SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-126.01 STS-70 SAREX INFORMATION HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 126.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD MAY 6,1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-126.01 KA3HDO Provides STS-70 Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) Info The next Space Shuttle mission with the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) payload on-board is currently slated for launch on Thursday June 8 at 14:20 UTC. The STS-70 Space Shuttle Discovery mission will carry Amateur Radio operator Don Thomas, KC5FVF into a 28.5 degree inclination orbit for what appears to be an 8 day mission. The primary objective of this flight is to deploy the last spacecraft in the current series of the Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Ten schools from the U.S. and Argentina have scheduled ham radio contacts with the astronauts. Several of these school group contacts will be performed using AMSAT's worldwide network of telebridge stations. The telebridge allows students to talk to the Astronauts through a remote ground station that is linked to the school though a phone bridge. The Goddard Amateur Radio Club, WA3NAN expects to retransmit some of these school contacts as part of their Shuttle Transmission activities. A limited number of schools which wish to "eavesdrop" on the STS-70 school group contacts via a listen only phone connection are encouraged to send e-mail to Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, with your request. Your request should include an explanation of how you are going to use this listen only dialog in your classroom setting. Mr. Bauer's e-mail address is ka3hdo@amsat.org. A detailed fact sheet for STS-70 follows: STS-70 Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) Information Sheet Mission:STS-70 Space Shuttle Discovery Tracking Data Relay Satellite System-G (TDRSS-G) Deployment Launch:June 8, 1995, 14:20 UTC Orbit:28.5 degree inclination Mission Length:8 days (Nominal) Amateur Radio Operator:Don Thomas, KC5FVF, Mission Specialist Modes:FM Voice Callsign: KC5FVF Packet Radio Callsign: W5RRR-1 Frequencies:All operations in split mode. Do not transmit on the downlink frequency. Voice Freqs:Downlink:145.55 MHz (Worldwide) Uplinks:144.91, 144.93, 144.95, 144.97, 144.99 MHz (Except Europe) 144.70, 144.75, 144.80 MHz (Europe only) Note: the crew will not favor any specific uplink frequency, so your ability to work the crew will be the "luck of the draw" Packet Freqs:Downlink:145.55 MHz Uplink:144.49 MHz Info:Goddard Amateur Radio Club, WA3NAN, Greenbelt Maryland, SAREX Bulletins and Shuttle Retransmissions 3860 KHz, 7185 KHz, 14,295 KHz, 21,395 KHz, 28,650 KHz and 147.45 MHz (FM) ARRL Amateur Radio Station, W1AW, Newington, CT SAREX News Bulletins 3990, 7290, 14,290, 18,160, 21,390, and 28,590 KHz and 147.555 MHz (FM) NASA Spacelink computer information system, Phone: (205) 895-0028 or via Internet: spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov, ARRL BBS (203) 666-0578 JSC ARC BBS (713) 244-5625, 9600 baud or less. GSFC ARC BBS on internet: wa3nan.gsfc.nasa.gov Mission bulletins also available on internet via AMSAT ANS and through your local PBSS. School Group Participation: 10 school groups will participate in SAREX with pre-scheduled direct and telebridge contacts. These include nine in the U.S., and one in Argentina. Keplerian Elements:A full set of orbital elements will be provided as launch time draws near. QSL Cards: Send reports and QSLs to ARRL EAD, STS-70 QSL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111, USA. Include the following information in your QSL or report: STS-70, date, time in UTC, frequency and mode (FM voice or packet). In addition, you must also include a SASE using a large, business-sized envelope if you wish to receive a card. The Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club, Sterling Park, Virginia has generously volunteered to distribute the QSL cards for this mission. [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Frank Bauer (KA3HDO) for this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-126.02 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 126.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD MAY 6,1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-126.02 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 05-MAY-95 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: The Mode Schedule from 20-FEB-95 until 22-MAY-95 will be: Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 190 |Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 Mode-BS : MA 190 to MA 218 | Mode-S : MA 218 to MA 220 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 220 to MA 230 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-B : MA 230 to MA 256 | Blon/Blat 230/0 Note: The Mode-B beacon is ON during the Mode-S transponder operations only. Please do NOT uplink to the B transponder during Mode S only, as it inter- feres with Mode-S operations. [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] KO-23 & KO-25: Both of these OSCARs seen to be performing very well. Many new messages and bulletins are available daily. Signals are strong and many users fill up the "waiting queue" on both satellites. There have been recent image files from the CCD camera systems uploaded by the Korean control station within the past week. [K6OYY] MIR: KL7QR reports that he has worked R0MIR with a booming signal from his Valdez, Alaska QTH on 28-APR-95 at 21:30 UTC. RS-15: VE4AMU, using the RS-15 satellite, Mode-A (145 MHz uplink/29.3 MHz downlink with a beacon 29.350 +\- doppler) has heard and worked many North American and DX stations. For North American stations, he has a total of over 200 QSOs and also 20 DX countries. VE4AMU's QTH is Winnipeg. [VE4AMU] FO-20: KF0QS reports he had good signals from FO-20 but very few other stations were heard on this Mode-J. KF0QS urges all who enjoy "rag-chewing" to consider working FO-20. [KF0QS] The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) NEEDS YOUR HELP! The ANS looking for volun- teers 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 weekly 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