[jamsat-news:829] ANS 137

[Dan James <nn0dj@means.net> (by way of Paul Williamson <kb5mu@amsat.org>)]

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE	
ANS 137	

Please note: because of Dayton Hamvention activities, the ANS release this 
week is a condensed version.

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.01
SPECIAL EVENT STATION GB50MKI

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 137.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, May 17, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-130.07

A special event amateur radio station using the call sign GB50MKI, will be 
active starting June 7, 1998, celebrating 50 years of computing.

June of 1948 saw the birth of the first stored-program electronic digital 
computer, at the University of Manchester in England. The ability to store 
and run any program put in by a user set this machine apart from all the 
special purpose computing machines that had been used at the time, making 
this model the first computer as we know it today. The machine was known as 
the Manchester Mark 1.

To commemorate this landmark of scientific research, a large number of 
activities will take place in Manchester in June 1998. Events include the 
commissioning of an exact replica of the Manchester Mark 1, public lectures 
and eleven scientific conferences that will all be held at the
University of Manchester.

To carry the celebrations to a world-wide community, a special event 
amateur radio station will be active starting June 7th, using the call sign 
GB 50 MKI (50 years Mark 1).

GB50MKI will transmit on all amateur radio bands using SSB, CW and FM 
modes, but focussing in particular on data modes. Satellite operation is 
planned. The station will be active from June 7th through the end of the 
month. Special QSL cards will be issued.

For details, consult the GB50MKI web site at the following URL:

http://www.gb50mki.org/

[ANS thanks Simon Kahn, G0STU, for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-137.02
K9SLQ PHOTO PAGE

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 137.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, May 17, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-130.02

Its time to take another look at the latest satellite operator photographs 
at the K9SLQ web site. Wayne has started his second page of photos, 
featuring many of the well known amateurs active in the satellite world. 
W0SL, KG2IC, KK3K, W8ZCF, N0ZHE and K7YCH are all featured. DX station 
photos include VE6ITV, F1NGP, CO2KK, CT1EAT and IW9ELR.

If you have not sent in your photograph, "get one in today," says Wayne. 
Submissions should be sent electronically to K9SLQ, with a .jpeg formatted 
photograph sent as an attachment.

Wayne's e-mail address is:

k9slq@parlorcity.com

The K9SLQ web site can be accessed using the following URL:

http://www.parlorcity.com/k9slq

[ANS thanks Wayne Grove, K9SLQ, for his satellite operators web site]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.03
ILA '98 AEROSPACE EXHIBITION BERLIN, GERMANY

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 130.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, May 17, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-130.03

>From May 18-24, 1998, the ILA '98 - International Aerospace Exhibition is 
open to the public at Schoenefeld International Airport in Berlin, Germany. 
 Models of the AMSAT Phase-3D and Sputnik RS-17 satellites will be 
displayed. During the lecture presentation, the P3D, RS-17 and Mir programs 
will be discussed.

Further information on the event is available at the following URL:

http://www.ila-berlin.de/

[ANS thanks Rudolf Appel, AMSAT-DL, for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.04
ANS IN BRIEF

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 130.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, May 17, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-130.04

ANS satellite news in brief this week includes the following:

** The 'Fly Your QSL Card on P3D' campaign is going well. During May, AMSAT 
is collecting QSL cards which will be scanned and converted into digital 
images. These images will then be saved onto a computer CD-ROM which will 
be secured to the Phase 3D spacecraft and launched with it. More 
information is available at the AMSAT-NA web site, http://www.amsat.org. If 
you want to fly your QSL card on Phase 3D, send your QSL card along with a 
minimum donation of twenty-five dollars ($25 US) to: Fly Your QSL on Phase 
3D, c/o AMSAT-NA, 850 Sligo Avenue, Suite 600, Silver Spring, MD 
 20910-4703. - Keith, KB1SF

** Last week's ANS noted the FCC has put on notice for public comment a 
Petition filed by the Land Mobile Communications Council seeking, among 
other things, "immediate reallocation of 420-430 MHz, paired with 440-450 
MHz, from Federal use to the Private Mobile Radio Service". This is a 
reminder that amateurs should submit comments this week to; RM 9267, 
Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M St., NW Washington, DC 
20554. Comments are due by June 1. - AMSAT BB

** 'MacDoppler', a new Macintosh software package providing both antenna 
pointing (Yaesu G-5400 rotors) and doppler correction (Icom IC-821H, Yaesu 
FT-736R and AOR A3000A) for a given satellite that is being tracked.   This 
is a very sophisticated package that handles both analog and digital 
satellites. Complete information will be available from AMSAT-NA soon. - 
AMSAT BB

** Volunteers in Technical Assistance, an organization with close ties to 
ham radio has received authorization to launch and operate a satellite. The 
bird will be in low Earth orbit operating on 149.810-149.90 MHz for uplink 
and 400.598-400.645 MHz as downlink. The satellite will be licensed for 
non-voice, non-geostationary operation in the Mobile Satellite Service. - 
Newsline

** The AMSAT-NA office was closed for Dayton. Martha reports the office has 
opened again for normal business on Monday, May 18th.
-  AMSAT-BB

** The AMSAT-UK Colloquium program is nearly full according to G3RWL. 
Contact Richard at g3rwl@amsat.org for more details.
- AMSAT BB

** Mike, N1JEZ reports receiving a QSL for a contact made on AO-10  with 
Vlad, UR4LF. Correct QSL information for UR4LF is; Vladimir Mezencev, 
UR4LF, 12/24 Haribaldi, Kharkiv, 310142, Ukraine.
- AMSAT BB

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.05
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 130.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, May 17, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-130.05

MIR/SAFEX
SAFEX II 70 cm Repeater
Uplink 435.750 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 141.3 Hz	
Downlink 437.950 MHz FM 	
Semi-operational.

