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[jamsat-news:1255] ANS 100


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS 100

ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North
America, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the
activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an
active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating
through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

AMSAT-NA is pleased to announce that recent and future development
in Amateur Radio satellites will be presented in Portland, Maine
- October 27-29, 2000 - at the 18th Space Symposium and
AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting. The 2000 Symposium Chairman
is George Caswell Sr., W1ME.

More information is available at:

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/symposium

(or from)  w1me@amsat.org

Information on AMSAT-NA is available at the following URL:

http://www.amsat.org       (or from)

AMSAT-NA
850 Sligo Avenue, Suite 600
Silver Spring, Maryland
                          20910-4703

Voice:  301-589-6062
FAX: 301-608-3410

Currently, AMSAT-NA supports the following (free) mailing lists:

* AMSAT News Service (ANS)
* General satellite discussion (AMSAT-BB)
* Orbit data (KEPS)
* Manned space missions (SAREX)
* District of Columbia area (AMSAT-DC)
* New England area (AMSAT-NE)
* AMSAT Educational Liaison mailing list (AMSAT-EDU)

To subscribe, or for more list information, visit the following URL:

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/listserv/menu.html

This edition of ANS is dedicated to the memory of former ANS Editor
'BJ' Arts, WT0N.

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-100.01
MIR IS OCCUPIED ONCE AGAIN

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 100.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 09, 2000
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-100.01

AMSAT's Bruce Paige, KK5DO, reported to ANS that two cosmonauts
--Sergei Zalyotin and Alexandr Kaleri-- have arrived on the Russian Mir
space station. Several news agencies (including CNN) also reported the
April 4th launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the successful
docking with Mir. In addition, CNN reported that this mission is the first
privately funded manned mission into space.

KK5DO told ANS (via the ARRL Letter) that this mission marks the
first time in about eight months the Mir space station has been occupied.
While the strong possibility exists for Amateur Radio operation, that is
not considered to be high on the crew's list of priorities. Their first job
is
to locate a slow leak in the aging spacecraft.

If amateur activity does take place, it most likely will be on 145.985 MHz
FM and could include voice, packet or SSTV. As this edition of ANS was
being edited, no Amateur Radio operation from Mir had been reported.

Stay tuned to ANS for further developments.

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, and the ARRL for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-100.02
ISS INTERIM CONTROL MODULE NEARING COMPLETION

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 100.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 09, 2000
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-100.02

NASA officials are reporting that a U.S. component for the
International Space Station will be ready to fly later this year if the key
Russian Zvezda Service Module is delayed again. The launch of the
Zvezda module has been delayed over two years. It is currently
scheduled to be launched this July.

"We have asked the team building the U.S. component to step up
activities for a launch no earlier than December,'' NASA spokesman
Dwayne Brown said.

Called the Interim Control Module, the $210 million, 30,000-pound U.S.
unit for the International Space Station is being built at the Naval
Research Laboratory facility near Washington D.C. The module, which
will carry 11,000 pounds of fuel, is being designed to keep the two
pieces of the international station in orbit if the Russians miss the
deadline with the Zvezda unit.

After undergoing hardware testing, the interim module will be readied for
shipment to Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the possible
December launch. NASA (however) reiterated the agency's position that
NASA officials fully expect the Zvezda module to fly in July.

Originally, NASA did not want to build the interim module. But after it
became clear in 1997 that the Russians would have trouble meeting
their commitment on the station, the project was launched.

If launched in December, the interim module would not be a permanent
measure (in that it does not provide living quarters like the Russian
Zvezda unit). However, it would keep the station orbiting, awaiting either
the Zvezda module at some point or a replacement system. If Zvezda is
launched in July, the interim module would be launched anyway, around
2001, to give the station added strength.

No Amateur Radio operation from the International Space Station is
scheduled until permanent human occupation is achieved aboard ISS.

Built by the United States, Russia and 14 other nations, the orbiting
International Space Station is intended to be an arena for space-based
research that will open new frontiers.

