SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-095.01 INTERNET LINKED MIR STATION ON LINE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 095.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, April 5, 1998 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-095.01 Last week, Bob, WB4APR, reported to ANS that he was in the process of building a network of linked ground stations to provide almost continuous coverage for some of the current digital amateur satellites along with the Mir and Shuttle flights. Now, Bob reports the first Internet-linked Mir ground station is on line and capturing all Mir passes over the east coast of the United States, posting the information on the world wide web. According to WB4APR, the Internet site also removes all the connect-request-disconnect-busy traffic, allowing those on the web site to see who is currently connected and what was downlinked on the last 8 passes. To view the site, use the following URL: http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/mirex.html WB4APR hopes to expand the list of stations reporting to the web site in the future, eventually providing continuous coverage. [ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-095.02 TECHSAT II TO BE LAUNCHED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 095.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, April 5, 1998 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-095.02 Assi Friedman, 4X1KX / KK7KX, tells ANS the Israeli amateur radio satellite TECHSAT II, has received a tentative launch confirmation for sometime late this month or early May. The digital satellite, produced at the Technion University in Haifa, will feature a packet store-and-forward mailbox operating at 9600 baud. The launch will take place in Kazakhstan, with the TECHSAT team represented by Shlomo Menuhin, 4X1AS. Stay tuned to ANS for further developments. [ANS thanks Assi Friedman, 4X1KX / KK7KX, for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-095.03 SATELLITE DX HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 095.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, April 5, 1998 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-095.03 According to the Ohio/Pennsylvania DX Bulletin, a large group of Italian amateur radio operators will be active from Ulan Bator, Mongolia, starting April 7, 1998. The group, headed by Nicola Sanna, I0SNY, are currently planning a seven day operation that will feature two complete HF stations and a third station designed for satellite and 6 meter operation. There was no indication of just which satellites the team plans to operate through. A special callsign will be used, JT1Y, using the Mongolian Radio Sports Federation Club station, located in rare Zone 23, as the main operating area. Log checking will be available on the 425 DX News web site. The team plans to upload logs to the site on a daily basis in order to let amateurs check them. In addition, the team invites all operators to visit the JT1Y web site for more information, using the following URL: http://www-dx.deis.unibo.it/htdx/jt1y/ [ANS thanks the Ohio/Pennsylvania DX Bulletin and Jon Jones, N0JK, for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-095.04 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 1 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 095.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, April 7, 1998 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-095.04 MIR/SAFEX SAFEX II 70 cm Repeater Uplink 435.750 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 141.3 Hz Downlink 437.950 MHz FM Not operational at this time. SAFEX II 70 cm QSO Mode Uplink 435.725 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 151.4 Hz Downlink 437.925 MHz FM Operational. The SAFEX II installation has been utilized in QSO Mode. PMS Uplink/Downlink 145.985 MHz FM 1200 Baud AFSK Operational. The modem is a Kantronics KPC-9612 Plus, Revision 8.1. MIREX suggests a copy of the KPC-9612 manual may help in understanding the current modem. The Progress 38 cargo rocket has delivered the new MIREX-DCI antenna filter to the space station. This filter will be used to prevent interference to the 2-meter PMS station from nearby commercial transmitters aboard MIR. The filter is a custom designed antenna cavity which will block the offending interference with a combination of pass band and notch filters. The filter is tentatively planned for installation in the April/May time frame. MIREX has created an Internet Web page containing information regarding MIR and the various ham radio experiments taking place from the space station. Please check out the pages for pending and proposed projects. URLs are: http://www.ik1sld.org/mirex.htm http://www.geocities.com/~ik1sld/mirex.htm [ANS thanks the MIREX team for this information] RS-12 Uplink 145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 29.410 to 29.450 MHz CW/SSB Operational, mode KA. The 15m ROBOT is operational. RS-12 has been seeing heavy activity and good DX possibilities. RS-15 Uplink 145.858 to 145.898 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 29.354 to 29.394 MHz CW/SSB Operational. CW appears to be the most successful mode on RS-15. RS-16 Beacons (only) are operational. The 29 MHz beacon has not been operational for some time. Transponder information on RS-16. Uplink = 145.915 - 145.948 MHz Downlink = 29.415 - 29.448 MHz Beacons = 29.408 and 29.451 MHz Pwr 29 MHz Down = 1.2W /4W Beacon 1 = 435.504 MHz Beacon 2 = 435.548 MHz Pwr 435 MHz Beacons = 1.6W AO-10 Uplink 435.030 to 435.180 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 145.975 to 145.825 MHz CW/USB Operational. Despite brief moments of deep QSB, AO-10's downlink signals have been excellent (even at apogee), with heavy stateside and DX activity. AO-10's apogee has continued to move into the northern hemisphere. Apogee will continue to rise higher to the north for the rest of 1998, peaking in December. W4SM has updated his AO-10 web page, use the following URL: http://www.cstone.net/~w4sm/AO-10.html [ANS thanks Stacey Mills, W4SM for this information] AO-27 Uplink 145.850 MHz FM Downlink 436.792 MHz FM Operational. Widely used especially during weekend passes. [ANS thanks Michael Wyrick, N4USI, AO-27 Control-op for this update] FO-20 Uplink 145.900 to 146.00 