SAFEX II 70 cm QSO Mode
Uplink 435.725 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 151.4 Hz	
Downlink 437.925 MHz FM	
Semi-operational.

PMS
Uplink/Downlink 145.985 MHz FM  1200 Baud AFSK 	
Operational.

All operations on R0MIR-1 are normal. The PBBS is running a Kantronics 
KPC-9612 + V.8.1 TNC. The commands a similar to most PBBS and BBS systems. 
There have been over 3000 messages sent through the new PBBS so far and it 
looks as if many will follow.

[ANS thanks Scott Avery, WA6LIE, and the MIREX team for Mir status 
information]

RS-12
Uplink 145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB	
Downlink 29.410 to 29.450 MHz CW/SSB	
Operational, mode KA.

RS-15
Uplink 145.858 to 145.898 MHz CW/SSB	
Downlink 29.354 to 29.394 MHz CW/SSB 	
Semi-operational.

CW appears to be the most successful mode on RS-15.

RS-16
The 435 MHz beacon (only) is operational. Recent attempts to command the 
Mode A transponder on have been unsuccessful.

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	
	
AO-10
Uplink 435.030 to 435.180 MHz CW/LSB	
Downlink 145.975 to 145.825 MHz CW/USB	
Semi-operational.

XE1KK reports working DC3ZB on AO-10 recently with 5X5 signals and some 
QSB.

Stacey Mills, W4SM, reports solar illumination on AO-10 appears to be
way down and the satellite is nearly "comatose."  W4SM can hear the
beacon (with FMing) and can hear his downlink as well, but the signals
are very, very weak. Things will probably continue to get worse during
May and probably will not be any better by Field Day.  However, the
satellite should improve again later in the summer and peak in August.

W4SM has more information about the satellite on his AO-10 web page, using 
the following URL:

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

[ANS thanks Stacey Mills, W4SM for his AO-10 status information and web 
site]

AO-27
Uplink 145.850 MHz FM	
Downlink 436.792 MHz FM	
Operational.

The satellite is very active, both on weekday and weekend passes.

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

FO-20
Uplink 145.900 to 146.00 MHz CW/LSB	
Downlink 435.80 to 435.90 MHz CW/USB	
Operational.      FO-20 in mode JA continuously.

[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK for his FO-20 status reports]

FO-29
Voice/CW Mode JA	
Uplink 145.900 to 146.00 MHz CW/LSB	
Downlink 435.80 to 435.90 MHz CW/USB	
Operational.

Digital Mode JD	
Uplink 145.850   145.870  145.910 MHz FM	
Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud BPSK	
Not operational, the satellite is in JA (voice) mode.

Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, tells ANS that FO-29 was switched into mode JA 
because of 2 bit errors detected in the digital operation of the 
on-board-computer. Software reloading into FO-29 from the command station 
is going on, with 40 percent completed. A new status announcement will be 
on released on May 29th.

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

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.06
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 130.06 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, May 17, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-130.06

KO-23
Uplink 145.900 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK	
Downlink 435.175 MHz FM	
Operational.

KO-25
Uplink 145.980 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK	
Downlink 436.50 MHz FM	
Operational.

OSCAR-11
Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud PSK	
Beacon 2401.500 MHz	
Operational.

During the period April 16 - May 15, 1998, good signals have been received 
from the 145.826 MHz beacon. Telemetry has shown that the battery voltage 
has been rather low, with values between 13.3 - 14.0. No explanations of 
the changed power supply currents have been received. Internal temperatures 
have remained fairly constant.

A single WOD survey has been transmitted.

Three reports of mode-S beacon reception have been received, from CX6DD, 
N4OLN and HB9FMX/G4KAM. Beacon reception reports should be sent to: 
 g3cwv@amsat.org.

In response to many requests for information about methods of decoding 
OSCAR-11 signals, a package of hardware information has been added to the 
satellite web site. The site also contains some software for capturing 
data, decoding ASCII telemetry and WOD information.
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	
Operating normally.

The telemetry is nominal. The S band transmitter is off.

Time is Sat May 09 11:20:40 1998 uptime is 1329/05:49:23.
Total Array C= 0.277 Bat Ch Cur=-0.015 Ifb= 0.058 I+10V= 0.278
TX:010B BCR:83 PWRC:59E BT: A WC:25 EDAC:C3

General information and telemetry WOD files can find it in:

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	
Currently non-operational.

The 145.825 MHz and 2401.220 MHz downlinks are off the air. Command
stations are working on the problem.

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

WEBERSAT (WO-18)
Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB  1200 Baud PSK AX.25	
Currently non-operational.

WO-18 is in MBL mode after a software crash. Additional information is not 
available 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 May 09 12:12:33 1998 uptime is 1053/22:07:23.
Total Array C= 0.311 Bat Ch Cur= 0.089 Ifb= 0.012 I+10V= 0.171
TX:106 BCR:30 PWRC:333A31 BT:34 WC:35

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.

The satellite 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	
Semi-operational.

Telemetry is being downloaded on 435.822 MHz at 1200 baud PSK.

[ANS thanks Alberto Zagni, I2KBD, ITAMSAT Mission Director for this 
information]

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

/EX

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