SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.01 PHASE 3-D PASSES CRITICAL ESA TEST. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.01 AMSAT-DL's Konrad Mueller, DG7FDQ and AMSAT-NA's Vice President, Engineering, Dick Jansson, WD4FAB, journeyed to Les Mureaux, France during the first two weeks of November to conduct the very first dynamic tests of AMSAT's P3-D spaceframe and launch structure while mated with an Ariane 5 test stand. The tests, conducted at Aerospatiale's facilities in Les Mureaux, used the flight model Specific Bearing Structure (SBS) that will carry Phase 3-D on the upper stage of the Ariane 5 during launch. In these tests, the engineering model of the Phase 3-D spaceframe built in Germany in 1993, was also used to simulate a "full up" P3-D spacecraft. The task of adding mass to the spacecraft model was expertly accomplished by Konrad Mueller who mounted wood blocks in the equipment bays of the model to simulate electronic modules. Konrad also added large, plastic, water-filled jugs to the model to simulate "full" fuel tanks during the test. At the start of these tests, the (now 550 kg) spacecraft model was placed (*very* carefully!) inside the flight model SBS. Next, the completed structure was fitted with adapter rings to mate it to the test stand. Dick reports that during this procedure, the alignment of all 244 holes on both the top and bottom of our SBS with the Ariane 5 test hardware was so perfect that a special measurement test ring was not needed! The actual dynamic tests were then conducted by placing a portable vibration exciter at various points on the combined structure to see at which frequencies (if any) the structure resonated. This information is flight critical because unknown or undampened resonances of our hardware could tear the P3-D spacecraft or the SBS apart during the vibrations of launch, possibly causing damage to other launch passengers or even the Ariane 5 upper stage. Dick and Konrad report that preliminary results from these tests indicate that the Phase 3-D SBS and spacecraft "passed with flying colors" as the resonances and intensities were well within ESA's required (and AMSAT's predicted) tolerances. A final report on these tests is due to be released in December. Both Dick and Konrad expressed their thanks to AMSAT-France for the outstanding logistical help provided to the P3-D test team by several AMSAT-F members while these tests were being accomplished in their country. The next major hurdle for the Phase 3-D SBS and spaceframe will occur in late November and early December when both the separation support structures holding the Phase 3-D spacecraft in the SBS, as well as the SBS itself, will be subjected to static loads of nearly 5 metric tons. These tests will simulate the stresses expected on our hardware during the Ariane 5 launch. [ANS thanks Dick Jansson and Keith Baker for the information that went into this Bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.02 AMATEUR RADIO FREQUENCIES FOR THE MIR SPACE STATION HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.02 AMSAT has received numerous comments regarding the recent switch of 2-meter frequencies on the MIR space station. AMSAT-NA recognizes that the frequency shift by the MIR crew is a major concern for Amateur Radio operators in IARU Region 2 (North & South America) and in Region 3 (Asia and Australia) as well as to Amateur Satellite enthusiasts who are concerned about voice uplinks in the Weak Signal OSCAR sub-band (145.80-146). Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT-NA's Vice President for Manned Space, reports that he and his colleagues are now working with their international partners to help resolve this issue as soon as possible. Frank reports he's had several discussions on this topic at the AMSAT/ARRL/NASA sponsored International Space Station Meeting in Houston, as well as the AMSAT-NA Symposium in Tucson, Arizona. He says that the dialogue with his international partners will continue and he will be keeping AMSAT-NA members informed of any late breaking news regarding this problem through further ANS bulletins. [ANS thanks Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT V.P. for Manned Space Programs, for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.03 FREQUENCIES IN SPACE--WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?? HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.03 Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT-NA's Vice President for Manned Space, speaking at the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium in Tucson, recently commented on some the difficulties surrounding global coordination of frequencies for manned