AMSAT News Service

October 4, 1998

Russ Tillman, K5NRK, AMSAT-NA Journal editor, tells ANS the Vicksburg Amateur Radio Club will sponsor special event station K5ZRO during the 16th AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium.

The special event station will operate from Vicksburg, October 17th and 18th, using the following frequencies and satellites:

HF: 7.245, 14.245, 21.345 and 28.445 MHz
VHF: 146.520 MHz
Satellite: AO-10, AO-27, RS-12/13, FO-20 and FO-29

During the Symposium, participants are invited to visit the special event station, located at the home of Ed Magruder, N5QDE.

QSL's will be handled through N5QDE.

[ANS thanks Russ Tillman, K5NRK, AMSAT-NA Journal editor and Symposium Chairman, for this information]

W2RS Active from IARU Region 2 Conference

Ray Soifer, W2RS, representing AMSAT as an observer at the International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 Conference in Porlamar, Isla Margarita, Venezuela, successfully operated as YV7/W2RS on several AO-27 satellite passes.

The conference ran through October 2, 1998. Porlamar is located in grid FK80bw.

Initially, YV7/W2RS worked four stations on two AO-27 passes: N1XAU, N1JEZ, K8TL and KB8TJX. Initial operation was a test to see if a live demonstration during the conference would work.

During the first live conference demonstration, four stations were worked: KD2BD, W8WRP, KD4ESV and N1XAU. Ray reported the live contacts had a very desirable effect, showing IARU delegates just how easy it is to work AO-27. All YV7/W2RS operation was conducted using a 5-watt handheld dual-band radio, internal battery and a dual-band whip antenna.

Six stations were worked on the final pass, bringing the total number of different stations worked on all AO-27 passes from the conference to 15. W2RS even had IARU President Dick Baldwin, W1RU, acting as his logger during one of the passes!

Operation was also scheduled for RS-12/13, but because of a high local noise level on 10-meters and the unavailability of 2-meter CW/SSB downlink equipment, no contacts were made.

Ray would like to thank everyone who helped make the AO-27 contacts a success, including those operators who stood by during a pass to allow him to contact as many stations as possible.

QSL requests for YV7/W2RS should be directed to the W2RS callbook address.

[ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS, for this information]

New Videos Available from ARRL

The American Radio relay League has announced another volume of available videos, with several of interest to satellite operators. Called 'Amateur Radio Far Away', Volume 12 includes programs that focus on amateur radio in space, such as:

Phase 3D Integration Lab: Take a close-up view of the satellite of the future, Phase 3D, described by the very folks who designed and assembled it. Scientists and engineers at the Phase 3D Integration Lab near Orlando, Florida, show all the ins and outs of testing the satellite in preparation for launch. Produced in 1996, the video is 25 minutes in length.
JAS-1B/Fuji-2: Our fellow amateurs in Japan have been experimenting with amateur radio satellites for a long time. Here's a look at some of the history and background of Japan's amateur radio satellite program, including the popular FO-20 and FO-29 satellites, used by many amateurs. Produced in 1996, this video is 28 minutes in length.
SAREX at Center Street School in California: With the help of AMSAT, the ARRL, and NASA, Gordon West, WB6NOA, describes a successful Space Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX) contact with shuttle mission STS-94 in July 1997. Produced in 1997, the video is 47 minutes in length.

Volume 12 -- Amateur Radio Far Away (ARRL item number 6974) is available from the League for a nominal fee. To order or for more information, contact Margie Bourgoin, KC1DCO, in the ARRL Educational Activities Department at the following e-mail address:

mbourgoin@arrl.org

[ANS thanks Rick Lindquist, N1RL, and the ARRL for this information]

Mir SWL Cards Available

Dave Larsen, N6CO, MIREX president, tells ANS that starting in October Mir shortwave listener reports will be accepted by MIREX, with successful reports earning a Mir QSL card. N6CO reports he has "set aside" 500 QSL cards for this event.

All worldwide SWL stations are eligible to receive a Mir SWL QSL card following successful reception.

The requirements for earning a Mir SWL card include:

a self addressed stamped business size envelope
receiving station location
time and date of Mir reception
radio and antenna used to receive Mir
four International Reply Coupons
e-mail address and/or phone number of receiving station

N6CO reports that if all 500 cards are gone, any additional received IRC's will be returned to the sender.

All Mir SWL QSL card requests (except Europe) should be sent to the following address:

Dave Larsen N6CO
PO Box 1501
Pine Grove, California 95665
U.S.A.

