SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-023.01 PHASE 3D ON THE MOVE AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 023.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 23, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-023.01 On January 17th, AMSAT's Phase 3D satellite started on a journey that will bring it one step closer to an eventual launch. This maiden journey started at the Orlando, Florida integration facility --and after a stop in Paris, France-- will end at the launch site in French Guyana. The initial move is aboard an Air France 767. The container with the P3D satellite weighs approximately 1000 kg, and the second container with the SBS-adapter and test equipment weighs approximately 1600 kg. Both containers just barely find room in the cargo hold of the 767 aircraft. The first step in the move started with the Orlando AMSAT team transporting the containers by truck to Atlanta, Georgia. From Atlanta Phase 3D got its first taste of 'flight' as it was loaded aboard the transport aircraft. The spacecraft is currently in transit. After arriving in French Guyana, Phase 3D will be stored in its container, housed in an air-conditioned integration-building at the launch complex until the preparations for launch commence. With all systems turned off and the batteries in an uncharged status, no AMSAT personnel are required on location during this period. The AMSAT Phase 3D move was covered in the Arianespace Newsletter. The article is available at: http://www.arianespace.com/news_espace.html Stay tuned to ANS for an update on the safe arrival of Phase 3D at the French Guyana spaceport. [ANS thanks Peter of DB2OS of AMSAT-DL and Gerd Schrick, WB8IFM for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-023.02 ANS IN BRIEF HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 023.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 23, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-023.03 ANS news in brief this week includes the following: ** Happy birthday to micro-sats AO-16 and LO-19, both enjoying a 10th birthday. They were launched on January 22, 1990. -AMSAT BB ** NASA has ended attempts to contact the missing Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, after a month of effort to salvage the $165-million flight. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrapped up their last communication attempt recently, speculating the probe may have crashed into the planet if its landing system failed or that it might have settled on rough ground, causing it to topple over or sink into deep layers of dust. -Florida Today ** Tony, AB2CJ, reports recently experimenting with the little known mode of Hellshcreiber. Using AO-10 and the IZ8BLY soundcard program, AB2CJ tells ANS that the print was clear and easy to read despite the fact that the bird was at 21,000 km and the uplink power was 30 watts. Similar experiments on RS-13, FO 20 and FO-29 have produced 100% print. -AMSAT BB ** The Houston AMSAT Net will be moving from the WD5BDX repeater. This will only affect those in or visiting Houston. Starting February 3, 2000 the net will be found on the 145.450 MHz WB5RDK repeater. The main reason for the move was the BDX repeater lost its communications site. -Bruce KK5DO ** Recently, K5VH and KB4DFO set a new 2.3 GHz North American distance record of 965 miles. Contacts were completed on both CW and SSB. (Congratulations from ANS)! -NLRS Reflector ** The Chandra X-ray spacescope has revealed an expanding ring-like structure of oxygen and neon that was hurled into space by the explosion of a massive star, giving insight into the creation and dispersal of the heavy elements the Earth is rich in. Also, Chandra's first peek at the Andromeda Galaxy has found the gas funneling into a massive black hole at the galaxy's heart is around one million degrees! -SpaceDaily ** The FCC is set to open up U.S. airwaves to as many as 1,000 new low-power FM radio stations in an effort to increase the diversity of voices on radio, news reports say. Commercial broadcasters are said to be against the plan, fearing the new stations will cause interference with the signals of existing stations and rob them of listeners. -WSVHF Reflector ** The fifth of several groups of prospective astronauts will be at NASA's Johnson Space Center the week of January 23rd for orientation, interviews, and medical evaluations. Approximately 120 of over 3,000 applicants