[ANS thanks NASA and Florida Today for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-100.03
EIGHTH ANNUAL JEWELRY CONTEST

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 100.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 09, 2000
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-100.03

AMSAT-NA will sponsor the 18th Space Symposium and AMSAT-NA
Annual Meeting this October. A mainstay of the Symposium has been
the annual jewelry contest, overseen by Dave, WB6LLO, and Leanore
KA6UCD.

Dave tells ANS that the contest this year is in the form of a brooch that
was "carved out of a gold plated circuit board in the shape of a tuna."
The board was donated by Qualcomm, delivered by Kerry Banke,
K6IZW, during the 1999 Symposium in San Diego, California. The
brooch is about three inches long, comes with a safety clasp, and can
be pinned on or hung from a suitable chain.

WB6LLO says the original board components have nothing to do with
the contest solution. Contestants, (should they choose to take the
assignment!) will need to determine the resonant frequency of the
parallel tank circuit formed by the 'eye' and the 'mouth' of the tuna.
The frequency is in one of the Amateur Satellite bands. The eye is a
miniature variable capacitor - set at 7.0 pF. The mouth is a coil of
#24 plated copper wire. It is 6 turns, .25 inches in diameter and .25
inches long. The wire spacing is one wire diameter. Dave reports the
angular separation to form the 'mouth' of the tuna is of some
consequence, and should be considered in the answer calculations.
WB6LLO also reports that the eventual winner can re-set the capacitor
to his frequency preference!

Leanore, KA6UCD, will be wearing the brooch at the October 2000
Symposium and will announce the winner of the contest at the
Symposium banquet. If the winner is present, the broach will be
presented to the winner.

Dave tells ANS that anyone can enter. Entry is very simple, just send
your guess by e-mail to:

ka6ucd@amsat.org          (or)          wb6llo@amsat.org

The answer should be in the following format:

XXX.XXXXXX MHz

Dave says that he has no way he can measure it that accurately, "but
the answer is set this way purposely to eliminate ties."

More information about the contest and the broach can be found at the
following URL:

http://home.san.rr.com/doguimont/uploads

[ANS thanks Dave Guimont, WB6LLO, and Leanore Guimont, KA6UCD,
for this information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-100.04
ANS IN BRIEF

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 100.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 09, 2000
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-100.04

ANS news in brief this week includes the following:

** Japan's Liberal Democratic Party has chosen a successor for Prime
Minister Keizo Obuchi, JI1KIT. Obuchi was hospitalized in Tokyo after
suffering a recent stroke. He's reportedly in intensive care, in a coma
and breathing with the aid of a respirator. Japan's Parliament has
elected Yoshiro Mori to succeed Obuchi. News accounts say Obuchi,
62, is unable to communicate. -ARRL Letter

** The AMSAT-DC Meeting and Space Seminar held recently has
been judged a huge success. Pat, WD8LAQ, reports "getting some
very nice e-mail responses on how well the gathering was organized
and enjoyed by all."  Pat passes on a big thank you to all who helped
in the success. For those who were unable to attend the meeting,
Charlie, K3VDB, has posted photos of the gathering at his web site.
Visit www.cyberia.com/pages/cheisler for details. -Pat, WD8LAQ

** Following a review of flight readiness, Space Shuttle managers
have confirmed April 24th as the launch date for Atlantis on a
mission that will continue the development of the orbiting International
Space Station. Atlantis' liftoff is planned for approximately 4:15 p.m.
EDT, within a 10-minute launch window. The precise launch time and
window could vary slightly and will be established about 24 hours
ahead of liftoff to optimize the Shuttle's performance. -NASA

** KE4AZN reports his first satellite contact via RS-13. Congratulations
from ANS! -NN0DJ

** Lars, SM0TGU, reports the AMSAT-SM web site has been updated
with information about the new WAP service. Check out the changes
at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-sm. -Lars, SM0TGU

