SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0506 * SpaceNews 06-May-96 * BID: $SPC0506 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY MAY 6, 1996 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * MIR STATUS * ============== As of 18-Apr-96, the Mir 22 crew was busy getting used to their new environment. Shannon Lucid has been active on 2-meters, but only for approximately 1-2 orbits a day on weekends. The TNC portion of the PMS station "locked up" causing the ICOM-228 transceiver to transmit continuously. The crew is in the process of resetting the TNC and reloading TNC parameters. We hope to have normal PMS packet operations in a few weeks. To conserve power, the ICOM-228 has been switched from the 25 watt output setting to the 5 watt output setting. This change should result in a signal reduction of 7 dB (about 1 S-unit). Shannon is operating under Russian Amateur Radio rules. She is legally allowed to use the Russian club call sign R0MIR. There are however some limitations for hams in the USA. We do not currently have a Third Party Traffic agreement with Russia. This agreement does not affect Shannon. It only affects the American Amateur Radio stations. All properly licensed Amateur Radio stations in the USA can talk to Shannon or anyone else on Mir, but you cannot let your un-licensed friend use your transceiver to talk to anyone on the Mir Station using your callsign and under your supervision. The ARRL is looking into the possibility of getting another temporary Third Party Traffic agreement for the Mir Space Station. [Info via Miles Mann, WF1F] * WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 NEWS * ========================== The WEBERSAT command team reports that another software crash occurred on 01-May-96 at 00:43:26 UTC. Initial operating software has been reloaded, however the digipeater remains off and the satellite continues to transmit telemetry, OBC status information, and beacon text frames on its UHF beacon. * LUSAT-OSCAR-19 NEWS * ======================= LUSAT-OSCAR-19 contines to provide excellent service to users all over the world. LO-19 is operated by AMSAT-LU and operates with a transmitter output power level of between 0.8 and 1.4 watts with a data rate of 1200 bps. The following beacon frame was copied from LO-19 by KD2BD in New Jersey on 04-May-96: LUSAT-1>AMARG : March 8 - 1996. BBS is open to users. Digipeater is off. El BBS esta disponible. El digipeater no esta operativo. Norberto - LU8DYF. The following list indicates the callsigns of groundstations active on LO-19 as reported through surveys of activity logs taken on the 13th, 20th, 25th, and 26th of January. This survey shows 69 users from 15 countries as being active on LO-19. EUROPE (14) DF5DP, DK5FJ, EA1BCU, EB5AGV, EI6EH, F6HDW, F6HLG, FK8CR, HB9SKA, IW6MZC, IW8QII, IK2XRO, I6CGE, PA0BJE AMERICA/N (30) N1NLX, KT4FC, WB5FCO, WB7QKK, N2RIF, W9ODI, KA9CFD, N8ULD, KF0QS, WD8DHF, K6IVY, AL7CR, N1VQR, K0RZ, AC6GN, W4MOP, N5ZEV, KJ1X, KD3CN, KC4MCQ, KA1LMX, N3EVQ, KD2BD, VE3FRH, VE2KAD, VE3EFF, VE2VB, VE3BDR, VE2SB, VE3TLK AMERICA/S (16) LU2FCY, LU1HKO, LU1ESY, LU8YD, LU7PB, LU5HJD, LU4FIO, LU4HE, LU8BYF, LW4EFR, LU2JCI, LU6PCK, LW1DMO, LU7XAC, LU2LB, PY4LF ASIA ( 2) HL5OC, JA3CZL OCEANIA ( 7) VK3TJR, VK2WDH, VK4UGC, ZL3AHW, ZL1UOP, ZL2AHK, ZL2THM [Info via Miguel A. Menendez, EA1BCU] * AMSAT FRANCE WWW SERVER ON-LINE * =================================== AMSAT France is proud to announce the opening of its Internet Web server. The URL address is: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/amsat_f Languages supported include both English and French. As the web pages are using frames they are best viewed using Netscape 2.0, however other web browsers are okay. If your program does not support frames (independent windows) just click on the first sentence referring to Netscape 2.0 to start the first page. Then to come back to the preceding page, just click on the right mouse button. The AMSAT France web server provides information on the Maelle project, a microsat being designed by members of the Club Aerospatial Cellois (CAC) and members of the Radio Amateur Club de l'Espace (RACE) who participated in the design of ARSENE first French mini satellite. Some pages describe both clubs history and there are pages referring to other AMSAT servers. A lot of pictures are included. Already, more than 200 connections have been recorded after only a few days of activity despite the English version of our pages were not already on line. We hope that you will enjoy visiting the AMSAT France internet server. 73 to all, de Bernard, F6BVP AMSAT France President * SSTV ON OSCAR 13 * ==================== OSCAR-13 signals are very strong prior to, and immediately after, Mode S. 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. SSTV schedule: prior mode S after mode S Sunday 12 May 1530 Z 1708 Z Saturday 25 May 1228 Z 1407 Z Sunday 26 May 1222 Z 1300 Z Southwest USA, Mexico, South America, Australia and New Zealand are all in the footprint. Times are approximate. 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 pitch to be. [Info via Dave Guimont, WB6LLO] * SpaceNews AVAILABILITY * ========================== SpaceNews is available regularly on Usenet in the rec.radio.info, rec.radio.amateur.misc, and sci.space.news newsgroups, and on packet radio BBSs worldwide as well as the AMSAT-OSCAR-16 Pacsat satellite. It may also be retrieved using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) at pilot.njin.net (128.6.7.38) from the /pub/SpaceNews subdirectory. Internet users may also "finger magliaco@pilot.njin.net" for a copy of the latest issue, or access it via the World Wide Web at: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/finger/pilot.njin.net/magliaco/w. * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED * =========================== Comments and input for SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any of the paths listed below: WWW : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/ PACKET : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA INTERNET : kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, LUSAT-OSCAR-19 <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> /EX