SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.01 SATELLITE MONITORING HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.01 At the IARU Region 1 Conference held in September/October 1996 it was agreed that the IARU Region One Monitoring Service will include, on a trial basis, a system for the monitoring of the Amateur Radio Satellite Frequencies. Ron Roden, the IARUMS Coordinator for Region 1 has prepared the following guidelines: IARUMS REGION 1 GUIDELINES FOR MONITORING AND REPORTING OF UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITE FREQUENCIES. 1. AMSAT groups should contact their national IARUMS Coordinator to: a) seek advice on how best to organize the Satellite Monitoring System b) obtain agreement to send a floppy with their data to the National Coordinator to be copied onto the monthly disc he sends to me under a separate name i.e. report for January in Excel "sat01.xls" c) Work out a common form of placing complaints to their administration d) Where there is no National IARUMS Coordinator and the AMSAT group establishes its own structure the Chairman of the IARU Region 1 Monitoring System Working Group would be pleased to offer advice and assistance. e) One person within the Amsat group would be responsible for processing all the reports received from the Satellite observers into a consolidated report in the format given in 3 below. 2 Only those frequencies allocated to the Amateur Satellite Service should be included in the monthly reports. 3. The Data format should be in spread sheet form with the following columns - Column 1 - Name of Society (in abbreviated form DARC, SARL ...) Column 2 - Frequency in MHz to 3 Decimal places (e.g. 145.875) Column 3 - Time UTC (4 digits) Column 4 - Date (1 . . . . . . 12) Column 5 -Identification (if any) Column 6 - Details (e.g. language, male/female, message content & etc)> 4. The data should be on 3.5" floppy disc for preference in Excel, 1-2-3 or Dbase, any thing else used should be saved as "text (tab delineated)" or "text". If data is prepared in a word processor each report should be on one line with a single inserted after each of the virtual columns thus : COL 1COL 2COL 3. . . . . .COL 4 5. If there is no National IARUMS Coordinator then the discs may be sent direct to me which must be clearly marked with the originating society. 6. I can also accept data as an email attachment preferably in EXCEL and almost anything other than MS Works. > 7. A synopsis of intruders will be circulated periodically to those societies participating in the satellite monitoring activities. Ronald Roden G4GKO Chairman Monitoring System Working Group International Amateur Radio Union Region I 27 Wilmington Close Hassocks, W.Sussex, BN6 8QB England Telephone: +44 1273 842491 FAX: +44 1273 842491 [ANS thanks the IARU International Satellite Digest for this information.] SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.02 SA AMSAT CALL FOR PAPERS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.02 SA AMSAT announced that its 18th Annual Space Communications conference will be held at the University of Natal in Durban South Africa on Saturday 23 August 1997. Proposals for papers are now invited and should be sent by Email to hans@igubu.saix.net or by fax to SA AMSAT +27 31 765-6456 before January 31. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.03 ACHIEVEMENTS BY THE SATELLITE SERVICE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.03 In Africa there are 55 Countries who are members of the ITU. They hold more than 25% of the vote at World Radio Conferences. With organized Amateur Radio activity limited to only a hand full of countries, the IARU President Dick Baldwin W1RU has appointed Hans van de Groenendaal ZS5AKV to head the Africa Development committee. The Committee's task is: - To develop a plan for acquiring support from African Countries on Amateur Radio related issues at future WRC. - To evaluate the support needed from global IARU organizations and membership societies to support the plan as described above. One of the elements the committee is working on, is a document highlighting the contribution Amateurs are making to Telecommunications Science and Technology. The Amateur Radio Satellite Service is a major contributor in this field. You can assist by making input to the document. Let the committee have your ideas on what contributions Radio Amateurs are making to Telecommunication Science and Technology in your area, at your club or Amsat group. Please Email your input to: ZS5AKV@amsat.org or fax to +27 31 765-6456. