SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.01 AMSAT BOARD MEETS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 181.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 29, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-181.01 The AMSAT-NA Board of Directors met June 29th at the organization's office in Silver Spring, Maryland to consider several subjects. The principal agenda item was approval of a set of recommendations to the IARU Future of the Amateur Service Committee (FASC). This group is collecting recommendation for presentation to the World Radiocommunications /conference (WRC) to be held in 1999. AMSAT-NA and other overseas AMSAT organizations were asked by IARU for their views particularly with respect to possible changes to international rules governing the amateur-satellite service. The Board approved the document written principally by Ray Soifer W2RS AMSAT-NA's Vice President for International Affairs. The approved document calls for retention of the current status in which the amateur service and the amateur-satellite service are defined separately. The Board concluded that there are many advantages for retaining these as separate services. The approved document also addresses the need for the ability for satellite command stations to be able to send signals to satellites that are encoded to hide meaning. Another issue addressed by the document is that regarding content of messages. The current rules governing the amateur service and the amateur satellite service are quite restrictive in the regard. The Board agreed that some relaxation is called for that will facilitate the transmission of scientific data via amateur satellites that may not necessarily be related to radio techniques. Other subjects covered by the Board included a decision to not pursue distribution of the AMSAT Journal via electronic means, further initiatives with respect to cooperation with educational institutions and a call for discussions between proponents of spread spectrum communication and those who have reservations concerning it. A full report of the Board meeting will be presented in a forthcoming issue of the AMSAT Journal. [ANS thanks Bill Tynan W3XO for this bulletin.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.02 ASTRONAUTS CONTACT US NAVY SHIP BY HAM RADIO HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 181.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 29, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-181.02 Excerpts here are taken directly from NASA's Shuttle Web site (http://shuttle.nasa.gov), June 26, 1996. During their presleep period yesterday, four crewmembers took half an hour to answer questions posed to the Shuttle Web's "Ask the Crew a Question" feature. Astronauts Terence Henricks, Richard Linnehan, Bob Thirsk (VA3CSA), and Charles Brady (N4BQW) took turns responding to questions from the Internet on subjects ranging from exercise to smuggling snacks. One of the questions was submitted by SAREX volunteer Pat Kilroy, WD8LAQ of Bowie, Maryland. His message was directed to astronaut Chuck Brady, N4BQW: "How important a role will SAREX play on this mission and on future International Space Station missions?" Chuck Brady replies: "Well Pat, I really think it's tremendously important. In fact, from Norm Thagard's experience and Shannon Lucid's experience on Mir and your experience, Chris [Hadfield (KC5RNJ), CAPCOM], I think the longer the stay the more important it is to have that kind of personal contact back to Earth, and it's something I think will play a real important role in helping morale, and keeping the psychological adjustment steady aboard station. Interestingly enough, we just made a SAREX contact to a U.S. Navy ship at sea, the USS Essex, which was about a thousand miles off the coast of San Diego, and they'd been on quite a long deployment and I think really enjoyed it from their end and we certainly did here onboard (Space Shuttle) Columbia." Communications with Earth continued today as Pilot Kevin Kregel discussed the progress of the fifth Shuttle mission of the year with students at Bethlehem Central Senior High School in Delmar, N.Y., using the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment, and Payload Specialist Bob Thirsk, VA3CSA, took up the ham radio gear to make contact with students at the Saskatoon Public Aerospace Education school in Saskatchewan, Canada. [ANS thanks Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, Educational Activities Department American Radio Relay League for this item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.03 SAREX QSL CARDS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 181.