will be interviewed for a chance to be among those named as astronaut candidates. The final selections for the class of 2000 will be announced early this year with the astronaut candidates reporting for duty this summer. -NASA ** Twenty-five geostationary satellites, worth an estimated $3 billion, were placed under firm orders by commercial communications or television operators during 1999. -SpaceDaily ** Observers across the Americas were treated to their first total lunar eclipse since September 1996. Set against the bright stars of winter, the relatively bright eclipsed Moon provided a memorable sight for those viewers lucky enough to have clear skies. The lack of volcanic aerosols in the atmosphere resulted in a bright eclipse that most observers rated as a 3 on the Danjon scale (0 being very dark, 4 being very bright). -S&T --ANS BULLETIN END--- /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-023.03 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 1 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 023.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 23, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-023.03 RADIO SPORT RS-12 Uplink 21.210 to 21.250 MHz CW/SSB Uplink 145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 29.410 to 29.450 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 145.910 to 145.950 MHz CW/SSB Beacon 29.408 MHz Robot Uplink 21.129 MHz Robot Downlink 29.454 MHz Semi-operational, beacon only. RADIO SPORT RS-13 Uplink 21.260 to 21.300 MHz CW/SSB Uplink 145.960 to 146.000 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 29.460 to 29.500 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 145.960 to 146.000 MHz CW/SSB Beacon 29.458 MHz Robot Uplink 145.840 MHz Robot Downlink 29.504 MHz Operational, in mode-KA with a 10-meter downlink and a 15-meter and 2-meter uplink. AC5DK's RS-12/13 Satellite Operators Page: http://www.qsl.net/ac5dk/rs1213/rs1213.html RADIO SPORT RS-15 Uplink 145.858 to 145.898 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 29.354 to 29.394 MHz CW/SSB Beacon 29.352 MHz (intermittent) SSB meeting frequency 29.380 MHz (unofficial) Semi-operational, mode-A, using a 2-meter uplink and a 10-meter downlink. Dave, WB6LLO, has operating information for both RS-15 and RS-13 on his web site. In addition to satellite data, antenna information for mode-A operation is also featured. The WB6LLO web site URL is: http://home.san.rr.com/doguimont/uploads OSCAR 10 AO-10 Uplink 435.030 to 435.180 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 145.975 to 145.825 MHz CW/USB Beacon 145.810 MHz (unmodulated carrier) Semi-operational, mode-B. AO-10 has been locked into a 70-cm uplink and a 2-meter downlink for several years. DX continues to be worked (and heard) on AO-10. Jeff, K7XQ, reports working into Europe recently. W4SM has more information about the satellite at the following URL: http://www.cstone.net/~w4sm/AO-10.html [ANS thanks Stacey Mills, W4SM, for his AO-10 status information and web site] AMRAD AO-27 Uplink 145.850 MHz FM Downlink 436.795 MHz FM Operational, mode J. Jeff, K7XQ, reports good signals from AO-27 using a FT-100 in his car and a dual band mobile antenna. Steve, K5PK will operate portable KP2 from St. Croix during the eastern most U.S. pass times of AO-27, from January 23 through 28th. AO-27 uses a method called Timed Eclipse Power Regulation (TEPR) to regulate the on-board batteries. In simple terms, TEPR times how long the satellite has been in an eclipse (or in the sun) and decides what subsystems to turn on or off. The AO-27 pages on the AMSAT-NA web site include an explanation of AO-27 operations (at): http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/ao27.html Chuck, KM4NZ, reset the TEPR states on AO-27 (on 12/14/99). TEPR 4 is 12 TEPR 5 is 48 [ANS thanks Chuck Wyrick, KM4NZ, and Michael Wyrick, N4USI, for AO-27 information] SUNSAT SO-35 Operational. SunSat has been in mode-B using an uplink of 436.291 MHz (+/- doppler) and a 145.825 MHz downlink. SunSat was launched February 23, 1999 aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. SunSat stands for Stellenbosch University Satellite and takes it name from the South African university whose students constructed the payload. The SunSat package includes 1200 and 9600 baud digital store-and-forward capability and a voice 'parrot' repeater system that will be used primarily for educational demonstrations. The