SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-156.01 PHASE 3D LAUNCH UPDATE AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 156.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 04, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-156.01 After a hold of about 3 months due to the unavailability of several main passengers, Arianespace recently announced the resumption of Ariane flights from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. This is good news for the Phase 3D project. As ANS earlier reported, the Phase 3-D satellite safely arrived in Kourou last January and is awaiting the start of its launch campaign. Arianespace has announced its next launch is Flight V130/AR-506, targeted for launch on July 25th, with the Astra 2B and GE-7 satellites aboard More information about the preparation for this launch can be found at the following URL: http://www.arianespace.com Recently, a meeting with Arianespace was held at AMSAT-DL headquarters in Marburg, Germany. Arianespace representatives (including the Mission director) met with AMSAT-DL to discuss preparations for our launch campaign. AMSAT was represented by Phase 3D project leader Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, Chuck Green, N0ADI, Dick Daniels, W4PUJ and Martin Riehle from DASA/ASTRIUM. DASA is undertaking fueling of Phase 3D at Kourou. AMSAT-DL announced that Phase 3-D currently is scheduled for the Ariane 507 launch (AR-507), together with the PAS-1R satellite and two STRV microsatellites. The launch is tentatively scheduled for not earlier than the middle of September and not later than the end of October 2000. The exact date depends on the AR-506 launch and the availability of the other satellites. "This is very good news," replied AMSAT-NA President Keith Baker, KB1SF. For those who are interested a comprehensive user manual for the Ariane 5 launcher, point your web browser to: http://www.arianespace.com/docs_Ar5manual.html [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL and Peter Guelzow, DB2OS for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-156.02 AMSAT-NA BOD NOMINATIONS AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 156.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 04, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-156.02 Nominations are now open for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors (BOD). The nomination period officially ends June 15, 2000. AMSAT-NA member societies or five current individual members may make nominations of fellow members to serve a 2-year term. Three of the seven seats must be filled this year. The board members whose terms are expiring are: Keith Baker, KB1SF Tom Clark, W3IWI Andy MacAllister, W5ACM Perspective AMSAT-NA BOD members generally attend two meetings each year, usually during the first and third quarters of the year. Attendance at the meetings is mandatory. Travel expenses for BOD meetings are paid for by AMSAT-NA. Nominations should be sent to: AMSAT-NA Board of Director Nomination 850 Sligo Ave #600 Silver Spring, MD 20910 [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA's Martha Saragovitz for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-156.03 TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON GALILEO HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 156.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 04, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-156.03 The ARRL recently informed ANS that a tentative agreement has been reached on a frequency plan for the proposed Galileo radionavigation satellite system. Galileo is a multinational European project that is intended to meet civilian sector needs for radionavigation-satellite applications, including civil aviation. It has been proposed as a supplement to our GPS system. Galileo would also complement the Russian GLONASS system. Some of the operating frequencies in question for Galileo caused the most alarm among Amateur Radio satellite operators. The launch target date for Galileo is 2008. The tentative agreement would expand the radionavigation-satellite allocation in the vicinity of 1.2 GHz (from the existing band of 1215 - 1260 MHz). The new allocation will be from 1164 - 1350 MHz. The most important part of the tentative agreement is the status of the Amateur Service, which is secondary at 1240 to 1260 and 1260 to 1300 MHz, would remain unchanged. Also unchanged was the footnote that permits the Amateur Satellite Service to operate in the Earth-to-space direction at 1260 to 1270 MHz. The ARRL notes that the introduction into a band of new primary services always raises issues for existing secondary services, which must protect the primary services from interference. [ANS thanks the ARRL for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-156.04 ANS IN BRIEF HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 156.