SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-174.01 SAREX VOLUNTEERS TEST NEW SYSTEM HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 174.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-174.01 AMSAT's Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX) volunteers have developed a new capability which is being tested out during the on-going STS-78 SAREX mission. Shuttle rise and set times are being made available via the World Wide Web for 176 cities across the United States, Canada, and the rest of the World. These rise and set times are made available so that people can quickly determine when the Shuttle will be above the horizon at their location. This information is available via a link from the SAREX home page: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/sarex/sarex.html This data is provided courtesy of AMSAT volunteer Terry Jones, NZ8C. [ANS thanks Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT V.P. for Manned Space Programs and the SAREX Working Group for this news item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-174.02 MILESTONE FOR ITAMSAT IO-26 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 174.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-174.02 June 22nd 1996 marks an important milestone for ITAMSAT IO-26; in fact, 1000 days in orbit have passed since its launch on September 26th 1993 from Kourou, French Guyana, on board Ariane flight 59. During this period of time, IO-26 has traveled for approximately 14,200 orbits. After its return to service earlier this month, Command Station in Milan, Italy, are still evaluating its status before returning the satellite to full service. At present time, the satellite is running the IHT software, which is used to collect WOD (Whole Orbit Data) especially regarding the power budget. Everything on board behaves normally, the downlink frequency used is 435.822 MHz, on the TXB transmitter. Digipeating is usually turned on, except when the satellite is being commanded from the Command Station in Milan, Italy. Any report regarding ITAMSAT IO-26 is welcome via E-mail at itamsat@micronet.it [ANS thanks Luca Bertagnolio, IK2OW of the ITAMSAT Team for this update.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-174.03 RADUGA Launch Re-Entry HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 174.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-174.03 A couple of months ago, Richard Limebear drew our attention to the keplerian elements of part "D" of a RADUGA launch which had gone sour, and remarked on their similarity to Oscar-13's elements: Satellite OSCAR-13 96010D Epoch Date 1996 Jun 15 1996 Jun 16 Inclination 57 48 deg R.A.A.N. 111 250 deg Eccentricity 0.7426 0.7334 - Arg perigee 42 29 deg Mean motion 2.098212 2.262156 rev/d Decay 7.1E-6 8.0E-4 rev/d/d Revolution 6129 264 - Semi major axis 25773 24500 km Miller has been collecting the elements since then, and have plugged them in to my program that numerically integrates the equations of motion for AO-13. After adjusting the mass/area ratio (which is about 2x larger than AO-13's) so that predicted and Norad keplerian elements agree over 2 months, I find that re-entry for 96010D is predicted for 1996 Jul 17 [Wed], which is four weeks hence. This event is a sort of rehearsal for AO-13's demise, and should be interesting, if only to practice your chicken-little technique. [ANS thanks James Miller, G3RUH, for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-174.04 SPECIAL APRtrak POSITION PACKETS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 174.