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[jamsat-news:926] ANS 256
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS 256
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.01
AMSAT EARLY REGISTRATION
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 256.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-256.01
Russ, K5NRK, reminds ANS that early registration for the upcoming 16th
Annual AMSAT Meeting and Space Symposium ends September 15th. The early
registration fee is just $25.00 (versus $30.00 after 9/15/98).
Registration forms can be obtained via the symposium web site at the
following URL:
http://pages.prodigy.com/DXHF93A
Registration forms are also available in the July/August issue of the AMSAT
Journal.
K5NRK says participants may fax registration forms to the AMSAT-NA office
(301-608-3410) or call the office directly with the information
(301-589-6062).
Those who register early will be eligible for a free night's stay at
Harrah's Hotel and Casino in Vicksburg. The drawing for this prize will
take place September 21st, with the winner announced by ANS.
K5NRK says "see yawl in Vicksburg!"
[ANS thanks Russ Tillman, K5NRK, for this information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.02
TMSAT-1 COMMISSIONING ALMOST COMPLETE
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 256.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-256.02
Chris Jackson, G7UPN / ZL2TPO, tells ANS that TMSAT-1 commissioning has
largely been completed and the satellite is in very good shape. Jackson and
his team are presently concentrating on testing and calibration of
TMSAT-1's multispectral imaging system, reporting a number of very good
image sets have been downloaded from the satellite.
G7UPN reports that shortly after launch, an anomaly was observed with the
satellite's downlink transmitter, causing the ground operations team to
take a cautious attitude to operations. Jackson says the downlink power
periodically drops to approximately less than one watt. At the same time a
corresponding increase in reverse voltage is noted. Ground control stations
are not certain as to the cause of this condition and tests are continuing
to try and find an answer to the problem. Jackson says that for this reason
"we are presently operating the transmitter only over the command stations
in Bangkok, Thailand and Surrey, England. This will probably continue for
another few weeks."
G7UPN says if all goes well, ground control stations expect to operate the
transmitter for extended periods, adding, "this will allow amateur
operators in other locations to receive data from TMSAT, and at this time
we also hope to open the BBS for general use by amateurs."
Open BBS operation will allow most licensed amateur radio operators, with
the correct equipment, to upload and download data from the satellite.
Jackson says due to the large size and high quality of the images on TMSAT,
he hopes that the majority of activity on the satellite will concentrate on
downloading the available high quality images, such as a recent multispe
ctral image taken of the San Francisco Bay area.
Image sets from TMSAT-1 are being posted to the web, point your browser to
the following URL:
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/EE/CSER/UOSAT/amateur/tmsat/index.html
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO for this information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.03
LMCC BACKING AWAY FROM 70 CENTIMETERS
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 256.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-256.03
According to the ARRL, an official of the American Automobile Association
(AAA) says the Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) is backing away
from its request that the FCC reallocate 420 to 430 MHz and 440 to 450 MHz
from the federal government to the Private Mobile Radio Service.
A recent letter by the AAA's Gary Ruark said that strong support for ham
radio from the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials and
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has caused
the LMCC to back off its demand to reallocate the 70-cm subbands it had
requested last spring. Because of this, Ruark said, "it is doubtful that
the FCC would ever agree to that portion of the LMCC petition addressing
sharing frequencies with amateur radio operators."
Last June, AAA asked the LMCC to file supplemental comments with the FCC to
withdraw the request to share the 70-cm band with Amateur Radio. AAA is an
LMCC member.
A copy of Ruark's letter is available on the ARRLWeb page, at
http://www.arrl.org.
[ANS thanks the ARRL for this information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.04
ANS IN BRIEF
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 256.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-256.04
ANS news in brief this week includes the following:
** ANS is sad to report that the hearts of all of the personal at CNN go
out to the John Holliman family. Correspondent Holliman died from injuries
received in a car accident near his home in suburban Atlanta. He was 49.
Holliman served as an Atlanta-based national correspondent. One of his
beats was to cover space exploration, and he was the lead reporter for the
Pathfinder mission to Mars in the summer of 1997. Among his upcoming
assignments was to co-anchor (with Walter Cronkite) John Glenn's return to
space. Along with CNN, ANS sends our deepest condolences to the entire
Holliman family. --W3IWI, N0NSV
** From September 15-20th, special event station K2BR will be operating in
the HF bands, AO-27 and possibly FO-20 and FO-29. K2BR, in FM29, Atlantic
City, New Jersey - will be celebrating the annual Miss America Pageant.
