SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-351.01 AMSAT 15M & 17M NETS SUSPENDED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 351.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD DECEMBER 17, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-351.01 Declining Sunspots Force Suspension of 15M & 17M HF AMSAT Nets By general concensus of the 15M Net Control Station, Wray (W8GQW), and the 17M Net Control Station, John (N4QQ), and the AMSAT VP of Operations, Keith (W5IU), the 15M and 17M AMSAT Nets are suspended until further notice due to declining propagation at net times. These nets will be restored to service when propagation improves; however, this will probably not occur until the current sunspot cycle goes through it's minimum and starts back up towards the next peak. The 20M and 75M nets will continue as usual. AMSAT would like to thank participants in all of these nets and continues to look forward to your check-ins. AMSAT HF Nets Over the Holidays Christmas and New Years fall on Sunday this year and thus fall on the time for the 20M AMSAT Net. Also, some of the net control personnel are on travel at this time of the year. With this in mind, the 20M International AMSAT Net will be conducted informally and with less capable stations on Christmas Day, 25 December 1994, and on New Years Day, 01-JAN-95. Either W8GQW or W5IU, or both will be present at the usual times, 18:00 until 20:00 UTC on 14.282 MHz these days to answer questions and read bulletins and data on an informal basis. We look forward to your participation and would like to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in person on the air! The 75 Meter Regional Nets will proceed as usual on 27-DEC-94 and 03-JAN-95. Thanks - Keith, W5IU, AMSAT VP of Operations /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-351.02 AO-13 ZRO TEST SCHEDULE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 351.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD DECEMBER 17, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-351.02 The AO-13 ZRO Tests Schedule For December '94 Until Febuary '95 The ZRO Memorial Technical Achievement Award Program, or just "ZRO Test" has a new schedule for December 1994 through February 1995, via AO-13. This activity is a test of operating skill and equipment performance. The following schedule of Mode "B" tests were chosen for convenient oper- ating times and favorable squint angles. The tests can be heard on 145.840 MHz. Day Date (UTC) Time Areas covered Saturday Dec. 31, 1994 2045 UTC E. NA, SA, Europe, Africa Sunday Jan. 8, 1995 0030 UTC NA, SA Sunday Jan. 15, 1995 0400 UTC NA, Japan, E. Australia Saturday Jan. 21, 1995 2030 UTC NA, SA, Europe, Africa Saturday Feb. 11, 1995 2000 UTC NA, SA, W. Europe & W. Africa Note that the dates and days are shown in "UTC", thus the second test occurs at 6:30 PM CST Saturday evening (the 7th). Any changes will be announced as soon as possible via the AMSAT HF and AO-13 Operations Nets. All listener reports with date of test and numbers copied should be sent to Andy MacAllister WA5ZIB, AMSAT V.P. User Operations, 14714 Knights Way Drive, Houston, TX 77083-5640. A report will be returned verifying the level of accurate reception. An S.A.S.E. is appreciated but not required. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-351.03 AMSAT OPS NET SCHEDULE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 351.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD DECEMBER 17, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-351.03 AMSAT Operations Net Schedule To take full advantage of the upcoming "good" phase on AO-13, the following AMSAT Operations Net Schedule will be in place. The primary downlink frequency for all Ops. Nets will be 145.950 MHz. In case a QSO is in progress on that frequency at net time, 145.955 MHz will be used as an alternate. Net control for all of these nets will be Keith (W5IU); however, anyone is welcome to serve as an alternate. Reports on all phases of OSCAR operations are welcome. Guest speakers on special topics will be scheduled as availability permits. Day Date Time Coverage ________________________________________________________ Sat 07-JAN-95 23:00 NA, SA, WEu, WAf Sun 15-JAN-95 02:30 NA, WSA, Hi, NZ Sat 21-Jan-95 19:00 NA, SA, Eu, Af Sat 28-JAN-95 23:00 NA, SA Sun 05-FEB-95 02:00 NA, JA, NZ, EAus Sat 11-FEB-95 18:00 NA, SA, WEu, Af Sat 18-FEB-95 22:00 NA, SA Note: All times are in UTC; therefore, Sun. dates are actually Sat. evening in USA. Times do not conflict with ZRO Tests. Thanks - Keith, W5IU, AMSAT VP of Operations /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-351.04 STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT ON OSCARS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 351.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD DECEMBER 17, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-351.04 SKN ON OSCAR Satellite operators are most cordially invited to join in the 23rd annual Straight Key Night on OSCAR! Just call CQ SKN between 0000 and 2359 UTC January 1, 1995 in the CW segment of the passband of any OSCAR satellite, or answer a CQ SKN call from another station. OSCAR Zero (EME) contacts count too! Of course, all SKN operating must be done with a straight hand key. It's entirely unofficial: no rules, no scoring and no need to send in an entry. However, if you care to send in a "best fist" nomination, please address it via packet to W2RS@GB7HSN or W2RS@WA2NDV, via Internet to , or via "snail-mail" to W2RS' callbook address. Last year's "best fist" nominees included W1NU and W6HDO, both two-time winners, and first-time winner WQ3Y. CU ON SKN! ANS wishes to thank Ray Soifer W2RS for this bulletin. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-351.05 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 351.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD DECEMBER 17, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-351.05 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 17-DEC-94 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: The Mode Schedule from 19-DEC-94 until 20-FEB-95 will be: Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 100 |Omnis : MA 230 to MA 25 Mode-BS : MA 100 to MA 130 | Mode-S : MA 130 to MA 132 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 132 to MA 155 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-S : MA 155 to MA 160 |<- S beacon only Mode-BS : MA 160 to MA 180 | Blon/Blat 180/0 Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 256 | Move to attitude 230/0, Feb 20 [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] FO-20: KF0QS reports that he has observed two passes of FO-20 (17-DEC-94 at 6:45 UTC and at 20:20 UTC) when the BBS was off, and the analog trans- ponder was on. KF0QS is not aware of a BBS crash or if maybe the control- lers decided to turn on the transponder. At any rate, activity on the transponder appears to be light. KF0QS heard one English speaking station on the second pass, and all stations he heard were using SSB. On these passes, KF0QS called CQ on CW several times, and finally worked K7YCH (CN88) cross-mode on the second pass. [KF0QS] The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) NEEDS YOUR HELP! The ANS 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 WD0HHU at his CompuServe address of 70524,2272, on INTERNET at wd0hhu@amsat.org, or to his local packet BBS in the Denver, CO area, WD0HHU @ N0QCU. Also, if you find that the current set of orbital elements are not generating the correct AOS/LOS times at your QTH, PLEASE INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL. The information you provide will be of value to all OSCAR enthusiasts. /EX