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[jamsat-news:1337] * SpaceNews 25-Sep-00 *


SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0925
* SpaceNews 25-Sep-00 *

BID: $SPC0925


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


		 	MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2000



* ARISS NEWS *
==============
The ARISS initial station gear is now temporarily stowed aboard the
Functional Cargo Block module of ISS.  The initial station will use
an existing antenna that will be adapted to support 2-meter FM voice
and packet.  The ARISS equipment will get a more-permanent home
aboard the Service Module in 2001, along with VHF and UHF antennas.
Plans call for amateur TV, both slow scan and fast scan ATV, a
digipeater and relay stations.

Planning for the deployment and use of the ham system aboard ISS has
been an international effort coordinated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center. The effort began in 1996 with the formation of the Amateur Radio
International Space Station organization. ARISS is made up of delegates
from major national Amateur Radio organizations, including AMSAT.

More information about the project can be found on the ARISS web
site at:

	http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/

[Info via Arthur Z Rowe (azrowe@juno.com)]


* COSTA RICA SPECIAL EVENT *
============================
A group of hams from the Atlanta area will operate from Quepos, Costa
Rica (EJ79) for a week beginning October 7 as K4QFF/TI8.  Satellite
operations will include UO-14, AO-27, SO-35 and RS-13.  QSL to K4QFF.

[Info via Dennis C. Morris, WA4ZJJ]


* NOAA-L/NOAA-16 LAUNCH *
=========================
According to sources (e.g. http://www.spaceflightnow.com), NOAA-L lifted
off successfully from SLC-4W at Vandenberg AFB at 1022 UTC on 21-Sep-00.
It had been delayed several times and scrubbed the day before due to
equipment problems, but is now in orbit and undergoing on-orbit checkout
by NASA before being handed over to NOAA.

The satellite has been named NOAA-16, and is an Advanced Tiros N
model built by Lockheed Martin, and carries a suite of imaging and
sounding instruments.  The two-stage Titan II launch vehicle, serial
23G-13, put NOAA-L in a suborbital trajectory of approximately 2500 x
800 km x 98.0 deg.  The spacecraft's Thiokol Star 37XFP solid motor fired
at apogee to circularize the sun-synchronous orbit at around 800 km.

The NOAA satellites form the POES (Polar Operational Environmental
Satellite) low orbit constellation which complements the GOES
geostationary constellation, and are the programmatic descendants of the
original Tiros 1 weather satellite launched in 1960.  They are developed
by NASA-GSFC and operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).  The mass of NOAA 16 after orbit insertion is
about 1476 kg.

A recent 2-line Keplerian orbital data set for NOAA-16 is as follows:

NOAA-L                        
1 26536U 00055A   00265.61930214  .00000000  00000-0  00000+0 0    58
2 26536  98.7900 210.3675 0010476 274.6981  85.3501 14.10895524    30

NOAA-16 transmits on a downlink frequency of 137.620 MHz.

[Info via Laura Halliday, VE7LDH and Jean Blineau, F6HCC]


* OSCAR-11 REPORT *
===================
During the period 15 August to 16 September 2000, good signals have
been received from OSCAR-11's 145.826 MHz VHF-FM beacon transmitter.

The battery voltage observed during daylight passes has continued
to increase.  The average value observed was 13.8, with a range of
between 13.5 and 14.1 volts.

The internal temperatures have increased by 2.6C during the month.
They are now 3.0C and 1.6C for battery and telemetry electronics
respectively.  This rise in temperature is expected to continue until
the end of the year as the solar eclipse times become shorter.

The Z-axis magnetorquer counter reached its maximum value at the
beginning of September, preventing further attitude and spin control
corrections.  During the last two weeks the spin period has varied
between 270 and 339 seconds.  Ground control operations are now
required to reset the counters.

The single WOD survey of channels 10, 20, 30, 40 (+Y, -X, +X solar
array currents, array voltage), dated January 06 has been transmitted
by the satellite.  Note the year of this WOD survey is incorrectly
displayed as 99. This survey clearly shows the solar eclipses, and
a spin period of 340 seconds.

OSCAR-11's Mode-S beacon transmitter has been heard in the San Francisco
area by Ken, W7KKE.  He used a Drake MDS converter, wide band pre-amplifier,
and a horn antenna.  For the tests, Ken fixed the position of the antenna
to the center of the pass, and tracked his receiver for Doppler shift.
Signals were weak, but identified by the large Doppler shift observed.

OSCAR-11's operating schedule remains 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)

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

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

[Info via Clive Wallis, G3CWV (g3cwv@amsat.org)]


* THANKS! *
===========
Thanks to all who sent messages of appreciation for SpaceNews in recent
weeks, including:

	Tim Walker	FO3PJ		W3QNS		KB0CY


* 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/
MAIL:       John A. Magliacane, KD2BD
            Department of Engineering and Technology
            Brookdale Community College
            765 Newman Springs Road
            Lincroft, New Jersey 07738
	    U.S.A.
PACKET:     KD2BD @ WB2COP.NJ.USA.NA
INTERNET:   kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net
SATELLITE:  KITSAT-OSCAR-25


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/EX

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