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[jamsat-news:916] * SpaceNews 31-Aug-98 *


SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0831
* SpaceNews 31-Aug-98 *


BID: $SPC0831


			       =========
			       SpaceNews
			       =========


			  MONDAY AUGUST 31, 1998


SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA.  It
is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use.


* AMSAT-BDA WEB SITE DOWN *
===========================
Paul Willmott, VP9MU, reports that due to changes in company policy, Paul's
employer will no longer be hosting the AMSAT-BDA web site.  This means that
The Station Program can no longer be downloaded from this site. 

Paul is exploring alternative hosts, and hopefully will be up in some form
soon.  He realizes that this is a real problem for those wanting to get the
latest version of the program, but the situation is not under his control.

[Info via Paul Willmott, VP9MU  AMSAT-BDA]


* RS-12 NEWS *
==============
Tom Hart, AD1B, uses the RS-12 satellite on a very regular basis and recently
found a change in its transponder operation.  After returning from vacation,
he noticed that his 2 meter uplink signal could not be heard through the
satellite, yet other stations were using the satellite, indicating that
the 15 meter uplink was operating.  The next thing he checked was to see
if the 2 meter downlink was back on, and yes, it was.

In recent months, the satellite has changed:

1997-Sep-25: From Mode KT to A (from 15 meter up and 10 / 2 meter down
	     to 2 meter up and 10 meter down)

1998-Jan-13: From Mode A to KA (from 15 or 2 meter up and 10 meter down)

1998-Aug-26: (approximately) From KA to KT (back to 15 meter up and 2 /
	     10 meters down

The Mode A operation was apparently in response to the loss of RS-10. 
The switch to mode KA was probably due to the response from HF operators
who could not get on VHF.  Tom does not know the reason for change back
to KT, and reports that the 2 meter receiver has had a couple of problems
recently, and feels that perhaps it has failed to some extent.

[Info via Tom Hart, AD1B]


* STS-95 NEWS *
===============
STS-95 is scheduled for launch on 1998-Oct-29 at 19:00 UTC.  The following
Keplerian elements for STS-95 were computed from an OMS-2 state vector and
VEC2TLE based on the nominal launch time and a 0.1 drag multiplier:

STS-95      
1 99995U          98302.82291667  .00000061  00000-0  45454-5 0    12
2 99995  28.4670 153.2178 0002911 321.6309 284.6806 15.01992711    15

Satellite: STS-95      
Catalog number: 99995
Epoch time:      98302.82291667
Element set:       1
Inclination:       28.4670 deg
RA of node:       153.2178 deg
Eccentricity:    0.0002911
Arg of perigee:   321.6309 deg
Mean anomaly:     284.6806 deg
Mean motion:   15.01992711 rev/day
Decay rate:    6.11220e-07 rev/day^2
Epoch rev:               1
Checksum:              304

[Info via Ken Ernandes, N2WWD]


* OSCAR-29 NEWS *
=================
The FO-29 command station released the following FO-29 status announcement.

1) The present JA mode operation of the bird will continue for a while
   to investigate frequency of bit errors in the on-board-computer.
   Reports from radio amateurs who noticed that the value of CW TLM
   channnel 2A changed '00' would be appreciated.  The position of channel
   2A is the fifth item after 'HI HI' in CW telemetry.  The normal value
   is '00'.  Reports should be sent to lab@jarl.or.jp.

2) FO-29 has entered a period of "full illumination" (always illuminated
   by the Sun).  This period will extend through the end of December.

Next announcement might be released on Sept. 4th.

[Info via Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK]


* RS-12 NEWS CORRECTION *
=========================
Seli Oskarsson, TF3AO, reports that a news item in an earlier issue of
SpaceNews indicating that TF3TK was active on RS-12 was probably an error.
He reports that Fred, TF3FK is, in fact active on satellites, and believes
he is the only station in Iceland active on the satellites at this time.


* NASA FIRE UPDATE *
====================
Reports received from Ozzie, N4SCY, Pat, WD8LAQ, and Dan, N8FGV, indicate
that the Associated Press article regarding the recent fire at NASA's
Goddard Spaceflight Center that was printed in last week's issue of
SpaceNews was not very accurate.  In fact, no Hubble hardware was
damaged in the fire.


* AO-16 S-BAND NEWS *
=====================
Jim White, WD0E, reports that AO-16 is not presently transmitting on S-Band.
Groundstations requiring a weak S-Band signal should fro UoSAT-OSCAR-11's
S-Band beacon.

Jim states that if the AO-16's S-Band transmitter is turned on, the power
level on 70 cm must be turned down to below 1W (day) and even less during
eclipse.  That downlink power level makes operations quite difficult for
many stations, especially those using limited or omni antennas.  Particularly
with the APRS testing going on right now, spacecraft controllers do not want
to reduce the effectiveness of AO-16's UHF downlink.  

* THANKS! *
===========
Thanks to all who recently sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews,
especially:

				VK1KEP


* FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED *
===========================
Comments and input for SpaceNews should be directed to the editor
(John, KD2BD) via any of the paths listed below:
 
WWW       : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/
PACKET    : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA
INTERNET  : kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net
SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, LUSAT-OSCAR-19, KITSAT-OSCAR-25


      <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>>
               <<=- Serving the planet for over 10 years -=>>

/EX

--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- John A. Magliacane, KD2BD -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Internet  : kd2bd@amsat.org          |  Voice : +1.732.224.2948
Satellite : AO-16, LO-19, KO-25      |  Morse : -.-  -..  ..---  -...  -..
Packet    : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA  |  WWW   : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Titanic '12, Hindenberg '37, Windows '98 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


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