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 04, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-156.04 ANS news in brief this week includes the following: ** The AMSAT-NA winner of the Icom-821H at Dayton was Steven Block, KC8BTE. Steven is AMSAT member 32587. AMSAT-NA's Martha Saragovitz passed on this tidbit to ANS: "Thanks to all who joined or renewed their AMSAT membership at the Dayton Hamvention. You made the 2000 convention the most successful ever!" -ANS ** The ARRL-VEC now has seven fulltime, three temporary and eight just-added volunteer staff members chipping away at the mountain of applications resulting from the April 15th license restructuring. ARRL VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, reports his staff now is wrapping up April 24th receipts from VE sessions. The ARRL-VEC received nearly 23,000 applications between April 15 and May 26th. -ARRL Letter ** Some of the articles are planned for the July/August issue of the AMSAT Journal include: minutes of the ARISS Meeting (by KA3HDO); summary of the Dayton Hamfest (by WD4ASW); and a 10450 MHz discussion (by K9EK). Membership in AMSAT-NA includes a subscription to the AMSAT-NA Journal. -Russ Tillman, K5NRK ** Randy, N7SFI, reports that during his recent trip to Dayton 2000, he managed 227 satellite QSO's with 79 different stations. Eleven states and 35 grid squares were activated via satellite on his way to and from the Dayton Hamvention. Randy logged just over 4,000 miles during his travel. Congratulations Randy! -ANS ** Chod Harris, WB2CHO/VP2ML (SK), and John Kanode, N4MM, have been inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame. Kanode is an ARRL Vice President; Harris was once a member of the ARRL Headquarters staff and was an active satellite operator. The announcement came at the DXers banquet in Dayton. -ARRL Letter ** With the shuttle Atlantis crew safely home after the successful 10-day mission to the International Space Station, NASA managers now are looking ahead to the next shuttle journey. That mission is set for early September and will also be on Atlantis. The mission, which will have a different crew, is intended to service the station after the planned July arrival of the Russian-built Zvezda Service Module. -NASA/Florida Today ** The ON1CAU satellite web page has been updated. Take a look at: http://users.skynet.be/on1cau/. -Berto, ON1CAU. --ANS BULLETIN END--- /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-156.05 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 1 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 156.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 04, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-156.05 MIR SPACE STATION 145.985 MHz Simplex (FM) Voice and SSTV (Robot 36 Mode) AMSAT's Bruce Paige, KK5DO, reported that two cosmonauts --Sergei Zalyotin and Alexandr Kaleri-- have arrived on the Russian Mir space station after an April 4, 2000 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the successful docking with Mir. Ham radio activity aboard the Mir space station is apparently back on line -- currently in limited fashion. No ham radio activity has been reported from the orbiter during the last several weeks. Several news agencies are reporting that the two cosmonauts are due to return to Earth shortly. Mir will be left on 'autopilot'. Stay tuned to ANS for further details. 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. More information about RS-12 and RS-13 can be found on the 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. 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. An AO-27 question-and-answer page is available on the AMSAT-NA web site. The URL is: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/intro/ao27faq.html 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 05/18/2000). TEPR 4 is 42 - TEPR 5 is 78 [ANS thanks Chuck Wyrick, KM4NZ, and Michael Wyrick, N4USI, for AO-27 information] UO-14 Uplink 145.975 MHz FM Downlink 435.070 MHz FM Operational, mode J. UO-14 was launched in January 1990. Tim, KG8OC, has updated the Michigan AMSAT Information Site with UO-14 information, point your web browser to the following URL: http://www.qsl.net/kg8oc [ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN / ZL2TPO, for UO-14 information] SUNSAT SO-35 Uplink 436.291 MHz FM Downlink 145.825 MHz FM Operational, mode B. SunSat was launched February 23, 1999 aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. AMSAT-SA reported to ANS that SO-35, has now started transmitting digital signals. "Sunsat will now also offer digital services," confirmed Johann, ZR1CBC, of the SunSat command team. 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. For more information on SunSat, visit the following URL: http://sunsat.ee.sun.ac.za A summary of the active modes and frequency allocations for SunSat is available at the following URL: http://esl.ee.sun.ac.za/~lochner/sunsat/modes.html [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. Takushi, JO2OXL, reports that the JARL FO-20 Ground Station operators believe that with the inability to (now) determine the satellite battery status (through the loss of the beacon), it is possible that FO-20 is in its final phases. Operation will continue as long as possible. [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 June 8th - 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-156.06 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 2 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 156.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 04, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-156.06 KITSAT KO-23 Uplink 145.900 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK Downlink 435.175 MHz FM Operational. Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-23 remains operational with light traffic. The satellite is receiving about 10 messages a day. KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, reports (from the KO-23 control team) that part of the problem with recent non-operation has been the power budget aboard the satellite. Currently, KO-23 is also in a maximum eclipse period. [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 remains completely operational with moderate traffic (15 to 20 messages daily). Downlink efficiencies remain in the 90% range. [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, reported to ANS last March that UO-22 was in full sunlight and the temperatures had increased considerably. Controllers (at that time) turned the satellite upside down to point the critical systems to cold space. At the time of the last report only the 145.900 MHz receiver was usable for communications. No further information has been received from the UO-22 ground control stations. 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. OSCAR-11 celebrated its sixteenth birthday in space on March 1, 2000. 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. Users should note that the date in the hardware generated ASCII telemetry is now advanced by 3 days and the other dates (which are generated by software) are advanced by 1 day. Ground control may be able to correct the software generated dates, but not the hardware generated date. 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 CW downlink 437.125 MHz Digital downlink 437.150 MHz SSB RC-BPSK 1200 baud PSK Currently semi-operational. The CW beacon is sending eight telemetry channels and one status channel. Currently, no BBS service is available. The digipeater is active. Mineo, JE9PEL, has 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: uptime is 673/22:02:53. Time is Sun Jun 04 11:46:10 2000 +X (RX) Temp 1.813 D RX Temp 1.252 D Baseplt Temp 0.692 D RC PSK TX Out 0.659 W RC PSK BP Temp 4.618 D RC PSK HPA Tmp 5.179 D +Y Array Temp -2.113 D PSK TX HPA Tmp 3.496 D +Z Array Temp 2.935 D Total Array C= 0.159 Bat Ch Cur= 0.054 Ifb= 0.030 I+10V= 0.115 TX:017 BCR:84 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 145.90 145.92 145.94 145.96 MHz FM using 1200 baud Manchester FSK Downlink 437.025 MHz SSB RC-BPSK 1200 baud PSK Mode-S Beacon 2401.1428 MHz Semi-operational. Russ, WJ9F, reported last March that ground stations were running memory test software on the satellite. In addition to the memory testing, ANS received information that the spacecraft spin rate around the vertical (Z) axis created a less than ideal condition for battery charging. No recent information about these situations has been received by ANS. Normally, the S-band transmitter is off. Telemetry is as follows: uptime is 112/08:30:08. Time is Sun Jun 04 12:01:09 2000 +X (RX) Temp 1.209 D RX Temp -6.658 D Baseplt Temp 1.209 D PSK TX RF Out 1.465 W RC PSK BP Temp 2.419 D RC PSK HPA Tmp 2.419 D +Y Array Temp 0.603 D PSK TX HPA Tmp 4.234 D +Z Array Temp 10.285 D Total Array C= 0.372 Bat Ch Cur=-0.035 Ifb= 0.056 I+10V= 0.319 TX:1008 BCR:83 PWRC:05C BT:1E WC:25 EDAC:41 A new WOD collection of current graphics (dated 02/26/2000) can be found at: http://www.ctv.es/USERS/ea1bcu [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 Uplink 145.960 MHz 9600 baud FSK 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. NASA recently demonstrated the ability to use standard Internet protocols to communicate with an orbiting spacecraft (just like any node on the Internet) - via UO-36. NASA has been developing this project by working with the commercial payload on UoSAT-12. The BBS is open, although uploading (and the downlink) may be disabled at times. 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, the digipeater function is on - opened to APRS use. IO-26 was launched on the September 26, 1993. [ANS thanks ITAMSAT Project Manager Alberto E. Zagni, I2KBD, for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-156.07 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 3 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 156.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JUNE 04, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-156.07 THE FOLLOWING ARE IN ORBIT BUT ARE NON-OPERATIONAL AT THIS TIME: 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 Non-operational. No operation in 2000 has been observed. TECHSAT-1B GO-32 Downlink 435.225 MHz using HDLC telemetry Efforts were reported to be underway to bring GO-32 on line, however no additional information has been received by ANS (the last report was dated November 1999). 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/ PANSAT PO-34 Uplink/downlink frequencies have never been released. 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) on October 29, 1998. At the time of launch, PanSat spread-spectrum digital transponders were promised to be available to Amateur Radio operators along with software to utilize this technology. To date, this has not happened. For more information, visit the official PanSat web site at: http://www.sp.nps.navy.mil/pansat/ PanSat was the featured cover article on 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 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. 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 was last 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 image and transponder recovery efforts have been unsuccessful. 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. SedSat-1 has downlinked months worth of telemetry data on the performance of its electrical power system parameters. The Nickel Metal Hydride batteries on the spacecraft were experimental and experienced some abuse due to a power negative situation. This information has provided NASA with useful information. With the exception of the imaging system and the use of the transponders, SedSat-1 has been judged a success. 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