SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-310.01 AMSAT NET HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 310.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. NOVEMBER 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-310.01 Houston AMSAT Net Available via Satellites and Many Local Repeaters Data updated 11/01/94 The Houston area AMSAT Net which originates live each Tuesday at 10:00 PM Central Time on 147.100 is carried live on Galaxy 3, Transponder 17, 5.8 Mhz audio subcarrier. Many amateur repeaters across this country and in Canada are taking this satellite downlink and putting it out. For a list of such repeaters, contact Marty Smith WD5DZC at (713) 467-9870 or Bruce Paige KK5DO at (713) 933-0488 or via Internet: KK5DO@AMSAT.ORG or: paigecom@neosoft.com This net is of a technical nature for those interested in Satellite, ATV and balloon launch communications. If this net is not available in your area, you might wish to ask your repeater trustee to get in touch with Marty or Bruce about carrying it. ANS thanks Bruce Page KK5DO and Marty Smith WD5DZC for the information that went into this bulletin. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-310.02 COMPUTER SHOW HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 310.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. NOVEMBER 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-310.02 COMDEX Computer Show OSCAR Get-together (Las Vegas) Tom, N7MPM, who you may know from AO-21 and FO-20 and Frank, N7ZEV, are holding a get-together for all the OSCAR satellite enthusiasts coming to the show in Las Vegas. It'll be November 16, Wednesday, at 4 P.M., Las Vegas local time (PST). This is an informal affair with sodas and hors d'oeuvres being served. The meeting place is at Frank's QTH, 4233 Warm Springs Road in the Blue Diamond area of Las Vegas. Since Frank is not only a satellite enthusiast, but big into ATV, here's another good reason to attend. You'll need to call Tom or Frank in advance so they can be amply prepared for the crowd. Frank's phone number is 702-361-6080. Or call Tom at 702-644-1446 as soon as you know you can attend. Tom may be easier to reach during the day than Frank so try him first. Both Tom and Frank will be monitoring 146.48 MHz simplex (they have good antennas!) and can give you talk-in directions on the 16th from anywhere in Las Vegas. If you think you may be busy in Las Vegas that day but suddenly find you have some spare time, Tom and Frank would like to have you join them. Perspective attendees may also confirm through bmyers@primenet.com or w1xt@amsat.org or via KO-23/KO-25 to W1XT ANS thanks Bob Myers, W1XT for this information. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-310.03 SEDSAT HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 310.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. NOVEMBER 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID:310.03 SEDSAT Milestone Dennis Wingo KD4ETA SEDSAT 1 Project Mangler announces a milestone in the SEDSAT 1 satellite development program. He says that the Mode A transponder built by Cynetics for the SEDSAT 1 satellite has been delivered to University of Alabama at Huntsville. He plans to put the transponder on the air for testing in the during the month of November to ascertain its real world operating parameters and conditions as well as to finish "infant mortality" testing of the components. This presents a possible opportunity for some interesting contacts. The frequencies of operation for the SEDSAT Mode A transponder are: Uplink 145.915-145.975 Mhz Downlink 29.350-29.410 Mhz This means that the uplink for the SEDSAT 1 mode A transponder falls totally within the downlink passband for OSCAR 13 which is: In preliminary testing, Dennis reports that they have already heard OSCAR 13 mode B downlink signals on the ten meter output of the transponder. This give satellite enthusiasts the chance to work crossband through AO-13 and the SEDSAT test unit, provided that propagation exists between their QTH and Hunstsville. This time of year, the winter Sporadic E (short skip) season just may provide such propagation. Dennis will release information on the exact dates for the tests via ANS and AMSAT.BB. ANS thanks Dennis Wingo KD4ETA SEDSAT 1 Project Manager for this information. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS310.04 WO-18 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 310.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. NOVEMBER 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID:$ANS-310.04 WO-18 Status The modulation problems aboard WO-18 have improved, according to a recent report from, Chris Williams, WA3PSD. A number of things have been done and will be done to address this issue, he said. The phasing control for the Raised Cosine Transmitter is now set to 0E. Spectrum analysis showed this to have only a subtle effect on the signal, but copy of data definitely improved with the change. Various stations around the world have confirmed this improvement. We are now collecting over 100K per pass, Chris added. He characterized this as "essentially nominal". He further said that use of the IF shift on their Kenwood '11 series transceiver seems to improve matters. WA3PSD speculated that the current prime suspect is the intermittent presence of a strong audio sub-tone in the downlink signal. He said that it is also intermittently present on LUSAT, but at a lower amplitude; but not seen prominently on AO-16's signal. It has been suggested this tone is a result of degraded carrier suppression. In any event, a spurious tone would explain why an IF shift offset improves performance. A notch should be even better, he concluded. Williams wonders, however, why, if a spurious tone is the problem, changing the phase setting of the transmitter improves matters. Phil Karn KA9Q has suggested digitizing the audio with a SoundBlaster card for distribution to others for analysis. Chris says that this is near the top of his current list of things to do. So, the bottom line is that WO-18 can now be copied in only a slightly degraded fashion. Telemetry indicates all is well aboard the spacecraft. Imaging and spectroscopy work will continue normally. ANS wishes to thank Chris Williams, WA3PSD for this bulletin information. He can be reached at cwilliams@cc.weber.edu For the month of NOVEMBER you have a NEW AMSAT NEWS SERVICE editor, W3QNS,BOB PLEASE send all information to w3qns@amsat.org on the internet or to 76446,1615 on $CIS. I WILL BE GRATEFUL FOR ALL HELP! The AMSAT NEWS SERVICE (ANS) is looking for volunteers to contribute weekly OSCAR status reports. If you have a favorite OSCAR which you work on a regular basis and would like to contribute to this bulletin, please send your observations to the above adresses. THANK YOU,bob w3qns /EX