[jamsat-news:769] ANS 046 BULLETIN RELEASE

[Dan James <nn0dj@means.net>]

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.01
REMEMBERING WT0N

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 046.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-046.01

As announced in ANS Bulletin 040.01, many satellite operators around the
world were saddened to learn about the death of BJ Arts, WT0N. BJ was
very active in amateur satellite work and held several positions in AMSAT,
acting as ANS Editor at the time of his death. The AMSAT bulletin board
was very active with thoughts of BJ, several excerpts of which are included
here:

AHMED, CN8GI - "in the name of all Moroccan amateur radio operators I
would like to add our sincere condolences for the loss of BJ Arts".
Jean-Claude, FB1RCI - "very sad news".  Francisco, CT1EAT - "BJ was
really a great guy and I will miss him". Larry, N5FPW - "we will miss his
weekly contributions that have meant so much to so many in the satellite
hobby worldwide". Mike, K0BUD - "saddened to hear of the passing of one
great person we will all miss". Patrick, W0SXU - "BJ was and is a free spirit,
a bright candle in a dark world". Hans, K0HB - "there are no limits in a world
of smiles and BJ broke all the records". Jim, N9NGH - "he was a very likable
person, via condias, BJ". Tom, N0TMQ - "BJ will be sorely missed by all, and I
feel the loss in a particularly hard way as I have lost a very good friend". Jim,
AA7KC - " I was very sorry to hear about BJ, he always had a cheerful
comment". Dan, NN0DJ -"as I point my beams skyward, I'll be thinking of BJ
and I'll know that my beams are also pointing to the heavens where BJ
will be looking down and smiling".

Bernard 'BJ' Arts, WT0N, was 37 years old at the time of his death. His
funeral was held Wednesday, February 11th in Hibbing, Minnesota.  AMSAT
was represented by Dan James, NN0DJ.

BJ's family has requested that any possible memorials in BJ's name be
made to the AMSAT Phase 3D fund as a fitting tribute to WT0N.

[ANS thanks the family of BJ Arts and all those who so thoughtfully
responded to this sad news]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.02
KF2WN SK

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 046.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-046.02

AMSAT-NA secretary Martha Saragovitz has learned of yet another loss
in the satellite community. She reports with great sadness the death of
Mel Roman, KF2WN.  Mel started out many years ago as an AMSAT Area
Coordinator.  Although he had to resign that position due to poor health,
Mel remained an active AMSAT volunteer.  Mel ran the AMSAT Bulletin
Board in New Jersey, where, for many years he was the only means of
obtaining AMSAT news and orbital elements.

Mel Roman died at the age of 54 on January 21, 1998 from complications
associated with diabetes.  His warm personality and willingness to help will
be greatly missed.

[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA secretary Martha Saragovitz for this sad news]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.03
NN0DJ NAMED NEW ANS EDITOR

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 046.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-046.03

In the wake of the sudden and untimely death of BJ Arts, Keith Pugh
W5IU, AMSAT-NA's Vice President for Operations, after consultation with
AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, announced that Dan James, NN0DJ,
will assume the ANS Editor duties immediately.  "Dan has been assisting BJ for several months and is very familiar with the ANS procedures", Pugh said.

Dan James, NN0DJ, was first licensed in 1969 as WN7LSF. Originally from
Montana, Dan lives in Warroad, Minnesota where he is employed as a facility
instructor for a major window manufacturer. NN0DJ has an extensive background in broadcast journalism and is very active on many of the current amateur satellites.

Bill Tynan added that "AMSAT is fortunate to have someone as capable as
Dan to step into this important position so soon after such a sudden vacancy".

[ANS thanks Keith Pugh, W5IU and Bill Tynan, W3XO for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.04
SATELLITE DXPEDITIONS

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 046.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-046.04

Frank Edwards, VE3ER, reports he will be operating from Caye Caulker,
Belize, for almost two weeks in March using the call V31FE. Starting on
March 3, and continuing through March 16, 1998, Frank will be available
on RS-12 using both CW and SSB modes. RS-12 is currently in mode KA,
with a 21 MHz or 145 MHz uplink, and a 29 MHz downlink. Look for V31FE's
downlink near 29.415 MHz on SSB and 29.440 MHz on CW.

Carlos Ferreira, LA9PJA, is currently planning amateur activity from
Svalbard (JQ78), late this month. Using the callsign JW9PJA,
satellite, 6 meter and high frequency operation is scheduled, along
with RTTY and SSTV modes. Operational dates have been confirmed as
February 25th through 28th.

RS-12 will be the featured satellite, but others are possible. More
information is available at the following URL:

http://home.sol.no/~la9pja/

Bob Mathews, K8TQK was recently active from Haiti on several satellites.
Operation ended February 10, 1998. Bob used the call HH5FW. Operation
was centered on AO-10 (where Bob worked a number of stations), but
HH5FW was heard on FO-20, FO-29 and RS-12. Bob was also active
on several HF frequencies.

