SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.01 UNAMSAT B IS NOW MEXICO-OSCAR 30 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.01 David Libermen XE1TU, who heads up the UNAMSAT-B effort in Mexico, has said that the group does want their new satellite to be known as an "OSCAR". This statement came in answer to a congratulatory message sent from Bill Tynan W3XO President of AMSAT-NA, asking what they want to call their new satellite. David further indicated that, henceforth, they would like to have UNAMSAT-B called "MEXICO-OSCAR-30, or MO-30". David also expressed appreciation for all the messages received congratulating the UNAMSAT-B team and himself. [ANS thanks David Liberman XE1TU for this great news.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.02 UNAMSAT TEAM BACK AT WORK IN MEXICO CITY HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.02 David, XE1TU, reports the UNAMSAT team has returned to Mexico City after the lengthy trip by rail and air from Plesesk via Moscow. In spite of suffering significant jet-lag they have begun the process of checking out UNAMSAT-B from their command station and lab at the Autonomous University of Mexico. Preliminary indications are that all systems aboard the satellite are working well. One of their first tasks is to validate the coefficient file for the telemetry. David reports it will be released as soon as they have validated all parameters. This could take a while as there are numerous channels to be checked out over a period of several orbits. They expect to follow their checkout procedure very carefully and deliberately. David acknowledges the congratulatory messages coming in from the amateur satellite community and thanks everyone for their words of encouragement. He can be reached at xe1tu@amsat.org. XE1TU provides the following Keps for MO-30 Satellite: MEXICO-OSCAR-30 Object Number: 24305 NASA Designation: Epoch Time, T0: 96 256.8791169 09/12/96 16:05:55.70 mex Epoch Rev, K0: 100 Mean Anomaly, M0: 102.31490 Mean Motion, N0: 13.73082232 Inclination, I0: 82.93800 Eccentricity, E0: 0.00294660 Arg Perigee, W0: 257.47060 R.A.A.N., O0: 199.49990 Beacon Frq, F1: 437.206 Decay, N1: 2.03000e-006 He expresses the hope that this information will be useful to all and promises to post new sets of elements as required. [ANS thanks Jim White WD0E for relaying this information. ] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.03 AMSAT-FRANCE WINS ENGINEERING PRIZE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.03 During the 25th General Assembly of the International Radioelectricity Scientific Union (IRSU) held in Lille, France from August 28th to September 5th, Christophe Carlier F4AAT, member of AMSAT-F and also a key member of the project team now developing a French Amateur Radio satellite called "Maelle", was presented with the first place prize. The international contest was organized by the French, Belgian and Swiss Committees for Scientific Radioelectricity on radio science and technique, and was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first radio transmissions. The Maelle project won 1st Place in its category (Level C: Engineering schools, undergraduate university students). The honor also included a 10000 FF check for Christophe, presented by Joseph Taylor, Nobel prize winner in physics for the discovery of binary pulsars. In his speech, Joseph Taylor revealed that his interest toward science had first been awakened by practicing Ham radio! The Maelle satellite is now under construction in France as a cooperative effort of CAC (Club Aerospatial Cellois), RACE (RadioAmateur Club de l'Espace) and AMSAT-France. It is a MICROSAT-class satellite weighing 50Kg, and it is planned that Maelle will carry a 9600 BPS packet radio transponder similar to the UoSATs. It will also carry an experimental transponder with speeds up to 19.2K BPS. Besides the usual 145 MHz uplink and 435 MHz downlink frequencies, plans also now call for Maelle to have a 1.2 Ghz uplink and 2.4 Ghz downlink transponder on board using experimental protocols. There is also plan for Maelle to carry some form of Earth observation system as well. While no firm launch date or vehicle have been secured, the groups are now planning to have Maelle in Low Earth Orbit by 1999. [ANS thanks Bernard Pidoux, F6BVP and Keith Baker, KB1SF, for the information contained in this Bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.04 LAST ZRO TESTS ON AMSAT-OSCAR-13 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.04 ZRO TEST SCHEDULE SEPTEMBER 1996 - OCTOBER 1996 Andy MacAllister WA5ZIB posts the following schedule for the ZRO Memorial Technical Achievement Award Program, or