SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-225.01 AMSAT-UK COLLOQUIUM REPORT #1 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 225.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 13, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-225.01 AMSAT-UK Colloquium Report: Part 1 AMSAT-UK's annual Colloquium was held at the University of Surrey between 28th to 31st July 1994; over 133 people came from 22 countries in five continents to attend this Colloquium. The University of Surrey personnel gave several talks about their equipment and the science they are conducting. Noteworthy points about their thinking include: low-cost propulsion (hybrid motors); mini-sats (up to 200 Kg) rather than MICROSATs; higher data rates; use of S-band; GTO, or modified GTO orbits; spread spectrum. One of their approaches to building less expensive satellites was the subject of one paper. It involves the use of commercial grade battery cells. A single space qualified NiCd cell costs about $4000. Surrey buys commercial cells for about $12 each and qualifies them for space use in house, with a resultant cost per cell of less than $1000. Doug Loughmiller spoke about the S-band beacon on UO-11 which has been switched on for a considerable time; but he has had no reports on it, and appealed for folks to let him know if they hear the beacon, or even if they listened but could not hear it. Doug also provided an explanation of some of the more obscure codes seen on-screen from UO-22: F: available space in program memory L: largest free part of ---''--- TST: transputer status d: digipeater (0=off) B: bytes transmitted Uptime: lifetime of current operations (Days/hours/minutes) SPIN: 10.1K12G3.2 = 10.1 seconds for one revolution; earth magnetic field model 12; gamma angle (largest offpoint of libration since midnight) 3.2 deg Ray Soifer W2RS gave a presentation regarding the US Government's intention to "sell" parts of the 2400 MHz band. Concern was expressed by many of the attendees with respect to any such attempt. James Miller, G3RUH, gave a resume of AO-13's status. He pointed out that, since the proton event of Nay 13th, EDAC counts have been consistently higher than previously. He stressed, however, that AO-13 should continue working up to re-entry. Nevertheless, the effects of drag, once perigee starts to get quite low, are uncertain. Gerard Auvray, F6FAO, talked about ARSENE which has now been abandoned. He said that the cable between 2M the equipment and antenna was changed just before launch. The suspicion is that a connector was not tightened properly. He also said that there is a new plan, involving a four to five year time-scale, to build a "micro-sat" carrying a Mode l/S linear transponder, this time using the low end of the 2.4 GHz band. A camera may also be incorporated. A representative from AMSAT-OZ gave a presentation about their replacement for the Kansas City Tracker. The software takes four bits from an IBM PC parallel port and controls the rotors via opto-couplers. It was said that the cost to build is about $20 to $25. The device works on an open loop principle whereby positioning is determined by knowing the time it takes for the rotor to move a specified distance. One can re-calibrate this by moving the rotor to its stop. It was admitted that this approach is not as precise as the Kansas City tracker and similar devices, but it is acceptable for antenna beamwidths greater than about 20 degrees. The program can also use a tracking table. AMSAT-OZ will be supplying these to AMSAT-UK for international distribution with profits going to AMSAT-UK's Phase-3D fund. AMSAT-UK will make an announce- ment once stocks are to hand. [The AMSAT News Service would like to thank Richard Limebear (G3RWL) and Ray Soifer (W2RS) for their help in preparing this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-225.02 AMSAT-UK COLLOQUIUM REPORT #2 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 225.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 13, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-225.02 AMSAT-UK Colloquium Report: Part 2 Phase-3D papers were presented by Keith Baker KB1SF, Peter Guelzow DB2OS, Karl Meiner DJ4ZC (read by DB2OS), Mike Dorsett G6GEJ and Hans van de Groenendaal ZS5ALE. KB1SF's talk concentrated on the work going on here in the U.S. with emphasis on current progress in getting the spaceframe, now at the Orlando Integration Facility, ready to receive modules. Peter Guelzow's paper dealt with the electronic modules to be included on the satellite, especially the RF equipment. Future ANS bulletins will carry additional details regarding the Phase 3D subjects presented. Other Future Spacecraft Several new satellite projects were announced. One is a non-Amateur spacecraft for the Chilean Air Force called FASAT. Sias Mostert, ZR1MS, of the University of Stellenbasch, presented a paper on a South African satellite called "SunSat". It measures 45 x 45 x 40 cm and weighs 50 Kg. Current plans call for its launch in January 1996 on a U.S. Air Force Delta mission into eccentric polar orbit measuring 400 by 800 km with a period of 100 minutes. In addition to the usual VHF/UHF (Mode u/v) communications at 1200 and 9600 bps, SunSat is said to have a capability for Mode l/s. The 2401 MHz transmitter is expected to have five watts output and use QPSK modulation and have capability for a 40 Mbps wideband digital downlink intended to transmit video images. It was noted that sufficient bandwidth for experiments such as this is not likely to be available in the 2.4 GHz band if the U.S. NTIA/FCC proposals, currently being discussed, are adopted. The spacecraft will have a conventional power system, reaction-wheel attitude control, and 64 Megabits of RAM for its 80188, 80386 computers and T-800 transputer. The imager payload will consist of a linear array CCD camera producing 8000 pixels in a moving swathe. A resolution of 50 meters per pixel is expected. [The AMSAT News Service would like to thank Richard Limebear (G3RWL) and Ray Soifer (W2RS) for their help in preparing this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-225.03 AMSAT-UK COLLOQUIUM REPORT #3 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 225.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 13, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-225.03 AMSAT-UK Colloquium Report, Part 3: International Satellite Issues The International Satellite Meeting was chaired by G3AAJ and convened at Thursday evening. A consensus was reached regarding the relationship between the international satellite community and the IARU. This was reflected in a resolution, which reads as follows: INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE MEETING INTRODUCTION The International meeting of the AMSAT Groups hosted by AMSAT-UK at the University of Surrey on 28 July, 1994 expressed concern about the manner in which the services of the IARU Satellite Coordinator were terminated. It was resolved that: 1. The IARU Administrative Council be urged to create the following positions: - IARU SATELLITE LIAISON OFFICER - IARU SATELLITE COORDINATOR 2. The Satellite Coordinator be appointed by the IARU Administrative Council on recommendation of the above mentioned International meeting. 