SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-184.01 UPCOMING DXPEDITION AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 184.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 02, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-184.01 Mike Seguin, N1JEZ, ANS principal satellite investigator, recently told ANS about an upcoming DXpedition that he will be involved in that will include satellite operation. "I'd like to announce an upcoming DXpedition to St. Pierre & Miquelon Island," said N1JEZ. "We will be operating from Ile aux Marins, a small island accessible by ferry from St. Pierre. The callsign will be TO0DX and the grid square is GN16." The expected operation will be July 15 through July 19, 2000. Mike was initially asked to join the HF DXpedition --and agreed-- if he could also bring along a satellite station. Mike will be transporting a full Oscar class station to the island including cross-polarized yagis, VHF/UHF transceiver, preamps, rotor, and so on. N1JEZ plans to operate both analog and digital satellite modes. In addition to the satellite gear, Mike will also be active on 6-meters while on the island. In addition to the DXpedition, Mike reports he will be driving to St. Pierre and will activate as many grids as possible via satellite during the drive "including the water grids that I'll be traveling through while on the 5-hour ferry ride from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland," said N1JEZ. Stay tuned to ANS for further details. [ANS thanks Mike Seguin, N1JEZ, ANS principal satellite investigator, for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-184.02 NEW SSTL SATELLITES AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 184.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 02, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-184.02 Surrey Satellite Technology reported to ANS about two new satellites; Tsinghua-1 and SNAP-1. Both satellites were successfully launched recently by a Russian COSMOS rocket as secondary payloads. The Tsinghua-1 microsatellite, a collaborative project with Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, was designed and built by a joint Tsinghua/SSTL team at Surrey Space Center, in Guildford, UK. Tsinghua-1 carries multispectral Earth imaging cameras as well as experimental communications payloads, including digital store-and-forward, a digital signal processing (DSP) experiment, a GPS space receiver and a new 3-axis microsatellite attitude control experiment. SNAP-1, the UK's first nanosatellite, was designed and built by SSTL as a research project for evaluating the use of commercial micro-miniature technologies for highly advanced, yet tiny, satellites. Surrey calls SNAP-1 "a highly integrated and sophisticated spacecraft." SNAP-1 weighs just 6.5-kg and carries GPS navigation, camera technology, onboard computing and propulsion and attitude control technologies. SSTL reports that both missions are experimental and, using an inter-satellite link, it is planned that the SNAP-1 and Tsinghua-1 spacecraft will attempt to rendezvous in-orbit and demonstrate formation flying of nano-microsatellites for the very first time. Both satellites are in a 650-km sun-synchronous orbit. [ANS thanks Surrey Satellite Technology for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-184.03 ANS HELP NEEDED HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 184.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 02, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-184.03 ANS editor Dan James, NN0DJ, recently completed a 3,600 mile motorcycle ride from Minnesota to Maine and back. During that time Keith, KB1SF, and Robin, VE3FRH, filled in on ANS duties. As President and Vice-President of AMSAT-NA, ANS editor NN0DJ feels that both KB1SF and VE3FRH have other pressing duties that should take a higher precedence over ANS - thus a call for editorial help from NN0DJ. ANS is looking for an assistant editor to join the AMSAT News Service team. Duties would include helping undertake the weekly broadcast of ANS by working with NN0DJ to research and then write material for ANS itself. A secondary duty would be to fill in during times other team members are not available. Interested parties should have a solid background in writing (preferably news copy) and a keen interest in AMSAT activities and satellite communication. Interested? Contact ANS editor NN0DJ at the following e-mail address: nn0dj@amsat.org [NN0DJ thanks KB1SF and VE3FRH for help during his recent vacation] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-184.04 ANS IN BRIEF HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 184.