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 29, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-181.03 Participating in the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment can be an exhilarating experience. But, as many DXers know, waiting for that coveted QSL card requires a lot of patience. Designing a card for the ultimate DXpedition can be a lengthy process. Here's a behind- the-scenes glance at producing a SAREX QSL, and some tips to help you get your card. After a SAREX mission, ARRL and the SAREX Working Group work with the crew members to select photos from that mission, and design and layout the QSL card. This may take a few months because of the busy schedule of the astronauts, among other things. Once the card is designed and printed, ARRL forwards the QSL cards to whichever Amateur Radio club is involved with the awesome task of managing the cards. In the past, amateurs sent their contact and listener reports directly to the managing club. Now, all reports should be sent to: ARRL Headquarters SAREX QSL (please indicate flight #, STS-XX) 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA This address must be used for all future missions. In order for the managing process to run smoothly, please include the following information in your QSL or report: shuttle flight number (STS-XX), date, time in UTC, frequency and mode (FM voice, packet, sstv or fstv). This documents the contact or listener report. In addition, you must also include a self-addressed stamped business-size envelope if you wish to receive a card. No cards are distributed without the proper postage affixed or sufficient IRCs include. The following clubs have graciously volunteered their service for handling QSL cards for the following missions: STS-9 Newington Amateur Radio League, Connecticut STS-51 ARRL STS-35 Washington Area AMSAT Group, Goddard Amateur Radio Club, Maryland STS-37 Washington Area AMSAT Group, Goddard Amateur Radio Club, Maryland STS-45 Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club, Virginia STS-50 Dayton Amateur Radio Association, Ohio STS-47 Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club, Texas STS-55 IBM Amateur Radio Club/1993, Florida STS-56 Vienna Wireless Society, Virginia STS-57 Miami County Amateur Radio Club, Ohio STS-58 Connecticut DX Association STS-60 Cowley County Amateur Radio Club, Kansas STS-59 Orange Park Amateur Radio Club, Florida STS-65 Lake County Amateur Radio Club, Indiana STS-64 Nashua Area Radio Club, New Hampshire STS-67 Edison Radio Amateurs Association, Michigan STS-70 Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club, Virginia STS-71 Sacred Hearts Academy Radio Club, Hawaii STS-74 Greater Norwalk Amateur Radio Club, Connecticut STS-76 Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club, Massachusetts STS-78 "The Net", Washington STS-79 Bergen Amateur Radio Association, New Jersey [ANS thanks Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, Educational Activities Department American Radio Relay League for this notice.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.04 PACKET ROBOT ON STS-78 OPERATIONAL HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 181.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 29, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-181.04 Here's the greeting that the robot is putting out occasionally: Greetings from the space shuttle Columbia! We have no been on-orbit for six days. We have been busy operating the experiments of the Life and Microgravity Spacelab Mission. Today we had a half-day off and used this time to operate our amateur radio and set up the packet system. We have made several voice contacts with amateur operators in North America, Africa, Australia and Hawaii. The view of the Mediterranean and Middle East in the morning has been one of the highlights of the mission for all of us. 73's Tom, Kevin, Susan (KC7NHZ), Rick, Chuck (N4BQW), Mongo and Bob (VA3CSA)... N6BIS was contact #142. From the wording of the greeting message, it appears that the set up the robot on Tuesday, as that's when they had the half day off. [ANS thanks Patty Winter, N6BIS, for this update] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.05 STS-78 APRS REPORT HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 181.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 29, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-181.05 Finally some APRS reports. SAREX signals appear quite weak and the orientation of the shuttle favors looking aft, meaning you will get the best signals after it passes you. With 3 KHz doppler, you might consider listening on 145.555 and transmitting on 144.485 as the Shuttle approaches and listening on 145.545 and transmitting on 144.545 as the Shuttle departs your QTH. * PLEASE include in your reports your LOCATION on this earth, and the TIMEZONE of all TIME references. I am having to send back a request for this information on almost EVERY report that comes in... Remember, in SPACE mode, the GRID SQUARE POSIT is inserted in your BEACON. Do not send any APRS packets except your BEACON. Use the XMIT-BEACON command. Do not send APRS messages! Look on the ALL-BEACONS page to see the list of separate packets heard. Unfortunately it does not show the TO callsign, but it does give more information than the LATEST and D pages show. Later when things calm down, sending your POSIT might be OK, but that is a much longer packet and is not needed if you send a SPACE MODE BEACON. The SPACE MODE BEACON will put you on the map (using the gridsquare format) [ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for the material used in this bulletin.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.06 IMAGES WANTED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 181.