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.04 1997 IARU INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE FORUM HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.04 The 1997 IARU International Satellite Forum will be held on Sunday 19 October from 09:00 - 12:00 in Toronto, Canada as part of the AMSAT NA Space Symposium. Details will follow in the new year. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.05 OSCAR-11 REPORT 17-December 1996 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.05 During the last month (18 November - 17 December) good, steady signals have been received from OSCAR-11 on 145.826 MHz. There have also been reports of the S-band beacon being heard on 2401.5 MHz. from OK2AQK, AL7CR, and DL7MAJ between 7th and 12th December. Maximum signal strengths have varied from S4 to S6, above the noise. . During the last two days, the spin period, as reported in the status blocks, has increased from the usual value of about 360 to 939 seconds. The -Y axis facit temperature has risen to 41.6 deg. C, and +Y fallen to -6.6 deg. C. Temperatures like these were frequently seen several years ago, but not recently. However, apart from this recent anomaly, the telemetry values during the month have been nominal, and the internal temperatures appear to have stabilized. A new WOD survey was started on 24th November, channels 17, 18, 27, 28. These are +X, +Y, -X, -Y facet temperatures. Three AMSAT bulletins by Richard G3RWL have been uploaded. Topics have included AMSAT colloquium - call for papers, OSCAR-13 status and finale. Bulletins always include the latest Keps for OSCAR-11 in AMSAT format. The operating schedule is unchanged. ASCII status (210 seconds) ASCII bulletin (60 seconds) BINARY SEU (30 seconds) ASCII TLM (90 seconds) ASCII WOD (120 seconds) ASCII bulletin (60 seconds) BINARY ENG (30 seconds) There are also additional status blocks after each bulletin is transmitted, and between ASCII TLM and WOD. The mode-S beacon is ON, but telemetry indicates that it has partially failed, and delivering half power. Any reports of reception on 2401 MHz. would be most welcome. Please e-mail g3cwv@amsat.org. The 435.035 MHz. beacon is normally OFF. However it can sometimes be heard when the satellite is being commanded by ground control, i.e. within range of Guildford, UK. Likely times are between 1500 and 1800 UTC, Fridays or at weekends. When the 435 beacon is transmitting, the 145 beacon is normally OFF. The data transmitted is mainly BINARY. Clive Wallis, G3CWV, is setting up a web site for OSCAR-11. The aim is to include data files, especially WOD, decoding software, information files, and the current status report. Most of the content will be zipped up into convenient packages, so that the text can be viewed off-line. Please note that the contents are based on what Clive, and other sources have received from the satellite. Any opinions expressed are those of Clive Wallis, and not necessarily those of the UOS ground controllers. The URL is http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ Best wishes to all for Christmas and successful tracking in 1997. [ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.06 SILENT PRAYER FOR P3D HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.06 Nick Laub wrote a prayer for the successful launch of P3D. During this time of year, ANS feels that this might be a great gift to the satellite community. God bless the untiring workers that assembled this little giant of an amateur radio satellite [ANS thanks Nick Laub, W0CA, for composing this prayer.