satellite has two VHF and two UHF transmit-receive systems. The SunSat command team recently upgraded the diary software. The team has also uploaded the parrot repeater software and early tests were satisfactory. The parrot repeater should be functional near the end of January. According to the team packet radio operation is still some 3 months away. Henry ZS1AAZ, provides the following SunSat mode-B operating schedule: 23-January Japan 00:18 to 00:32 UTC RSA 08:21 to 08:35 South America 13:23 to 13:37 USA 15:19 to 15:33 29-January Australia 01:00 to 01:14 UTC RSA 07:40 to 07:54 Europe 08:01 to 08:15 USA 16:18 to 16:32 30-January Japan 00:37 to 00:51 UTC RSA 08:39 to 08:53 South America 13:41 to 13:55 USA 15:36 to 15:50 For more information on SunSat, visit the following URL: http://sunsat.ee.sun.ac.za [ANS thanks Garth Milne ZR1AFH, for this information] JAS-1b FO-20 Uplink 145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB Operational. FO-20 is in mode JA continuously. JAS-1b (FO-20) was launched in February 1990 and continues to function quite well. [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-20 status reports] JAS-2 FO-29 Voice/CW Mode JA Uplink 145.900 to 146.000 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 435.800 to 435.900 MHz CW/USB Operational, rotated with digital mode and digi-talker. JAS-2 was successfully launched on August 17, 1996, by an H-II launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center. Digital Mode JD Uplink 145.850 145.870 145.910 MHz FM Downlink 435.910 MHz FM 9600 baud BPSK Digitalker 435.910 MHz Operational, rotated with analog mode and digi-talker. Mike, KF4FDJ, has put together a very informative document on FO-29, addressing analog, digital and digi-talker modes. To obtain a copy e-mail Mike at: kf4fdj@amsat.org Kazu, JJ1WTK, reports the FO-29 operational schedule (announced by the JARL) is as follows: through January 31st JA Mineo, JE9PEL, has updated his FO-29 satellite telemetry analysis program. The software will automatically analyze all digital telemetry from the satellite such as current, voltage and temperature. The JE9PEL FO-29/software update is available at: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-29 status reports] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-023.04 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 2 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 023.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 23, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-023.04 KITSAT KO-23 Uplink 145.900 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK Downlink 435.175 MHz FM Operational. Roy, W0SL, reports very little throughput using KO-23. Stay tuned to ANS for more information. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, and KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, for KO-23 status information] KITSAT KO-25 Uplink 145.980 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK Downlink 436.500 MHz FM Operational. Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-25 is operational with good data throughput. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for KO-25 status information] UOSAT UO-22 Uplink 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK Downlink 435.120 MHz FM Operational. Chris Jackson, G7UPN, reports to ANS that UO-22 has now entered full sunlight and the temperatures have increased considerably. Controllers have turned the satellite upside down to point the critical systems to cold space. This has reduced the temperature on various systems (such as the batteries) by between 5 and 10 degrees. The unfortunate by-product of this is that the downlink is now quite weak. The satellite will remain in full sunlight until late March, when controllers will turn it back 'over' again. According to G7UPN "over the next few years this situation will become worse as the no eclipse periods become longer." Only the 145.900 MHz receiver is usable for communications at the moment. More information on the satellite is available at the following URL: http://www.sstl.co.uk/ [ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for UO-22 status information] OSCAR-11 Downlink 145.825 MHz FM, 1200 baud AFSK Mode-S Beacon 2401.500 MHz Operational. The operating schedule is as follows: 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 ASCII bulletin is currently a static message, detailing modes and frequencies of