AMSAT News Service

October 22, 2000

AMSAT-DL Executive Vice President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, has informed AMSAT News Service that the Phase 3D satellite is now "ready to fly" as it has passed all pre-launch inspection, testing and preparation.

Phase 3D is now scheduled for launch on Tuesday, November 14, 2000 from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. This launch information comes from the Arianespace web site. The site now features the mid-November revised launch date for Ariane 5 Flight 135, on which Phase 3D will fly. The launch was delayed from a tentative October 31 window.

The launch team Internet web site has been popular with satellite operators around the world. The site features photographs showing the Phase 3D launch preparation process. See http://www.amsat-dl.org/launch/

Most of the recent photographs show the fueling process including both hydrazine and ammonia. According to launch team member Chuck Green, N0ADI, (who also helped fuel P3D) "ammonia sounds like something you can purchase at the local store for cleaning, but at 100% concentration it deserves the same precautions that rocket fuels are given." Chuck reports this was the first time ammonia has ever been used as a fuel in Kourou and only the second time worldwide, "so the process received a great deal of attention."

Following the successful fueling operation, installation of the solar panels was completed. Chuck told ANS that panel installation "was a little more difficult because at this point the satellite was already installed in the SBS."

N0ADI reported that combined operations then started with the first step of setting the satellite and SBS into the CCU transport container. "The next operation completed was to move the satellite from S3A, where we prepared and fueled it, to the Final Assembly Building where it will be placed on the rocket," said Chuck. Movement was conducted at night to avoid the daytime heat and involved a convoy of safety vehicles and a truck pulling the CCU container with P3D safely inside.

P3D spent the night in the Final Assembly Building before being opened, allowing the airlock in the building to be thermally stabilized. P3D was then moved and carefully lowered into place between two microsats already installed for launch.

With the satellite no longer in the S3A building, the AMSAT launch team vacated the office space in the S3 complex and moved to the block house overlooking the launch control room. Here they have a remote link where they can monitor the telemetry from the satellite, issue commands as needed and control the charging of the batteries.

Stay tuned to ANS for additional bulletins from AMSAT, the official source for information on the Phase 3D launch.

[ANS thanks the ARRL, AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-NA for this information and congratulates the AMSAT launch team on their outstanding work]

Discovery ISS Mission About to End

Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to shoot up Florida's east coast on its way to ending the shuttle program's 100th mission. A landing at Kennedy Space Center is planned.

The landing was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon but was postponed until Monday because of unfavorable weather in the Florida area.

The week long mission has been followed by amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide, in preparation for the first permanent crew and the start of ham radio operation from the station.

As reported by ANS, ARISS initial ham station gear was delivered last month to the station and has been stowed until the Expedition 1 crew arrives. That crew, U.S. astronaut Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL, Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, and Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko, are scheduled for a four-month stay following launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. That launch has now been set for October 31st.

[ANS thanks NASA, ARISS, Florida Today and the ARRL for this information]

AMSAT Symposium Draws Near

The 18th Space Symposium and AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting in Portland, Maine is less then a week away and according to Symposium Chairman George Caswell Sr., W1ME, a full schedule of activities is planned.

The 2000 Symposium will include once top-secret details about intelligence gathering methods used during the early years of the Cold War. The Saturday banquet speaker will be Cargill Hall, chief historian of the National Reconnaissance Office. He will discuss (for the first time in public) overhead reconnaissance along with a history of CIA-NRO activities.

InstantTrack 1.50 will be released at the Symposium. To view some of the changes that have been made in this popular satellite tracking program, see http://www.amsat.org/amsat/instanttrack/

A Symposium special event station will be active during the event using the AMSAT Club Callsign W3ZM. Both satellite and HF operation is planned. AMSAT Area Coordinator Bruce Paige, KK5DO, tells ANS that antennas for the station will be mounted on the roof of the hotel hosting the event. "There will also be HT operation from the parking lot on several of the FM repeater birds," said KK5DO.

Look for W3ZM on the air from October 26-29th. A special certificate and QSL card will be available to those that work the station.