--Jeff, KB2WQM
** ARRLWeb Extra, the new ARRL web publication, is online now. ARRLWeb
Extra will offer news and features, photos and sounds from the world of
Amateur Radio and the ever-changing communication scene. A totally new
online publication, The ARRLWeb Extra, will publish Amateur Radio news and
features --including insider news, technical and how-to topics, additional
information on Product Review items, 'first looks' at upcoming products
that will be reviewed in QST, and occasional offbeat items. The URL is
http://www.arrl.org/members/. --ARRL Letter
** The WSWSS '98 VHF Conference is about to get underway (on October 3rd)
in Sunnyvale, California. The program agenda will include '10 GHz
Operating' by KK6MK and W6BY, 'Introduction to GPS' by W6RXQ, 'Yaesu FT-847
and FT-100 Operations' by K7JA - and many more presenters. For details and
agenda check out the following URL: http://www.qth.net/wb9ajz/wswss98.
--WSWSS Reflector
** September 19th is Amateur Radio Awareness Day, a good time to promote
Amateur Radio and elevate public awareness of the hobby by writing an
article for your local paper, establishing a 'Field Day' type station in a
local mall or park, or perhaps making a presentation before a civic group.
This is an excellent opportunity for satellite operators to show our side
of the hobby. Publicity kits and ideas and ideas are available from the
ARRL, e-mail jgagne@arrl.org for more info. --ARRL Letter, NN0DJ
** Recently, Discovery Channel Italy featured a series of three
documentaries about satellites, including a segment on the AMSAT Lab in
Orlando. The report compared the huge costs of commercial satellites,
showing how ingenious amateur built satellites can be, such as using the
'pan' antennas bought at the supermarket. --Roberto, IK4JQW
** Several Hawaiian stations with satellite capability are making quite an
effort to give mainland US stations a chance to work KH6 via various birds.
AH6HH, WB6FZH/KH6 and NH6VB have all been active on the FO satellites
lately. -- Aloha from NH6VB.
** Amateur Radio on the International Space Station is progressing well.
The first station will have 2-meter voice and packet capability, using
antennas designed and built by an Italian team and installed by the
Russians. A German team is at work on an interim station that would add
70-cm capability plus a Digitalker. The US team is building a packet
module, adapter module, the hand held radio and associated cables, as well
as preparing a Safety Data Package required by NASA. The final ISS
equipment list is still in the conceptual stages but probably will include
all-mode capability from ten meters through 13 centimeters, including
Amateur fast-scan television. --Newsline
** Andy, WB2GZM/VK3JJH, reports a Newsbyte story entitled 'Researchers Warn
End of Year Storm Threat to Satellites' is available at the following URL:
http://www.currents.net/newstoday/98/08/30/news2.html.
--AMSAT BB
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.05
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 256.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-256.05
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.
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 PBBS is running a Kantronics KPC-9612 + V.8.1 TNC. The commands are
similar to most PBBS and BBS systems.
Some frequency changes concerning the PMS system have been reported to ANS
recently. No official announcement of any frequency change has been
received from MIREX. ANS regards any Mir frequency change as 'temporary'
unless an official announcement is received from
MIREX.
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 (not available in mode KT)
Uplink 21.210 to 21.250 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 Downlink 29.454 MHz
Operational, mode KT.
Ray, W2RS, reports receiving the following about RS-12 via packet from
G3IOR:
"I had communications with Andy, RK3KPK. He tells me that the Aero-Cosmic
Laboratory is no more and that RS-12 command is now in the hands of Alex
Papkov, in Kaluga City, Russia.
Jerry, K5OE, did some on-air tests of the two RS-12 downlinks and reports
the 2-meter downlink is as good or better than 10 meters. K5OE reports the
2m downlink has better overall quality but is subject to some minor QSB and
more doppler correction. Many stations have reported strong 2-meter
downlink signals from the satellite in mode KT.
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)
Semi-operational, mode A
Jerry, K5OE, reports often hearing K6YK on RS-15. K5OE also says the beacon
has been off lately and he was able to work KB8VAO on voice, giving him a
5x7 report with the bird at about 40 degrees elevation.
