SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.01 ZS5AKV RE-APPOINTED AS IARU SATELLITE ADVISER HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.01 The Administrative Council of the International Amateur Radio Union has re-appointed Hans van de Groenendaal ZS5AKV as the IARU Satellite Adviser for a further one year term of office. The terms of reference empowers the IARU Satellite Adviser to appoint the IARU AMSAT Frequency Coordinator. Whilst the continuation of Graham Ratcliff was already discussed at the AMSAT UK Colloquium and supported by the AMSAT Groups, the appoint could only be confirmed at this time. In the short time that Graham has held this honorary appointment, he has already made a major contribution. He is currently working on a comprehensive data base which will contain the Amateur Radio Satellite frequencies and other relevant details. [ANS thanks the INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE NEWS DIGEST for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.02 IARU CHOOSES SATELLITES AS THEME FOR WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY 1997 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.02 The IARU Administrative Council has chosen " 35 YEARS OF AMATEUR SATELLITES" as the theme for World Amateur Radio Day 1997 which will be celebrated on 20 September 1997. ZS5AKV is looking for input from the Satellite Community how best to focus on Amateur Satellites and the fraternity's contribution to scientific development and engineering. Please Email your ideas to ZS5AKV at zs5akv@amsat.org. [ANS thanks the INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE NEWS DIGEST for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.03 1997 IARU SATELLITE FORUM TO BE HELD IN CANADA HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.03 The annual IARU Satellite Forum which was held for the past three years at the University of Surrey as part of the AMSAT UK Colloquium will in 1997 be held in Canada as part of the AMSAT NA Space Symposium and Annual meeting. The final date has not be finalized. The 1997 AMSAT NA Space Symposium is scheduled for October 17 - 19 in Toronto. Whilst no final decision has been made, consideration is being given to alternate the IARU Satellite Forum in the future between the two main world Amateur Satellite events. [ANS thanks the INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE NEWS DIGEST for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.04 "ARIANE 5 DELAY COSTS AMSAT" HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.04 The following item was in the NEWS BRIEFS section of today's issue (Oct7-13, 1996) of SPACE NEWS, a weekly trade publication. "The U.S. and German branches of the international not-for-profit amateurradio organization estimate that the delays in the launch of the second European Ariane 5 launch will cost them a combined $300,000. AMSAT's 400-kilogram Phase 3D satellite will be a passenger on this Ariane 5 flight." "AMSAT had already budgeted about $4.5 million for the construction, launch and operation of the AMSAT Phase 3D and is now soliciting corporate and private contributions to help pay the additional costs related to the launch delay. The next Ariane 5 is scheduled for launch in the spring of 1997." [ANS thanks Eric Rosenberg for this update.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.05 AO-13 Perigee Heating HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.05 James R Miller, G3RUH, attempted to log a perigee flypast during the past week. With a doppler shift rate of ~60 Hz/sec this was not easy, but the results are enclosed. The objective was to see if perigee heating is distinguishable from Earth warming. The first two blocks at 0718:02 and 0718:37 are at MA 0 (approx.), and the solar panel temperatures jump from 22.8 C to 25.2 C. This is a big jump for a 30 sec gap, commensurate with the rate of cooling in eclipses, so Miller would say this was evidence of sudden heating, rather than Earth warming effects which have had plenty of time to accrue slowly. A file with the raw telemetry and a temperature plot are at: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/heat.zip (12K) [ANS thanks James Miller, G3RUH, for this new information on AO-13.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.06 KC5TZQ ON PUBLIC RADIO HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.06 Joe Spinosa, KF6CWX, was Iistening to National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" this morning (10/9/96) in Concord, CA on his local PBS radio station, KQED FM (88.5). They had an interview with Lt. Col. John Blaha, KC5TZQ, aboard the MIR space station, He gave another wonderful plug for amateur radio. Lt. Col. John Blaha, KC5TZQ, said, "as many of you know, that we on MIR operate on Moscow time." When asked about getting news in general Blaha mentioned that when he wakes up in the morning at about 8:00AM, that is approximately midnight in the US(Eastern). During those passes he contacts several amateur radio operators who constantly give him all kinds of news. The whole interview was positive and a great promotion of amateur radio.. Joe Spinosa also states that "Watch those passes across the U.S. from around 05:00 through 08:00 UTC." [ANS thanks Joe Spinosa, KF6CWX, for this news about MIR.