More information can be found on the K8TQK web site:

http://www.qsl.net/k8tqk/

[ANS thanks Frank Edwards, VE3ER, Bob Mathews, K8TQK/HH5FW, and
Carlos Ferreira, LA9PJA, for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.05
IRELAND ON SATELLITE

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 046.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-046.05

Dermot, EI4ESB, in Dublin, Ireland has been active on FO-20 during pass
windows to North America. Jon Jones, N0JK reports working him February
12, 1998 at 1537 UTC and later hearing him work W4NML in Idaho. Dermot
said he may be the only EI ham operator active on the amateur satellites.
EI4ESB was a new satellite DXCC country for Jon, who says that he has not
heard Ireland on AO-10 so far this year.

Jon also says that thanks to a tip on Europeans coming through on FO-20, he
has also worked F4APM, G7NFO, F5ZO, G1HWY, and now EI4ESB.

[ANS thanks Jon Jones, N0JK for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.06
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 046.06 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-046.06

MIR/SAFEX
SAFEX II 70 cm Repeater
(Uplink 435.750 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 141.3 Hz
Downlink 437.950 MHz FM)
Not operational. The SAFEX II repeater is temporarily turned off.

MIR/SAFEX
PMS (145.985 MHz FM, 1200 Baud AFSK)
MIREX would like the stations monitoring the PMS to please be patient
while adjustments are made. MIREX has created an Internet web page
containing information regarding MIR and the various ham radio
experiments taking place from the space station. URLs are:

http://www.ik1sld.org/mirex.htm
http://www.geocities.com/~ik1sld/mirex.htm

[ANS thanks the MIREX team for this information]

RS-12
(Uplink, 21.210-21.250 MHz and 145.910-145.950 MHz, CW/SSB
Downlink 29.410-29.450 MHz, CW/SSB).
Operational, mode KA. The 15m ROBOT is operational.
Pedro, KP4SQ has been active on RS12, QSL to KD8IW.

[ANS thanks Rusty Hack, NM1K, for this news]

RS-15
(Uplink 145.858-145.898 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 29.354-29.394 MHz CW/SSB)
Operational.   John, K6YK reports CW QSO's with VE3EVW and
WB4FKI recently.  K6YK is running 150 watts and a 12 element
beam uplink and 3 element beam downlink antenna configuration.

[ANS thanks John Lee, K6YK, for this report]

RS-16
At this time only the beacons are operational.
Transponder information on RS-16.
 Uplink = 145.915 - 145.948 MHz
 Downlink = 29.415 - 29.448 MHz
 Beacons = 29.408 and 29.451 MHz
 Pwr 29 MHz Down = 1.2W /4W

 Beacon 1 = 435.504 MHz
 Beacon 2 = 435.548 MHz
 Pwr 435 MHz Beacons = 1.6W

RS-17 Sputnik Jr.
Not operational, RS-17 has been officially declared dead.

AO-10
(Uplink 435.030-435.180 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 145.975-145.825 MHz CW/USB)
Operational.   Despite brief moments of deep QSB, AO-10's downlink
signals have been excellent even at apogee.  Activity on AO-10 has been
increasing with many stations from Europe heard recently. John, N2HMM,
reports a brief QSO with Bob Mathews (K8TQK/HH5FW) from Haiti on
February 8 at 0130Z.

AO-10's apogee has continued to move into the northern hemisphere.
Apogee will continue to rise higher to the north for the rest of 1998,
peaking in December.

W4SM has updated his AO-10 web page, use the following URL:

http://www.cstone.net/~w4sm/AO-10.html

[ANS thanks John Santillo, N2HMM and Stacey Mills, W4SM, for this update]

AO-27
(Uplink 145.850 MHz FM
Downlink 436.792 MHz FM)
Operational.  Widely used especially during weekend passes.

[ANS thanks Michael Wyrick, N4USI, AO-27 Control-op, for this update]

FO-20
(Uplink 145.900-146.00 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.80-435.90 MHz CW/USB)
Operational.      FO-20 in mode JA continuously. F4APM, G7NFO, F5ZO,
G1HWY, and EI4ESB have been heard recently in North America on FO-20.

[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK and Jon Jones, N0JK, for this information]

FO-29
Voice/CW Mode JA
(Uplink 145.900-146.00 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.80-435.90 MHz CW/USB)
Digital Mode JD
(Uplink 145.850, 145.870, 145.910 MHz FM
Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud BPSK)
Operational.   Currently in mode JA. Kazu, JJ1WTK, reports an
error has occurred in the digital operating platform and FO-29
has been returned to JA status for now. No operational schedule
or status update has been listed on the JARL Web site for the satellite.

