SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.01 PREPARATIONS FOR ARIANE 501 LAUNCH CONTINUE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.01 The following is a press release from the European Space Agency concerning plans for the launch of the first test flight of Ariane 5. Paris, 5 April 1996 ESA/CNES Joint status report no.2 Preparations for the first launch of Ariane-5 The extra session of the Flight Readiness Review was held on 4 and 5 April as planned and led to confirmation that the Ariane 501 launcher was ready for flight. The campaign preparatory to the Ariane 501 flight is continuing at the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's spaceport, Kourou. Fitting of the fluid and electrical connections and the associated program of checks proceeded satisfactorily and on schedule. The installation of the many protective casings required on the launcher has however taken longer than expected given the tough quality criteria applying to all campaign operations. For this reason, and in view of the Ariane-4 launch planned for 20 April (flight 85), the Launcher Countdown Rehearsal, for which the launcher's lower section will be transferred to the launch zone before being moved back to the Final Assembly Building, has been postponed from 16 April to 23 April 1996. It is likely that the launch date will have to be put back very slightly owing to the slippage in the Countdown Rehearsal date. The new date will be announced following the rehearsal and in consultation with Arianespace, taking into account the timetable for flight 86, currently scheduled for mid-May. The European Space Agency has delegated the management of its Ariane-5 program to CNES. ANS thanks Keith Baker KB1SF for passing along this information. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.02 JAS-2 LAUNCH PLANNED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.02 Reports form the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) indicate that the launch of JAS-2 is expected about mid-August. This newest Japanese amateur satellite is to ride as a secondary payload along with the ADEOS spacecraft. ANS is indebted to Masanobu Tsuji JA2PRZ for this information. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.03 1996 AMSAT ANNUAL MEETING AND SPACE SYMPOSIUM HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.03 1996 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium Call For Papers Holiday Inn, City Center Tucson, AZ November 8-10, 1996 The 1996 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium will be held on November 8-10, 1996 at the Holiday Inn, City Center in Tucson, AZ. This is the first call for papers to authors who wish to submit papers for this event. As always, the scope of the papers should be on topics of interest to the amateur satellite service. Topics may include, but are certainly not limited to: The Life and Times of AO-13 Building a Phase-3D Ground Station Phase-3D Construction Topics DSP-93 Integration AMSAT Field Operations What's Next for AMSAT After Phase-3D? We also would like to solicit topics from the AMSAT community. In other words, what topics would YOU like to see presented at this year's Annual Meeting? Abstracts from authors should be submitted by June 15, 1996. Final versions of all papers should be received by August 15, 1996. Submissions and inquiries should be made to Dave Burnett, WD8KRV: By Internet: wd8krv@amsat.org By Mail: G. D. Burnett 4809 E. Pima #223 Tucson, AZ 85712 Information about the Annual Meeting home page will be included in a future announcement. We look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting! ANS thanks Dave Burnett, WD8KRV, for this bulletin /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.04 SSTV ON OSCAR 13 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.04 Oscar 13 signals are very strong prior to mode S and immediately after. SSTV quality is directly dependent on signal strength so now is the time get your best pictures on the air!! Slow scanners are invited to join the SSTV sessions on Oscar 13. The frequency is 145.955. The net meets at 45 minutes before Mode S, and on Mode B following Mode S on Saturdays and Sundays. This is NOT a formal net. Join the group at any time, but DO ask for your turn in the queue. Join these sessions or contact wb6llo@amsat.org for other skeds and he will coordinate your efforts. For those not familiar with satellite SSTV, operation is simplicity itself. Before transmitting your picture send a brief description of what you are about to send and indicate the mode. When on the receive end, tune to what you assume the normal voice to be. ANS thanks Dave Guimont for this news bulletin /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.05 NEW MIR INFO PAGE ON THE WEB HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.05 Amsat-bb members in the Michigan Area (Lower MI. and Northern IN.): Keith Thews has made a Michigan MIR information Page on the internet. This page has info on Ham Radio and news about visual sightings of MIR and radio contacts/receptions. There are also Web links also. The internet address is: http://sun1.iusb.edu/~kthews/MIR.html ANS thanks Keith Thews for this news item. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.06 WEB PAGES UPDATED ON AMSAT WEB SITE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.06 Two of the pages on the AMSAT web site were recently updated by Steve Bible N7HPR. They are: - A Brief History of Amateur Satellites http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/history.html - The Future of Amateur Satellites http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/future.html Steve asks anyone who my know of corrections or additions to either page to please contact him at n7hpr@amsat.org. ANS thanks Steve Bible, N7HPR, for this update /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.07 STSORBIT PLUS VER.9615 AVAILABLE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.07 The new release of STSORBIT PLUS, Version 9615, is available at David Cottle's Home Page: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dcottle/files The following files are available: SOP9615A.ZIP Main STSPLUS Program, Part 1 of 2 SOP9615B.ZIP Main STSPLUS Program, Part 2 of 2 SOP9615U.ZIP Update ONLY from STSPLUS Version 9610 STSPLUS.NEW Update Notes for Versions 9615, 9610, and 9607 Also available: EARTH3.ZIP STSPLUS Level 3 Map Database Files (updated 1996) ANS thanks David H. Ransom, Jr. For this contribution. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-096.08 HOUSTON AMSAT NET OFF SATELLITE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 096.08 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, APRIL 5, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-096.08 Due to the demise of the Tech Talk Network and its agreement with Skyvision to provide satellite transponder time for the Houston AMSAT Net ,it will be off the satellite until the Houston Amsat group can make some other arrangements. Bruce Paige, KK5DO, has been approached by some people that work for companies that own satellites and Bruce are going to see if they can do something for the Houston Net. The net will be on the 1.860AM (WA0RCR) Gateway Radio Newsletter until they can find another satellite home. ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, for this late breaking news. /EX