just "ZRO Test" to be conduction on AO-13. This activity is a test of operating skill and equipment performance. Andy notes that the end of AO-13 is near, so this will be the final opportunity to participate in a ZRO test on our faithful old friend! During a typical ZRO run, a control station will send numeric code groups using CW at 10 words-per-minute. At the beginning of the run, uplink power from the control station is set to match the general beacon downlink strength. This is level "zero". The control operator will send and repeat a random five-digit number, then lower his uplink power by 3 dB (half power) and repeat the procedure with a new random number (level "1"). This will continue to a level 30 dB below the beacon (level "A"). A participating listener monitors the downlink signals till he can no longer copy the numbers. Those who can hear the beacon will qualify for the basic award by copying the code group heard at level "zero". The challenge is to improve home-station performance to a point where the lower-level downlink signals can be copied (levels 6 through A). To date, only one station (Darrel Emerson AA7FV) has successfully copied level "A". The following schedule of Mode "B" tests were chosen for convenient operating times and favorable squint angles. Due to the current orbit of A-O-13, choices and coverage for this round of tests were limited. If the spacecraft orientation is significantly changed from the current near-Nadir pointing, the test schedule will be canceled. The tests can be heard on 145.840 MHz. Andy WA5ZIB will conduct all the tests. Day Date (UTC) Time Areas covered Saturday Sept 21, 1996 0345 UTC SW US, SA, S Pac Sunday Sept 22, 1996 0230 UTC S US, SA, S Pac Sunday Sept 29, 1996 0315 UTC SW US, SA, S Pac Sunday Oct 6, 1996 0300 UTC SW US, SA, S Pac Note that the dates and days are shown in "UTC". Any changes will be announced as soon as possible via the AMSAT HF and A-O-13 Operations Nets. All listener reports with date of test and numbers copied should be sent to Andy MacAllister WA5ZIB, AMSAT V.P. User Operations, 14714 Knights Way Drive, Houston, TX 77083-5640. A report will be returned verifying the level of accurate reception. An S.A.S.E. is appreciated but not required. Information about the AMSAT Awards Program can be found on page 197 of the "Proceedings of the AMSAT-NA Tenth Space Symposium" (1992). This paper, covering all the AMSAT-NA awards including specifics on the ZRO Test, was reprinted on page 10 in the March/April 1993 issue of "The AMSAT Journal". The ZRO Test information provided in the article covers test procedures, means for obtaining certificates and gives some historical background about the program. Reprints of the article can be obtained for an S.A.S.E. to WA5ZIB at the address above. If you have Internet access, check the AMSAT Web page at http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks Andy MacAllister WA5ZIB for this information and for his service to the amateur satellite community by conducting the ZRO tests over the years.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.05 MIR HAM ACTIVITIES HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.05 Phil Chien KC4YER provides interesting information on MIR and the cosmonauts' activities. He notes that there have been a bit of recent activity aboard MIR, and some questions which he thought he could help answer. He credits Maggie (Rita) VK3CFI, for most of this information. He comments that she has talked with most of the cosmonauts. Phil says that much of this material comes from a press conference which Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, gave to the U.S. press in December 1994. By coincidence the evening after that press conference he had the opportunity to meet Rita in person - at the Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club Christmas dinner. Apparently once a new crew arrives on MIR they are quickly introduced to Rita via ham radio, and ones who have previously chatted with her from space contact her quickly once they go back to MIR on future flights. Alexander 'Sasha' Kaleri U8MIR is the MIR 22 flight engineer. He had spent several months previously aboard MIR, and made some comment about it feeling like he had never left. Well one key change was that the packet rig was down. So Sasha decided to repair it, and succeed. His first PMS mail was to Rita, happy that everything was working again. MIR cosmonauts operate on Decreed Moscow Time (DMT) which is GMT + 3 hours. Unlike normal Moscow time, DMT does not add an hour for daylight savings during the summer. The MIR crews sleep from 10 p.m. to 8 am DMT, so you can calculate what that corresponds