[ANS thanks George Caswell Sr., W1ME, and Bruce Paige, KK5DO, for this information]

OSCAR SKN 2001

ANS reminds all satellite operators that it's not too early to start planning for OSCAR SKN operation. All amateur radio operators worldwide are cordially invited to participate in AMSAT-NA's 29th annual Straight Key Night on OSCAR, to be held from 0000 to 2400 UTC on January 1, 2001.

According to event organizer Ray Soifer, W2RS, the event is totally informal. "There are no rules, no scoring and no need to submit a log," said W2RS, "just have fun operating Morse code with a straight hand key via any amateur radio satellite." Even OSCAR Zero (the moon) can be used during SKN. Stations should call CQ SKN or answer such calls from other stations.

In keeping with the friendly tradition of this event, each SKN participant is encouraged to nominate someone he or she worked for 'Best Fist'. Those nominated will be listed in an ANS bulletin and in the AMSAT Journal.

Best Fist nominations should be sent to W2RS using the following:

e-mail - w2rs@amsat.org
packet radio - W2RS@WA2SNA.NJ.USA.NA

Nominations can also be sent via surface mail using the W2RS callbook address.

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

ANS in Brief

ANS news in brief this week includes the following:

Star Trek here we come: an anti-matter space drive might bring deep-space missions within our grasp. Engineers at NASA and Pennsylvania State University say that by the end of the century, spacecraft could reach the edges of the Solar System and beyond.
-SpaceDaily
Visitors to the ARRL Web site were greeted by a whole new look plus instant access to the latest amateur radio news. The makeover, which went 'live' on October 2nd, includes much easier site navigation and quick access to the most-visited ARRL pages. The last major overhaul of the site page design and navigation was done in 1997. This latest, more extensive revision has been in the works for several months.
-ARRL Letter
Bob, AC9R, tells ANS that "while packing some gear for a QTH move, I came across a picture of my first satellite station." A Heathkit Seneca VHF-1 transmitter and a Collins 75A-4 receiver was successfully used by Bob in the early 1970's. Some of the satellite QSL's on the wall from that time included W5PZ, W0IT, WA7CGS, WB8BGY, W2GN, W2LV, K1HTV, WA9VXX, W2BXA, W1NU, K4TI, W5VY, VE3CUA, K2BZT, W4MOP, K2VKZ, WB2VKZ, W9DX, DJ9RD/W9, W0YUQ, VE6NS, and K4ZCP.
-AMSAT-BB
Our planet is heading for a minefield of cosmic dust streams laid down the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The result could be a series of meteor outbursts in mid-November, says astronomers who in 1999 also predicted the Leonid meteor storm with unheard-of accuracy.
-SpaceDaily
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association now is accepting applications for its annual scholarships. Applicants must be graduating high school seniors in 2001 and hold a valid FCC amateur radio license. To obtain an application, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to DARA Scholarships, 45 Cinnamon Court, Springboro, Ohio 45066.
-ARRL
Researchers at The University of Western Ontario and the University of Calgary, working with colleagues from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, have found that a meteorite recovered in northern British Columbia may be one of the most primitive solar system materials ever examined.
-SpaceDaily
Russian space officials will hold a decisive meeting very soon that could spell the end or a new life for the Mir space station. The meeting could decide whether to recommend to the Russian government that Mir be left in space or brought down into the Pacific Ocean in a ball of fire. The key question hanging over Mir is the ability to come up with money needed to keep it in orbit.
-Reuters News Agency
A team from the European Space Agency and NASA are about to perform a difficult, never-before-done test on one of the Hubble Space Telescope's new solar array panels. Two of these panels, or arrays, will be installed by astronauts in November 2001, when the Space Shuttle Columbia visits Hubble on a routine service mission. The test will ensure that the new arrays are solid and vibration free before they are installed. The test will be conducted at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Center in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
-ESA

Weekly Satellite Report

ISS . 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

International Space Station/ARISS

Uplink to be released
Downlink to be released
ARISS initial station launched September 2000 aboard shuttle Atlantis
Status: Non-operational

The ARISS initial station gear is now temporarily stowed aboard the Functional Cargo Block module of ISS. The initial station will use an existing antenna that will be adapted to support 2-meter FM voice and packet. The ARISS equipment will get a more-permanent home aboard the Service Module in 2001, along with VHF and UHF antennas. Plans call for amateur TV, both slow scan and fast scan ATV, a digipeater and relay stations.