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 29, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-181.06 We (Amsat-UK) are in the final stages of preparing the Colloquium "Proceedings" document for the printers; each attendee will receive a copy. We still need an image for the front (and maybe back) cover. Our thoughts in this direction are of Phase-3D and the Ariane-5; but this decision is not finalized. Has anyone any public domain images in digital format which may be suitable ? (we already have the P3D Logo). If so, we would be grateful for a copy. Please send via internet to g6zru@amsat.org (NOT to me) with the image file as a message on its own (we have problems with some MIME formats); any accompanying text should be sent in a separate message. The deadline is 1200gmt this Wednesday (3 July). [ANS thanks Richard W L Limebear, G3RWL, for this bulletin.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-181.07 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 181.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 29, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-181.07 STS-78 SAREX: W5RRR and W5RRR-1 are active and many contacts have been made. MIR: Mir's packet station has been confirmed as being inoperative by Shannon Lucid via voice on orbit 59150 at 1840z. RS-12: Operating normally. RS-10: Operating normally. AO-27: Operating normally. AO-10: Operating normally. OSCAR-11: Is now transmitting. Telemetry nominal. WOD dated 26 June chans 1,2,3,61 magnetometers. New bulletin (No 71) dated 22nd June, about Ariane 5, and AO-13: Operating normally. *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1996 Jun27 - Sep 02 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 140 | Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 240 | Mode-B : MA 240 to MA 256 | Alon/Alat "220/0" Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 | Move to attitude 180/0, Sep 02-??? Please note that the higher powered engineering beacon 145.985 MHz is currently ON for two periods: MA 0-40 and MA 160-170. Eventually, this will be turned on full time for the duration of AO-13's functional existence. The drag effects at perigee are causing the ALAT to rise slightly each orbit. The initial orientation for this period will more accurately be ALON/ALAT 220/-10 with ALAT progressively rising during this time period. At the end of this two month session, perigee height will be 170 km and re-entry (drag) effects will be even more noticeable. For a limited time after Sep 02, it MAY BE POSSIBLE to move AO-13 back to the 180/0 orientation. However, maintaining this orientation will become increasingly difficult. If this move takes place, the following schedule will be placed in effect. By October but perhaps earlier, it will become necessary to move AO-13 to ALON/ALAT 90/0 to provide limited protection of the omni antenna from perigee heating and to reduce the drag associated deflection of the ALAT. >From this point until the demise of the electronics AO-13 will be Mode-B only, full-time omni antenna, much as with AO-10. The next few months will be an interesting time, and the command team welcomes suggestions to make use of this unique opportunity to observe an amateur spacecraft as it approaches re-entry. Full details of re-entry, around 1996 Dec 05-19, can be found in: Up-to-date information about AO-13 operations is available on the AO-13 general (GB) and engineering (EB) beacons. The GB (145.812 MHz), when active, transmits bulletins and telemetry at 400 bps PSK, alternating with CW at 0 & 30 minutes past the hour, and RTTY at 15 & 45 minutes past the hour. The EB (145.985 MHz), when active, transmits exclusively at 400 bps PSK. The current EB schedule is listed above. It may also be intermittently activated by command stations at other times to facilitate command functions. Eventually, the EB will be activated full time for the remainder of AO-13's functional life. These bulletins are also posted to Internet, ANS, Packet, PacSats etc., and many international newsletters. Internet users wanting the latest AO-13 information should always check: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/ http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ Telemetry is archived at: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/telemetry/ The active command stations are listed below, and constructive feedback about operations is always welcome. Peter DB2OS Graham VK5AGR Ian ZL1AOX James G3RUH Stacey WB4QKT They may be reached via Internet (callsign@amsat.org) and KO-23. Please remember to state a return address clearly. WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18: (WO-18) has experienced many software crashes recently. Efforts are underway by the command team to identify the cause, and make the appropriate corrections. Controllers all hope that WO-18 will be operational again very soon sending telemetry, photos, weekly whole orbit data (WOD), and light spectra of the Sun or Earth. ITAMSAT-OSCAR-26 returned to the air on 01-Jun-96. The satellite was copied on Friday 07-Jun-96 at KD2BD in New Jersey transmitting telemetry, WOD, LSTAT, BCRXMT, TIME, and STATUS frames. In addition, the satellite was sending the following text message: IY2SAT-1>AMSAT : ** 5th June 1996 ** IHT 3.1 is running. Digipeater is ON. WOD is underway. 73 de ITAMSAT Command team. The satellite was using its 435.820 MHz downlink transmitter, and digipeating was possible via ITMSAT-1 using any one of its four uplink frequencies (145.875 MHz, 145.900 MHz, 145.925 MHz, or 145.950 MHz). [Please send your Satellite reports to bjarts@uslink.net or to wt0n@amsat.org] /EX