[jamsat-news:736] ANS-004 WEEKLY BULLETINS

["BJ Arts" <bjarts@the-bridge.net> (by way of Paul Williamson <kb5mu@amsat.org>)]

BJ Arts, WT0N, Amsat News Service editor 
WT0N's Homepage http://www.qsl.net/wt0n
Daniel (Dan) James, NN0DJ, Amsat News Service Assistant editor

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.01
SPUTNIK PS2 UPDATE

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.01

Reports from around the world appear to confirm that the Sputnik PS2
mini-satellite has stopped transmitting. The beacon signal from the
working model of the original Sputnik 1 satellite was last monitored
on December 29 or 30. The lithium battery-powered 100 mW
transmitter had continued working for eight weeks after its launch
by hand from the Russian Mir space station on November 3,
transmitting a beep-beep tone on 145.82 MHz, and many hams around
the globe had continued to track the satellite's progress. The
frequency of the tone indicated the satellite's internal
temperature. Recent reports from stations monitoring the Sputnik
PS2 indicated its signals were getting weaker.

Students from the FR5KJ radio club at Jules Reydellet College in St.
Denis, Reunion Island, and at the Polytechnic Laboratory of Nalchik
Kabardine in Russia cooperated in building the mini-Sputnik. The
Russian students built the satellite body, while the French students
fabricated the transmitter inside. Two working models of the
Sputnik were assembled and transported to Mir, but only one was
launched. The Sputnik PS2, also called RS-17, surpassed the life of
its original namesake by several weeks. The little satellite was a
one-third scale model of the original and had been estimated to
remain in operation for approximately 40 days.

As of December 31, the satellite had not been officially declared
dead, however.

[ANS thanks the ARRL for this report.]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.02
200TH HOUSTON AMSAT NET 

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.02

January 6, 1998 will mark the 200th time the Houston AMSAT Net has 
been transmitted over commercial satellite. (the net has been going 
on much longer than that).

To celebrate, they will have live interviews with Bill Tynan, W3XO 
(president AMSAT-NA), Keith Baker, KB1SF (executive vice president of 
AMSAT-NA), Stan Wood, WA4NFY(board of director AMSAT-NA and P3D 
engineer), Lou McFadin (manager P3D integration lab), W5DID, Frank 
Bauer, KA3HDO (vice president of manned space flight AMSAT-NA). 

What might be discussed? P3D integration, P3D launch, International 
Space Station (ISS) and SAREX, the future of satellites? You will 
have to listen in to find out.

Also a little bit of trivia about the net will also be on the agenda 
besides the regular bulletins and information.

You can join them on KU-band satellite Hughes SBS6, T13B, 6.2 MHz wide 
band audio and also for their live Real Audio feed at 
http://www.amsatnet.com
They use 28.8 mono encoding and it sounds excellent.

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Area Coordinator
for this information.]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.03
FIND EARTHWATCH SPACECRAFT

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.03

AMSATers, particularly those in the Southern Hemisphere are asked to help
find the EARTHWATCH Spacecraft. It was launched from Russia just before
Christmas and apparently stopped transmitting sometime Christmas day. Rex
Richardson of Orbital Sciences Corp. has asked for our help. It is they who
are to conduct the thermal vacuum testing for Phase 3D. So, we owe it to
them to try to help them if we can.

The EARTHWATCH spacecraft parameters are as follows:

Frequency: 401.5 MHz
Modulation FSK @ 192000 BPS ( I believe it is a burst at a 1 sec rep rate)

The Ephemeris sets are as follows:
NORAD TWO LINE ELEMENTS:

1. 25123U 97085A 97363.20916818 +.00003168 +0.0000-0 +12102-3 0 00353

2. 25123 097.2987 078.9864 0006224 096.5759 263.6190 15.27335732000717

NAVSPACUR ONE LINE ELEMENTS
1. 25123.5375799.8961343.00663.0006224.2703285.9480360.2702742971229
IF YOU MAKE ANY CONTACT PLEASE RESPOND to RX Richardson at
rexrichardson@oscsystems.com

[ANS thanks Bill Tynan W3XO, AMSAT-NA president, for this item.]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.04
AO-16 S BAND OFF

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.04

Jim White, WD0E, informs the ANS that AO-16 S band transmitter is off.
About three weeks ago they had it on for some testing and confirmed AO-16 
does not have the power budget to keep it on and keep the 70 cm transmitter 
at a power level that supports entry level ground station operations. The
437.05 MHz transmitter has to be run at about .5 W to allow the S
transmitter to remain on. Any higher than that and the software turns the
S off to maintain a safe battery voltage.

Folks interested in testing S receive equipment can use either the DOVE S
transmitter on 2401.220 MHz or the UO-11 S transmitter. For further, see
the most recent AMSAT Journal or the article on the AMSAT-NA WEB page.