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 435.80 to 435.90 MHz CW/USB Operational. FO-20 in mode JA continuously. [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK for this report] FO-29 Voice/CW Mode JA Uplink 145.900 to 146.00 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 435.80 to 435.90 MHz CW/USB Operational. Digital Mode JD Uplink 145.850 145.870 145.910 MHz FM Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud BPSK Not operational, currently in analog mode. On the 0800 UTC pass of 27 March, the FO-29 command station detected two bit errors in the OBC (On Board Computer) during switching to mode JD1200. Resetting the OBC by reloading the software will take some time. The FO-29 team has commanded the satellite into mode JA until further notice. [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for this report] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-095.05 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PT 2 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 095.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, April 7, 1998 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-095.05 KO-23 Uplink 145.900 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK Downlink 435.175 MHz FM Operational. However, Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-23 efficiencies are between 0% and 30% and the satellite will not currently accept uplink signals. Downlinked data is limited to satellite house keeping information. This condition has been observed in the past when the satellite spends little or no time eclipsed and thermal heating becomes excessive. Ultimately, the satellite has returned to normal operation when it cools in the earth's shadow. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC for this report] KO-25 Uplink 145.980 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK Downlink 436.50 MHz FM Operational. Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-25 operating normally with downlink efficiencies exceeding 95%. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for this report] OSCAR-11 Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 Baud PSK Beacon 2401.500 MHz Operational. OSCAR-11 users are welcome to visit the G3CWV Web site. Audio files have been recently added, including a Mode-S recording from KC6SZY. The web site also contains software for capturing data and decoding ASCII telemetry and WOD information. The URL is: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ 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) The mode-S beacon is on, transmitting an unmodulated carrier, but telemetry indicates that it has partially failed, delivering half output power. Reception reports should be sent to: g3cwv@amsat.org. The 435.025 MHz beacon is normally off. However it can sometimes be heard when the satellite is being commanded by ground control. The data transmitted is mainly binary. [ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for this information] AMSAT-OSCAR-16 (PACSAT) Uplink 145.90 145.92 145.94 145.86 MHz FM 1200 bps Manchester FSK Downlink 437.0513 MHz SSB, 1200 bps RC-BPSK 1200 Baud PSK Beacon 2401.1428 MHz Operating normally. The telemetry is nominal. The S band transmitter is off. Time is Fri Apr 03 23:34:29 1998 uptime is 1293/18:03:46 +X (RX) Temp -9.683 D RX Temp 4.234 D Baseplt Temp 2.419 D RC PSK BP Temp -5.448 D RC PSK HPA Tmp -3.027 D +Y Array Temp -24.811 D PSK TX HPA Tmp -4.237 D +Z Array Temp -15.734 D RC PSK TX Out 0.616 W +10V Bus 10.175 V (*) Total Array C= 0.000 Bat Ch Cur=-0.395 Ifb= 0.186 I+10V= 0.227 TX:010B BCR:1E PWRC:59E BT: A WC:25 EDAC:BD General information and telemetry WOD files can find it in: http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/wod.htm [ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report] DO-17 (DOVE) Downlink 145.825 MHz FM 1200 Baud AFSK Beacon 2401.220 MHz Currently non-operational. DO-17 appears to have experienced a problem. The 145.825 MHz downlink is off the air. Jim, WD0E, reports he will attempt to correct the situation as time permits. [ANS thanks Jim White, WD0E, for this update] WEBERSAT (WO-18) Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB 1200 Baud PSK AX.25 Currently non-operational. WO-18 is in MBL mode after a software crash. Attempts are being made to find and correct the cause of the suspected seasonal crashes. [ANS thanks the WO-18 Command Team for this news] LUSAT-OSCAR-19 Uplink 145.84 145.86 145.88 145.90 MHz FM 1200 bps Manchester FSK Downlink 437.125 MHz SSB 1200 bps RC-BPSK Operating normally. The telemetry is nominal. Time is Fri Apr 03 22:49:52 1998 uptime is 1018/08:44:42. +X (RX) Temp -11.087 D RX Temp -1.552 D RC PSK BP Temp -3.796 D RC PSK HPA Tmp -6.039 D +Y Array Temp -20.623 D PSK TX HPA Tmp -5.478 D +Z Array Temp -13.892 D Baseplt Temp 0.131 D +10V Bus 10.325 V (*) Total Array C= 0.080 Bat Ch Cur=-0.139 Ifb= 0.019 I+10V= 0.126 TX:109 BCR:37 PWRC:42AA BT:42 WC:53 General information and telemetry samples can be found at: http://www.arrakis.es/~ea1bcu/lo19.htm [ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for this report] UO-22 Uplink 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM 9600 Baud FSK Downlink 435.120 MHz FM Operational. Chris, G7UPN reports UO-22 is operating normally. [ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, Operations Manager of UO-22, for this report] IO-26 (ITAMSAT) Uplink 145.875 145.900 145.925 145.950 MHz FM 1200 Baud PSK Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB Operational. On 16 March, ITAMSAT Command Stations IK2XRO and IW2EGC, successfully switched the satellite to active status from the safe MBL mode it had been in. The command stations also reloaded the high level IHT97 code. The spacecraft is now sending the full set of 64 telemetry channels and collecting Whole Orbit Data survey information. After a full check is completed, the digipeater will be turned on and the file system code reloading process will begin. Alberto, I2KBD, reports the satellite appears to be in a healthy state, with all the subsystems working nominally. Telemetry is downloaded on 435.822 MHz at 1200 baud PSK. [ANS thanks Alberto Zagni, I2KBD, ITAMSAT Mission Director for this information] Please send any amateur satellite news or repots to ans-editor@amsat.org or to ANS Editor Dan James, NN0DJ, at nn0dj@amsat.org. /EX