SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC1115 * SpaceNews 15-Nov-99 * BID: $SPC1115 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY NOVEMBER 15, 1999 * LEONIDS APRS EXPERIMENT * =========================== ARRL Headquarters station W1AW will be participating in an APRS meteor scatter experiment, November 12 through 19, during the Leonids meteor shower. Beginning at 2100 UTC on 12 November, W1AW will be monitoring and beaconing on 53.530 and 147.585 MHz continuously. QSLs will be available for all stations receiving W1AW's APRS beacons (please include an SASE). For more information concerning the Leonids APRS experiment, see the November issue of QST, page 46. Each day the call signs of stations received at W1AW will be posted on the Web at: http://www.arrl.org/announce/leonids_experiment.html [Info via Steve Ford, WB8IMY, QST Managing Editor] * SUNSAT SCHEDULE CHANGE * ========================== The SUNSAT ground control team at the University of Stellenbosch will be loading new software onto the SUNSAT satellite. As a result, there will be no SUNSAT operation over Africa and operation over other areas as previously scheduled is doubtful. The SUNSAT ground control team apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. [Info via Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS5AKV, hans@intekom.co.za] * RHODE ISLAND ROCKET LAUNCH * ============================== There's a tremendous event coming up November 18 that involves Leonids, ham radio, balloons, and rockets. It's called Aviation and Space Education Day and is part of the Rhode Island Rockets for Schools program. At an old navy airfield in Charlestown, Rhode Island, more than one thousand students will gather from several states to launch all classes of model rockets and, if weather permits, three high altitude balloons including the SkyQuest 3 hamradiosonde. One of the high power model rockets will loft an ATV camera and transmitter. Perhaps the highlight of the festivities is the firing of a Viper-Dart sounding rocket into a 60 mile high suborbital flight with the goal of collecting comet dust from the Leonids meteor shower. The Viper rocket engine will fall into the ocean close to shore, and the GPS radio-equipped nosecone will be tracked and recovered southeast of Block Island by the US Coast Guard. This marks the first time ever a missile will be launched into space from any New England state. The SkyQuest 3 will be carrying a CW and RTTY modulated 2 meter transmitter that should be heard at least 250 miles away when it reaches its peak altitude. Southern New England CW and RTTY Balloon SkyQuest 3 Info: Region: Coastal Rhode Island / Charlestown Date/Time: Thursday, November 18 / 11:30 AM EST, 1630 UTC Location: Charlestown, Rhode Island at Ninigret State Park (former Navy airfield) 30 miles south-southwest of Providence Coordinates: 41.367 north latitude 71.664 west longitude Telemetry: Inside temp, outside temp for CW; two temps and battery voltage in RTTY. Note: neither of the following signals is FM mode or audio on FM ~144.06 MHz CW and on-off keyed RTTY (vertically polarized, ~ 1/2 watt) ~433.98 MHz at ~10 milliwatts (vertically polarized); duplicates above telemetry. Further information may be found at: Rhode Island Rockets for Schools website: http://users.efortress.com/mudbug/ SkyQuest website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/3161/hablic.htm [Info via Hank Riley, N1LTV] * SATGATE HELP NEEDED * ======================= Andrew, G8TZJ, is soliciting aid in expanding the current Satgate network. The Satgate network passes personal mail from the terrestrial BBS network in one country to the packet network in another country by using the UO-22 pacsat satellite. This delivers packet radio mail quickly and efficiently between sender and receiver. Many such messages can be seen as Type 18 files on UO-22 addressed to GATEWAY. To be a Satgate, a pacsat station and a BBS are required, preferably running WiSP and FBB, but other software can also be used. Over the past year, a number of Satgates have been lost, and the Amateur Radio Service could certainly benefit by replacing them or by adding new ones. Some of our present Satgates may even be replaced. In particular, Satgates are needed in: The Western half of the USA / VE7 Western Australia Any country in Asia Africa Middle East The european part of Russia Eastern Europe Interested parties should contact Andrew on OSCAR-22 or via email at g8tzj@lancaster.ac.uk [Info via Andrew, G8TZJ (One of the satgate co-ordinators)] * THANKS! * =========== Thanks to all those who recently sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews, especially: F6HLG * 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 @ N2SMV.NJ.USA.NA INTERNET : kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, KITSAT-OSCAR-25 <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> <<=- Serving the planet (and beyond) since 1987 -=>> /EX