to for your time zone. It's important to note that this is their _scheduled_ sleep time - many cosmonauts have been heard on the radio when they're scheduled to be sleeping. So it's worth listening just in case somebody's up late. Under normal circumstances Sunday is a rest day, for the cosmonauts to do whatever they want. And ham radio is certainly one of the key activities for many (not all) cosmonauts. So it's certainly the most likely day to find them on the radio. Each of the upcoming U.S. astronauts who will be spending time on MIR has earned a U.S. amateur call sign - John Blaha, Jerry Linenger, Mike Foale, Wendy Lawrence, and Dave Wolf. Some had earned their licenses for previous shuttle missions, others had exposure to SAREX on their previous flights, but got their licenses specifically for their stays aboard MIR. None of these folks includes amateur radio in their list of hobbies in their official bios, so it's logical to assume that they aren't 'die-hard hams', but are more interested in using the radio aboard MIR for unofficial communications with family, friends, etc. Cosmonaut work days are much less structured than the precise minute-by-minute timeline which shuttle crews use. So cosmonauts have a bit of flexibility in when they take their rest breaks and other free periods. If a cosmonaut wants to talk to friends and family, then it's easy enough to just say something like "I'll be on the radio tomorrow at such and such time". Phil adds that Jay Apt N5QWL commented during the STS-79 preflight press conference that he had talked to Shannon the previous day, and was planning on talking to her the next day. Afterwards he commented to me that the only reason he couldn't talk to her on that day, was because the crew felt that they should show up for their own press conference! In a previous post I included John Blaha's comments that he's looking forward to using the amateur radio rig on MIR, including talking to folks around the world and just chatting or answering questions about life aboard MIR. All are asked to please respect his wishes as to how he wants to chat, and who he talks to. [ANS thanks Phil Chien KC4YER for this interesting insight into manned space activities.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.06 MISCELLANEOUS AMSAT ACTIVITIES HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.06 The new version of FODTRACK Ver. 1.9 is on KO-23 as file number 20C58. ANS does not know if it has been released to the AMSAT ftp site. This is the easy to build unit, with schematic and complete software, for a simple low cost satellite antenna control system. The ARRL SW Convention will be held in Mesa, AZ on October 11,12,13, 1996. AMSAT Presentations will be conducted on Saturday, Oct. 12 and an AMSAT booth will be present for all three days. Larry Brown NW7N will give a presentation on features and operation of the new Phase III D satellite. The frequencies and modes of operation will be thoroughly explored. Lyle Johnson WA7GXD will discuss the design and construction of AO-27. He will also display hardware he developed for AO-27 and the Phase III D satellite. Jim Weisenberger AA7KC will detail the equipment requirements, acquisition, and use of the (LEO)low earth orbit satellites. Both digital and analog satellites will be discussed. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for these news items.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.07 SAREX MISSION STS-79 FACT SHEET HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.07 STS-79 INFO The fourth in the joint American-Russian space shuttle missions will again include Amateur Radio. SAREX, or the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment. Amateur Radio has been flying aboard the shuttles since 1983, providing the public with a unique vantage point of space. The launch is now scheduled for September 16th, 1996. At 4:54am. The launch window is approximately 7 min. Making his 5th shuttle mission is John Blaha who will serve as a Mission Specialist. John first participated in SAREX during his last shuttle mission, STS-58, aboard Columbia in October/November 1993. He's since earned ham radio call sign KC5TZQ. His first space mission was STS-29 aboard Discovery in March 1989. He again served on Discovery for STS-33 in November 1989, and on Atlantis during STS-43 in August 1991. During this mission, Blaha will switch places with astronaut Shannon Lucid, remaining with the Mir Space Station. He'll conduct material, fluid, and life science research for 5 months with the Mir 22 and Mir 23 Cosmonaut crews, and return to Earth aboard mission STS-81 in December 1996. Shannon has been aboard Mir since STS-76 in March 1996. Astronaut Carl Walz is KC5TIE. He participated in SAREX from Columbia during STS-65 in July 1994, before earning his Amateur Radio license. His first mission was STS-51 in September 1993. During that flight, Carl participated in a space walk to evaluate tools for the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. The remaining crew members include Commander William F. Readdy (STS-42 in January 1992, STS-51 in September 1993), Pilot Terrence W. Wilcutt (STS-68 in September/October 1994), and Mission Specialist Thomas D. Akers (STS-41 in October 1990, STS-49 in May 1992, and STS-61 in December 1993. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.08 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.08 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.08 FO-29 (Fuji OSCAR 29) FORMERLY JAS-2 FO-29 I heard a number of QSO's on 9/6/96 04:15 UTC. Signal strength was S7 to S9. This is a fine new addition to the OSCAR's. The AMSAT keplerian elements were incorrect on that date. I downloaded correct keps from KO-23. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for this report.] The FO-29 reports that the bird is now in good condition of hardware, and last week we tried digitalker a little bit, and it went well. The problem is to keep a charming voice for announcement. Now 9600 bps is going on, and sometimes we try some experiment of commanding and sending programs. MIR: Several reports have been coming in reporting the reception of MIR on 145.55 voice and packet around 10am (PST) for the past couple of days. It is usually around their "Dinner" time. Lots of contacts are apparently being made. Other MIR reports indicate that the repeater on 437.950 is back up and going strong. [ANS thanks John W5HUQ for this information.] Scott Leaf VE7VDX says he QSOed MIR at 18:31 UTC Sunday September 8 from Vancouver B.C., CN89, and from his car at that! Scott used 50 Watts to a 5/8 whip. He concludes that Sunday is the best day to try to work MIR as it is their day off. He notes, however, that the passes over North America are getting very late in their day (Moscow time) so it may be tough by this weekend. [ANS thanks Scott for this insight.] RS-12: Operating normally. RS-10: Operating normally. RS-15 Operating normally. Down link signals are never very strong and there is much deep QSB. DO-17 (DOVE): The S band beacon is operational. KO-23: Operating normally KO-25: Operating normally. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for the reports on KO-23 and 25.} AO-27: Operating normally. AO-10: Operating normally. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-258.09 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 258.09 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 14, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-258.09 FO-20 FO-20 is also working, and it came just after FO-29s pass on the night of FO-29's launch day, as though it watched the new born brother OSCAR-11: During the last month OSCAR-11 has continued to provide good signals on 145.826 MHz. There have been a few shut downs, due to the watchdog timer, which has then been reset by ground control. OSCAR-11 can be heard on 145.825 MHz. Modulation is 1200 baud AFSK, with tones of 1200/2400 Hz. There have been many designs for suitable decoders, but perhaps the simplest way is to use an old telephone modem, using Bell 202, or V23 tones. It is essential to invert the modem's output signal, before feeding it into the computer. The current operating schedule is - 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) There are also additional status blocks after each bulletin is transmitted. It is possible that the long period of ASCII status blocks may be replaced by binary TLM and WOD. [ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for this update on OSCAR-11.] IO-26 ( ITAMSAT): ITAMSAT, now, is in good shape. Telemetry is every 60 seconds and the digipeater is OFF. The actual beacon is: ** 15th August 1996 ** Digipeater is OFF. Command station IK2XRO-IW2EGC in Buenos Aires. Thanks to LU8DYF-LUSAT Command team. 73 de ITAMSAT Command team. AO-13: James Miller G3RUH reports that the AO-13 re-entry keps file on the AMSAT ftp site has been updated. The file is: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/decaykep.zip He says that anyone who downloaded this any time prior to this message, should download the new version to replace the current copy. James expresses thanks to Hardy, DC8TS who spotted a date error, and apologizes for the mistake WO-18 (WEBERSAT-OSCAR-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. [Please send your Satellite reports to bjarts@uslink.net or to wt0n@amsat.org] /EX