** NASA and Boeing have signed a modification to the International
Space Station contract valued at $26.3 million for planned changes to
the assembly sequence baseline. -SpaceDaily

** Five new commemorative postage stamps have been issued by the
U.S. Postal Service to celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 10th
anniversary. The five stamps feature images of the Eagle Nebula, the
Ring Nebula, the Lagoon Nebula, the Egg Nebula and Galaxy NGC
1316, all taken by Hubble over the past 10 years. -Florida Today

--ANS BULLETIN END---

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-100.05
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 1

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 100.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 09, 2000
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-100.05

RADIO SPORT   RS-13
Uplink   21.260 to 21.300 MHz CW/SSB
Uplink   145.960 to 146.000 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink  29.460 to 29.500 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink  145.960 to 146.000 MHz CW/SSB
Beacon   29.458 MHz
Robot Uplink  145.840 MHz
Robot Downlink  29.504 MHz
Operational, in mode-KA with a 10-meter downlink
and a 15-meter and 2-meter uplink.

AC5DK's RS-12/13 Satellite Operators Page:

http://www.qsl.net/ac5dk/rs1213/rs1213.html

RADIO SPORT   RS-15
Uplink  145.858 to 145.898 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink   29.354 to  29.394 MHz CW/SSB
Beacon              29.352 MHz (intermittent)
SSB meeting frequency 29.380 MHz (unofficial)
Semi-operational, mode-A, using a 2-meter uplink and a
10-meter downlink.

Dave, WB6LLO, has operating information for both RS-15 and RS-13
on his web site. In addition to satellite data, antenna information for
mode-A operation is also featured. The WB6LLO web site URL is:

http://home.san.rr.com/doguimont/uploads

OSCAR 10   AO-10
Uplink  435.030 to 435.180 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 145.975 to 145.825 MHz CW/USB
Beacon  145.810 MHz (unmodulated carrier)
Semi-operational, mode-B. AO-10 has been locked into a 70-cm
uplink and a 2-meter downlink for several years.

DX continues to be worked (and heard) on AO-10. KP3A reports that
AO-10 has been working well with many European stations that have
good signals. KP3A is uplinking to AO-10 with 50-watts and a 9 turn
helical.

W4SM has more information about the satellite at 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]

AMRAD   AO-27
Uplink  145.850 MHz FM
Downlink 436.795 MHz FM
Operational, mode J.

An AO-27 question-and-answer page is available on the AMSAT-NA
web site. Ray, W2RS, recently updated the information. The URL is:

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/intro/ao27faq.html

AO-27 uses a method called Timed Eclipse Power Regulation (TEPR)
to regulate the on-board batteries. In simple terms, TEPR times how
long the satellite has been in an eclipse (or in the sun) and decides
what subsystems to turn on or off. The AO-27 pages on the AMSAT-NA
web site include an explanation of AO-27 operations (at):

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/ao27.html

Chuck, KM4NZ, recently reset the TEPR states on AO-27
(on 03/19/2000). TEPR 4 is 28 - TEPR 5 is 64

[ANS thanks Chuck Wyrick, KM4NZ, and Michael Wyrick, N4USI, for
AO-27 information]

UO-14
Uplink  145.975 MHz FM
Downlink 435.070 MHz FM
Operational, mode J.

UO-14 was launched in January 1990.

Tim, KG8OC, has updated the Michigan AMSAT Information Site
with UO-14 information, point your web browser to the following URL:

http://www.qsl.net/kg8oc

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN / ZL2TPO, for UO-14 information]

SUNSAT   SO-35
Operational. SunSat has been in mode-B (FM) using an uplink
of 436.291 MHz (+/- doppler) and a 145.825 MHz downlink.

SunSat was launched February 23, 1999 aboard a Delta II rocket from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The SunSat package includes 1200 and 9600 baud digital
store-and-forward capability and a voice 'parrot' repeater system
that will be used primarily for educational demonstrations.
The satellite has two VHF and two UHF transmit-receive systems.

