SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-301.01 UNAMSAT-B REPLACEMENT IN PROGRESS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 301.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD OCTOBER 28, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-301.01 Replacement For UNAMSAT-B Almost Completed David Liberman (XE1TU) reports that UNAMSAT-B is rapidly being made ready. He says that they are looking into three possible launches but today none has been signed yet. Also, they are reviewing all the hardware and improv- ing a few of the circuits were possible. Recently they received a visit from France Cordove, Chief Senior Scientist of NASA and a delegation of eight prominent scientist from NASA, between them Dr. Tom Clark (W3IWI), with the purpose of placing the first stone and dedicating the building which will become the Space Technology Lab at the Autonoums University of Mexico (UNAM). The NASA delegation continued their trip aboard NASA-1 Lear Jet to the Chixculub crater for a visit. [ANS would like to the thank the XE1TU for this this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-301.02 ORBITAL ELEMENTS ON WWW.AMSAT.ORG HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 301.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD OCTOBER 28, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-301.02 N2WWD & KB5MU Make Orbital Elements Available On http://www.amsat.org/ With the assistance of Paul Williamson KB5MU, N2WWD has created a Shuttle Orbital Data page as an addition to the AMSAT World Wide Web page. This is accessible through the Keplerian Elements on the AMSAT home page. I plan to maintain orbital information in this area for all active (and pending) Shuttle missions. Data is presently available for STS-73. The location of the AMSAT home page is: http://www.amsat.org/ I am still somewhat new at this, so this project has been delayed slightly. The Orbital data (State Vector, AMSAT Keps, and Two-Line Keps) are each available on the page. Presently, the Two-Line Elements (TLEs) are not updating, but N2WWD has brought this to KB5MU's attention via E-Mail. Presently, the page is providing "Rev 68" estimated TLEs rather than the following "Rev 80" estimated TLEs: STS-73 1 23688U 95056A 95298.50364493 .00005805 14031-9 95867-5 0 165 2 23688 39.0080 82.4169 0008169 308.5723 74.0453 16.01951785 805 N2WWD regrets any inconvenience this may cause and and he is currently working to correct this ASAP. The Shuttle Orbital Data page is somewhat "plain looking" at present, but will evolve in time to add some attractive graphics as well as links to technical discussions involving orbital dynamics and related topics. It is useable at present and N2WWD feels will satisfies most users "highest priority" of being able to obtain current data. N2WWD says that constructive feedback is always welcome. [The AMSAT News Service would like to thank Ken Ernandes (N2WWD) who can be reached at n2wwd@amsat.org] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-301.03 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 301.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD OCTOBER 28, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-301.03 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 28-OCT-95 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: N QST ** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE ** 1995 Oct 30 - 1996 Jan 01 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 70 | Mode-BS : MA 70 to MA 110 | Omnis : MA 230 to MA 25 Mode-S : MA 110 to MA 112 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 112 to MA 135 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-S : MA 135 to MA 140 |<- S beacon only Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 180 | Alon/Alat 180/0 Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 256 | Move to attitude 225/0, Jan 01 [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] UO-11: The normal condition of UO-11 is with 145 MHz and 2401.500 MHz beacons ON. The 435.025 MHz beacon can sometimes be heard on Wednesdays when the University of Surrey (UoS) switches it over while they command and for 4800 bps downloads. The 2401 beacon is said to be pretty close (my under- standing is - within a KHz or two at 2401.500 MHz) of the claimed frequency. Reported signal strength of the 2401 beacon is "not as strong as DOVE's but not down in the noise." UO-11, launched in March 1984, is an old lady now and, as happens with old ladies, she gets a bit fernickity sometimes. There is a watchdog timer to turn off the transmitter 2M and that this timer has sometimes turned the signals OFF before it should. UoS do their best keeping it ON but a) they're busy, responsible for something like ten othermore modern birds, and b) the UO-11 passes come over at inconvenient times. So they don't always manage to hit UO-11. [G3RWL] MIR: While KF8BE was monitoring 145.550 MHz during a Mir pass recently, he found that several stations had connected to it simultaneously. There was only one station connected to the mailbox, R0MIR-1 (as usual) but there were several stations connected to R0MIR. Every time someone connected to R0MIR, it gave a "HELLO FROM SPACE STATION MIR !!!" message. No other messages came from that particular callsign. KF8BE tried connecting to it and got the same message. He tried to upload a similar greeting, but it couldn't hear him (or maybe it just didn't want to hear anything else). KF8BE then disconnected himself. It seemed like a non-automated SAREX packet contact. [KF8BE] DOVE: The DOVE (DO-17) S-band transmitter is on. A recent software load allows better power control and we expect to be able to keep it on. An announcement will be made in a few days. It's on 2401.220 MHz. Accurate frequency measurements would be appreciated, to: wd0e@amsat.org [WD0E] 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