[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.07
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 046.07 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, FEBRUARY 15, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-046.07

KO-23
(Uplink 145.850, 145.900 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 435.175 MHz FM)
Operational.  Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-23 operating normally.

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for this report]

KO-25
(Uplink 145.980 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 436.50 MHz FM)
Operational.  Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-25 operating normally.

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for this report]

OSCAR-11
(Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud PSK)
Beacon 2401.500 MHz
Operational.  During the period of mid-December to mid-January,
the satellite has continued to provide good signals on its 145.826 MHz
beacon. The mode S beacon is ON, transmitting an unmodulated carrier.
Telemetry indicates that the mode S beacon has partially failed and is
delivering half normal output power. This beacon is a useful test source
for those testing mode S converters, prior to the launch of P3D. Any
reports of reception on 2401 MHz should be sent to g3cwv@amsat.org.

The telemetry is nominal.

Two WOD surveys have been transmitted during the period. Both are of
channels 10, 20, 30, 40 ( +Y, -X, +X array currents, array voltage),
and are dated 14 December and 06 January respectively. They show the
effect of solar eclipses, on array currents, and voltage.

The new format AMSAT-UK bulletin, No. 114, is now being transmitted.
This contains details of amateur satellite frequencies and modes of
operation. 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)

OSCAR-11 users are welcome to visit the G3CWV web site. It contains
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 145.90, 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
Operational.  The S band transmitter is off.

The telemetry is nominal.

Time is Sat Feb 07 1998 12:23:58 uptime is 1238/06:54:04
+X (RX) Temp 4.839 D RX Temp -1.212 D
Bat 1 Temp 6.049 D Bat 2 Temp 5.444 D
Baseplt Temp 5.444 D RC PSK BP Temp 1.209 D
RC PSK HPA Tmp 3.024 D +Y Array Temp 1.209 D
PSK TX HPA Tmp 1.209 D +Z Array Temp 12.100 D
RC PSK TX Out 0.633 W

Total Array C= 0.336 Bat Ch Cur=-0.063 Ifb= 0.063 I+10V= 0.326
TX:010C BCR:83 PWRC:59F BT: A WC:25 EDAC: C

Information about telemetry values and WOD files can be found at:

http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/wod.htm

[ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report]

DO-17 (DOVE)
(Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud AFSK)
Beacon 2401.220 MHz
Operational.   The DOVE S band beacon is on. The 2 meter
transmitter is on (145.825 MHz). Telemetry is being sent about
every 30 seconds. A scanned image of Dove's QSL is available
at the 425DXNews Web Site:

http://www-dx.deis.unibo.it/htdx/

[ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E, for this update]

WEBERSAT (WO-18)
(Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB, 1200 Baud PSK AX.25)
Operational.   WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 celebrated eight years in space
on January 22, 1998 at 0135 UTC! The satellite is gathering and
sending weekly Whole Orbit Data. The PHOTO task has been uploaded
and new photos are being taken and broadcast weekly. Since WO-18's
return to service is suspected to be seasonal in nature, it is suggested
you might want to give the bird a try at this time.

[ANS thanks the WO-18 Command Team for this news]

LUSAT-OSCAR-19
(Uplink 145.84, 145.86, 145.88, 145.90 MHz FM 1200 bps Manchester FSK
Downlink 437.125 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK)
Operating normally.

The telemetry is nominal.

Time is Sat Feb 07 1998 11:45:33 uptime is 962/21:40:23
+X (RX) Temp -1.552 D RX Temp -0.430 D
Bat 1 Temp 2.935 D Bat 2 Temp 3.496 D
Baseplt Temp 2.935 D RC PSK BP Temp -0.991 D
RC PSK HPA Tmp 0.131 D +Y Array Temp 4.057 D
PSK TX HPA Tmp -0.991 D +Z Array Temp -3.796 D
RC PSK TX Out 0.847 W

Total Array C= 0.212 Bat Ch Cur= 0.006 Ifb= 0.062 I+10V= 0.152
TX:100 BCR:34 PWRC:134AA BT:55 WC: 0

General information and telemetry samples can be found at:

http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/lo19.htm

[ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report]

UO-22
(Uplink: 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 435.120 MHz FM)
Operational.  Chris, G7UPN reports UO-22 is operating normally.

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, Operations Manager
of UO-22, for this report]

IO-26 (ITAMSAT)
Uplink 145.875, 145.900, 145.925, 145.950 MHz FM 1200 Baud PSK
Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB)
No report is available at this time.

/EX

Please send any amateur satellite or news items to ans-editor@amsat.org
or to new ANS Editor Dan James, NN0DJ, at nn0dj@amsat.org.

Daniel  (Dan) James
AMSAT News Service Bulletin Editor
Amateur callsign: NN0DJ
Grid Square EN-28iv
Warroad, Minnesota U.S.A.
e-mail:  nn0dj@amsat.org