SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0902 * SpaceNews 02-Sep-96 * BID: $SPC0902 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 1996 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * UoSAT-OSCAR-11 REPORT * ========================= During the last month OSCAR-11 has continued to provide good signals on 145.826 MHz. There have been some reports of S3 signals being received by Dean Shutt AL7CR, but please note they are for the S-band beacon (see below). There have been a few shut downs, due to the watchdog timer, which has then been reset by ground control. Telemetry has been nominal. Internal temperatures have increased by about six degrees C during the last month, as the solar eclipses are reducing in duration. The satellite is expected to be in full sunlight from around the beginning of September until Spring next year. WOD channels 1,2,3,61 (magnetometers) dated 6-July were transmitted from July 7 to August 8. Analysis of the WOD shows that the magnetometers give a good correlation with the earth's magnetic field, and a reasonable attitude for the satellite. WOD channels 37, 38, 57, 58 (equipment temperatures) dated 9-August are now being transmitted. This WOD shows temperature changes of about one degree C as the satellite enters the earth's shadow. AMSAT bulletins by Richard G3RWL have been uploaded each week. The current bulletin is No 079, AMSAT-UK Coloquium Report Part 3. The current operating schedule is - 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. It is possible that the long period of ASCII status blocks may be replaced by binary TLM and WOD. OSCAR-11 can be heard on 145.825 MHz. Modulation is 1200 baud AFSK, with tones of 1200 and 2400 Hz. There have been many designs for suitable decoders, but perhaps the simplest way is to use an old telephone modem, using Bell 202, or V23 tones. It is essential to invert the modem's output signal, before feeding it into the computer. It is also possible to use a BAYCOM type modem, which does not require any output inversion. Just connect its output to RXD instead of CTS. Another way is to use a HAMCOM interface instead of a modem. A little program called EM1200M2.COM (which is part of EMBAYCOM) emulates a MODEM on port 2. Port 1 is used for the terminal display program. Unfortunately this method uses two COM ports. For ASCII, the serial port should be set to 1200,e,7,1. Recent recption reports seem to verify that UO-11's S-band beacon is still alive. Clive, G3CWV, is very interested in receiving any reports of reception of this beacon over the last two or three years, as he is trying to correlate reception reports with the reversal of the satellite's attitude some time ago, and with the more recent apparent partial failure of this beacon. Please send any reports to: g3cwv@amsat.org or G3CWV @ GB7ZPU. [Info via Clive, G3CWV] * MORE OSCAR STATUS * ===================== AMSAT-OSCAR-16 and LUSAT-OSCAR-19 continue to perform well as fileservers in space. AMSAT-OSCAR-16 recently surpassed a period of over 700 days without an OBC reload. ITAMSAT-OSCAR-26 is currently transmitting STATUS, LSTAT, BCRXMT, TLM, TIME, and beacon frames on a downlink frequency of 435.820 MHz using 1200 bit per second BPSK modulation. On 31-Aug-96 at 17:04 UTC during a pass in range of KD2BD on the east coast of New Jersey, ITAMSAT-OSCAR-26 reported a kernel uptime of 90 days, 21 hours, and 33 minutes. The ASCII beacon text read as follows: IY2SAT-1>AMSAT : ** 15th August 1996 ** Digipeater is OFF. Command station IK2XRO-IW2EGC in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tnx to LU8DYF-LUSAT Command team. 73 de ITAMSAT Command team. AMRAD-OSCAR-27 was accessed on Saturday afternoon by KD2BD in New Jersey during a low-elevation pass that took the spacecraft over the Rocky Mountain states (mid-western USA). The FM transponder could be accessed with an HT running 2.5-watts to a "rubber duck" antenna at a range of over 2000 km and an elevation of only 15 degrees. JAS-2 has been tested in both analog and digital modes recently. JAS-2 carries an object number of 24278, and has been officially named "Fuji-3". A response is expected from the JARL after which the satellite can be offically given an OSCAR designation (FUJI-OSCAR-29). Ken, N2WWD reports that NORAD/Space Command "cross-tagged" FO-29 with its upper stage rocket body. He supplied the following which he believes are an accurate Keplerian element set for the FO-29 spacecraft: FO-29 1 24278U 96046B 96242.62656264 .00000118 00000-0 12029-3 0 109 2 24278 98.5763 317.0146 0352120 221.2281 136.2328 13.52626304 1712 The following are the keyboard commands understood by the FO-29 digital mailbox: B : List file headers addressed to ALL F : List file headers from latest F : List file headers since posted day H : Show help message K : Kill a file number M : List file headers addressed to current user Q : Disconnect(quit) JAS-2 mailbox R+ : Read a file number+ U : List current user(s) Y : More display W : Write a file Y : More display Users are allowed access to the mailbox for a maximum of 10 minutes. * UNAMSAT-B NEWS * ================== The UNAMSAT-B spacecraft has recently passed its vibration tests, and is on its way to a launch somewhere between 03-Sep-96 and 05-Sep-96. * APOLOGIES * ============= Sorry, but there was no SpaceNews issued last week. :-( * 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