SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-252.01
EUROMIR AND SAFEX II UPDATE

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 252.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD SEPTEMBER 9, 1995
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-252.01

EUROMIR AND SAFEX II UPDATE

German Cosmonaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR, arrived at the Russian
space station MIR.  He will stay there for 135 days and operate
DP0MIR, as time permits. Presently there are two crews aboard
MIR, and he is very busy with his scientific experiments.
One of the crews will return to earth in a few days, and we
expect Thomas to find more time for QSOs thereafter. The
frequencies to be used are 145.800 MHz for downlink, and 145.200
MHz, presumably outside of North America, for uplink. as
discussed at the IARU session of the AMSAT-UK colloquium this
year.  So listen for DP0MIR at 145.800 MHz, however watch 145.550
MHz too. DF4TR plans to operate not just over Europe, but
worldwide.

The 70 cm equipment will be installed during the mission. It is
capable of FM voice and FSK 9600 Baud packet modes (G3RUH
system). Thomas Kieselbach, DL2MDE, and Joerg Hahn, DL3LUM, of
the Ham Radio Group of DLR (which is the German Mission Control
for EUROMIR 95) announced that there will also be picture
transmission from MIR by means of a new "SSTV" mode. This new
mode will transmit pictures, taken by a still video camera aboard
MIR, in AX25 packets. The protocol of this mode does not generate
"line by line" of the picture, but uses sort of a "random"
sampling. So it is possible to have an idea of the picture
received after a short time, and the resolution is improving as
the transmission is being completed.

Eberhard Backeshoff, DK8JV, author of the well known JVFAX
program, is in charge with the software development of this new
system. He will make a suitable program available to all hams as
soon as it is completed. He asks everybody NOT to send any
requests right now, but stay tuned for further info, which will
be released soon.

[The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Norbert Notthoff (DF5DP)
 for providing this bulletin item.  Norbert is the DARC Coordinator for
 Satellites And Space Projects.  If you wish to get in touch with Norbert,
 he can be reached at his INTERNET address of DF5DP@amsat.org or at his
 CompuServe address of 100114.1050]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-252.02
W4QAU BECOMES A SILENT KEY

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 252.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD SEPTEMBER 9, 1995
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-252.02

Ed Stluka (W4QAU) Long Time AMSAT Supporter & Elmer Becomes A Silent Key

It is ANS's sad duty to inform the amateur satellite community of
the passing of one of its active and effective supporters,  Ed
Stluka, W4QAU.  Dennis Wingo, KD4ETA, SEDSAT Project Manager
writes:  "It was Ed's enthusiasm, good nature, and positive
attitude that helped SEDSAT be what it is today.  Ed originally
came to us with the opportunity to build a payload for a tether
mission. It was Ed who talked JR Thompson (then the Director of
the Marshall Space Flight Center) into flying a student payload
for the tether. It was Ed who paved the way for us to fly on the
Shuttle by proving that you could broadcast from the Cargo Bay
during a Shuttle mission."

Ed started his space career as a test engineer on Explorer I,
America's first satellite. He put his ham skills to work to
develop a mobile tracking station that was instrumental in
getting data from the satellite during its early passes.

Ed also worked on the Apollo program and was one of the lead
engineers on the Boeing IUS upper stage flown on the Shuttle.

Dennis concludes, "Ed will be sorely missed here at UAH
[University of Alabama at Huntsville; ed].  He was the kindest,
gentlest, man that I ever met and all of our lives are better for
knowing him."

AMSAT-NA President, Bill Tynan, W3XO, echoed Dennis Wingo's
feelings in expressing sadness over the loss of such a dedicated
worker as W4QAU.

Ed Stluka was 67.

[The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Dennis Wingo (KD4ETA) for
 this very sad information. ]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT   $ANS-252.03
WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 252.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD SEPTEMBER 9, 1995
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-252.03

Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 09-SEP-95

AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule:
QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE ***  1995 Jul 31 - Oct 30
 Mode-B  : MA   0 to MA 140 | Transponder off from 60 to 140 betewwn Sep. 2 to 
Sept. 18.
 Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 240 |
 Mode-B  : MA 240 to MA 256 |        Alon/Alat 228/-1
 Omnis   : MA 250 to MA 140 |  Move to attitude 180/0, Oct 30
[G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR]

RS-10: NM1K heard RS-10 with lots of activity on both CW and SSB.  [NM1K]

FO-20: NM1K called CQ CW AND SSB FOR ENTIRE PASS 9/5 AT 15:49 UTC with
no answers!  [NM1K]

AO-27: NM1K reports lots of activity on AO-27.  He has worked over 30 states
on this bird's excellent FM transponder.  [NM1K]

The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) NEEDS YOUR HELP! The ANS looking for volun-
teers 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 weekly 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