seconds)
BINARY ENG (30 seconds)
There are also additional status blocks after each bulletin is
transmitted, and between ASCII TLM and WOD.
The mode-S beacon is ON, transmitting an unmodulated carrier, but
telemetry indicates that it has partially failed, and delivering half
power. Any reports of reception on 2401 MHz. would be most welcome.
Please e-mail g3cwv@amsat.org.
The 435.025 MHz. beacon is normally OFF. However it can sometimes be
heard when the satellite is being commanded by ground control, i.e.
within range of Guildford, UK. When the 435 beacon is transmitting,
the 145 beacon is normally OFF. The data transmitted is mainly
binary.
OSCAR-11 users are welcome to visit Clive Wallis' web site. It contains
some software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry and WOD.
There is an archive of raw data (mainly WOD) for analysis, which is
continually being expanded, as new data is captured. The URL is -
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/
[ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for this information.]
AMSAT-OSCAR-16 (PACSAT)
(Uplink 145.9, 145.92, 145.94, 145.86 MHz FM, 1200 bps Manchester FSK
Downlink 437.0513 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK 1200 Baud PSK.
Beacon 2401.1428 MHz.)
Operating normally..
uptime is 1043/06:53:42. Time is Sun Jul 27 12:18:52 1997
RC PSK TX Out= 0.428W
Total Array C= 0.256 Bat Ch Cur= 0.033 Ifb= 0.050 I+10V= 0.201
TX:010B BCR:85 PWRC:59E BT:3C WC:25 EDAC:8D
Graphic information about WOD/Telemetry values can be found at:
http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/wod.htm
[ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.]
DO-17(DOVE)
( Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud AFSK.
Beacon 2401.220 MHz.)
The DOVE s-band signal is 1200 PSK with no carrier suppression. The
modulation is about 20 dB below the carrier. You should hear what sounds
like a carrier with lots of Doppler. If you receive equipment is working
well you will hear the 'buzz' from the flags and an occasional change in
the sound of that modulation as a telemetry beacon is sent. If it's
working really well and you run the received audio through a PSK demod then
a tracking notch filter (DSP) you will clearly hear the flags and
modulation. In the northern hemisphere there will be deep fades about
every 30 seconds due to the rotation of the satellite. In the southern
hemisphere there will probably be some fades but not nearly as deep
because the antenna points down when below the equator.
[ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E, for this report.]
WEBERSAT (WO-18)
(Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB, 1200 Baud PSK AX.25.)
No report available.
LUSAT-OSCAR-19
(Uplink 1200 bps Manchester FSK Uplinks:
145.84, 145.86, 145.88, 145.9 MHz FM, Downlink 437.125 MHz SSB,
1200 bps RC-BPSK.)
Operating normally.
uptime is 767/22:26:56. Time is Sun Jul 27 12:32:06 1997
RC PSK TX Out= 0.630W
Total Array C= 0.119 Bat Ch Cur= 0.022 Ifb= 0.053 I+10V= 0.111
TX:017 BCR:7E PWRC:36E BT:3C WC: 0
<To add 6,83 minutes to the clock of the satellite>
Graphic and general information about Telemetry values can be found at:
http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/lo19.htm
[ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.]
UO-22:
(Uplink: 145.9 or 145.975 MHz FM. Downlink 435.120 MHz FM
9600 Baud FSK.)
UO-22 is operating normally. The Earth Imaging System (EIS) is being
scheduled to take images 2 or 3 times per week.
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN / ZL2TPO,
Groundstation and Operations Manager, for this report.]
IO-26 ( ITAMSAT)
(Uplink 145.875, 145.9, 145.925, 145.95 MHz FM, Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB,
1200 Baud PSK.)
The satellite is in good shape.
Daniele Piercarlo, IK2XRO, will try to reload the BBS soon.
[ANS thanks Daniele Piercarlo, IK2XRO, ITMSAT Command Station for this
report.]
[Please send your Satellite or News reports to ANS Editor B.J. Arts, WT0N,
via e-mail, at bjarts@the-bridge.net or to wt0n@amsat.org]
/EX
BJ Arts
Amateur callsign: WT0N
ARMY MARS callsign: AAR5EL
Grid Square EN-37mk
Hibbing, Minnesota. U.S.A.
e-mail bjarts@the-bridge.net or wt0n@amsat.org
Amsat News Service Bulletin Editor