SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0113 * SpaceNews 13-Jan-97 * BID: $SPC0113 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY JANUARY 13, 1997 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * OSCAR STATUS * ================ Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, reports that LUSAT-OSCAR-19 is performing well over Europe. On 05-Jan-97 at 12:00:44 UTC, during a period when the spacecraft was in sunlight, telemetry showed the battery voltage was at 11.08 volts, while the transmitter output power was between 1.004 and 1.079 watts. On 04-Jan-97 at 22:07:01 UTC when the spacecraft was in darkness, the battery voltage was between 10.636 and 10.718 volts, while the transmitter power output was 0.542 watts. The lower nighttime transmitter power level is typical of many OSCAR satellites, and is done specifically to extend the life of the storage batteries on the spacecraft. PACSAT-OSCAR-16 is also performing well. During a sunlit pass over Europe on 05-Jan-97 at 12:36:03 UTC, the battery voltage was reported to be 10.865 volts, while the transmitter power output was between 0.633 and 0.704 watts. On 05-Jan-97 at 23:57:05 UTC, the battery voltage was 10.433 volts, while the transmitter power output was 0.760 watts. AMRAD-OSCAR-27 is also reported to be working well over Europe, with stations from Germany, France, Spain, and the Canary Islands among those heard on a regular basis from EA1BCU in Spain. Nicolaus Sallay, PP8DA, of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil reports hearing the FUJI-OSCAR-29 Digitalker in both male and female voices on 05-Jan-97 at 14:19 UTC. The content of the message was not clear due to the low audio level of the transmission. * AMSAT-QATAR IS BORN * ======================= Mohamed Althani, A71EY announces that AMSAT-Qatar has been formed. Mohamed is the president of the newly formed group, and states the address of AMSAT-Qatar is as follows: AMSAT-Qatar P.O.Box : 2260 Doha - Qatar Tel: (974)-355535 Fax:(974)-427136 E-mail : a71ey@qatar.net.qa The board members will be announced shortly. * CHALLENGER SPECIAL EVENT * ============================ On Tuesday, January 28, 1997, Challenger Middle School ARC, San Diego, CA, will operate a special event station, KI6YG, to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle tragedy. Operating hours will be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST, 1600 UTC Jan 28 to 0100 UTC Jan 29. Frequencies will be on or near 14.250, 21.350, and 28.350. There will be a special commemorative QSL. Send QSL and SASE to Challenger Middle School, Attention: Frank Forrester, 10810 Parkdale Avenue, San Diego, CA 92126. Organizers are hoping for good propagation and many contacts from both U.S and DX stations. Please do the students a favor and try to make a contact. Special Note: Unfortunately, this announcement failed to be published in U.S. amateur radio publications. Please pass this message on via your BBS systems, club meetings, etc. [Info via KK5DO] * THANKS! * =========== Thanks to all who sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews, especially: N2LXM VE9JD * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED * =========================== Comments and input for SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any of the paths listed below: WWW : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/ PACKET : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA INTERNET : kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, LUSAT-OSCAR-19 <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> /EX