Planning for the deployment and use of the ham system aboard ISS has been an international effort coordinated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The effort began in 1996 with the formation of the Amateur Radio International Space Station organization. ARISS is made up of delegates from major national amateur radio organizations, including AMSAT.

More information about the project can be found on the ARISS web site at http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov

[ANS thanks the ARISS team for this information]

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 29.458 MHz
Robot Uplink 145.840 MHz, Downlink 29.504 MHz
Launched February 5, 1991 aboard a Russian Cosmos C launcher

Operational, in mode-KA with a 10-meter downlink and a 15-meter and 2-meter uplink.

Gary, K8KFJ, reports that Martin, CO3SG, has been making frequent appearances on RS-13.

More information about RS-12 and RS-13 can be found on AC5DK's RS-12/13 Satellite Operators Page: http://www.qsl.net/ac5dk/rs1213/rs1213.html

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)
SSB meeting frequency 29.380 MHz (unofficial)
Launched December 26, 1994 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
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

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)
Launched June 16, 1983 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Semi-operational.

DX continues to be worked (and heard) on AO-10.

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]

AO-27

Uplink 145.850 MHz FM
Downlink 436.795 MHz FM
Launched September 26, 1993 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Operational

Periodically, AO-27's analog repeater will be turned off for a few days at a time to enable ground controllers to gather Whole Orbital Data (WOD), to verify the health of the satellite.

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 an eclipse (or in the sun) and decides what subsystems to turn on or off. The current TEPR settings are:

TEPR 4: 36
TEPR 5: 72

The AO-27 pages on the AMSAT-NA web site include an explanation of TEPR AO-27 operations at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/ao27.html

[ANS thanks AMRAD for AO-27 information]

UO-14

Uplink 145.975 MHz FM
Downlink 435.070 MHz FM
Launched January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Operational.

Tim, KG8OC, has updated the Michigan AMSAT Information site to include UO-14 information, see http://www.qsl.net/kg8oc

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN / ZL2TPO, for UO-14 information]

SunSat SO-35

Mode J uplink 145.825 MHz FM
Mode J downlink 436.250 MHz FM

Mode B uplink 436.291 MHz FM
Mode B downlink 145.825 MHz FM

Launched February 23, 1999 by a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California
Operational.

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 in addition to Mode J operation. The satellite has two VHF and two UHF transmit-receive systems.

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]

JAS-1b FO-20

Uplink 145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB
Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB
Launched February 7, 1990 by an H1 launcher from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan
Operational.

FO-20 is in mode JA continuously.

Several satellite operators have reported problems with FO-20's transponder. Mike, N1JEZ, told ANS that he believes the loss of signal is a combination of two factors. First, battery age and an increase in FM traffic due to operators unaware of the band plan. Mike reports he routinely hears FM signals on the transponder.

Tak, JA2PKI, reported the FO-20 control station operators now believe that the UVC (Under Voltage Controller) now is regulating the transponder. The UVC monitors battery voltage and tries to protect the batteries from over discharge. Tak notes that FO-20, launched in 1990, is now over 10 years old.

[ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK for the FO-20 status reports]

JAS-2 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, rotated with digital mode and digi-talker.
Digital Mode JD: Uplink 145.850, 145.870, 145.910 MHz FM
Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud BPSK
Operational, rotated with analog mode and digi-talker.
Digi-talker Mode: Downlink 435.910 MHz FM
Launched August 17, 1996, by an H-2 launcher from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan

The JARL FO-29 command station has announced the following operation schedule of FO-29:

Oct 7 - Nov 5

Digi-talker (except mode JA every Wednesday)

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

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]

