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[jamsat-news:903] ANS 214
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS 214
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-214.01
ASTRONAUT THOMAS TALKS ABOUT MIR
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 214.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 2, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-214.01
Astronaut Andy Thomas, the final American to live on board the Russian Mir
space station, discussed his journey during a national news conference held
recently.
Frank Culbertson, manager of the Phase 1 Shuttle/Mir program, also
participated in the briefing, talking about Thomas' tenure on Mir and
reviewing the entire program, which saw seven Americans live and work on
board the Russian space station.
During his 130 days on board Mir, Thomas traveled more than 56 million
miles. He launched as a member of the STS-89 crew on January 22, 1998,
becoming a Mir crewmember on January 24th. He returned on board Discovery
as a member of the STS-91 crew last June. When Thomas returned to Earth, he
concluded 802 consecutive days of an American presence on board Mir, beg
inning with astronaut Shannon Lucid's arrival March 24, 1996.
On ham radio, Thomas was very active from Mir using both 2 meter and 70cm
amateur radio equipment aboard the spacecraft.
[ANS thanks NASA for this information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-214.02
ASTRONAUT WILCUTT REPLACES HALSELL IN STAR CITY, RUSSIA
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 214.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 2, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-214.02
NASA has announced that astronaut Terrence W. Wilcutt will replace James D.
Halsell, Jr. as manager of operational activities at Star City, Russia.
The tenth astronaut to serve in this rotational position, Wilcutt will
support the training and preparations of NASA astronauts at the Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City. He will be the primary liaison
between NASA and cosmonaut training center management, and will continue
the operational and personal relationships with Star City management and
the cosmonauts, as American astronauts live and work in Russia.
Wilcutt has three flights to his credit, including two missions that docked
with the Mir space station. He first flew as the pilot on STS-68 in 1994 on
a mission studying the Earth's surface. In 1996, he was also the pilot for
STS-79, the fourth Shuttle-Mir docking mission, and in 1998, he commanded
STS-89, the eighth docking mission.
American and Russian cooperation of this nature is vital to the success of
the upcoming International Space Station.
[ANS thanks NASA for this information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-214.03
ANS IN BRIEF
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 214.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 2, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-214.03
ANS news in brief this week includes the following:
** From the AMSAT-NA office, Martha notes that some excellent airfares are
available on Southwest Airlines for those planning on attending the
upcoming AMSAT-NA Symposium in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Southwest is
offering a 10% discount to those attending. For amateurs in the Washington,
Maryland or Virginia areas, airline fares are running under $90 each way.
Russ, K5NRK notes non-stop flights from Chicago, Orlando and Houston are
also competitively priced. Fares from Houston are as low as $37 one-way.
If planning to fly to Vicksburg with the airline, mention discount number
K3308 --AMSAT-BB
** Bob, WB4APR reminds satellite operators not to overlook AO-16 which is
currently permitting 2 meter FM, 1200 baud packet uplinks of APRS position
reports from mobiles and cross country travelers. The idea is that a mobile
can transmit GPS position/status reports and then the satellite will
digipeat that information to a few ground stations that are linked into the
APRS Internet network. Check details at
http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/aprs.html. --AMSAT-BB
** NASA Astronaut Andy Thomas will participate in several speaking
engagements and events during a hometown visit to Adelaide, Melbourne and
Canberra, Australia. Besides several school presentations, he will address
the University of Adelaide, the International Astronomical Federation
Congress, the National Space Society of Australia and will also meet with
government officials from Australia and the U.S. Embassy.
--AMSAT-BB
** Dave, W5UN has posted information on the Quagi-97 two meter antenna
design, with construction, layout information and photographs, all on his
web site. Under the 'EME Station Construction and Operating Information'
section, click on 'Quagi-97' to view the information. Although patterned
for EME work, many of the ideas will also fit satellite antenna
construction. Dave's web address is http://web.wt.net/~w5un.
--MOON-NET
** The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a "family portrait" of
young, ultra-bright stars nested in their embryonic cloud of glowing gases.
The celestial maternity ward is located 200,000 light-years away. "This is
giving us new insights into the physical mechanisms governing star
formation in far away galaxies that existed long ago," says a spokesman for
the Paris Observatory. An international team of astronomers made the
discovery using Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera. --ESA Information
Release
** The Greater Jacksonville (Florida) Amateur Radio and Computer Show was
held August 1st and 2nd. AMSAT had a booth next to TAPR and an AMSAT forum
was held Saturday morning. --AMSAT BB
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-214.04
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 214.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 2, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-214.04
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.
Mike, N1JEZ reports he copied the MIR/SAFEX repeater during the 0042 UTC
pass on 7/29. The repeater was active at that time.
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.
The current crew onboard Mir are Talgat Musabayev and Nikolai Budarin. They
speak and read Russian only. Any messages addressed as personal to R0MIR
will not be understood unless it is in Russian. MIREX is again allowing
R0MIR-1 for store-and-forward message traffic.
WA6LIE reminds all stations that in order to send Personal Mail to other
stations you must address it to a valid callsign. Any personal mail
addressed to a non-amateur callsign can not be read by anyone and is a
waste of TNC memory. WA6LIE asks all stations to please read your TNC
manual on how to address messages.
The PBBS is running a Kantronics KPC-9612 + V.8.1 TNC. The commands are
similar to most PBBS and BBS systems.
