SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC1020 * SpaceNews 20-Oct-97 * BID: $SPC1020 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 1997 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * UoSAT-OSCAR-11 NEWS * ======================= During the period 30-Sep-97 through 14-Oct-97, good signals have been received from UoSAT-OSCAR-11's 145.826 MHz VHF-FM beacon. The gap between this report and the last one is due to holidays. Telemetry has been nominal. The battery voltage has been steady at around 14.0 volts. The internal temperatures have continued to increase due to a reduction of solar eclipses. The battery temperature is now 17.0 C, and the telemetry electronics is 14.2 C. One consequence of the increased temperatures is that the VHF-FM beacon power decreases. It is now 260 mW compared with 375 mW at the start of July. Over this period, the beacon temperature increased from 1.8 C to 17.2 C. The S-band beacon is not affected in this way, and the telemetry indicates that its power output has slightly increased. The WOD survey of channels 10, 20, 30, 40 (+Y, -X, +X array currents, array voltage) dated 03-Sep-97 has now been replaced by channels 17, 18, 27, 28 (+X, +Y, -X, -Y facet temperatures), dated 16-Sep-97. A single AMSAT-UK news bulletin dated 21-Jun-97 by Richard, G3RWL, has been transmitted by the beacon. This featured the Sputnik-1 40th anniversary, Mir frequencies, RS-10 news, and the Keplerian elements for OSCAR-11. Reports of the Mode-S beacon have been received from Stan W3QBK, Fernando LU1HKO, and Andy VK5LZ. Andy uses a VK5WA converter, and estimates the signal level at -150 dBm. He gets DOVE at -130 dBm. 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, transmitting an unmodulated carrier, but telemetry indicates that it has partially failed, and is delivering only half power. Any reports of reception on 2401 MHz would be most welcome, and should be directed to Clive Wallis at: g3cwv@amsat.org. The 435.025 MHz UHF beacon is normally OFF. However, it can sometimes be heard when the satellite is being commanded by ground control (ie. within range of Guildford, UK). When the 435 MHz beacon is transmitting, the 145 MHz beacon is normally OFF. The data transmitted is mainly binary. OSCAR-11 users are welcome to visit a Web sire created by Clive Wallis, G3CWV. The site contains some software for capturing data and decoding ASCII telemetry and WOD. There is an archive of raw data (mainly WOD) for analysis, which is continually being expanded as new data is captured. The URL is: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ [Info via Clive Wallis, G3CWV] * SCI-TEKNOFEST '97 NEWS * ========================== The Trinidad and Tobago Amateur Radio Society will be participating at the National Science and Technology Fair "Sci-Teknofest '97", sponsored by the National Institute of Science and Technology from 24-Oct-97 through 02-Nov-97 9Y4NED will be operating on KO-23, KO-25 and UO-22 and welcomes messages from all. School groups will be visiting from from 13:00 UTC each day. [Info from Noel, 9Y4NED via KITSAT-OSCAR-25] * CASSINI LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL * ============================= ESA's latest and farthest venture into the Solar System began at 10:43 Paris time on 15 October. The American Titan IVB/Centaur launcher sent NASA's large Cassini spacecraft on its way to Saturn. Cassini carries ESA's probe Huygens, as well as the high-gain antenna provided by ASI, the Italian Space Agency. In 2004, ESA's Huygens probe will plunge into the thick atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. About 500 representatives of the scientific, engineering and industrial teams in Europe, which created the Huygens Probe, were present at Cape Canaveral for the Cassini Huygens launch. They saw the powerful boosters of the Titan launcher light up the pre-dawn sky. The launch sequence concluded with the completion of the second firing and separation of the Centaur upper stage rocket. NASA's ground station at Canberra, Australia, obtained good signals from Cassini an hour after launch. The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) at Darmstadt will monitor the condition of the Huygens spacecraft. Their report is expected in 8-10 days' time. The next major event will be the swingby of Cassini Huygens at Venus on 21-Apr-1998. This is the first of a sequence of "gravity-assist" operations at Venus, the Earth and Jupiter, to accelerate the spacecraft towards its destination. [Info via ESA Press Release N 32-97] * FO-29 OPERATING SCHEDULE * ============================ Date Time Mode ------------------------------- 13-Oct-97 08:26z JD 1200 17-Oct-97 08:18z Digitalker 20-Oct-97 07:21z JD 9600 24-Oct-97 07:13z Digitalker 27-Oct-97 07:59z JA 31-Oct-97 07:51z Digitalker 04-Nov-97 07:43z JD 1200 07-Nov-97 08:29z Digitalker 10-Nov-97 07:31z JD 9600 14-Nov-97 07:23z JA 21-Nov-97 08:01z Digitalker 25-Nov-97 07:53z JD 1200 28-Nov-97 08:39z JD 9600 05-Dec-97 07:33z JA FO-20 is expected to remain in Mode JA continuously. [Info via Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK] * OMAN VIA SATELLITE * ====================== Members of the Whitton Amateur Radio Group will be visiting Muscat, Oman from 16-Oct-97 through 28-Oct-97. The group will include 3 satellite operators and will be active on satellites from the Headquarters station of the Royal Omani ARS. Activity will be via OSCAR-10 and RS-15. The group will be participating in the SSB leg of CQWW and have previously operated as ZC4EPI and C56DX via AO-10 and AO-13. [Info via G0MRF] * 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, KITSAT-OSCAR-25 <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> /EX