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AMSAT's Bruce Paige, KK5DO, reported to ANS that two cosmonauts -- Sergei Zalyotin and Alexandr Kaleri -- have arrived on the Russian Mir space station. Several news agencies (including CNN) also reported the April 4th launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the successful docking with Mir. In addition, CNN reported that this mission is the first privately funded manned mission into space.
KK5DO told ANS (via the ARRL Letter) that this mission marks the first time in about eight months the Mir space station has been occupied. While the strong possibility exists for amateur radio operation, that is not considered to be high on the crew's list of priorities. Their first job is to locate a slow leak in the aging spacecraft.
If amateur activity does take place, it most likely will be on 145.985 MHz FM and could include voice, packet or SSTV. As this edition of ANS was being edited, no amateur radio operation from Mir had been reported.
Stay tuned to ANS for further developments.
[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, and the ARRL for this information]
NASA officials are reporting that a U.S. component for the International Space Station will be ready to fly later this year if the key Russian Zvezda Service Module is delayed again. The launch of the Zvezda module has been delayed over two years. It is currently scheduled to be launched this July.
"We have asked the team building the U.S. component to step up activities for a launch no earlier than December," NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown said.
Called the Interim Control Module, the $210 million, 30,000-pound U.S. unit for the International Space Station is being built at the Naval Research Laboratory facility near Washington D.C. The module, which will carry 11,000 pounds of fuel, is being designed to keep the two pieces of the international station in orbit if the Russians miss the deadline with the Zvezda unit.
After undergoing hardware testing, the interim module will be readied for shipment to Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the possible December launch. NASA (however) reiterated the agency's position that NASA officials fully expect the Zvezda module to fly in July.
Originally, NASA did not want to build the interim module. But after it became clear in 1997 that the Russians would have trouble meeting their commitment on the station, the project was launched.
If launched in December, the interim module would not be a permanent measure (in that it does not provide living quarters like the Russian Zvezda unit). However, it would keep the station orbiting, awaiting either the Zvezda module at some point or a replacement system. If Zvezda is launched in July, the interim module would be launched anyway, around 2001, to give the station added strength.
No amateur radio operation from the International Space Station is scheduled until permanent human occupation is achieved aboard ISS.
Built by the United States, Russia and 14 other nations, the orbiting International Space Station is intended to be an arena for space-based research that will open new frontiers.
[ANS thanks NASA and Florida Today for this information]
AMSAT-NA will sponsor the 18th Space Symposium and AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting this October. A mainstay of the Symposium has been the annual jewelry contest, overseen by Dave, WB6LLO, and Leanore KA6UCD.
Dave tells ANS that the contest this year is in the form of a brooch that was "carved out of a gold plated circuit board in the shape of a tuna." The board was donated by Qualcomm, delivered by Kerry Banke, K6IZW, during the 1999 Symposium in San Diego, California. The brooch is about three inches long, comes with a safety clasp, and can be pinned on or hung from a suitable chain.
WB6LLO says the original board components have nothing to do with the contest solution. Contestants, (should they choose to take the assignment!) will need to determine the resonant frequency of the parallel tank circuit formed by the 'eye' and the 'mouth' of the tuna. The frequency is in one of the amateur satellite bands. The eye is a miniature variable capacitor - set at 7.0 pF. The mouth is a coil of #24 plated copper wire. It is 6 turns, 0.25 inches in diameter and 0.25 inches long. The wire spacing is one wire diameter. Dave reports the angular separation to form the 'mouth' of the tuna is of some consequence, and should be considered in the answer calculations.
WB6LLO also reports that the eventual winner can re-set the capacitor to his frequency preference!
Leanore, KA6UCD, will be wearing the brooch at the October 2000 Symposium and will announce the winner of the contest at the Symposium banquet. If the winner is present, the broach will be presented to the winner.
Dave tells ANS that anyone can enter. Entry is very simple, just send your guess by e-mail to ka6ucd@amsat.org (or) wb6llo@amsat.org
The answer should be in the following format:
XXX.XXXXXX MHz
Dave says that he has no way he can measure it that accurately, "but the answer is set this way purposely to eliminate ties."