MIREX has announced an on going APRS School Days Test. MIREX is allowing
schools to use APRS for position and status reports via R0MIR. Non-school
stations are asked to refrain from using APRS type transmissions or beacons
via R0MIR.
[ANS thanks Scott Avery, WA6LIE, and the MIREX team for Mir status
information]
RS-12
Uplink 145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB Uplink 21.210 to 21.250 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 29.410 to 29.450 MHz CW/SSB
Operational, mode KA.
RS-12 continues to be the most popular of the current RS 'easy sat' series.
RS-15
Uplink 145.858 to 145.898 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 29.354 to 29.394 MHz CW/SSB
Semi-operational.
The RS-15 TLM beacon has apparently started working again, although
intermittently. Jerry, K5OE reports RS-15 is basically unusable. Jerry says
he could hear his uplink just fine whenever the beacon tone was off --there
seemed to be a delay of about 2 seconds between loss of the tone and
ability
to hear an uplink.
RS-16
The 435 MHz beacon (only) is operational. Attempts to command the Mode A
transponder on have been unsuccessful.
AO-10
Uplink 435.030 to 435.180 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 145.975 to 145.825 MHz CW/USB
Operational.
NN0DJ notes FMing of the beacon has become more pronounced lately. From
Finland, AMSAT life member Birger Lindholm notes less illumination of the
solar panels, marked by much weaker downlink and beacon signals.
Stacey Mills, 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]
AO-27
Uplink 145.850 MHz FM
Downlink 436.792 MHz FM
Operational.
AO-27 TEPR States are currently:
4 = 36 = 18 Minutes
5 = 72 = 36 Minutes
This means AO-27's transmitter turns on 18 minutes after entering the Sun
and stays on for 18 minutes. AO-27's transmitter is turned off at all other
times during the orbit. N4USI reminds stations that this happens on every
orbit, approximately 14.2 times a day. The current TEPR settings will cause
the satellite to be on during the daytime at northern latitudes.
[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.
Greg, WB6FZH/KH6 reminds FO-20/29 and AO-27 operators to watch the western
passes that include the Hawaiian Islands. AMSAT coordinator NH6VB, along
with NH6YK and WB6FZH are trying to use the Oscar satellites to increase
the number of licensed hams in Hawaii. A complete AO-27 satellite station
will soon be available through the Koolau Amateur Radio Club on Oahu. It's
hoped that the relatively easy operation of
AO-27 will encourage interest.
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK and the Hawaiian amateurs for the FO-20
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, JJ1WTK, tells ANS that OBC bit error investigation continues.
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-214.05
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 214.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 2, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-214.05
KO-23
Uplink 145.900 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 435.175 MHz FM
Operational. The telemetry is nominal.
[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC for this report]
KO-25
Uplink 145.980 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 436.50 MHz FM
Operational. The telemetry is nominal.
[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC for this report]
UO-22
Uplink 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 435.120 MHz FM
Operational.
More information on the satellite is available at the following URL:
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/EE/CSER/UOSAT/
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, Operations Manager of UO-22 for
this report]
OSCAR-11
Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud AFSK
Beacon 2401.500 MHz
Operational.
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/
Beacon reception reports should be sent to: g3cwv@amsat.org.
[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 AO-16 command team has authorized an APRS experiment on AO-16 to
explore the use of the 1200-baud PACSAT for APRS position/status reporting.
The test periods will run each Tuesday from 0000 to 2359 UTC.
The telemetry is nominal.
General information and telemetry WOD files can be found at:
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. No
additional information is available at this time.
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. No additional information is
available at this time.
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
Currently non-operational
Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU reports LUSAT/Oscar 19 apparently has stopped
transmitting. Ground control station LU8DYF is attempting to regain
control.
No additional information is available at this time.
[ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, 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 reported as being downloaded on 435.822 MHz at 1200 baud PSK.
No additional information is available at this time.
TMSAT-1
Downlink 436.923 MHz
The TMSAT-1 micro-satellite was successfully launched from the Russian
Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998. The satellite is still undergoing
initial loading of flight software. The satellite is expected to be
available for general amateur use shortly.
Stations that can capture telemetry from the satellite are asked to
send a report to;
C.Jackson@ee.surrey.ac.uk
A brief overview of the TMSAT satellite and commissioning plan is available
at the following URL:
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/EE/CSER/UOSAT/amateur/tmsat/tmsat_commissioni
ng_plan.html.
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN / ZL2TPO, for this report]
TechSat-1B
Downlink 435.325 435.225 MHz
HDLC telemetry framed so a TNC in KISS mode will decode it
The TechSat-1B micro-satellite was successfully launched from the Russian
Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998 The satellite is still undergoing
initial loading of flight software. The satellite is expected to be
available for general amateur use shortly.
The satellite does not have a continuos beacon, but does transmit a
9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (for about 3 seconds in length), currently
on 435.225 MHz.
The TechSat team has also constructed a home page about TechSat. To view
the site, point your web browser to:
http://techsat.internet-zahav.net/
[ANS thanks Shlomo Menuhin, 4X1AS for this information]
--ANS END---
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 EN28iv
Warroad, Minnesota U.S.A.
e-mail: nn0dj@amsat.org
Michelle Ervin
AMSAT News Service Assistant Bulletin Editor
Amateur callsign: KA9FUL
Grid Square EM89du
Springfield, Ohio U.S.A.
e-mail: ka9ful@amsat.org
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