space vehicles. Frank reports that unless one is actively working on frequency coordination, it is very difficult to understand all the problems of selecting frequencies for space vehicles. He hopes that the following discussion will help explain some of the issues both he and the human-tended space community are now facing. Frank indicates that, right now, frequency interference for human-tended space vehicles is a tremendous problem on 2 meters. The three IARU regions (Region 1: Europe & Africa, Region 2: North and South America, and Region 3: Asia and Australia) each have differing bandplans. In many parts of the world, (such as in Europe) the two meter band is only 2 MHz wide (144-146). Since frequencies at VHF and above are primarily used for line of sight communications, Frank noted that these frequencies have been traditionally coordinated at the local level with little or no concern for global issues. This means that in many countries, even those within the same IARU region, often have differing bandplans or "gentleman's agreements" in force. Frank went on to note that, in space, this "local coordination" becomes a problem because line of sight communications via the Space Shuttle and MIR (and eventually the International Space Station) overlap several countries or continents simultaneously. This causes interference both in space and on the Earth and often violates one or more of these "gentlemen's agreements" currently in place. Frank says that, to date, the 2 meter band represents the most challenging coordination effort because it is the most used Amateur Radio band and is currently the primary band for SAREX and MIR. Until recently, the MIR crew used 145.55 MHz simplex as the Amateur Radio 2 meter frequency for voice and packet. This frequency was also used as a downlink frequency for SAREX. Many international organizations, especially those in the European community, have asked that MIR and SAREX move from the 145.55 MHz frequency since it is a popular simplex frequency there. Frank went on to note that the MIR crew have now moved to new 2 meter frequencies. They are currently using 145.80 simplex for packet and 145.80(uplink)/145.20(downlink) for voice. Frank indicated that these changes were made by the Russian MIR Amateur Radio team and the German SAFEX team to conform with some of the manned space frequency recommendations that came out of the recent Region 1 (European) IARU conference in Tel Aviv, Israel. Frank noted that while this specific frequency recommendation works well in Europe, it violates the Region 2 & Region 3 bandplans. Many U.S. repeaters operate around 145.20. The 145.80 simplex channel results in uplinks within the weak signal OSCAR sub-band 145.80 to 146.00 -- something that AMSAT-International does not favor. The downlink is also very near the APRS frequency of 145.79--so local interference becomes a problem. To correct this problem, Frank suggests that the manned space community must look at other frequency alternatives for regions 2 & 3 *or* a consolidated plan for all three regions. He notes that the ultimate goal of the international team of which he is a part is seeking a set of frequencies that will not require the space crews to switch frequencies from one part of the globe to another. This is important because there are many times when the crew do not know where they are located. Either they are not near a window or they do not readily have access to a orbital prediction program. Frank commented that several other frequency "opportunities" for MIR, SAREX and International Space Station resulted from the Region 1 conference. However, not all of these are permanent. Frank and the other members of his international team expect to work closely with the IARU, other AMSAT organizations, as well as the manned space teams in the coming weeks to judiciously select a set of 2 meter frequencies that meet the world-wide bandplan. While this is quite a challenge, Frank insists that it is a necessary step to resolve this world-wide issue. Frank hopes this brief analysis answers some of the many questions regarding an issue that is, at best, a difficult one. He also asks the members of the AMSAT community for their patience and understanding as these very sensitive deliberations continue in the coming weeks. Further questions can be directed to Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, the SAREX frequency coordinator, Hans van de Groenendal, ZS5AKV, the IARU Satellite Advisor, or Graham Ratcliff, VK5AGR, the AMSAT Satellite Frequency Coordinator. They can all be reached by e-mail using "their callsign"@amsat.org [ANS thanks Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT V.P. for Manned Space Programs, for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.04 OSCAR-13 SEVERE HEATING STARTS. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.04 James Miller, G3RUH, has moved all text and image files relevant to AO-13's re-entry into the one collection, decaykep.zip. Maintaining separate files became tedious. The composite file is: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/decaykep.zip (70K) In particular there's a new plot, height.gif. About height.gif ----------------- The file "height.gif" shows Oscar-13's perigee height as a function of orbitnumber, from 1996 Nov 07 onwards. The plot shows height reducing in a series of plateaus spaced approximately 15 days, which is half the Moon's period. During the 127 km plateau from orbits 6430-6445, Nov 03-10 the associated plots of solar panel heating (see pan1.gif - pan4.gif in directory "temps") show the rise in solar panel temperature as the satellite passes through the upper atmosphere at perigee. As of, orbit 6456, Nov 14, the 116 km perigee height is quickly reducing to the next plateau of 110 km, and already the solar panel temperature plots as reported in the daily WOD dumps in the PSK telemetry are showing substantially greater rises in temperature. See pan5.gif. The rise is from-18 C at the end of eclipse to +35 C in about 3 minutes. During AO-13's entire life, the solar panels have never been above about 17 C, so it has now entered an unknown operating regime ... AO-13's solar panels are now hitting 60C + during perigee, and this will increase still more over the next few days. If the panels are getting this hot, the antennas could be close to meltdown. By orbit 6460, Nov 16 [Sat], 110 km, where the atmosphere is 3x denser than at 116 km, can expect the rise to hit 100C? The telemetry system upper limit is 79 C. There is a good chance of failure this weekend (Nov 16/17), but IF it survives to orbit 6463 then we should be able to make it to next weekend because perigee height has a "hold" at 110 km until orbit 6475 (Nov 22). Could this mean the end of OSCAR-13? This might be the last chance to use the bird. [ANS thanks James R Miller, G3RUH, for this late breaking news.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.05 OSCAR-13 SEVERE HEATING STARTS. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.05 Ken Ernandes, N2WWD spoke with Adam Johnson at the NASA GSFC OIG RAID RBBS regarding the rapid AO-13 orbital changes latency problems with the Keplerian elements. The NASA BBS at Goddard has been changed and is now automatically receiving updates for all posted Keplerian elements within Two (2) hours after the time they are transmitted by Space Command. The GSFC BBS now represents the most current source of orbital data for AO-13 and other amateur radio satellites. This set of two-line elements are for day 321.: AO-13 1 19216U 88051B 96321.58068054 .01620193 37092-4 62608-3 0 3354 2 19216 57.0140 77.4830 7232940 56.6305 359.2262 2.42772383 33114 NASA OIG RAID RBBS may be accessed via the Internet by telnet: oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov [user: oig; password: goddard1]. Ken will attempt to make arrangements to have daily updates for AO-13 also available on the AMSAT Web Page. Questions or comments regarding this data should be addressed to Ken Ernandes, N2WWD at the following address: n2wwd@amsat.org [ANS thanks Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.06 W0CY FAMILY MURDER UPDATE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.06 On Saturday night, Alan Eugene White was arrested by Boston Police at a homeless shelter. Mr. White is the focus of a triple murder investigation of 3 family members of the late Jim McKim, W0CY, this past July. A worker at the shelter recognized Mr. White while viewing the season premier of "America's Most Wanted" TV show on Saturday, November 9th. The piece about Mr. White aired from 9:00 to 9:10 PM and the show received a call from the shelter worker at 9:12 PM. Mr. White was arrested at 10:30 PM. He is being held awaiting an extradition hearing. Mr. White is a Amateur Radio Operator. He belonged to the same ham club in Salinas that Jim belonged to and had been over to the McKim's house in the past. [ ANS credits Drew Deskur, KA1M, with this news report.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.07 JEWELRY CONTEST WINNER AT AMSAT CONVENTION HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.07 Leanore, KA6UCD, presented Ed Krome, KA9LNV, with the brooch at the AMSAT Annual Convention dinner on Saturday evening. She thanks all of the entrants, and is very pleased with the interest shown, though many of them did not submit an entry. The "petals" of the flower were coils from the pancake motor on a 3 1/2" disk drive. The manufacturer is Mitsubishi, and the date stamped on the device is March. 