Due to an improvement in its power budget, SunSat's Mode B repeater
will now also be enabled on most weekday evenings (except Monday).
A schedule of the active passes can be found at:

http://sunsat.ee.sun.ac.za/ham1.htm

GPS data is currently collected on Mondays. It takes as much as
twelve hours to fully recover the state of charge after these
experiments.

For more information on SunSat, visit the following URL:

http://sunsat.ee.sun.ac.za

A summary of the active modes and frequency allocations
for SunSat is available at the following URL:

http://esl.ee.sun.ac.za/~lochner/sunsat/modes.html

[ANS thanks Garth Milne ZR1AFH, for this information]

JAS-1b   FO-20
Uplink  145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB
Operational. FO-20 is in mode JA continuously.

JAS-1b (FO-20) was launched in February 1990 and continues
to function quite well.

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

JAS-2   FO-29
Voice/CW Mode JA
Uplink  145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB
Operational, rotated with digital mode and digi-talker.

JAS-2 was successfully launched on August 17, 1996, by an H-II
launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center.

Digital Mode JD
Uplink  145.850  145.870  145.910 MHz FM
Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud BPSK
Digitalker 435.910 MHz
Operational, rotated with analog mode and digi-talker.

Mike, KF4FDJ, has put together a very informative document on FO-29,
addressing analog, digital and digi-talker modes. To obtain a copy
e-mail Mike at:          kf4fdj@amsat.org

Kazu, JJ1WTK, reports the FO-29 operational schedule
(announced by the JARL) is as follows:

April 7-16th             - JA
April 17th-20th        - JD1200
April 21-May 7th     - JA

Mineo, JE9PEL, has updated his FO-29 satellite telemetry analysis
program. The software will automatically analyze all digital
telemetry from the satellite such as current, voltage and temperature.

The JE9PEL FO-29/software update is available at:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/

[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-29 status reports]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-100.06
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 2

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 100.06 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 09, 2000
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-100.06

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

Jim, AA7KC, reports the satellite has been operating very well, in
spite of the limited power budget. Downlink efficiencies are in the
80% range. KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, reports (from the KO-23
control team) that part of the problem with recent non-operation
has been the power budget aboard the satellite.

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, and KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ,
for KO-23 status information]

KITSAT   KO-25
Uplink  145.980 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK
Downlink 436.500 MHz FM
Operational.

Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-25 is operational and receiving moderate traffic
with average downlink efficiencies at 80%.

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for KO-25 status information]

UOSAT   UO-22
Uplink  145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK
Downlink 435.120 MHz FM
Operational.

Chris Jackson, G7UPN, reports to ANS that UO-22 has now entered full
sunlight and the temperatures have increased considerably. Controllers
have turned the satellite upside down to point the critical systems to cold
space. This has reduced the temperature on various systems (such as
the batteries) by between 5 and 10 degrees. The unfortunate by-product
of this is that the downlink is now quite weak.

Only the 145.900 MHz receiver is usable for communications at the
moment.

More information on the satellite is available at the following URL:

http://www.sstl.co.uk/

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for UO-22
status information]

OSCAR-11
Downlink  145.825 MHz FM, 1200 baud AFSK
Mode-S Beacon 2401.500 MHz
Operational.

OSCAR-11 celebrated its sixteenth birthday on March 1, 2000.

During the period of 15-February to 16-March - good signals have
been received from the 145 MHz beacon. Battery voltage during daylight
passes has been unchanged. The average DC value observed was
13.8 volts, with a range of 13.4 to 14.1 volts. The internal satellite
temperatures have decreased by one degree Celsius. They are now
3.8C and 2.2C for battery and telemetry electronics respectively. A
single WOD survey of channels 10, 20, 30 and 40 has been transmitted.

The operating schedule is as follows:

        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)

The ASCII bulletin is currently a static message, detailing modes and
frequencies of all active amateur radio satellites.

