SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-231.01 SATELLITE DXPEDITION PLANNED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 231.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 19, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-231.01 Satellite Operation From Eastern Island Sept 2-15 '95 As many all already know, there will be a mayor DXpedition to Easter Island (Rapa Nui), CE0, on the first two weeks in September '95. Max Bachi, XE1XA, will be operating satellite with the callsign XR0Y from grid locator GD52iw. He will operate mostly OSCAR 13 *and* OSCAR 10, but North and South America should eventually look for him on other satellites as well (i.e. FO-20) and on 50 MHz. Max is specially looking for the very few and short windows to Central Europe as well as Asia. Please study your best windows to Easter Island on AO-13 and AO-10 and look for him at that time. If North America hears Europe calling Max please stand by for a few minutes to give them a chance. He will try to work us all. Max will work "split" operation as he did in the XF4L DX pedition in 1989, the first mayor satellite DXpedition to Revillagigedo Islands. XE1XA's objectives are: * To activate and provide a new country via satellie. * To promote a major interest on satellite operation. * To confirm the potential of a satellite portable equipment in emergency communications. For suggestions and comments, can contact Max before August 26 at his home address. This address is also the QSL information: Max Bachi, XE1XA Seminario 16 La Herradura, Edo. Mex. 52760 MEXICO (525) 394-1199 (work) 291-6916 (home) 394-8120 (fax) Messages can also be sent to Max via xe1kk@amsat.org. XE1XA will apreciate if this update is sent to you local radio club, local packet network, Satellite and DX homepages, newsletters, local ham radio magazines, etc. [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank XE1KK for providing this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-231.02 W8DX BECOMES A SILENT KEY HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 231.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 19, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-231.02 OSCAR Satellite Enthusiast W8DX Becomes A Silent Key Dick Cotton, W8DX, a former FCC engineer in charge at the Detroit Field Office, died July 29, 1995, in Detroit. He was 89 years old. He was born in Minneapolis in 1905 and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in ''radio engineering.'' He attended university in the 1920s while also working as a shipboard radio operator plying the Great Lakes. Following a stint at a US government monitoring station on Mt. Hood, Oregon, he joined the Federal Radio Commission's Detroit office in the early 1930s. He was a government employee of the FRC and then the Federal Communications Commission continuously until retiring in 1971, finishing his career as Engineer-In-Charge (EIC). He was first licensed in the early 1920s, and held W8LEC before becoming W8DX. An active DXer (331 Mixed as of 1986), he was one of the first amateurs on the Oscar satellites and held satellite DXCC. He was an ARRL life member. W8DX was very on the AMSAT 75M Nets in the 70's. His successor as EIC of the Detroit office, Ed Atems, W8BX, remembered Cotton as someone who ''got on amateur television by winding his own deflection yoke coil.'' In the early days he also made his own variable capacitors. Atems retired in 1978. The current Detroit EIC is Jim Bridgewater, AA8JD. Richard Cotton was buried in Detroit. He leaves a son, Richard Cotton Jr, and a daughter, Mary Green. [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank the ARRL for this bulletin information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-231.03 G3YJO BECOMES AN OBE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 231.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 19, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-231.03 G3YJO Becomes An "Officer of the Order Of The British Empire" (OBE) >From the latest issue of AMSAT-UK's OSCAR NEWS comes word that Professor Martin Sweeting, G3YJO, of the University of Surrey, and Chairman of AMSAT-UK, was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in June's Birthday Honours List, "for services to space satellite technology." In the words of OSCAR NEWS editor Fred Southwell, G6ZRU, "Martin's achievement in pioneering the successful development of low cost satellites is a considerable one. The performance and long life of the Surrey satellites, in the harsh environment of outer space, clearly demonstrates Martin's leadership, and fully justifies the award. Well done Martin!" AMSAT-NA adds its congratulations to the many which G3YJO has already received. Among the 12 orbiting spacecraft (amateur and non-amateur) spacecraft for which the Surrey team was responsible were UO-9, UO-11, UO-14, UO-22, KO-23 and KO-25. [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank OSCAR NEWS, the AMSAT-UK publication for this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-231.04 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 231.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 19, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-231.04 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 19-AUG-95 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1995 Jul 31 - Oct 30 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 140 | Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 240 | Mode-B : MA 240 to MA 256 | Alon/Alat 225/0 Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 | Move to attitude 180/0, Oct 30 [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] RS-15: RS-15 is again shutting down both its transponder and telemetry beacon during significant parts of each orbit. The problem is due to the fall of battery voltage hence onboard power supply when the satellite loses solar charge in the darkness brought about by earth eclipse. Intermittent off/on switching commences when the telemetry indicates normal 15.6 - 16.9v power supply falls below 12.4 volts when RS-15 reaches near 32 degrees north latitude on descending passes. Upon re-emergence into sunlight near 50 degrees south the voltage rises again and all satellite systems resume continuous operation again. GM4IHJ's SATSOL program shows that today 10-AUG-95 RS-15 is experiencing 29 minutes of eclipse during its 128 minute orbit, permitting a battery charge efficiency of only 77%. As we approach 20-AUG-95 the situation will further degrade to 35 minutes of eclipse and only 72% battery charge efficiency. On the 30-AUG-95 one will see the situation improve to 32 minutes of eclipse and 75% charge efficiency. By 9-SEP-95 we will see 23 minutes eclipse and 82%, this further improving to just 17 minutes and 89% by 12-SEP-95. The last day of eclipse will be 13-SEP-95 when only 10 minutes of darkness allows a charge efficiency of 92%. Thus, by 14-SEP-95 we should be seeing full time satellite operation once more. Until then all users are asked to kindly keep their uplink powers to a minimum to help conserve battery charge. [G3IOR @ GB7VLS] LO-19: KF0QS reports that he copied on 30-JUL-95, at 5:21 UTC the following message on the downlink from LO-19: "July 26. BBS will be available soon. Don't transmit on uplink channels. As usual, any telemetry report is useful. LU8DYF." The ANS recommends not using LO-19 until an announcement of avail- ability is made. [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