[jamsat-news:984] * SpaceNews 14-Dec-98 *

[John Magliacane <magliaco@email.njin.net>]

SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC1214
* SpaceNews 14-Dec-98 *


BID: $SPC1214


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


		        MONDAY DECEMBER 14, 1998


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


* STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT ON OSCAR *
===============================
Ray Soifer, W2RS, cordially invites amateur radio operators around the
world to join in the 27th Annual Straight Key Night (SKN) sponsored by
AMSAT-North America.  Straight Key Night is entirely unofficial.  There
are no rules, no scoring and best of all, no need to send in a log.
The only thing that satellite operators need to do to participate is
call CQ-SKN in the CW passband segment of any OSCAR satellite from
0000 to 2359 UTC on January 1, 1999, or answer a CQ-SKN call from
another station.  OSCAR Zero (EME) contacts also count.  Of course,
all SKN operating must take place on CW using a straight hand key.

In addition to making contacts via satellite, participating sat-ops
are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for recognition as having
the "best fist".  Nomination should be addessed to Ray via e-mail to:

	w2rs@amsat.org

or via packet radio to:

	W2RS@WA2SNA or W2RS@GB7HSN

Nominations will also be accepted via W2RS's callbook address.

Nominations for best fist will be reported by Ray sometime in early
February 1999.

[Info via Ray Soifer, W2RS]


* RS-18 HAS GONE SILENT *
=========================
According to received reports, RS-18/Sputnik-41 appears to have gone silent
on or about 1998-Dec-11.  RS-18/Sputnik-41 was deployed from the Mir space
station by Russian cosmonauts during a spacewalk that occurred on 1998-Nov-10.
The spacecraft was battery powered, and was designed to operate for a period
of 30 days.  It appears to have gone silent very close to schedule.

Those who copied signals from RS-18/Sputnik-41 may send reception reports
to:
	AMSAT-France
	RS-18 QSL Manager
	14 bis rue des Gourlis
	92 500 Rueil-Malmaison

A self-addressed envelope measuring at least 10.5 cm by 15 cm and two IRCs
should be included with your reception report.  A list of QSLs received by
the French QSL manager is available at the following URL (Note: The list
changes daily as cards are received):

	http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ascerland/sp41QSL.htm


* MIR ACTIVE ON SSTV *
======================
Al Emer, N2YAC reports receiving slow-scan television (SSTV) video from
the amateur radio station on-board the Mir space station on 1998-Dec-12
at 16:01 UTC from New Jersey on a frequency of 145.820 MHz.  Al reported
receiving an image with good quality and very little noise.  The image
received was in Robot 36 second mode.

Further information on slow-scan television, including the various methods
that can be used to receive SSTV images using a personal computer, is
available at the following URL:

	http://www.ultranet.com/~sstv


* FO-29 NEWS *
==============
The Fuji-OSCAR-29 command station of the JARL has released the following
information regarding the status of the FO-29 satellite.  The eclipse time
FO-29 is experiencing will gradually increase and reach 20% at the end of
December.  The FO-29 On-Board Computer (OBC) accepted commands from ground
control while the satellite was in an "eclipse season" in August.  The
command team expects to make the satellite available for Mode JD operation
after December.  Digitalker operation is also planned.

[Info via Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK]


* 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, KITSAT-OSCAR-25


      <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>>
	    <<=- Serving the planet (and beyond) since 1987 -=>>

/EX

--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- John A. Magliacane, KD2BD -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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