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-174.04 The SAREX robot is configured to relay the special APRtrak position packets during this STS-78 mission. Stations running APRtrak should see successful packet uplink stations show up on their maps. For operating details, see the README\SPACE.txt file that came with APRtrak. The latest version of APRtrak is still version 0.5 dated in November 95 which was successfully used during the SPRE mission in January 96. CAUTION: During recent testing, however, we have discovered that all versions of standard APRS after APRS74e will not properly detect a successful SAREX relay, and therefore should not be operated in AUTOMATIC SPACE Mode. Use APRtrak, or WATCH for your relayed packet and STOP transmitting when you are successful.. A beta test of APRS76e has been posted that hopefully solves this problem. It can be downloaded from tapr.org via ftp from the tapr/SIG/aprssig/files/upload directory. Get the file beta76e.zip. REMEMBER. Operate SPLIT mode, receiving on 145.55 and transmitting on 144.49 only when the SAREX Packet mode is operating. [ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for this APR news.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-174.05 How to Work the Packet Robot on the Shuttle HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 174.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-174.05 Bruce Paige, KK5DO, instructs us on how to make packet contacts with the space shuttle packet robot. "You cannot use a TNC program because I have found them to be to slow to let you know a connect has been made. Usually they wait a second, ring a bell, wait a second and by then, the world has passed you by. I use Procomm Plus (DOS version) and connect to the TNC. I have a Kantronics Data Engine but the type of TNC is irrelevant. My settings for the shuttle are as follows:" MONMODE ALL MONTYPE ALL MONITOR ON FRACK 2 The other settings that you normally use are just fine. Here is how the connect goes.... Issue your connect command to the TNC. As soon as you see the message on your screen that the Robot has connected *IMMEDIATELY* press your disconnect key (for me it is CTRL-C to gain control of the TNC and then 'D' for disconnect). The next time the packet robot looks for my confirmation of the disconnect, I will be telling it to disconnect and it is a done deal. "Below are 2 sequences where I connected to the Robot. You will see that the connect was at 14:03:47 and I issued the disconnect at 14:03:51, a mere 4 seconds later. The Robot finally got around to seeing it at 14:04:07, a total of 20 seconds to complete the contact. Further down you will see the SAREX report of QRZ and QSL and KK5DO appears in both. Now I don't have to try any further connects if I hear the Robot and concentrate on a voice contact." cmd:c w5rrr-1 KK5DO>W5RRR-1 [15/JUL/95 14:03:46 UTC]: <>: W5RRR-1>KK5DO [15/JUL/95 14:03:47 UTC]: : *** CONNECTED TO W5RRR-1 W5RRR-1>WD4AHZ [15/JUL/95 14:03:48 UTC]: :{F0} #145-is your STS-70 SAREX QSO number. W5RRR-1>WD4AHZ [15/JUL/95 14:03:48 UTC]: : W5RRR-1>KK5DO [15/JUL/95 14:03:49 UTC]: :{F0} #146-is your STS-70 SAREX QSO number. cmd:d KK5DO>W5RRR-1 [15/JUL/95 14:03:50 UTC]: : KK5DO>W5RRR-1 [15/JUL/95 14:03:51 UTC]: : KK5DO>W5RRR-1 [15/JUL/95 14:03:53 UTC]: : KK5DO>W5RRR-1 [15/JUL/95 14:03:56 UTC]: : KK5DO>W5RRR-1 [15/JUL/95 14:03:59 UTC]: : W5RRR-1>WD4AHZ [15/JUL/95 14:04:00 UTC]: :{F0} #145-is your STS-70 SAREX QSO number. W5RRR-1>KK5DO [15/JUL/95 14:04:00 UTC]: : *** DISCONNECTED KK5DO>W5RRR-1 [15/JUL/95 14:04:01 UTC]: : W5RRR-1>QRZ [15/JUL/95 14:06:25 UTC]: :{F0} #99-WD4LYV WA5MYI N4ZQ KQ4AV N5ZNL N9OZU KB5JRA N0NTW WD4AHZ KK5DO N9AB AA5OQ N9PKI W9HAD XE2MXU N7UFT K9MWM KG5OA XE1KK WA5PIE N7FUM N6TVZ W6BME N6JLH WD6EFM WB4FNH N1DL NO4J W4FWD ZL1UMB LW1EXU ZR5 MMD N7QQ WA5OUD N6HL W5RRR-1>QSL [15/JUL/95 14:06:26 UTC]: :{F0} KQ4AV/153 N5ZNL/151 XE1KK/150 KK5DO/146 N9PKI/144 N7UFT/134 K9MWM/132 KG5OA/131 N7FUM/127 WA5PIE/125 WB6LLO/110 WB6BDY/108 KA6UCD/107 K6AAW/106 ZS6BMN/102 W5RRR-1>SAREX [15/JUL/95 14:06:27 UTC]: :{F0} This is STS-70 SAREX Robot station W5RRR-1 onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Area Coordinator for this helpful advice.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-174.05 FLIGHT 501 FAILURE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 174.