European Mir SWL QSL card requests should be sent to the following address:

Radio Club F5KAM - QSL Manager de R0MIR
Carrefour International de la Radio
22 Rue BANSAC 63000
CLERMONT, FERRAND
FRANCE

[ANS thanks MIREX President, Dave Larson, N6CO, and Scott Avery WA6LIE, for this information]

ANS in Brief

ANS news in brief this week includes the following:

Bill WB5SXK, and Eddie N5JGK, report Hurricane George had no real impact on the Vicksburg area, except for some breezy conditions and a few rain showers. Vicksburg is some 200 miles from the hardest hit areas. All plans to have the AMSAT Conference in Vicksburg are continuing to progress. If any further information is needed please e-mail Eddie at N5JGK@amsat.org. There should be no impact on the upcoming AMSAT Symposium.
--AMSAT-BB
Paulo, CT1EFS, reports he is going to Bosnia for a 3-month period and is taking both HF and VHF/UHF equipment with him. He will be active on as many satellites as possible during his stay, and promises more information will be available soon.
--AMSAT-BB
Amateur Radio will enjoy a high degree of visibility when the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference convenes next month in Minneapolis -- even though ham radio frequency allocations are not on the agenda. ARRL Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, has been appointed to serve as a member of the US delegation to the international gathering, October 12th to November 6th.
--ARRL Letter
Chad Phillips, KG0MW, operating special event station W0E, reports success during the 25th anniversary of the EROS Data Center. "This was our first attempt at a special events station. I found out what was more important than actually talking over the radio was answering questions from the public. We had numerous people come up and say that they were interested in becoming a ham," said KG0MW. In addition to HF operation, demonstrations were given showing how to track a satellite and then communicate through it.
--AMSAT-BB
Shelby Ennis, W8WN, reports the November 'Sky and Telescope' should now be on the newsstands. It has a very good Leonids article including an interesting history note about how the showers in 1900 and 1901 produced very different results over places not far apart on the Earth.
--WSVHF Reflector
ANS congratulates Kevin, AC5DK, on completing 100 grid squares, all worked on RS-12, earning VUCC-Satellite. Kevin worked NQ6B for number 100. His next quest is to finish RS-12 WAS.
--NN0DJ
According to MIREX President N6CO (who speaks Russian) the Mir crew is now requesting English mail on the PMS system aboard the spacecraft.
--SAREX Reflector

Weekly Satellite Report

Mir . RS-12 . RS-13 . RS-15 . RS-16 . AO-10 . AO-27 . FO-20 . FO-29 . KO-23 . KO-25 . UO-11 . AO-16 . DO-17 . WO-18 . LO-19 . UO-22 . IO-26 . TO-31 . GO-32

Mir

SAFEX II 70cm Repeater: Uplink 435.750 MHz FM with subaudible tone 141.3 Hz
Downlink 437.950 MHz FM
Semi-operational

SAFEX II 70cm QSO Mode: Uplink 435.725 MHz FM with subaudible tone 151.4 Hz
Downlink 437.925 MHz FM
Semi-operational.

Packet Radio PMS: Uplink/Downlink 145.985 MHz FM, 1200 baud AFSK
Operational.

The PBBS is running a Kantronics KPC-9612 + V.8.1 TNC. The commands are similar to most PBBS and BBS systems.

N6CO reports he has recently mailed 345 Mir QSL cards.

MIREX has announced an on going APRS School Days Test. MIREX is allowing schools to use APRS for position and status reports via R0MIR. Non-school stations are asked to refrain from using APRS type transmissions or beacons via R0MIR.

[ANS thanks Scott Avery, WA6LIE, and the MIREX team for Mir status information]

RS-12

Uplink 145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB
Uplink 21.210 to 21.250 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 29.410 to 29.450 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB
Beacon 29.408 MHz
Robot Uplink 21.129 MHz, Downlink 29.454 MHz

Last reported in mode T.

RS-13

Uplink 21.260 to 21.300 MHz CW/SSB
Uplink 145.960 to 146.000 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 29.460 to 29.500 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 145.960 to 146.000 MHz CW/SSB
Beacon 29.504 MHz
Robot Uplink 21.140 MHz, Downlink 29.458 MHz

Last reported in mode K.

The RS-12 satellite has seen many recent changes in operation during the past weeks. Modes K, T, KT and simultaneous RS-13 operation have all been reported by a number of stations. Both Mike, WA6ARA, and Peter, KD7MW, report the RS-12 beacon is now transmitting the word 'test' in slow CW after the usual fast CW telemetry.