More information about the contest and the broach can be found at http://home.san.rr.com/doguimont/uploads
[ANS thanks Dave Guimont, WB6LLO, and Leanore Guimont, KA6UCD, for this information]
ANS news in brief this week includes the following:
Mir . RS-12 . RS-13 . RS-15 . AO-10 . AO-27 . UO-14 . 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 . SO-33 . PO-34 . SO-35 . UO-36
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
Operational, in mode-KA with a 10-meter downlink and a 15-meter and 2-meter uplink.
AC5DK's RS-12/13 Satellite Operators Page: http://www.qsl.net/ac5dk/rs1213/rs1213.html
Uplink 145.858 to 145.898 MHz CW/SSB
Downlink 29.354 to 29.394 MHz CW/SSB
Beacon 29.352 MHz (intermittent)
SSB meeting frequency 29.380 MHz (unofficial)
Semi-operational, Mode A (2m uplink, 10m downlink)
Dave, WB6LLO, has operating information for both RS-15 and RS-13 on his personal web site. In addition to satellite data, antenna information for mode A operation is also featured. The WB6LLO web site URL is http://home.san.rr.com/doguimont/uploads
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.
DX continues to be worked (and heard) on AO-10. KP3A reports that AO-10 has been working well with many European stations that have good signals. KP3A is uplinking to AO-10 with 50-watts and a 9 turn helical.
Stacey Mills, W4SM, has more information about the satellite at http://www.cstone.net/~w4sm/AO-10.html
[ANS thanks Stacey Mills, W4SM, for his AO-10 status information and web site]
Uplink 145.850 MHz FM
Downlink 436.792 MHz FM
Operational.
An AO-27 question-and-answer page is available on the AMSAT-NA web site. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/intro/ao27faq.html
AO-27 uses a method called Timed Eclipse Power Regulation (TEPR) to regulate the on-board batteries. In simple terms, TEPR times how long the satellite has been in the eclipse (or in the sun) and decides what subsystems to turn on or off. The AO-27 pages on the AMSAT-NA web site include an explanation of AO-27 operations at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/ao27.html
Chuck, KM4NZ, recently reset the TEPR states on AO-27 (on March 19).
TEPR 4 is 28 TEPR 5 is 64
[ANS thanks Chuck Wyrick, KM4NZ, and Michael Wyrick, N4USI, for AO-27 information]
Uplink 145.975 MHz FM
Downlink 435.070 MHz FM
Operational.
UO-14 was launched in January 1990.
Tim, KG8OC, has updated the Michigan AMSAT Information Site with UO-14 information, see http://www.qsl.net/kg8oc
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN / ZL2TPO, for UO-14 information]
Uplink 436.291 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 145.825 MHz CW/LSB
Operational.
SunSat was launched February 23, 1999 aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, recently celebrating its first year in orbit.
The SunSat package includes 1200 and 9600 baud digital store-and-forward capability and a voice 'parrot' repeater system that will be used primarily for educational demonstrations. The satellite has two VHF and two UHF transmit-receive systems.
Due to an improvement in its power budget, SunSat's Mode B repeater will now also be enabled on most weekday evenings (except Monday). A schedule of the active passes can be found at http://sunsat.ee.sun.ac.za/ham1.htm
GPS data is currently collected on Mondays. It takes as much as twelve hours to fully recover the state of charge after these experiments.
For more information on SunSat, visit http://sunsat.ee.sun.ac.za
A summary of the active modes and frequency allocations for SunSat is available at http://esl.ee.sun.ac.za/~lochner/sunsat/modes.html
[ANS thanks Garth Milne ZR1AFH, for this information]
Uplink 145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB
Operational.
FO-20 is in mode JA continuously.
JAS-1b (FO-20) was launched in February 1990 and continues to function quite well.
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK for the FO-20 status reports]
JAS-2 was successfully launched on August 17, 1996, by an H-II launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center.