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

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.05
ANTARCTICA ON UO-22

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.05

For those who haven't been following Ron Ross' ,KE6JAB, adventures in
Antarctica on UO-22, his narratives and photos are on
http://www.thistle.org. There are 4 photos there now, one is there but not
posted yet, and one on UO-22 that will be downloaded and posted soon. He
plans to try KO-25 also, but has had limited success there on the uplink.

Ron is using an IC-821, a small storage battery which he recharges with
solar cells, a laptop PC running WiSP16, and two eggbeater antennas mounted
on six foot poles stuck in the snow about 20 feet apart.

[ANS thanks Roy Welch, W0SL, for this news.]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.06
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.06 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.06

MIR 
The PMS 2-meter radio station was temporarily moved from the core module
and installed in the Priroda Module. 
The crew also installed a new modem a few weeks ago. But due to the crews
heavy work load, all of the TNC parameters have not been properly 
configured. Mirex would like the stations monitoring the PMS to please
be patient while we make adjustments.
[ANS thanks the MIREX team for this information]

SAFEX, MIR 70 cm Repeater (Uplink 435.750 MHz FM, Downlink 437.950 MHz
FM, subaudible tone 141.3 Hz)
The repeater has been active intermittently. This week, the crew turned
off the PL tone feature of the repeater. This makes
it easier for weak stations to access the repeater. It also has the side
effect of keeping the repeater up and transmitting
static for long periods of time followed by short time-outs. Make sure you
compensate for doppler for EACH transmission
Down link Uplink split
437.959 435.741 2.218
437.958 435.742 2.216
437.956 435.744 2.212
437.954 435.746 2.208
437.952 435.748 2.204
437.950 435.750 2.200
437.948 435.752 2.196
437.946 435.754 2.192
437.944 435.756 2.188
437.942 435.758 2.184
437.941 435.759 2.182

[ANS thanks the MIREX team for this information]

RS-12
(Uplink, 145.91-145.95 MHz CW/SSB, Downlink 29.41-29.45 MHz)
Operational, now in mode KA. 
Wayne Day, N5WD, tells the Amsat News Service that 
on 1/3/98 at 0750, K5PK (Mode K) and Wayne (Mode A) QSO'ed on
RS-12's orbit # 34664. He mentioned that he noticed a message
on his local packet system that mentioned that RS-12 was back
into Mode K.
Wayne Day, N5WD,

RS-15
(Uplink 145.858-145.898 MHz CW/SSB, Downlink 29.354-29.394 MHz CW/SSB) 
Operational. 

RS-16
At this time only the beacons are on.
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 = 1.2 W /4 W

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

RS-17
As of December 31, although the satellite had not been officially declared
dead, a number of observers has reported its 145.820 MHz missing.
New Sputnik-40 QSL Address QSL Information is as follows:
QSL Information for SWL (Short Wave Listener)

Sergey Samburov (RV3DR)
P.O. Box 73
Korolev-10 City
141070, Russia
 [ANS thanks the MIREX team for this information]

AO-10
(Uplink 435.030-435.18 MHz CW/LSB, Downlink 145.975-145.825 MHz
CW/USB)
Operational. 

AO-27
(Uplink 145.85 MHz FM, Downlink 436.792 MHz FM)
Operational
[ANS thanks Michael Wyrick, N4USI, AO-27 Control-op, for this update]

FO-20
(Uplink 145.9-146.0 MHz CW/LSB, Downlink 435.8-435.9 MHz CW/USB)
Operational. FO-20 in mode JA continuously.
FO-20, like many Leo's is in a "sun synchronous" orbit. The precession in
the RAAN of its orbit due to the earth's oblateness matches the earth's
rotation around the sun so that FO-20 always has about 33 minutes of
eclipse time each orbit and the rest in sunshine. A sun synchronous orbit
is a retrograde LEO polar orbit with an inclination of about 98 degrees.
At this inclination RAAN precession = 360 degrees in 365 days. The
stability in temperature and solar energy is, needless to say, very
helpful. The ratio of eclipse to sunlight can be adjusted by varying
initial orbital elements. FO-29, for example, is virtually always in
sunlight, UO-11 has about 22 minutes of eclipse, most seem to run about 33
minutes eclipse per orbit. 

This also means that FO-20 (and other sun synchronous sats) appear at your
location at about the same "sun time" every day. At my QTH FO-20 goes over
about 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM every day. UO-11, AO-16, DO-17, WO-18, LO-19,
UO-22, KO-25, AO-27, FO-29 etc are also in sun synchronous orbits. KO-23,
RS-12/13, RS-15, though in highly inclined orbits, are not sun synchronous.
[ANS thanks Stacey Mills, W4SM, and Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report]

FO-29
Voice/CW Mode JA
(Uplink 145.9-146.0 MHz CW/LSB, Downlink 435.8-435.9 MHz CW/USB)
Digital Mode JD
(Uplink 145.85, 145.87, 145.910 MHz FM, Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600
baud BPSK)
Operational.
1997
Dec. 26 07:42z JA
1998
Jan. 9 07:14z JD1200
Jan .23 08:30z JA
Jan. 30 07:24z JD9600
Feb. 6 08:00z JA
Feb. 20 07:34z Digi-talker
Feb. 27 08:13z JA
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report.]
/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.07
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.07 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.07

KO-23
(Uplink 145.85, 145.9 MHz FM, Downlink 435.175 MHz FM,
9600 Baud FSK)
KO-23 operating normally.
[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for this report]

KO-25
(Uplink 145.980 MHz FM, Downlink 436.5 MHz FM, 9600 Baud FSK.)
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)
Operating normally. 
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)

There are also additional status blocks after each bulletin is
transmitted, and between ASCII TLM and WOD.