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-174.05 JOINT PRESS RELEASE ESA-CNES No 22-96 - Paris, 14 June 1996 FLIGHT 501 FAILURE - VEHICLE EQUIPMENT BAY RECOVERED Investigation of the flight 501 failure has been under way since 4 June. In particular, a large part of the equipment contained in the vehicle equipment bay has been recovered and inspected. This has revealed the existence of a malfunction relating to the inertial platforms in Ariane-5 operating mode. The relevant information has been conveyed to the Inquiry Board, which will take it into account in its further deliberations. [ANS thanks S. Badessi for this update.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-174.06 WEEKLY SATELLITE STATUS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 174.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 22 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-174.06 STS-78 SAREX, W5RRR has been active since Friday and many contacts have been reported. RS-12: Operating normally. RS-10: Operating normally. AO-27: Operating normally. AO-10: Operating normally. AO-13: Operating normally. Due to constraints of seasonal variation in solar angle, AO-13 was scheduled to be reoriented on June 17th, prior to this year's Field Day, to an ALON/ALAT of 220/0. The associated much less favorable squint angle would have necessitated the predominant use of the omni antenna. This would obviously have been sub optimal for AO-13's final Field Day appearance. However, circumstances, for once, have conspired in our favor. The small amount of drag that AO-13 currently experiences at perigee is acting on the spinning satellite to translate the ALAT slowly upward. Coupled with normal changes of precession, the "undisturbed" orientation on Field Day will be ALON/ALAT 187/13. At this orientation, the absolute solar angle is lower (more favorable) than at an orientation of 180/0, and AO-13 can stay in it's current configuration for approximately 10 days longer than originally planned. Therefore, the orientation, antenna schedule and transponder schedule for AO-13 will remain "as is" for the 1996 Field Day. Current plans call for reorientation to 220/0 on approximately June 27th. The process takes several days and, therefore, will commence a few days before that time, with schedule changes activated after the position has been stabilized. Enjoy what could be the final optimum attitude and schedule of this fine satellite. Reorientation to 180/0 in September is likely to be transient at best, with considerable torquing of ALAT around perigee WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18: Initial operating software was reloaded to WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18, and as of 01:59:06 UTC on Saturday 25-May-96, the satellite was transmitting telemetry and spacecraft status information, and reporting an uptime of one day, five hours, 48 minutes, and 41 seconds. Bob Argyle, KB7KCL is asking that anyone who captured telemetry from WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 on 21-May-96 between 19:28:31 and 20:29:34 UTC please send it to him either via AO-16, unencode and e-mail at (rargyle@cc.weber.edu), or anonymous FTP upload to 137.190.32.131. He is especially interested in any telemetry gathered over Africa. Bob also reports that when WEBERSAT is successfully reloaded, it will be sending several new telemetry frames: WHO-18 was copied in New Jersey during a pass between 15:40 and 15:50 UTC on 01-Jun-96. The satellite was transmitting AX.25 flags, but no data. The downlink signal strength appeared to be normal ITAMSAT-OSCAR-26 returned to the air on 01-Jun-96. The satellite was copied on Friday 07-Jun-96 at KD2BD in New Jersey transmitting telemetry, WOD, LSTAT, BCRXMT, TIME, and STATUS frames. In addition, the satellite was sending the following text message: IY2SAT-1>AMSAT : ** 5th June 1996 ** IHT 3.1 is running. Digipeater is ON. WOD is underway. 73 de ITAMSAT Command team. The satellite was using its 435.820 MHz downlink transmitter, and digipeating was possible via ITMSAT-1 using any one of its four uplink frequencies (145.875 MHz, 145.900 MHz, 145.925 MHz, or 145.950 MHz). [Please send your Satellite reports to bjarts@uslink.net or to wt0n@amsat.org] /EX