Mike, KF4FDJ, has put together a very informative document on FO-29, addressing analog, digital and digi-talker modes. To obtain a copy e-mail Mike at kf4fdj@amsat.org
Kazu, JJ1WTK, reports the FO-29 operational schedule (announced by the JARL) is as follows:
| April 7 - 16 | JA |
| April 17 - 20 | JD1200 |
| April 21 - May 7 | JA |
Mineo, JE9PEL, has updated his FO-29 satellite telemetry analysis program. The software will automatically analyze all digital telemetry from the satellite such as current, voltage and temperature. The JE9PEL FO-29/software update is available at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/
[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-29 status reports]
Uplink 145.850, 145.900 MHz FM
Downlink 435.175 MHz FM, 9600 Baud FSK
Operational.
Jim, AA7KC, reports the satellite has been operating very well, in spite of the limited power budget. Downlink efficiencies are in the 80% range. KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, reports (from the KO-23 control team) that part of the problem with recent non-operation has been the power budget aboard the satellite.
[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, and KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, for KO-23 status information]
Uplink 145.980 MHz FM
Downlink 436.500 MHz FM, 9600 Baud FSK
Operational.
Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-25 is operational and receiving moderate traffic with average downlink efficiencies at 80%.
[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for KO-25 status information]
Uplink 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM
Downlink 435.120 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Operational
Chris Jackson, G7UPN, reports to ANS that UO-22 has now entered full sunlight and the temperatures have increased considerably. Controllers have turned the satellite upside down to point the critical systems to cold space. This has reduced the temperature on various systems (such as the batteries) by between 5 and 10 degrees. The unfortunate by-product of this is that the downlink is now quite weak.
Only the 145.900 MHz receiver is usable for communications at the moment.
More information on the satellite is available at http://www.sstl.co.uk
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO for UO-22 status information]
Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 baud PSK
Beacon 2401.500 MHz
Operational.
OSCAR-11 celebrated its sixteenth birthday on March 1, 2000.
During the period of 15-February to 16-March - good signals have been received from the 145 MHz beacon. Battery voltage during daylight passes has been unchanged. The average DC value observed was 13.8 volts, with a range of 13.4 to 14.1 volts. The internal satellite temperatures have decreased by one degree Celsius. They are now 3.8C and 2.2C for battery and telemetry electronics respectively. A single WOD survey of channels 10, 20, 30 and 40 has been transmitted.
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)
The ASCII bulletin is currently a static message, detailing modes and frequencies of all the amateur radio satellites.
More information on OSCAR-11 is available at http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/
[ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for OSCAR-11 status information]
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.
The CW beacon is sending eight telemetry channels and one status channel. Currently, no BBS service is available. The digipeater is active.
Mineo, JE9PEL, recently recorded LO-19 CW and PSK telemetry and placed the information on his Internet homepage site at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/
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.]
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.
Semi-operational.
Russ, WJ9F, reports ground stations are currently running memory test software on the satellite. In addition to the memory testing, the spacecraft spin rate around the vertical (Z) axis has created a less than ideal condition for battery charging. The spin rate evaluation confirms a spin rate of 1 revolution every 18 minutes. Power output is low due to this spin rate.
The S-band transmitter is currently off.
A new WOD collection of current graphics (dated 02/26/2000) can be found at http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu
[ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.]
Uplink 145.925 MHz 9600 baud FSK
Downlink 436.925 MHz 9600 baud FSK
Operational.
ProcMail V2.00G has been released by G7UPN. This software permits the processing of image files from TO-31. It has been posted to the AMSAT-NA FTP site at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/software/win32/wisp
Many of the high-resolution color images transmitted by TMSAT are compressed using a UoSAT compression format. This format is supported by the VK5HI CCD display program.
[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for this report]
Uplink 145.960 MHz, 9600 baud FSK
Downlink 437.025, 437.400 MHz, 9600 baud FSK
UoSAT-12 was successfully launched on April 21, 1999 from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome. UO-36 carries a number of imaging payloads, digital store-and-forward communications and mode L/S transponders.