More information on OSCAR-11 is available at the following URL:

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/

[ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for OSCAR-11 status information]

LUSAT   LO-19
Uplink 145.84 145.86 145.88 145.90 MHz FM
               using 1200 baud Manchester FSK
CW downlink  437.125 MHz
Digital downlink  437.150 MHz SSB RC-BPSK 1200 baud PSK
Currently semi-operational. The CW beacon is sending eight telemetry
channels and one status channel. Currently, no BBS service is available.
The digipeater is active.

Mineo, JE9PEL, has recorded LO-19 CW and PSK telemetry and
placed the information on his Internet homepage site at:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/

General information and telemetry samples can be found at:

http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu/lo19.htm

[ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for LO-19 status information]

PACSAT   AO-16
Uplink  145.90 145.92 145.94 145.86 MHz FM
                         using 1200 baud Manchester FSK
Downlink 437.025 MHz SSB RC-BPSK 1200 baud PSK
Mode-S Beacon 2401.1428 MHz
Semi-operational.

Russ, WJ9F, reports ground stations are currently running memory
test software on the satellite. In addition to the memory testing, the
spacecraft spin rate around the vertical (Z) axis has created a less
than ideal condition for battery charging. The spin rate evaluation
confirms a spin rate of 1 revolution every 18 minutes. Power output
is low due to this spin rate.

The S-band transmitter is currently off.

A new WOD collection of current graphics (dated 02/26/2000)
can be found at:

http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu

[ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for AO-16 status information]

TMSAT-1   TO-31
Uplink  145.925 MHz  9600 baud FSK
Downlink 436.925 MHz  9600 baud FSK
Operational.

ProcMail V2.00G has been released by G7UPN. This software permits
the processing of image files from TO-31. It has been posted to the
AMSAT-NA FTP site at the following URL:

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/software/win32/wisp

Many of the high-resolution color images transmitted by TMSAT are
compressed using a UoSAT compression format. This format is
supported by the VK5HI CCD display program.

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for TO-31 status
information]

UoSAT-12   UO-36
Uplink  145.960 MHz  9600 baud FSK
Downlink 437.025 MHz   437.400 MHz

UoSAT-12 was successfully launched on April 21, 1999 from the
Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome. UO-36 carries a number of imaging
payloads, digital store-and-forward communications and mode L/S
transponders.

The BBS is open, although uploading (and the downlink) may be
disabled at times. Joel, K2SAT, is now active on the digital birds
(with help from W4SM, G0ORX and DK9SJ). Joel reports that he
has had great success with UO-36 downloads.

The VK5HI viewer shareware is available on the AMSAT-NA
web site at the following URL:

ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/software/win32/display/ccddsp97-119.zip

Further information on UO-36 is available from: http://www.sstl.co.uk/

[ANS thanks Chris G7UPN/ZL2TPO, and the University of Surrey for
this information]

ITAMSAT   IO-26
Uplink  145.875 145.900 145.925 145.950 MHz FM 1200 baud
Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB
Semi-operational, the digipeater function is on.

IO-26 was launched on the September 26, 1993.

Alberto, I2KBD, reports IO-26 has been opened to APRS use.

[ANS thanks ITAMSAT Project Manager Alberto E. Zagni, I2KBD, for this
information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-100.07
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 3

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 100.07 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 09, 2000
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-100.07

THE FOLLOWING ARE IN ORBIT BUT ARE
NON-OPERATIONAL AT THIS TIME:

RADIO SPORT   RS-12
Uplink   21.210 to 21.250 MHz CW/SSB
Uplink   145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink  29.410 to 29.450 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink  145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB
Beacon   29.408 MHz
Robot Uplink  21.129 MHz
Robot Downlink  29.454 MHz
Non-operational. No operation in 2000 has been observed.

TECHSAT-1B   GO-32
Downlink  435.225 MHz using HDLC telemetry

Efforts were reported to be underway to bring GO-32 on line,
however no additional information has been received by ANS
(the last report was dated November 1999).

The TechSat-1B micro-satellite was successfully launched from the
Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998.