SAUDISAT-1A

Uplink to be released
Downlink 437.075 MHz
Launched September 26, 2000 aboard a converted Soviet ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Status: Commissioning stage, initial housekeeping tasks underway

SaudiSat-1A will operate as 9600 baud digital store-and-forward systems as well analog FM repeater mode capability. One of two new ham satellites from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia built by the Space Research Institute at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

SAUDISAT-1B

Uplink to be released
Downlink 436.775 MHz
Launched September 26, 2000 aboard a converted Soviet ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Status: Commissioning stage, initial housekeeping tasks underway

SaudiSat-1B will operate as 9600 baud digital store-and-forward systems as well analog FM repeater mode capability. One of two new ham satellites from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia built by the Space Research Institute at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

TIUNGSAT-1

Uplink to be released
Downlink 437.325 MHz
Broadcast callsign: MYSAT3-11
BBS: MYSAT3-12
NUP: MYSAT3-10
Launched September 26, 2000 aboard a converted Soviet ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Status: Commissioning stage, initial housekeeping tasks underway

TiungSat-1 is Malaysia's first micro-satellite and in addition to commercial land and weather imaging payloads will offer FM and FSK amateur radio communication.

TiungSat-1, named after the mynah bird of Malaysia, was developed as a collaborative effort between the Malaysian government and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.

For more information on TiungSat-1, see http://www.yellowpages.com.my/tiungsat/tiung_main.htm

KO-25

Uplink 145.980 MHz FM
Downlink 436.500 MHz FM, 9600 Baud FSK
Launched September 26, 1993 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Operational.

Jim, AA7KC, reports nominal KO-25 operation, moderate traffic and a 50% average downlink efficiency.

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for KO-25 status information]

UO-22

Uplink 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM
Downlink 435.120 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Launched July 17, 1991 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Operational

Jim, AA7KC, reports nominal UO-22 operation, heavy traffic with substantial sat-gate message operation.

More information on the satellite is available at http://www.sstl.co.uk

[ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO for UO-22 status information]

OSCAR-11

Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 baud PSK
Beacon 2401.500 MHz
Launched March 1, 1994 by a Delta-Thor rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California
Operational.

OSCAR-11 celebrated its sixteenth birthday on March 1, 2000.

During the period 16-September to 17-October excellent signals have been received from the 145 MHz beacon. The satellite is currently experiencing very good solar conditions that should continue through the end of the year.

Ground control operations recently reset the magnetorquer counters and the spin period has now started to slowly return to a nominal value.

The battery voltage observed during daylight passes has continued to increase. The average value observed was 14.0, with a range of 13.9 to 14.1 volts. The internal temperatures have increased recently. They are now 5.8C and 4.2C for battery and telemetry electronics respectively. This rise in temperature is expected to continue as solar eclipse times become shorter.

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]

LUSAT-OSCAR-19

Uplink 145.840, 145.860, 145.880, 145.900 MHz 1200 bps Manchester FSK
Downlink 437.150 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK
CW Downlink 437.125 MHz
Launched January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Semi-operational.

The CW beacon is sending eight telemetry channels and one status channel. No BBS service is available. The digipeater is not active.

Mineo, JE9PEL, has 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.]

AMSAT-OSCAR-16 (PACSAT)

Uplink 145.900, 145.920, 145.940, 145.860 MHz FM, 1200 bps Manchester FSK
Downlink 437.025 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK 1200 Baud PSK
Beacon 2401.1428 MHz.
Launched January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Semi-operational.

Russ, WJ9F, reported the S-band transmitter is off. The VHF uplink and the UHF PSK transmitter are operational (TX power at 1.5 watts). The digipeater command is on.

A WOD collection of satellite graphics (dated 02/26/2000) can be found at http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu

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

TMSAT-1 TO-31

Uplink 145.925 MHz 9600 baud FSK
Downlink 436.925 MHz 9600 baud FSK
Launched July 10, 1998 by a Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Operational.

Jim, AA7KC, reports nominal TO-31 operation, with moderate traffic and multiple new image files available.