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.07 PART OF 2300 MHz BAND REALLOCATED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.07 The 2000-page omnibus budget resolution, passed by congress and signed by the President this week, contained this bad news for Amateur Radio: TITLE III -- SPECTRUM PROVISIONS SEC 3001. COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR SPECTRUM (a) COMMISSION OBLIGATION TO MAKE ADDITIONAL SPECTRUM AVAILABLE - The Federal Communications Commission shall -- (1) reallocate the use of frequencies at 2305-2320 megahertz and 2345-2360 megahertz to wireless services that are consistent with international agreement concerning spectrum allocations; and (2) assign the use of such frequencies by competitive bidding pursuant to section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)). (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS -- In making the bands of frequencies described in subsection (a) available for competitive bidding, the Commission shall -- (1) seek to promote the most efficient use of the spectrum; and (2) take into account the needs of public safety radio services. AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan W3XO noted that none of the frequencies in question are available for amateur satellites. Furthermore, he said, that the only portion of this spectrum that is assigned to the Amateur Service is 2305 to 2310. Actually 2300 to 2310 is assigned to amateurs. We lost 2310 to 2390 a number of years ago. In 1994 Congress mandated that, among other bands not assigned to amateurs, 2300 to 2310, 2390 to 2400 and 2402 2417 be released from Government use to the private sector. Like most of the microwave bands, he added, amateur assignments of these frequencies are secondary to Government use. Presumably, Government vacation and turning over to private use would mean that amateurs would loose the bands. However, FCC chose to give amateurs primary status on 2390 to 2400 and 2402 to 2450. We still have secondary status on 2400 to 2402, we have 2390 to 2450 and the amateur satellite service has 2400 to 2450. Tynan noted that the specific frequencies cited in this release, namely 2305 to 2320 may be good news for amateurs, as it appears to exclude 2300 to 2305. A popular frequency among weak signal users, including moonbounce, is 2304. If that assignment is safe, Tynan considers that good news indeed. [ANS thanks ARRL, Bruce Perens and Bill Tynan for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.08 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.08 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.08 FO-29 (Fuji OSCAR 29) is reported to be in good condition. MIR: Several reports have been coming in reporting the reception of MIR on 145.55 voice and packet. Reports show strong signals and much activity over Europe and North America. Other MIR reports indicate that the repeater on 437.950 is back up and going strong. MIR SAFEX INFORMATION: Mode 1: FM repeater with CTCSS sub-tone 141.3 Hz. Downlink 437.950 MHz Uplink 435.750 MHz CTCSS Mode 2: 9600 Baud (G3RUH compatible) Packet Operation. Downlink 437.975 MHz Uplink 435.775 MHz No CTCSS Mode 3: Pre-recorded digital voice beacon, and may be used for contacts with the MIR crew. Downlink 437.925 Uplink 435.725 CTCSS [ANS thanks John W5HUQ for this information.] R0MIR and R0MIR-1(packet bbs) are the calls being used by MIR. Also KC5TZQ, John Blaha, is using his own call on MIR. RS-12: Operating normally. With strong downlink signals reported both on 2 and 10 meters. RS-10: Operating normally. Very busy and lots of QSO's heard over north America. RS-15 Operating normally. Down link signals are never very strong and there is much deep QSB. Some activity heard on the bird over the past week. KO-23: Operating normally KO-25: Operating normally. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for his reports on KO-23 and 25.} AO-27: Operating normally. AO-10: Operating normally. There's been some confusion, because AO-10 and 13 have been overlapping over the U.S. in the evenings the last couple of days. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-286.09 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 286.09 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, OCTOBER 12, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-286.09 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. Starting September 1st. ground control have arranged for the watch-dog timer to be reset automatically, every ten minutes. This appears to have cured the shut-down problem, which has been a feature of recent OSCAR-11 activity. 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: 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 In addition, a number of reports have been received about the good conditions on AO-13 over the past few days. Many are taking advantage of possibly the final period of good conditions on this old friend. 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