The BBS is open, although uploading (and the downlink) may be disabled at times. Joel, K2SAT, is now active on the digital birds (with help from W4SM, G0ORX and DK9SJ). Joel reports that he has had great success with UO-36 downloads.
The VK5HI TMSAT viewer shareware is available on the AMSAT-NA web site at ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/software/win32/display/ccddsp97-119.zip
Further information on UO-36 is available from: http://www.sstl.co.uk/
[ANS thanks Chris G7UPN/ZL2TPO, and the University of Surrey, for this information]
Uplink 145.875, 145.900, 145.925, 145.950 MHz FM
Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB, 1200 Baud PSK
Semi-operational.
Digipeater function is on.
IO-26 was launched on September 26, 1993.
Alberto, I2KBD, reports IO-26 has been opened to APRS use.
[ANS thanks ITAMSAT Project Manager Alberto E. Zagni, I2KBD, for this information]
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
Non-operational. No operation in 2000 has been observed.
Downlink 435.225 MHz, HDLC telemetry
Efforts were reported to be underway to bring GO-32 on line, however no additional information has been received by ANS (the last report was dated November 1999).
The TechSat-1B micro-satellite was successfully launched from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998.
Last reported, the satellite does not have a continuous beacon, but does transmit a 9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (for a continuous 3 seconds in length), currently on 435.225 MHz.
The TechSat team has constructed a home page about TechSat: http://techsat.internet-zahav.net/
Uplink/downlink frequencies have never been released.
The satellite is not currently available for uplink transmissions.
PanSat, developed by the Naval Postgraduate School, was launched from the shuttle Discovery (during STS-95) on October 29, 1998. At the time of launch, PanSat spread-spectrum digital transponders were promised to be available to amateur radio operators along with software to utilize this technology. To date, this has not happened.
For more information, visit the official PANSAT web site at:
http://www.sp.nps.navy.mil/pansat/
PanSat was the featured cover article in the July/August 1999 issue of the AMSAT-NA Journal (written by KD6DRA and N7HPR).
[ANS thanks Dan Sakoda, KD6DRA, for this information]
Ham radio activity aboard the Mir space station came to a close on August 28, 1999 as the crew (at that time) returned to Earth.
AMSAT's Bruce Paige, KK5DO, reported to ANS that two cosmonauts -- Sergei Zalyotin and Alexandr Kaleri -- have arrived on the Russian Mir space station. Several news agencies (including CNN) also reported the April 4th launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the successful docking with Mir.
While the strong possibility exists for Amateur Radio operation, that is not considered to be high on the crew's list of priorities. Their first job is to locate a slow leak in the aging spacecraft.
Stay tuned to ANS for further developments.
Current Amateur Radio equipment aboard Mir includes:
Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud AFSK
Beacon 2401.220 MHz
Non-operational.
DOVE stopped transmitting in March 1998. The 145.825 MHz and 2401.220 MHz downlinks are off the air and the satellite has not responded to ground station control. No additional information is available at this time.
Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB, 1200 Baud PSK AX.25
Non-operational.
WO-18 is reported to be in MBL mode after a software crash.
No additional information is available at this time.
Downlink 437.910 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
The satellite is not currently available for uplink transmissions and image and
transponder recovery efforts have been unsuccessful.
SEDSAT-1, signifying Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Satellite number one, was successfully launched and placed in orbit on Saturday, October 24, 1998.
SedSat-1 has downlinked months worth of telemetry data on the performance of its electrical power system parameters. The Nickel Metal Hydride batteries on the spacecraft were experimental and experienced some abuse due to a power negative situation. This information has provided NASA with useful information. With the exception of the imaging system and the use of the transponders, SedSat-1 has been judged a success.
For more information on SedSat-1 visit the satellite web site at http://www.seds.org/sedsat
No additional information is available at this time.
ANS would like to thank Mike Seguin, N1JEZ, ANS principal satellite investigator, for helping provide current satellite information for ANS.
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.
This week's AMSAT News Service bulletins were edited by AMSAT News Service Editor Dan James, NN0DJ.