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]

UoSAT-12 UO-36

Uplink 145.960 MHz, 9600 baud FSK
Downlink 437.025, 437.400 MHz, 9600 baud FSK
Launched April 21, 1999 by a Russian launcher from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Status: Operational

UO-36 carries a number of imaging payloads, digital store-and-forward communications and mode L/S transponders.

NASA has demonstrated on UO-36 the ability to use standard Internet protocols to communicate with an orbiting spacecraft (just like any node on the Internet). NASA has been developing this project by working with the commercial payload aboard UoSAT-12.

The BBS is open, although uploading and downloading may be disabled at times.

The VK5HI viewer shareware for UO-36 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]

ITAMSAT IO-26

Uplink 145.875, 145.900, 145.925, 145.950 MHz FM
Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB, 1200 Baud PSK
Launched September 26, 1993 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Semi-operational.

Digipeater function is on, open to APRS use.

[ANS thanks ITAMSAT Project Manager Alberto E. Zagni, I2KBD, for this information]

The following satellites are in orbit but are non-operational at this time:

KITSAT KO-23

Uplink 145.850, 145.900 MHz FM
Downlink 435.175 MHz FM, 9600 Baud FSK
Launched August 10, 1992 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Status: Non-operational.

Jim, AA7KC, reports that KO-23's downlink transmitter has been operational on several recent passes, but has since returned to the transmitter off state. The downlink transmitter is operating at unpredictable intervals.

KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, reports (from the KO-23 control team) that part of the problem with non-operation has been the power budget aboard the satellite. HL0ENJ also reports that KO-23 is currently in a full sunlight period that should last through the end of October. The control team will attempt to operate the satellite during this period along with an attempt to control the attitude system. "We are not sure when the bird might be turned off again due to insufficient power. The capability of the onboard power system has been less and less," said Kim.

[ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, and KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, for KO-23 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
Launched February 5, 1991 aboard a Russian Cosmos C launcher

Non-operational. No operation in 2000 has been observed.

TechSat-1B GO-32

Downlink 435.225 MHz, HDLC telemetry
Launched July 10, 1998 by a Russian Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Semi-operational.

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).

Last reported, the satellite does transmit a 9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (the GO-32 beacon sends one short telemetry status transmission of 44 bytes) and, upon request, the complete telemetry buffer. The program to the access the satellite can be downloaded from the homepage.

The TechSat team has a home page about TechSat: http://www.technion.ac.il/pub/projects/techsat/asher/techsatmain.html

PANSAT PO-34

Uplink/downlink frequencies have never been released.
Launched October 30, 1998 by the Shuttle Discovery
Status: unknown

The satellite is not currently available for general uplink transmissions.

PanSat was developed by the Naval Postgraduate School. 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]

Mir Space Station

145.985 MHz simplex FM voice and SSTV (Robot 36 mode)
Launched February 18, 1986
Unmanned.

MIR SAFEX II 70-cm Repeater
Uplink 435.750 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 141.3 Hz
Downlink 437.950 MHz FM
Not operational. No operation in 1999 or 2000 has been observed.

MIR SAFEX II 70-cm QSO Mode
Uplink 435.725 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 151.4 Hz
Downlink 437.925 MHz FM
Not operational. No operation in 1999 or 2000 has been observed.

Currently, there is no human habitation aboard the station and the amateur radio equipment has been turned off. Several news agencies have reported that Mir in now on 'autopilot'.

Stay tuned to ANS for further details.

DO-17 (DOVE)

Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud AFSK
Beacon 2401.220 MHz
Launched January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
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.

WEBERSAT (WO-18)

Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB, 1200 Baud PSK AX.25
Launched January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana
Non-operational.

WO-18 was last reported to be in MBL mode after a software crash.

No additional information is available at this time.

SEDSAT SO-33

Downlink 437.910 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK
Launched October 24, 1998 by a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida
Non-operational.

The satellite is not currently available for uplink transmissions and image and transponder recovery efforts have been unsuccessful.

SEDSAT-1 signifies Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (satellite number one).

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.

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This week's AMSAT News Service bulletins were edited by AMSAT News Service editor Dan James, NN0DJ.