3. The Satellite Liaison officer be appointed by the IARU Administrative Council. 4. The IARU Satellite Coordinator reports to the IARU Satellite Liaison Officer and that he shall be re-imbursed reasonable expenses in accord- ance with established procedures. 5. It is the express task of the IARU Satellite Coordinator to work closely with AMSAT groups as per terms of reference. 6. The meeting recommends that Freddy de Guchteneire ON6UG be appointed to the position of IARU Satellite Coordinator. Such as appointment to be made by the IARU Administrative Council at the September 1994 meeting. R.J.C. Broadbent, G3AAJ Chairman of the International Meeting It was reported on Friday afternoon that ON6UG, who was not present at the meeting, but he had been contacted by telephone and was in agreement with the meeting's recommendation. It was decided that, if the satellite's owners agree, POSAT should no longer be referred to as OSCAR 28 since it has been withdrawn from amateur use, but that the number 28 shall be reserved in case POSAT is returned to amateur use in the future. On Sunday afternoon, Ivan, OZ7IS, chairman of the IARU Region 1 VHF Committee, reported on the Committee's "lengthy discussion" concerning SAREX and MIR. The Committee decided to recommend that, if possible, the downlink be moved to 145.80 and a European voice uplink be introduced at 145.20. The problem is mainly one of terrestrial QRM to the downlink due to the heavy use of 145.55 in Europe for FM simplex operation. The recommendation has been conveyed to the SAREX Working Group. At the end of the Colloquium the award for the best paper went to James Miller G3RUH (AO-13) and second place went to Leonid Labutin UA3CR (SAREX in Moscow). This having been the ninth and final Colloquium that Ron Broadbent G3AAJ has organized, Ron was thanked by one and all for his superb performance over the years. Next year's Colloquium, to be organized by Doug Loughmiller G0SYX, will be held 26-29 July 1995. [The AMSAT News Service would like to thank Richard Limebear (G3RWL) and Ray Soifer (W2RS) for their help in preparing this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-225.04 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 225.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 13, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-225.04 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 13-AUG-94 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: M QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1994 Jul 11 - Sep 12 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 90 | Omnis : MA 230 to MA 30 Mode-BS : MA 90 to MA 120 | Mode-S : MA 120 to MA 122 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 122 to MA 145 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-S : MA 145 to MA 150 |<- S beacon only Mode-BS : MA 150 to MA 180 | Blon/Blat 180/0 Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 256 | Move to attitude 230/0, Sep 12 ========================================================================== N QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1994 Sep 12 - Dec 19 Mode-B : MA 30 to MA 150 |<- OFF Oct 22 - Nov 07 for eclipses Mode-B : MA 150 to MA 190 | max duration 2h 12m Mode-BS : MA 190 to MA 218 | Mode-S : MA 218 to MA 220 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 220 to MA 230 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-B : MA 230 to MA 30 | Alon/Alat 230/0 Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 | Move to attitude 180/0, Dec 19 The battery charge state is of paramount importance during the eclipse seasons. As always the command team may have to have to make temporary changes to the published schedule. In that case we will try to minimize the inconvenience, setting Mode-B OFF from MA 230-256 in the first instance. ========================================================================== [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] RS-10: A couple of weeks ago WC9C pointed out that RS-10's 10M downlink signals were sounding quite weak in comparision to a few months about. G3IOR thinks that the problem of weaker distant and stronger distant signals from RS-10 attributed by WC9C to the parent satellites attitude is due more to path attenuation. In the summer we have spread "E" layer levels of far higher intensity. At low angles of incidence, i.e. when the satellite is close to horizon, the path through these attenuating layers is extended, thus producing a much weaker signal, more than can be accounted for by the inverse square rule. When the satellite is close to overhead, the path is minimal, and also far less refraction, reflection and absortion results. RS-10 antenna is close to omni-directional, with only the odd end-on tip effect momentarily reducing the downlink level during it's slow rotation. At night, when the ionization is markedly reduced, signals are nominal. [G3IOR @ GB7VLS] AO-16: AO-16 is going strong with no problems. [WH6I] LO-19: LO-19 still seems have its BBS turned off. [WH6I] IO-27: WH6I still has not heard anything from IO-26 and is afraid that it might stay that way permanently. [WH6I] AO-16: Still going strong and very doing well. There is some gateway traffic on AO-16 but not enough to present any problem to other users and the file lifetime on the bird is still quite long. [WH6I] KO-23: Since yesterday KO-23 seems to be down. Yesterday the 9600 baud signal sounded normal, but there was no data on it. Today the signal sounds abnormal. N4NR also reports that KO-23 is in a mode that leaves TNCs and DSPs locked up until a cold reset at the groundstation after the pass is over. Signal strength is good, however. [WH6I & N4NR] The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) is looking for volunteers to contribute weekly OSCAR status reports. If you have a favorite OSCAR which you work on a regular basis and would like to contribute to this bulletin, please send your observations to WD0HHU at his CompuServe address of 70524,2272, on INTERNET at wd0hhu@amsat.org, or to his local packet BBS in the Denver, CO area, WD0HHU @ N0QCU. Also, if you find that the current set of orbital elements are not generating the correct AOS/LOS times at your QTH, PLEASE INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL. The information you provide will be of value to all OSCAR enthusiasts. /EX