Sid, AH6HH reports a solid contact between Hawaii and Washington recently. Kevin, WB5RUE, reports few stations on RS-12 although he can hear his own downlink S-9 or better at times. Al, XE2YVW, reports the same. John, K2JF, thanks Tom, WB4FWQ, for a nice contact but also wonders where all the operators are. Cristi, YO3FFF, reports a RS-12 CW QSO with IK5VLO.

No official word from the satellite controllers has been received. ANS recommends monitoring each satellite carefully to determine the transponder in operation and which mode it is operating in.

RS-12/13 command is now in the hands of Alex Papkov, in Kaluga City, Russia.

RS-15

Uplink 145.858 to 145.898 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 29.354 to 29.394 MHz CW/SSB
Beacon 29.352 MHz (intermittent)
Semi-operational, Mode A (2m uplink, 10m downlink)

John, K2JF, reports on a recent RS-15 pass he copied only a weak return to his CW uplink, he did not hear the satellite beacon at any time, nor did he hear any other signals.

Dave, WB6LLO, reports he has prepared a "quick and dirty" set of operating instructions for RS-15 at the following URL:

http://users.aol.com/dguimont

AO-10

Uplink 435.030 to 435.180 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 145.975 to 145.825 MHz CW/USB
Beacon 145.810 MHz (unmodulated carrier)
Semi-operational, currently in "sleep" mode.

Mike, N1JEZ, reports AO-10 continues its slow improvement, working HB9JOI. Signals were weak at 3X2 each way with a very slow frequency shift and some QSB. Don, KC4YRT, tells ANS he worked 9H1IF on the satellite. Dirk, ON1DLL, reports working HB9JOI recently with the satellite at the 38,000km range.

Stacey Mills, W4SM, has more information about the satellite at the following URL:

http://www.cstone.net/~w4sm/AO-10.html

[ANS thanks Stacey Mills, W4SM, for his AO-10 status information and web site]

AO-27

Uplink 145.850 MHz FM
Downlink: 436.792 MHz FM
Operational.

AO-27 TEPR States are currently:
4 = 36 = 18 Minutes
5 = 72 = 36 Minutes

This means AO-27's transmitter turns on 18 minutes after entering the Sun and stays on for 18 minutes. AO-27's transmitter is turned off at all other times during the orbit. N4USI reminds stations that this happens on every orbit, approximately 14.2 times a day. The current TEPR settings will cause the satellite to be on during the daytime at northern latitudes.

[ANS thanks Michael Wyrick, N4USI, AO-27 Control-op for this update]

JAS-1b FO-20

Uplink 145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB
Operational.

FO-20 in mode JA continuously.

[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK and the Hawaiian amateurs for the FO-20 reports]

FO-29

Voice/CW Mode JA: Uplink 145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB
Operational.

Digital Mode JD: Uplink 145.850, 145.870, 145.910 MHz FM
Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud BPSK
Not operational, the satellite is in JA (voice) mode.

Kazu, JJ1WTK, tells ANS that OBC bit error investigation continues and the satellite will remain in voice mode. FO-29 has entered a period of 'full illumination' by the Sun. This illumination period will extend through the end of December.

[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report.]

KITSAT KO-23

Uplink 145.850, 145.900 MHz FM
Downlink 435.175 MHz FM, 9600 Baud FSK
Operational.

The telemetry has returned to nominal.

Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-23 is again fully operational with downlink yields exceeding 95%. Jim reports he is "happy to have KO-23 back in full operation."

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC for this report]

KO-25

Uplink 145.980 MHz FM
Downlink 436.500 MHz FM, 9600 Baud FSK
Operational.

The telemetry is nominal.

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC for this report]

UO-22

Uplink 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM
Downlink 435.120 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Operational.

More information on the satellite is available at the following URL:

http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/EE/CSER/UOSAT/

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, Operations Manager of UO-22 for this report]

OSCAR-11

Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 baud PSK
Beacon 2401.500 MHz
Operational.

Users of OSCAR-11 may be interested in two new WOD software packages have recently added to the Oscar 11 web site. The first package enables various WOD channels to be compared with the solar eclipse status of the satellite. The second package compares measured and calculated magnetic fields encountered by Oscar 11. Both packages are of an advanced nature, users will need experience using the other WOD packages on the web site and a spread sheet program.

The URL is http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/

Beacon reception reports should be sent to: g3cwv@amsat.org

[ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for this information.]

AMSAT-OSCAR-16 (PACSAT)

Uplink 145.900, 145.920, 145.940, 145.860 MHz FM, 1200 bps Manchester FSK
Downlink 437.0513 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK 1200 Baud PSK
Beacon 2401.1428 MHz.)
Operating normally.