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, currently in 'sleep' mode.
Stacey Mills, W4SM, reports another sleep phase appears to be underway. "I
suspect that the rotational speed is so slow as to be incapable of holding
a stable attitude heading. Hence, we may be entering a time of chaotic
useful periods and sleep periods which cannot be predicted."
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]
JAS-1b 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.
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-20 status reports]
JAS-2 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 and the
satellite will remain in voice mode. FO-29 has entered a period of 'full
illumination' by the Sun. This illumination period will extend through the
end of December.
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.06
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 256.06 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-256.06
KITSAT KO-23
Uplink 145.900 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 435.175 MHz FM
Semi-operational.
Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-23 is semi-operational with downlink efficiencies
below 20% over the last week. No additional information on the cause of the
reduced downlink efficiency is available at this time
[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for this report]
KITSAT KO-25
Uplink 145.980 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Downlink 436.50 MHz FM
Operational. The telemetry is nominal.
The satellite is operating well, with downlink efficiencies greater than
90%.
[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]
PACSAT AO-16
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.
Time is Sat Sep 12 11:31:25 1998 uptime is 1455/05:57:12
BCR Input Cur 0.495 A BCR Output Cur 0.394 A
Bat 1 Temp 1.814 D Bat 2 Temp 1.814 D
Baseplt Temp 4.839 D +Y Array Temp 3.024 D
PSK TX HPA Tmp 1.209 D +Z Array Temp 2.419 D
RC PSK TX Out 0.472 W
Total Array C= 0.473 Bat Ch Cur= 0.073 Ifb= 0.022 I+10V= 0.298
TX:010B BCR:84 PWRC:59E BT: A WC:25 EDAC:1D
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]
LUSAT LO-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 semi-operational.
Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, reports LUSAT/Oscar-19 ground control station
LU8DYF has succeeded in regaining control of the satellite. Downlink
signals show good modulation with an ASCII message containing the following
text:
July 31 - 1998. No BBS service. On Board Computer reload in progress.
Digipeater active. Thank you - Norberto - LU8DYF.
EA1BCU reminds operators the digipeater mode is "a very interesting option
to make contacts with other stations, or to be connected with your own
station to evaluate the on-line the state of your installation."
Dirk, ON1DLL, recently experimented with a voice packet program by
connecting to himself and sending a compressed wav-file. He reports the
experiment worked quite well.
Telemetry is as follows:
Time is Sat Sep 12 12:00:07 1998 uptime is 042/22:22:31
Baseplt Temp 1.252 D RC PSK TX Out 0.659 W
RC PSK BP Temp -2.113 D RC PSK HPA Tmp -0.991 D
+Y Array Temp 2.935 D PSK TX HPA Tmp -0.430 D
+Z Array Temp -0.991 D
Total Array C= 0.275 Bat Ch Cur= 0.090 Ifb= 0.019 I+10V= 0.145
TX:017 BCR:8A PWRC:62D BT:3C WC: 0
[ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report]
ITAMSAT IO-26
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 received on 435.822 MHz at 1200 baud PSK. No
additional information is available at this time.
TMSAT-1 TO-31
Downlink 436.923 MHz
The TMSAT-1 micro-satellite was successfully launched from the Russian
Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998. Chris Jackson, G7UPN, says TMSAT-1
commissioning has largely been completed and the satellite is in very good
shape. Jackson and his team are presently concentrating on testing and
calibration of TMSAT-1's multispectral imaging system, reporting a number
of very good image sets have been downloaded from the satellite. The
satellite is expected to be available for general amateur use shortly.
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for this report]
TechSat-1B GO-32
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 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]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-256.07
WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 3
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 256.07 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-256.07
THE FOLLOWING SATELLITES ARE NON-OPERATIONAL AT THIS TIME:
RS-16
Attempts to command the Mode A transponder have been unsuccessful.
The 435 MHz beacon (only) is operational.
The RS-16 transponder is non-operational. No additional information is
available at this time.
DOVE DO-17
Downlink 145.825 MHz FM 1200 Baud AFSK
Beacon 2401.220 MHz
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
Non-operational.
WO-18 is reported to be in MBL mode after a software crash. No additional
information is available at this time.
--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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