1992. The following correctly identified the device: Franklin, N6NKF; Paul, KB5MU; Phil, KA9Q; Harry, JA1ANG, but Ed's entry won the brooch when he picked the correct year of dating on the device. This information was used as one of the tie-breakers in the (now annual) contest. [ANS thanks Dave Guimont, WB6LLO, for this news from the AMSAT convention.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.08 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.08 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.08 FO-29 (Fuji OSCAR 29) Operating normally. Analog mode. MIR: John Blaha, KC5TZQ, on board MIR on 11/04/96 @ 1346 UTC, confirmed that MIR is using the following split operation on 2 meters: Receive from MIR on 145.200 (Downlink) Transmit to MIR on 145.800 (Uplink) For packet operation 145.800 is used for both Tx and Rx operation (i.e. Simplex). This report has been confirmed by many stations throughout the world. Many are still many calling them on the wrong frequency. [ANS thanks Joe Dreifuss, WA2GSY, for this clarification on MIR.] SAFEX, the 70cm repeater on MIR, is back up and running. RS-12: Operating normally. With strong downlink signals reported both on 2 and 10 meters. RS-10: Operating normally. Very busy with lots of QSOs heard over north America. RS-15 Operating normally. Some activity heard on the bird over the past week. (Hint: If SSB doesn't work for you, try CW. CW is very easy to hear on the downlink!) KO-23: Operating normally. KO-25: Operating normally. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for his reports on KO-23 and 25.} AO-27: As of NOV 2, the AO-27 schedule is as follows: TEPR 4 = 16 = 8 Minutes in Length TEPR 5 = 52 = 18 Minutes in Length TX-3 is on Mid Power during TEPR 5. This will have the TX turn on 8 Minutes after the satellite enters the sun for a duration of 18 Minutes. This is a "back to US Latitudes" operation. N4USI, AO-27's current Command Station sends his thanks all for their messages about the satellite turning on later than expected. He reports he's deliberately letting the "turn on" time drift later (for about 4-5 Minutes) so stations in the southern latitudes can also have a chance to work AO-27. Every few months he will be letting the turn on time drift like this to give more stations a chance to make contacts thru the satellite. [ANS thanks Michael, N4USI , AO-27 Control-op, for this update.] AO-10: Operating normally. Very little activity heard. Some SSTV activity reported.. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.10 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2. HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 321.10 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 16, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-321.10 AMSAT-OSCAR-16 (PACSAT) Continues in good working order with several new stations noticed over the past few weeks. FO-20 Strong downlink signal and very busy with activity. OSCAR-11 During the last month (18 September to 16 October) good, steady signals have been received from OSCAR-11 on 145.826 MHz. The cure for the shut-down problem has been successful, and no further shut-downs have been observed. [ANS thanks Richard, G3RWL, for this information.] IO-26 ( ITAMSAT): Received from the IO-26 command team: IY2SAT-1>AMSAT : *** 26th September 1996 *** ITAMSAT is three year old! New ROBOT code is under development. Digipeater is OFF 73 de ITAMSAT Command team [ANS thanks Alberto, I2KBD, ITAMSAT Mission Manager for this update.] DO-17(DOVE) On 11/5/96 at 1912U a portion of the normal operating software was successfully loaded into DOVE and executed. See ANS bulletin # ANS-314.01 for more information. [ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E, for this information.] AO-13: Ted Brattstrom, NH6YK, reports he had just finished a QSO with ZL2UYH Nov-17-96 0421 UTC. Conditions were rough with the satellite about 31,000 km distance, signals would go up to 5x7 and then go way down .The 145.985 beacon has a similar pattern. [ANS thanks Ted Brattstrom, NH6YK, for this latest report on AO-13.] WO-18 (WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18): WeberSat has been reloaded with new software in an attempt to correct "the crashes of the past". Testing of the new software will continue for a while, followed by the resumption of broadcast images and spectra. The command team is encouraged by recent successes, and feel progress has been made toward WeberSat's return. [ANS thanks Tommy Davis for this report.] [Please send your Satellite reports to bjarts@uslink.net or to wt0n@amsat.org] /EX