all active amateur radio satellites. More information on OSCAR-11 is available at the following URL: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ [ANS thanks Clive Wallis, G3CWV, for OSCAR-11 status information] LUSAT LO-19 Uplink 145.84 145.86 145.88 145.90 MHz FM using 1200 baud Manchester FSK Downlink 437.125 MHz SSB RC-BPSK 1200 baud PSK Currently semi-operational. No BBS service. The digipeater is active. Mineo, JE9PEL, recently recorded LO-19 CW and PSK telemetry and placed the information on his Internet homepage site at: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ Telemetry is as follows: Time is Fri Jan 21 23:32:00 2000 uptime is 539/09:48:43 +10V Bus 10.770 V +X (RX) Temp -4.917 D RX Temp 5.740 D RC PSK TX Out 0.674 W RC PSK BP Temp 6.861 D RC PSK HPA Tmp 4.618 D +Y Array Temp -13.331 D PSK TX HPA Tmp 5.740 D +Z Array Temp -9.966 D Coax Rly Stat 1.000 C Coax Rly Stat 255.000 C Total Array C= 0.010 Bat Ch Cur=-0.292 Ifb= 0.117 I+10V= 0.185 TX:017 BCR:1E PWRC:62D BT:3C WC: 0 General information and telemetry samples can be found at: http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu/lo19.htm [ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for LO-19 status information] PACSAT AO-16 Uplink 145.90 145.92 145.94 145.86 MHz FM using 1200 baud Manchester FSK Downlink 437.0513 MHz SSB RC-BPSK 1200 baud PSK Mode-S Beacon 2401.1428 MHz Semi-operational. Russ Platt, WJ9F, of the AO-16 Command Team tells ANS the 437.025 MHz transmitter has been turned off and the S-band transmitter is now on. During the last month WJ9F has completed a memory dump and those files are now being analyzed by. The satellite is still in MBL mode and sends frames occasionally. Software re-loading continues. Stay tuned to ANS for further updates. Telemetry is as follows: Time is Fri Jan 21 23:26:00 2000 uptime is 000/07:55:36 +10V Bus 10.000 V PSK TX RF Out 1.488 W +X (RX) Temp -4.237 D RX Temp 11.495 D Bat 1 V 1.183 V Bat 2 V 1.177 V Bat 3 V 1.199 V Bat 4 V 1.221 V Bat 5 V 1.195 V Bat 6 V 1.183 V Bat 7 V 1.172 V Bat 8 V 1.223 V Bat 1 Temp 6.654 D Bat 2 Temp 7.260 D +Y Array Temp -19.970 D +Z Array Temp -10.288 D Total Array C= 0.000 Bat Ch Cur=-0.392 Ifb= 0.182 I+10V= 0.230 TX:1009 BCR:1E PWRC:59B BT:3C WC: 0 EDAC: B General information and telemetry WOD files can be found at: http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu A complete collection of WOD graphics corresponding to the year of 1998 can be found at: http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu/wod1998.zip [ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for AO-16 status information] TMSAT-1 TO-31 Uplink 145.925 MHz 9600 baud FSK Downlink 436.925 MHz 9600 baud FSK Operational. ProcMail V2.00G has been released by G7UPN. This software permits the processing of image files from TO-31. It has been posted to the AMSAT-NA FTP site at the following URL: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/software/win32/wisp Many of the high-resolution color images transmitted by TMSAT are compressed using a UoSAT compression format. This format is supported by the VK5HI CCD display program. [ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for TO-31 status information] UoSAT-12 UO-36 Downlink 437.025 MHz 437.400 MHz UoSAT-12 was successfully launched on April 21, 1999 from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome. UO-36 carries a number of imaging payloads, digital store-and-forward communications and mode L/S transponders. The satellite is not currently available for general uplink transmissions. S-band high speed downlink commissioning continues at rates between 128kb/s and 1Mb/s. The S-band downlink frequency has not been announced. UO-36 has been transmitting 9600-baud FSK telemetry framed in a VLSI format using a downlink frequency of 437.400 MHz. Chris, G7UPN, reports UO-36 is also (at times) testing on 437.025 MHz at a baud rate of 38,400 (38k4). Currently, this downlink is switched on over Europe. Due to the limited power on UO-36, it is not possible to have this downlink on permanently over all areas. Presently the BBS is still closed. The VK5HI viewer shareware is available on the AMSAT-NA web site at the following URL: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/software/win32/display/ccddsp97-119.zip Further information on UO-36 is available from: http://www.sstl.co.uk/ [ANS thanks Chris G7UPN/ZL2TPO, and the University of Surrey for this