SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0729 * SpaceNews 29-Jul-96 * BID: $SPC0729 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY JULY 29, 1996 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * SAFEX REPEATER OPEN * ======================= The 70-cm FM voice repeater operating on the Russian space station Mir is now open for general use. The repeater operates with an input frequency of 435.750 MHz and requires a CTCSS tone of 141.3 Hz for access. The repeater output is on a frequency of 437.950 MHz, and the callsign is RR0DL. The SAFEX voice recorder beacon is expected to be in operation next week using a downlink frequency of 437.925 MHz. Dave Larsen, N6JLH reports working the repeater with 25-watts of transmitter power and a 35-element yagi antenna. He has not been able to operate the repeater with a mobile transceiver and a 5/8-wave whip antenna, even on a 75 degree elevation pass. Dave reminds us that Mir is a rapidly moving spacecraft, so all SAFEX contacts should be as short as possible. Also be sure to consider the +/- 10 kHz of Doppler shift that is typical of LEO satellite operation on the 70-cm band. * HOUSTON AMSAT NET NEWS * ========================== Bruce Paige, KK5DO reports that in addition to hearing the Houston, Texas AMSAT Net on Tuesday evenings at 8:00 PM Central time (Wednesdays at 0100 UTC) on the SBS 6 satellite, transponder 13B (upper) at 74 degrees (next to Galaxy 6 & 1.860 MHz AM), it can now be heard via an audio feed available on the Internet. A link this audio feed may be found at: http://www.phoenix.net/~paigecom/ * W0CY FAMILY MURDER * ====================== The AMSAT News Service has reported the sudden death of Delores McKim, her daughter, and a great grandson at Mrs. McKim's home in Salina, Kansas two weeks ago. All were apparently murdered by someone breaking into their home. Delores McKim was the widow of the late Jim McKim, W0CY who passed away last February. W0CY was a longtime AMSAT member and, until only a few months prior to his death, served as net control for the Mid-continent 75 Meter AMSAT Net. Few other details of this tragedy are known except that Jim's Oldsmobile, which had reportedly not be driven since his death, was missing from the garage. The car was later found near an apartment complex in the Salina area. Police had, at last report, not apprehended any suspects. This information was brought to the attention of the AMSAT News Service by Lawrence E. Stoskopf, M.D., N0UU, Barry Buelow, WA0RJT, and Tom Clark, W3IWI. * OSCAR STATUS * ================ Clive Wallis, G3CWV, reports that the UoSAT-OSCAR-11 satellite continues to perform well. Clive added that the spacecraft telemetry is nominal and is showing a small temperature increase that is the result of a seasonal reduction in solar eclipses. The RS12 satellite continues to operate well in Mode KT with uplinks in the 15-meter band, and strong downlink signals in both the 10-meter and 2-meter bands. 2-meter reception of the RS12 is pretty easy right down to the transponder noise floor. Shannon Lucid can occasionally be heard making two-way voice contacts on 145.550 MHz from Space Station Mir. Shannon recently made a contact with a mobile station in Florida. The 70-cm SAFEX voice repeater is now open for general use using a CTCSS tone of 141.3 Hz. The AMSAT-OSCAR-16 satellite continues to perform well in fileserver mode. On Saturday 27-Jul-96, the satellite was reporting a kernel uptime of 678 days. AO-16 may be accessed using PG/PB or SatLink under DOS, WiSP under Windows, or the Microsat Groundstation Software Suite under Linux. Work continues in bringing the WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18 satellite back on-line. The satellite is currently in Microsat Boot Loader (MBL) mode, and has been copied with good signals at KD2BD in New Jersey. Occasionally, the spacecraft sends several WEBER>MBLCTL frames containing binary data on it's 70-cm downlink. * 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