[sarex] Mir ARS Status April 6, 1999, RS-19 arrived

["Miles Mann" <Miles_Mann@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Mir Amateur Radio Status: April 6 1998

By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREX-NA (Manned Amateur Radio Experiment, North American Division)

RS-19 Ready for Launch
Progress rocket M41 was launched from Baykonur on April 2, 1999.  The cargo
rocket  docked  with  Mir  on  April  4.   The  rocket contains the typical
supplies,  Food,  Water, fuel and some lizards for biological studies.  The
RS-19 satellite is also on M41.

There  have  been  a  few  changes  in  the current owner ship of the RS-19
satellite.  I suggest you read the ARRL Letters from April 2, 1999.
During my call with Energia this week, they stated, they do not believe the
RS-19  project  will violate any rules regarding commercial activity on the
Amateur  Radio  bands.   There seems to be some confusion on this topic.  I
would  ask  that  people  please  refrain  from E-mails on this topic until
everyone  has had time to discuss the issues in a proper forum.  There will
be  official  meetings  between  Energia  and  Amsat-Russian to discuss the
issues.

After  RS-19  arrives  on  Mir, it will be stored inside Mir until the next
Space  Walk  (EVA)  tentatively scheduled for April 16.  During the EVA two
crewmembers  (Viktor  Afanasyev  and  Sergei  Avdeyev)  will  exit  the Mir
station.   The  RS-19  satellite will be hand launched some time during the
EVA.   The  third  crewmember  (Jean-Pierre  Heignere) will stay inside the
pressurized  section  of Mir and will help coordinate the EVA activities by
monitoring  the radio transmission and closely following the crew progress.
Shortly  before  the  RS-19  launch, Jean-Pierre Heignere will turn off the
Amateur  Radio  PMS  project  and change the frequency of the Mir's Kenwood
TM-733  to145.815.   He will use the Amateur Radio to monitor the signal of
the  RS-19  satellite.  If the satellites signal checks out Good, the RS-19
satellite  will  be  launched.   The actual launch will probably take place
while Mir is in radio range of Russian Mission control.

The  new  Sputnik can be heard on 145.812/815 (Adjust for Doppler).  Listen
closely  and  you  will  hear  the  up to 10 messages, repeated in multiple
different  languages.   I was informed that each message would be 7 seconds
long,  with  a  7-second pause.  There is the ability to change the message
every 24 hours.

Anyone with a simple 2-meter receiver or scanner should be able to hear the
voice recordings
being played by Sputnik.
Tentative launch date for Sputnik, April 16, 1999

Listening for Sputnik:
Sputnik  is  operating  close  to  the  frequency  145.815.  Of  course the
frequency will appear to drift due to normal Doppler effects.

Because  of Doppler shift, the signal may appear anywhere between 145.811 -
145.818   (I  rounded a little).  When Sputnik first comes in range for its
10  minute  pass,  the initial frequency plus Doppler will be approximately
145.818 (145.815 TX freq., plus 3.5k Doppler shift).
When  Sputnik  is  directly  over head, the frequency will be approximately
145.815.   Then as Sputnik passes away and nears the horizon, the frequency
will be approximately 145.812 (145.815, minus Doppler 3.5k).
If  you  have  an  FM  receiver  which can tune only in 5k Channels, try to
listen  for Sputnik on 145.820 at the beginning of the pass, then step down
to  145.815  and  145.810 towards the end of the pass. Sputnik can be heard
with most receivers, FM, CW or SSB.

I  do  not have accurate web page information for the Rs-19 project at this
time.

The  100-mw  beacon can be heard in FM, CW or SSB modes.  Give it a try and
if  you hear the Beep Beep Beep of the Sputnik satellite, you can send away
for a special Short Wave Listener SQL card.

Please  use one of the following QSL managers and follow the directions for
that Manager.

************************************************

All  Mir  contacts,  SWL,  Two-way  voice  or  Packet  connections (R0MIR),
including the new Sputnik Satellite RS-19

Envelopes  should  be  well  sealed  and  do  not include cash.  Send a SAE
(self-addressed  Envelope)  and  one  or  two  IRC  coupons  (which  can be
purchased at major US post offices).  Do not make any notes on the out side
of the envelope with Amateur Radio Call signs visible.

QSL Information for SWL (Short Wave Listener)
Sergej Samburov
PO Box 73
Korolev-10 City
Moscow Area, 141070, Russia

************************************************

For  Two-way  contacts  with  Mir  ONLY.   Just for the call sign R0MIR and
R0MIR-1
No SWL (Short Wave Listener) cards will be issued at this address.

Dr. Dave Larsen - N6CO/K6MIR
PO Box 311
Pine Grove, California
95665
USA

Please  include  a  SASE  (Business Size Envelope) and one or more IRC  for
international.
If  you  are  sending an IRC, please make sure it is dated 1998, as my post
office will not accept IRC dated over 1 yr. old.
Note:  Dave  Larsen  MIREX  /  N6CO  is not handling SWL cards for Sputnik,
please use the other address

*****************

Interference from Amateur Radio equipment on Mir?
In  a  recent memo on the Internet, there was some speculation indicating a
possible  interference  problem  cause  by  the  Mir  Amateur Radio 2-meter
Stations  to Mir commercial radio receivers.  The Mir Amateur Radio station
does  not  cause  any  interference  to  the  any  of  the commercial radio
equipment  on the Russian Space Station Mir.  The Russian Space Station Mir
operates  multiple  transmitters and receivers just below the 2-meter band.
Because  of the close proximity of the antennas for all of the transmitters
and   receivers,  we  did  have  a  problem  with  one  of  the  commercial
transmitters   de-sensing   the   2-meter   Amateur  Radio  station.   This
interference  problem  was  only ONE-WAY, the commercial transmitter on 143
MHz  de-sensed the Amateur Radio station on 145.985 MHz.  The Amateur Radio
station  did not cause any problems with any of the commercial equipment on
Mir.