Last reported, the satellite does not have a continuos beacon, but does
transmit a 9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (for a continuous 3
seconds in length), on 435.225 MHz.

The TechSat team has constructed a home page about TechSat.
To view the site, point your web browser to:

http://techsat.internet-zahav.net/

PANSAT   PO-34
Uplink/downlink frequencies have never been released.
The satellite is not currently available for general uplink transmissions.

PanSat, developed by the Naval Postgraduate School, was launched
from the shuttle Discovery (during STS-95) on October 29, 1998.
At the time of launch, PanSat spread-spectrum digital transponders
were promised to be available to Amateur Radio operators along with
software to utilize this technology. To date, this has not happened.

For more information, visit the official PanSat web site at:

http://www.sp.nps.navy.mil/pansat/

PanSat was the featured cover article on the July/August 1999 issue
of the AMSAT-NA Journal (written by KD6DRA and N7HPR).

[ANS thanks Dan Sakoda, KD6DRA, for this information]

MIR SPACE STATION
Ham radio activity aboard the Mir space station came to a close on
August 28, 1999 as the crew (at that time) returned to Earth.

AMSAT's Bruce Paige, KK5DO, reported to ANS that two cosmonauts
--Sergei Zalyotin and Alexandr Kaleri-- have arrived on the Russian Mir
space station. Several news agencies (including CNN) also reported the
April 4th launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the successful
docking with Mir.

While the strong possibility exists for Amateur Radio operation, that is
not considered to be high on the crew's list of priorities. Their first job
is
to locate a slow leak in the aging spacecraft.

Stay tuned to ANS for further developments.

Current Amateur Radio equipment aboard Mir includes:

MIR SAFEX II 70-cm Repeater
Uplink  435.750 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 141.3 Hz
Downlink 437.950 MHz FM
Not operational. No operation in 1999 or 2000 has been observed.

MIR SAFEX II 70-cm QSO Mode
Uplink  435.725 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 151.4 Hz
Downlink 437.925 MHz FM
Not operational. No operation in 1999 or 2000 has been observed.

MIR PERSONAL MESSAGE SYSTEM (PMS)
Uplink/Downlink 145.985 MHz FM 1200 baud AFSK
Not operational.

DOVE   DO-17
Downlink 145.825 MHz FM 1200 baud AFSK
2401.220 MHz
Non-operational.

DOVE stopped transmitting in March 1998. The 145.825 MHz and
2401.220 MHz downlinks are off the air and the satellite has not
responded to ground station control. No additional information is
available at this time.

WEBERSAT   WO-18
Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB 1200 baud PSK AX.25
Non-operational.

WO-18 is reported to be in MBL mode after a software crash.
No additional information is available at this time.

SEDSAT-1   SO-33
Downlink 437.910 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK
The satellite is not currently available for uplink transmissions and
image and transponder recovery efforts have been unsuccessful.

SedSat-1, signifying Students for the Exploration and Development of
Space Satellite number one, was successfully launched and placed in
orbit on Saturday, October 24, 1998.

SedSat-1 has downlinked months worth of telemetry data on the
performance of its electrical power system parameters. The Nickel
Metal Hydride batteries on the spacecraft were experimental and
experienced some abuse due to a power negative situation. This
information has provided NASA with useful information. With the
exception of the imaging system and the use of the transponders,
SedSat-1 has been judged a success.

For more information on SedSat-1 visit the satellite web site at the
following URL:

http://www.seds.org/sedsat

No additional information is available at this time.

/EX

--ANS END---

ANS would like to thank Mike Seguin, N1JEZ, ANS principal satellite
investigator, for helping provide current satellite information.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to
ans-editor@amsat.org

Daniel  (Dan) James
AMSAT News Service Bulletin Editor
AMSAT-NA Vice President/Public Affairs
Amateur callsign: NN0DJ
Grid Square EN28iv
Warroad, Minnesota U.S.A.
E-mail:  nn0dj@amsat.org


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