information] ITAMSAT IO-26 Uplink 145.875 145.900 145.925 145.950 MHz FM 1200 baud Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB Semi-operational, digipeater function is 'on'. IO-26 was launched on the September 26, 1993. Alberto, I2KBD, reports IO-26 has been opened to APRS use. [ANS thanks ITAMSAT Project Manager Alberto E. Zagni, I2KBD, for this information] TECHSAT-1B GO-32 Downlink 435.225 MHz using HDLC telemetry Updated status. Shlomo, 4X1AS, tells ANS that efforts are underway to bring GO-32 on line. According to Dr. Fred Ortenberg of the Asher Space Research Institute in Haifa, "the TechSat control team is about to finish its Amateur Radio BBS package tests. The next stage is to add beacon messages about the satellite's housekeeping status." Stay tuned to ANS for further information. The TechSat-1B micro-satellite was successfully launched from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 10, 1998. Last reported, the satellite does not have a continuos beacon, but does transmit a 9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (for a continuous 3 seconds in length), on 435.225 MHz. The TechSat team has constructed a home page about TechSat. To view the site, point your web browser to: http://techsat.internet-zahav.net/ /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-023.05 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 3 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 023.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 23, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-023.05 THE FOLLOWING ARE IN ORBIT BUT ARE NON-OPERATIONAL AT THIS TIME: PANSAT PO-34 Uplink/downlink frequencies have not been established. The satellite is not currently available for general uplink transmissions. PanSat, developed by the Naval Postgraduate School, was launched from the shuttle Discovery during STS-95. PanSat spread-spectrum digital transponders will be available to amateur radio operators in the near future along with software to utilize this technology. Dan Sakoda, KD6DRA, PanSat Project Manager recommends 'The ARRL Spread Spectrum Sourcebook' as a good place to start in understanding the spread-spectrum scheme. For more information, visit the official PanSat web site at: http://www.sp.nps.navy.mil/pansat/ PanSat is the featured cover article in the July/August 1999 issue of the AMSAT-NA Journal (written by KD6DRA and N7HPR). [ANS thanks Dan Sakoda, KD6DRA, for this information] MIR SPACE STATION Ham radio activity aboard the Mir space station came to a close on August 28, 1999 as the crew returned to Earth, leaving the station unmanned. Mir is in a stable orbit with only essential systems running. All Amateur Radio activities have ceased. Stay tuned to ANS for further developments. Current Amateur Radio equipment aboard Mir includes: MIR SAFEX II 70-cm Repeater Uplink 435.750 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 141.3 Hz Downlink 437.950 MHz FM Not operational. No operation in 1999 or 2000 has been observed. MIR SAFEX II 70-cm QSO Mode Uplink 435.725 MHz FM w/subaudible tone 151.4 Hz Downlink 437.925 MHz FM Not operational. No operation in 1999 or 2000 has been observed. MIR PERSONAL MESSAGE SYSTEM (PMS) Uplink/Downlink 145.985 MHz FM 1200 baud AFSK Not operational. DOVE DO-17 Downlink 145.825 MHz FM 1200 baud AFSK 2401.220 MHz Non-operational. DOVE stopped transmitting in March 1998. The 145.825 MHz and 2401.220 MHz downlinks are off the air and the satellite has not responded to ground station control. No additional information is available at this time. WEBERSAT WO-18 Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB 1200 baud PSK AX.25 Non-operational. WO-18 is reported to be in MBL mode after a software crash. No additional information is available at this time. SEDSAT-1 SO-33 Downlink 437.910 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK The satellite is not currently available for uplink transmissions and recovery efforts have been unsuccessful. Mineo, JE9PEL, reports he has again received minimal telemetry from the satellite, the most recent dated December 9th. SedSat-1, signifying Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Satellite number one, was successfully launched and placed in orbit on Saturday, October 24, 1998. For more information on SedSat-1 visit the satellite web site at the following URL: http://www.seds.org/sedsat No additional information is available at this time. /EX