SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-020.01 HEARD ISLAND DXPEDITION UNDER WAY HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 020.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 20, 1997 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-020.01 The Heard Island DXpedition now in progress, VK0IR, has been using amateur packet satellites to transmit current log data from one of the most remote locations on earth. Logs are uploaded from VK0IR, downloaded by ON1AIG, and transmitted from Belgium via the Internet to waiting hams around the world. Roger Cooke, G3LDI, reports seeing VK0IR log data on UO-22 and KO-23, while use of KO-25 has been observed by Jim White, WD0E. Logs transmitted so far include nearly 20,000 callsigns of stations which have worked the expedition. The group is scheduled to remain on the island for about another week. This provides one of the most dramatic illustrations yet of the value of this type of communication. Anyone wanting to find out if they are in the log, may send an e-mail message, with their callsign in the body of the text, to , or check out the log data on the expedition's Web site at These servers will check the latest available log data. ANS thanks Ray Soifer W2RS for this information. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-020.02 SMSAT PROJECT ANNOUNCED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 020.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 20, 1997 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-020.02 The Simulated Satellite (SimSat) project is a new educational venture that allows students to fly experiments to altitudes of 60,000 feet and beyond. A SimSat "spacecraft" uses a small high-altitude weather balloon accompanied by one or more experiments. The experiments are designed and built by participating students and their mentors. The payload is tracked by groups of students and radio amateur enthusiasts as the balloon is carried by upper-level winds. The project simulates many of the practices and remote observing challenges inherent in working with satellites, and offers a unique hands-on experience for students in the K-12 earth science, physical science, physics and aerospace programs. The experiences gained are valuable stepping stones into amateur satellites and future career choices. SimSat is being developed as an education & community outreach program. The growing SimSat volunteer group in the Washington, D.C. area is comprised of AMSAT members, teachers, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center workers, community business persons, sponsors, parents, radio amateurs and others. WEB PAGE. Those wishing additional information may visit the new SimSat web site at URL: http://garc.gsfc.nasa.gov/~simsat/simsat.html All amateurs are also invited to participate in SimSat activites through the "AMSAT-DC" communications channel, amsat-dc@amsat.org. It works like the other AMSAT mail lists. To subscribe to the DC mail list, send an e-mail message with the subscribe request to Paul Williamson, KB5MU, at listserv@amsat.org. As with all AMSAT lists, such requests should go to listserv@amsat.org, NOT to the name of the specific list. . In addition, those subscribing are encouraged to include their call sign (if any), and correct e-mail address, and the proper name of the mailing list being requested, in this case, AMSAT-DC. As requests to AMSAT lists are currently being processed manually, the format of the request is not important. The volume of traffic on this list is usually fairly low. However, please allow a few days to a week or so for processing. To unsubscribe from this, or any other AMSAT list, another message with the unsubscribe request should be sent to listserv@amsat.org . The same proceedure applies to changes in E-Mail addresses. Others are welcomed to use the example of this Washington, D.C. group to spark a similar activity in your own area. [ANS thanks AMSAT Area Coordinator Pat Kilroy WD8LAQ for this information. ] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-020.03 OSCAR-11 NEWS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 020.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 20, 1997 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-020.03 During the past month (18 December - 14 January) good, steady signals have been received from OSCAR-11 on 145.826 MHz. No further reports of Mode-S reception after 12 December have been received, although Ken G8VR did listen on 2401.5 MHz during the last week of December, but nothing was heard. By way of comparison, he was able to receive good signals from DOVE. As briefly reported last month, in mid December the spin period, as shown in the status blocks, increased from the usual value of about 360 to +939 seconds. This indicated that the speed of rotation had decreased, and that the satellite was rotating in the opposite direction to normal. On one pass the -Y axis facet temperature had risen to 56.6 deg. C, and +Y fallen to -16 deg. C. Temperatures like these were frequently seen several years ago, but not recently. The ground controllers quickly discovered that the Y-axis magnetorquer had failed. They manually activated the magnetorquer coil which is controlled by a relay, but could only detect a small change in line current, due to the relay coil. This indicated that the relay contacts had failed, or that the Y-axis magnetorquer coil was open circuit. By changing the diary software, the alternative X-axis magnetorquer was selected. This restored the spin rate, direction, and facet temperatures to normal. At about the same time as the spin problem occurred, the internal temperatures started to fall. At first it was assumed that it was connected with the spin problem, however the temperatures have continued to fall. On one early morning pass the solar array current was zero, and the battery was discharging. It was later discovered that the pattern of solar eclipses that has been repeated during the last few years, had changed. Eclipses had already started, and would continue throughout 1997. Preliminary calculations for 1997 indicate that the sunlight level would fall to 72% by mid June, and then increase to 87% by November and then start falling again (100% is full sunlight). Several WOD surveys of channels 1, 2, 3, 61, (magnetometers) have been taken, and the current one is dated 02-January-97. These showed the spin, before and after corrective action by ground control. The frequency of the sinusoidal variations of the X and Y axes shows the rotational rate of the satellite (spin), and the relative phase of the X and Y measurements indicates the direction of rotation. During the 16:04 UTC pass over UK on 03 January, binary WOD was received on 435 MHz and continued on 145 MHz. Almost a complete WOD of the current survey was received on a single pass. The contents of this WOD file are available on the World Wide Web (see below). Two AMSAT bulletins by Richard G3RWL have been uploaded to OSCAR-11. Topics have included the P3D launch, OSCAR-11 status, magnetorquer failure, and honors for Prof. Martin Sweeting G3YJO. Bulletins always include the latest Keplers for OSCAR-11 in AMSAT format. The operating schedule is unchanged. 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, and between ASCII TLM and WOD. The Mode-S beacon is ON, but telemetry indicates that it has partially failed, and delivering half power. Any reports of reception on 2401 MHz would be most welcome and should be directed to: g3cwv@amsat.org. The 435.035 MHz beacon is normally OFF, but can sometimes be heard when the satellite is being commanded by ground control, ie: within range of Guildford, UK. Likely times are between 1500 and 1800 UTC, Fridays or at weekends. When the 435 beacon is transmitting, the 145 MHz beacon is normally OFF. The data transmitted is mainly binary. Clive Wallis has uploaded some more OSCAR-11 files to the World Wide Web. The aim is to include data files, especially WOD, decoding software, information files, and the current status report. Most of the content will be zipped up into convenient packages, so that the text can be viewed off-line. Please note that the contents are based on what Clive has received from the satellite, and other sources. Any opinions expressed are those of Clive, and not necessarily those of the UoS ground controllers. The URL is http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ [ANS thanks Space News produced by John Magliacane, KD2BD for this information which originated with I Clive, G3CWV] /EX