The mode-S beacon is ON, transmitting an unmodulated carrier, but
telemetry indicates that it has partially failed, and delivering half
power. This beacon is a useful test source for those testing mode-S
converters, prior to the launch of P3-D. It is considerably weaker
than DOVE, which should be used for initial testing. Any reports of
reception on 2401 MHz. would be most welcome. Please e-mail
g3cwv@amsat.org.

The 435.025 MHz. beacon is normally OFF. However it can sometimes be
heard when the satellite is being commanded by ground control, ie.
within range of Guildford, UK. When the 435 beacon is transmitting,
the 145 beacon is normally OFF. The data transmitted is mainly
binary.

OSCAR-11 users are welcome to visit my web site. It contains some
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 145.9, 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. AO-16 S band transmitter is off.
uptime is 1203/07:13:42. Time is Sat Jan 03 12:42:30 1998
+X (RX) Temp -5.448 D
RX Temp 0.603 D
Bat 1 Temp 5.444 D
Bat 2 Temp 7.260 D Baseplt Temp 6.049 D
RC PSK BP Temp 0.603 D RC PSK HPA Tmp 4.839 D
+Y Array Temp 3.024 D PSK TX HPA Tmp 1.209 D 
+Z Array Temp -3.027 D
RC PSK TX Out 0.686 W

Total Array C= 0.457 Bat Ch Cur=-0.030 Ifb= 0.020 I+10V= 0.384
TX:010C BCR:7B PWRC:59F BT: A WC:25 EDAC:BC

Information about telemetry values and WOD files can be found at
http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/wod.htm
[ANS thanks Miguel A. 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 frequency is 2401.220 MHz. The 2 meter
transmitter is also on, 145.825 MHz. Telemetry is being sent about every
30 seconds
A scanned image of the Dove's QSL at 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)
Bob Argyle, KB7KCL reports that WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 is gathering and sending
Whole Orbit Data. The PHOTO task is being uploaded and the command team
hopes to have pictures and spectra by about the 12th of December. WO-18's
return to service is suspected to be seasonal in nature. Bob sends thanks
to all those who have sent telemetry received from WO-18.
[ANS thanks Bob Argyle, KB7KCL, and SpaceNews for
this update.]

LUSAT-OSCAR-19
(Uplink 1200 bps Manchester FSK Uplinks: 145.84, 145.86, 145.88, 
145.90 MHz FM, Downlink 437.125 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK.)
Operating normally.
uptime is 927/22:19:37. Time is Sat Jan 03 12:24:47 1998
+X (RX) Temp -2.113 D RX Temp -0.991 D
Bat 1 Temp 3.496 D Bat 2 Temp 2.935 D
Baseplt Temp 2.374 D RC PSK BP Temp 5.740 D 
RC PSK HPA Tmp 5.740 D +Y Array Temp -3.235 D 
PSK TX HPA Tmp 4.618 D +Z Array Temp -3.796 D
RC PSK TX Out 1.004 W

Total Array C= 0.151 Bat Ch Cur=-0.043 Ifb= 0.038 I+10V= 0.208
TX:01A BCR:7F PWRC:36E BT:3C WC: 0

General information and telemetry samples can be found at:
http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/lo19.htm
[ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report]

UO-22
(Uplink: 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM. Downlink 435.120 MHz FM
9600 Baud FSK)
UO-22 is operating normally.
Roy Welch, W0SL, and Jerry Smyth, N8ULU, have been helping out a ham, Ron 
Ross, KE6JAB, who has taken a trip to Antarctica. He is now active on UO-22 
with his portable station. He plans on sending pictures when he can get his 
digital camera going. If Ron gets the camera going, you should be able to 
view at the following URL. 
http://www.thistle.org

Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, has reloaded the Store and Forward
communications task on the UO-22 On-Board Computer. This task includes
incremental checksums which should make uploading slightly faster.
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, Ground station and 
Operations Manager of UO-22, for this report]

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

[Please send your Satellite or News reports to ANS Editor BJ Arts,
WT0N, via e-mail, at bjarts@the-bridge.net or to wt0n@amsat.org
or visit WT0N's Homepage http://www.qsl.net/wt0n ]

/EX


BJ Arts  
Amateur callsign: WT0N  
ARMY MARS callsign: AAR5EL
Grid Square EN-37mk
Hibbing, Minnesota. U.S.A. 
e-mail bjarts@the-bridge.net or wt0n@amsat.org
Amsat News Service Bulletin Editor