The  De-sensing  problem  would  prevent  the  PMS from operating while the
commercial  transmitter was active.  After SAFEX informed the MAREX-NA team
about  the  problem,  we  designed  a  filter  which  was  built by the DCI
corporation.   The special MAREX-NA filter was installed on the 2-meter Mir
station  in  1998.  The filter incorporates a very narrow 2-meter pass band
4-cavity  filter,  plus  a  special  notch filter designed to block out the
commercial  transmitters on 143 MHz.  The filter is attached to the antenna
cable going to the Mir 2-meter Amateur Radio station.  I have seen pictures
of  the  filter  installed,  and  I hope to have the pictures posted to the
MAREX-NA  web  page in a few weeks.  Ever since the MAREX-NA DCI filter was
installed,  the  user  of  the  PMS  can  now  use the PMS while all of the
commercial  transmitters  are  active.   Before  the  filter was installed,
Energia  stated that they had NO reports of the Mir Amateur Radio equipment
causing  any problems to the commercial equipment.  Now with the extra Pass
band  DCI  filter  installed,  there  is  an additional 20+ dB of pass band
attenuation  in-line  with  the  2-meter  transceiver.  Again, there are no
valid  reports  from the Mir crew or Energia that the Amateur Radio station
has ever caused any interference with the operations on board Mir.

The MAREX-NA DCI filter project was a joint project between multiple clubs.
The  MAREX-NA  team  created  the  whole project and delivered flight ready
hardware.  After  we  proved  there  was a need for the filter, three other
clubs  joined  in  to  help  the  project. The AMSAT-NA, SAREX-WG and SAREX
teams,  then provided substantial support in testing the hardware to verify
the  hardware  was Flight-Quality.  After passing all tests the DCI filters
were  then  fully  documented  by SAREX.  The SAREX team then delivered the
MAREX-NA DCI filter units to Russia.


Mir's Random Radio Schedule:
During  the  docking  of  the next cargo rocket, you can expect the Amateur
Radio projects to be temporally shutdown during the docking procedures.

The  Mir crew is in the process of moving the Personal Message System (PMS)
and  the  MAREX-NA  SSTV Amateur Radio equipment from the Priroda Module to
the Mir-Core or Base-Block module.
This  move will give the crew better access to the Amateur Radio equipment.
And  it  will give us access to the Mir-Core Antenna.  The Mir-Core antenna
is  a  Larsen-Dual  band mobile antenna, mounted out side of Mir.  The dual
band antenna will give us access to 2-meters and 70 cm.
In  the  Priroda  module,  we  only had access to the 2-meter antenna.  The
Priroda  Module 2-meter access limitations and the power supply limitations
caused  a  little confusion to the a few hams, which did not understand the
hardware  limitations  of the project.  I still expect all operations, SSTV
and  Packet  to  stay  on 145.985 FM simplex, until we are able to run both
projects  simultaneously.   Since  we  only  have  enough  power to run one
project at a time, there is no
reason to use the 70cm band at this time.

The Mir Core module is where the crew spends most of their time, this means
there  will  be  more opportunity to see and hear the Mir crew from the new
location.
During  the  move,  we  can  expect  some  down  time for the Amateur Radio
Station.

New Mir Crew Members:
The current crew consists of:

Current Crew
SOYUZ  TM-29  arrived  at  Mir  on February 20, 1999.  Mir Soyuz TM-29 crew
consisted  of  French  cosmonaut Jean-Pierre Heignere, Viktor Afanasyev and
Slovakian Cosmonaut Ivan Bella
On February 28, some of the crew returned to earth, they were:
Slovak Ivan Bella and Gennadiy Paldalko.
Gennadiys  mission lasted approximately 6 months (August 16 1998 – February
28 1999)

The remaining crew consists of:

The French cosmonaut Jean-Pierre Heignere
Cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev
Cosmonaut  Sergei Avdeyev.  Sergei mission began August 16, and is expected
to last a total of 9-11 months.

This  will  make the Mir crew 27 a three-man crew. Energia informed me that
the  French Cosmonaut Jean-Pierre did receive training on the MAREX-NA SSTV
project, and he has already sent a few SSTV images of him self and the rest
of the Mir crew.

PMS Status (Personal Message System):
The PMS activity was a little intermittent last week.

Current Schedule for Packet PMS and SSTV:
Activity  was  very sporadic.  The Mir crew said, they prefer to make voice
contacts, and do not spend much time reading packet mail.
The  crew will do their best to keep the SSTV system active on weekends and
packet PMS operational on weekdays.

MAREX-NA Web Page:
For  more  information  about  MAREX-NA  and  out  past, present and future
project, please visit
our new home page:
www.marex-na.org


Tracking Mir:
For    current   tracking   data,   try   the   CelesTrak   web   page   at
http://celestrak.com/

Copyright  1999  Miles  Mann,  All  Rights  Reserved.  This document may be
freely distributed via the following means - Email (including listservers),
Usenet, and World-Wide-Web.  It may not be reproduced for profit including,
but not limited to, CD ROMs, books, and/or other commercial outlets without
prior written consent from the author.
Images  received from the MAREX-NA SSTV system on the Russian Space Station
Mir  are  considered  public  domain and may be freely distributed, without
prior permission.



Miles WF1F


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