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.07 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.07 FO-29 This is the latest info from JARL. FO-29 operation sked from JARL, 0900z 18 Dec Now : 1200bps digital 24 - 26: digi-talker 26 - 31: 9600bps digital [ANS thanks Masa, JN1GKZ, for this update.] MIR: MIR on 145.200 (Downlink) MIR on 145.800 (Uplink) For packet operation 145.800 is used for both Tx and Rx operation (i.e. Simplex). Hi all, This is an official message from Mir's PMS: Stat : PR Posted : 12/09/96 22:41 To : ALL >From : R0MIR @ BBS : xID : Subject: HELLO We finished our second space walk. After the first one we had a problem with our antenna. Tonight we repaired it and now it's Ok. We back your pardon for such an occasion. 73 de Mir crew CMD(B/H/J/K/KM/L/M/R/S/SR/V/?)> [ANS thanks Claudio Ariotti, IK1SLD ,for this information on MIR.] SAFEX, the 70cm repeater on MIR, is up and running. RS-12: The sat is giving extremely good downlink signals on 2 meters. In this period of poor propagation on 15 m, the T-mode is providing very easy access to the satellite. Interesting DX activity has been spotted in Europe with stations in Egypt, Crete, Cameroon, etc. [ANS thanks Stefano Badessi, PA3FWP, for this report.] RS-10: Operating normally. Very busy with lots of QSOs heard over north America and Europe. RS-15 Operating normally. (Hint: If SSB doesn't work for you, try CW. CW is very easy to hear on the downlink!) KO-23: KO-23 is performing poorly. Downlink efficiency is below 30%. Messages seen on KO-25 indicate KO-23 is over deviating. No direct information, relating to the problem, has been released by the command team. KO-25: KO-25 is open again and operating normally The bird's efficiencies has been running 95 to 99%. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for his reports on KO-25 and KO-23.] AO-27: December-08-1996. Good conditions on the bird and good QSO in it's orbits over Europe during the weekend Heard: F6HLG, DG5MNC, EB5BCF, EA5AAJ, DH5JY, DL2DRD etc [ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.] 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. Stacey E. (Chuck) Mills, W4SM, reports that Ken Ernandes is looking into getting updated keps. Though the orbit doesn't change very fast, things are now off by a bit, especially at perigee. Mills calculated the blon/blat, -125/5, about one year ago and is waiting to see if predictions for this year hold up. Below is a 14-day update on the AO-10 Keps from the NASA OIG RAID RBBS. AO-10 1 14129U 83058B 96299.11613815 -.00000305 00000-0 10000-3 0 4631 2 14129 25.8792 182.5891 6052907 60.2572 346.3435 2.05882271 72548 [ANS thanks Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, for these keps.] .A lot of activity was noted this weekend when the sat was over America. The bird was still workable up to phase 60. Still a bit of FM-ing when operating in CW [ANS thanks Stefano Badessi, PA3FWP, for this report.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.08 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 357.08 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, DECEMBER 22, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-357.08 AMSAT-OSCAR-16 (PACSAT) Continues in good working order. (to see telemetry data) uptime is 818/07:58:34 Time is Sat Dec 14 13:18:12 1996 Rx D DISC 0.572 k Rx D S meter 154.000 C Rx C DISC -1.211 k Rx C S meter 127.000 C Rx B DISC 2.678 k Rx B S meter 156.000 C Rx A DISC -0.462 k Rx A S meter 108.000 C Rx E/F DISC 0.212 k Rx E/F S meter 150.000 C +5 Volt Bus 4.911 V +5V Rx Current 0.044 A +2.5V VREF 2.527 V 8.5V BUS 8.680 V IR Detector 42.000 C LO Monitor I 0.002 A +10V Bus 11.000 V GASFET Bias I 0.003 A Ground REF 0.000 V +Z Array V 24.654 V Rx Temp -10.288 D +X (RX) temp 0.603 D Bat 1 V 1.362 V Bat 2 V 1.370 V Bat 3 V 1.374 V Bat 4 V 1.349 V Bat 5 