The AO-16 command team has authorized an APRS experiment on AO-16 to explore the use of the 1200-baud PACSAT for APRS position/status reporting. The test periods will run each Tuesday from 0000 to 2359 UTC.

The telemetry is nominal, however, indications are that voltage levels of the internal batteries are down to limit values.

Time is Fri Oct 02 21:33:05 1998 uptime is 1475/15:58:21
+X (RX) Temp   -10.288 D  RX Temp          2.419 D	
Bat 1 V          1.278 V  Bat 2 V          1.257 V	
Bat 3 V          1.245 V  Bat 4 V          1.260 V	
Bat 5 V          1.238 V  Bat 6 V          1.232 V	
Bat 7 V          1.240 V  Bat 8 V          1.279 V	
RC PSK TX Out    0.599 W	
RC PSK BP Temp  -5.448 D  RC PSK HPA Tmp  -1.817 D	
+Y Array Temp  -24.811 D  PSK TX HPA Tmp  -4.237 D	
+X (RX) Temp   -10.288 D  RX Temp          2.419 D	
+Z Array Temp  -17.550 D	
Total Array C= 0.000 Bat Ch Cur=-0.445 Ifb= 0.161 I+10V= 0.305
TX:010B BCR:1E PWRC:59E BT: A WC:25 EDAC:2C

General information and telemetry WOD files can be found at http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/wod.htm

[ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.]

LUSAT-OSCAR-19

Uplink 145.840, 145.860, 145.880, 145.900 MHz 1200 bps Manchester FSK
Downlink 437.125 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK
Currently semi-operational.

Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, reports LUSAT/Oscar-19 ground control station LU8DYF has succeeded in regaining control of the satellite. Downlink signals show good modulation with an ASCII message containing the following text:

July 31 - 1998. No BBS service. On Board Computer reload in progress.
Digipeater active. Thank you - Norberto - LU8DYF.

EA1BCU reminds operators the digipeater mode is "a very interesting option to make contacts with other stations, or to be connected with your own station to evaluate the on-line the state of your installation."

The telemetry is as follows:

Time is Fri Oct 02 21:50:47 1998 uptime is 063/08:13:11
Bat 1 V          1.345 V  Bat 2 V          1.340 V	
Bat 3 V          1.357 V  Bat 4 V          1.344 V	
Bat 5 V          1.357 V  Bat 6 V          1.352 V	
Bat 7 V          1.343 V  Bat 8 V          1.339 V	
RC PSK TX Out    0.659 W	
Total Array C= 0.008 Bat Ch Cur=-0.283 Ifb= 0.142 I+10V= 0.148
TX:017 BCR:1E PWRC:62D BT:3C WC: 0

General information and telemetry samples can be found at:

http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu/lo19.htm

[ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.]

ITAMSAT IO-26

Uplink 145.875, 145.900, 145.925, 145.950 MHz FM
Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB, 1200 Baud PSK
Semi-operational.

Telemetry is reported as being received on 435.822 MHz at 1200 baud PSK. No additional information is available at this time.

TMSAT-1 TO-31

Downlink 436.923 MHz

The TMSAT-1 micro-satellite was successfully launched from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998. Chris Jackson, G7UPN, says TMSAT-1 commissioning has largely been completed and the satellite is in very good shape. Jackson and his team are presently concentrating on testing and calibration of TMSAT-1's multispectral imaging system, reporting a number of very good image sets have been downloaded from the satellite. The satellite is expected to be available for general amateur use shortly.

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for this report]

TechSat-1B GO-32

Downlink 435.325 435.225 MHz
HDLC telemetry framed so a TNC in KISS mode will decode it

The TechSat-1B micro-satellite was successfully launched from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998. The satellite is expected to be available for general amateur use shortly.

The satellite does not have a continuous beacon, but does transmit a 9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (for about 3 seconds in length), currently on 435.225 MHz.

The TechSat team has also constructed a home page about the TechSat bird, and promise they will add more information in the next few weeks. To view the site, point your web browser to:

http://techsat.internet-zahav.net/

[ANS thanks Shlomo Menuhin, 4X1AS for this information]

The following satellites are non-operational at this time:

[Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to the ANS Editors at ans-editor@amsat.org, or to ANS Editor Dan James, NN0DJ, at nn0dj@amsat.org.]

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This week's AMSAT News Service bulletins were edited by AMSAT News Service Editor Dan James, NN0DJ, nn0dj@amsat.org.