Satgen34 22nd Nov 89  Fujimodem test sats OFF, Packsat preps, UFO, 1686.

As requested all satgen bulletins from this date will be addressed @ EU
   Fuji modem test sats are getting hard to find. This week UFO 432.881
has been off, and Jamsat say no more power for JAS1-A JD orbits .
Fortunately Polar Bear is still appearing on 435.9744 + or - 9kHz
   Packsat preparations. NA Pacsat, Lusat and JAS1-B, will initially use
2m 1200 bps fsk up , and 70cm 1200 bps PSK down. These RUH Fuji modem
inputs and outputs can be connected to microphone input socket and audio
output socket respectively. With Uosat D however this simple approach is
not possible because 9600 bps requires wideband inputs and outputs. I need
2m wideband up to match Uosats 145.975 primary and 145.900 MHz secondary.
So my old Yaesu FT221R (1977) will be fed from RUH's modem direct to the
FM transmit varactor diode D1102 FC63 on the PB 1460 mike amp board. I do
not presently plan 2m FSK 9600 down, but none the less I will fit an
output direct from PB 1463 FM IF board connector pin 4 discriminator out.
For the Uosat D 70cms downlink of 9600 bps FSK on 435.250 I will be
putting an output from my ICOM 451/E FM IF discriminator pin 9( on the
Main Unit), to my RUH modem. In addition , because I also want to try 9600
bps terrestrial packet I will be modifying the ICOM 451/E with a modem 
input at D1 IS2688 varicap on the 2nd Mixer unit.
   I am deliberately using old equipment because it is cheap and easy to
modify. I usually fit something up for packet and it stays on packet ( no
use for anything else). So to use a modern dual band rig would be wasteful
, and perhaps difficult to modify. Though some modern rigs Eg TS 711E can
use direct flat wideband connection to FM circuits via the accessory
socket. Progress on these mods will be reported in future satgens.
   BSB DSB TV geosat at 31W has been coming on 11861 MHz at about 1630z,
and showing IBA test transmissions at around 1830z, for anyone able to
receive DMAC pictures. The picture quality is very obvious. Thomson
(France, parent of UK Ferguson) announce they will offer a wide screen
DMAC receiver around the end of 1990, price about 3000 pounds sterling to
anyone with any small change left after paying for the 2nd Rolls Royce.
   UFO 432.881. Recent reports suggesting this satellite was launched on a
top secret Shuttle launch prior to the STS 1 Young Crippen inaugural
flight, are pure fiction. UFO's orbit does resemble that of Object 1980
52C which was a secondary payload on a "Big Bird" photo recon, Titan 3D
launch. It is rather more likely however that UFO went aloft with a KH 11
Keyhole 11 photo recon bird which up to 3 years ago would have gone to a
similar 96 degree inclination orbit. Unfortunately the US stopped
publishing details of these launches, so all we know is that several KH
11s went up together with several small supplementary payloads ( Ferrets
and Embassy Comsats). So there are quite a few possible suspects for the
origin of UFO. Since 1986 KH 11s have been launched by Shuttle to 57 deg
inclination, so they are not UFO launch suspects. UFO is presently OFF.
   There is Cosmos 1686 type Pulse Duration Modulation on 19955 kHz again.
NASA Keps show 1686 and the old Salyut station in quite different orbits,
but when computed they are very close to one another. Have they separated
? Have not had a clear night to get a visual check. Salyut now 12 mins
ahead of its Keps (epoch day 306) because of Solar Flare drag
73 de John GM4IHJ@GB7SNE 22 Nov 89