V 1.357 V Bat 6 V 1.532 V Bat 7 V 1.376 V Bat 8 V 1.329 V Array V 23.672 V +5V Bus 4.968 V +8.5V Bus 9.015 V +10V Bus 10.975 V BCR Set Point 111.095 C BCR Load Cur 0.389 A +8.5V Bus Cur 0.034 A +5V Bus Cur 0.267 A -X Array Cur 0.104 A +X Array Cur -0.019 A -Y Array Cur -0.019 A +Y Array Cur 0.150 A -Z Array Cur -0.020 A +Z Array Cur 0.089 A Ext Power Cur -0.015 A BCR Input Cur 0.371 A BCR Output Cur 0.354 A Bat 1 Temp 6.049 D Bat 2 Temp 4.839 D Baseplt Temp 5.444 D PSK TX RF Out -0.029 W RC PSK TX Out 0.650 W PSK TX HPA Tmp -0.002 D +YArray Temp 0.603 D RC PSK HPA Tmp -1.817 D RC PSK BP Temp -1.817 D +ZArray Temp -12.104 D S band HPA Tmp 206.000 C S band TX Out -0.088 W Total Array C= 0.344 Bat Ch Cur=-0.035 Ifb= 0.027 I+10V= 0.362 PACSAT TX:010C BCR:76 PWRC:5AE BT:3C WC:25 EDAC:E3 [ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.] FO-20 Strong downlink signal and very busy with activity. OSCAR-11 Good, steady signals have been received from OSCAR-11 on 145.826 MHz. See ANS bulletin 357.05 for more information. [ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for this information.] IO-26 ( ITAMSAT): Operating normally. Some report indicate that the downlink signals from the bird are stronger. [ANS thanks Richard W L Limebear, G3RWL, for this report.] DO-17(DOVE) Jim White reports that DOVE had timed out on December second. DOVE's software was then uploaded again to correct the time out problem. Signals from Dove are once again being received. [ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E, and Sergio Adrian Gorgone, LW7DXF, for this information.] LUSAT-OSCAR-19 This satellite is normally working. (to see telemetry data) LUSAT (LO-19): *- uptime is 542/22:42:12 Time is Sat DEC 14 12:47:22 1996 Rx D DISC 1.023 k Rx D S meter 143.000 C Rx C DISC 0.510 k Rx C S meter 116.000 C Rx B DISC 1.140 k Rx B S meter 148.000 C Rx A DISC 0.528 k Rx A S meter 148.000 C Rx E/F DISC 1.069 k Rx E/F S meter 140.000 C +5 Volt Bus 4.971 V +5V Rx Current 0.045 A +2.5V VREF 2.527 V 8.5V BUS 8.524 V IR Detector 40.000 C LO Monitor I 0.002 A +10V Bus 11.024 V GASFET Bias I 0.003 A Ground REF 0.000 V +Z Array V 22.813 V Rx Temp -3.235 D +X (RX) Temp -0.991 D Bat 1 V 1.383 V Bat 2 V 1.385 V Bat 3 V 1.398 V Bat 4 V 1.380 V Bat 5 V 1.409 V Bat 6 V 1.444 V Bat 7 V 1.383 V Bat 8 V 1.385 V Array V 22.495 V +5V Bus 5.030 V +8.5V Bus 8.889 V +10V Bus 11.400 V BCR Set Point 128.000 C BCR Load Cur 0.227 A +8.5V Bus Cur 0.025 A +5V Bus Cur 0.209 A +X Array Cur -0.016 A -X Array Cur 0.112 A -Y Array Cur 0.003 A +Y Array Cur 0.241 A -Z Array Cur 0.004 A +Z Array Cur -0.004 A Ext Power Cur -0.020 A BCR Input Cur 0.367 A BCR Output Cur 0.278 A Bat 1 Temp 2.374 D Bat 2 Temp 2.374 D Baseplt Temp 2.935 D PSK TX RF Out 0.106 W RC PSK TX Out 0.898 W PSK TX HPA Tem -2.113 D +Y Array Temp -2.113 D RC PSK HPA Tem 0.131 D RC PSK BP Temp -3.235 D +Z Array Temp -6.600 D LU Bcn Temp A -1.552 D LU Bcn Temp D -2.113 D Coax Rly Stat 2.000 C Coax Rly Stat 255.000 C Total Array C= 0.360 Bat Ch Cur= 0.052 Ifb= 0.008 I+10V= 0.219 LUSAT TX:019 BCR:80 PWRC:36E BT:3C WC: 0 [ANS thanks Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report.] . WEBERSAT (WO-18) The satellite remains in good condition. Bob Argyle has completed the initial reload of WeberSat; and the satellite is now broadcasting telemetry frames every 15 seconds. The remaining software modules will be loaded soon followed by the resumption of photos and spectra. [ANS thanks Tommy Davis, IK3WVJ, for this report.] WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 was copied at KD2BD on 14-Dec-96 at 16:38 UTC. The satellite was transmitting telemetry and status messages on its 435.822 MHz downlink. The following packet frames indicate a recent software reload: WEBER-1>TIME-1 : PHT: uptime is 002/20:48:01. Time is Sat Dec 14 16:38:47 1996 WEBER-1>CAST : Reloaded initial software. [ANS thanks John Magliacane, KB2BD, for this report.] [Please send your Satellite reports to bjarts@uslink.net or to wt0n@amsat.org] /EX