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 02, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-184.04 ANS news in brief this week includes the following: ** A tip of the AMSAT-NA hat this week goes to AMSAT-ZL who has elected to donate the entire proceeds (almost $1,100) from the North American distribution of their '1999 Satellite Compendium CD' to the AMSAT Phase 3-D Project. "Our sincere thanks for your continued, strong support!" said AMSAT-NA President Keith Baker, KB1SF. -ANS ** The FCC's Dale Hatfield, W0IFO, predicts a bright future for Amateur Radio, however the technology chief says that amateurs "will be under a certain amount of pressure" to justify their free use of the radio spectrum. As a result, he said, it will be more important than ever that hams actually fulfill their service, good will and educational roles - not just talk about them. Hatfield offered his observations as the keynote speaker for AMRAD's 25th anniversary dinner held recently. -ARRL Letter ** The AMSAT-NA office will be closed Monday, July 3rd and Tuesday, July 4th. -ANS ** NASA newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) lifted off recently from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas IIA rocket. About 30 minutes later the spacecraft separated from the Centaur's upper stage. The Air Force Control Facility, located on the island of Diego Garcia, acquired the initial signal from the satellite at 36-minutes into the mission. Ground controllers obtained data from the satellite during its first pass over Canberra, Australia. NASA is reporting that all is well with the satellite at this point. -NASA ** Christopher Arthur, KT4XA, a 17-year-old from Russellville, Alabama, has been named Newsline Young Ham of the Year for 2000. That announcement came from Newsline producer and award administrator Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. As Young Ham of the Year, Christopher will receive an expense-paid trip to the 2000 Huntsville Hamfest and a gift of equipment along with other prizes. -ARRL/Newsline ** Jon, G7TZZ, tells ANS that Special Event station GB1KAA will be on the air July 15 -16th (raising money for a local asthma center). Jon will be operating the satellite station on all analog birds, and (along with M0AQP) will run the station for a 24-hour non-stop period. -Jon, G7TZZ --ANS BULLETIN END--- /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-184.05 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 1 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 184.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 02, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-184.05 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. Ramón, XE1KK, reported that during Field Day he operated AO-10 for the first two hours of the pass -- working 41 stations, including 20 U.S. states, VE1FO, XE2YVW, PY2FUS and FY1DW. 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. Chris, WB6HGW, reported "I finally worked my first two-way contact via satellite using UO-14." (Congratulations from ANS!). Mike, G3LGR, tells ANS that UO-14 is doing sterling service in Europe. "With the summer schedule, we get one active pass at about midday and another late evening, countries worked from this station include LA, PA, OZ, F, DL, EA, I and UT, " said G3LGR. 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. Ib, OZ1MY, reports the beacon on FO-20 is working again - sometimes with modulation but mostly only CW. [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. The FO-29 command station of the JARL has announced the operation schedule of FO-29 for July and August is as follows: July 3-9th JD 1200bps PSK mailbox July 10-19th JA July 20-Aug 31st Digi-talker (except mode JA every Wednesday) 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 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-184.06 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 2 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 184.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 02, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-184.06 KITSAT KO-23 Uplink 145.900 MHz FM 9600 baud FSK Downlink 435.175 MHz FM Operational. AA7KC reports KO-23 is operational and the satellite is performing well. Jim also mentioned KO-23 had additional Field Day traffic. 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. AA7KC reports KO-25 is operational with downlink efficiency in the 80% range and moderate traffic. Many Field Day messages were displayed. [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: Time is Sat Jul 01 11:30:44 2000 LUSATHIHI 40 AUN ABD AVV ADA AUB A6V A4B AE6 129 178 133 181 127 163 147 156 LUSATHIHI 40 AUN ABN AVU ADU AU6 A64 A4D AE6 129 179 132 182 128 164 148 156 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 139/08:29:23. Time is Sat Jul 01 12:00:24 2000 +Z Array V 21.585 V +Z Array Temp 13.916 D +X (RX) Temp 4.839 D RX Temp -7.263 D Bat 1 Temp 1.209 D Bat 2 Temp 1.209 D Baseplt Temp 1.209 D PSK TX RF Out 1.465 W RC PSK BP Temp 1.814 D RC PSK HPA Tmp 1.814 D +Y Array Temp -1.212 D PSK TX HPA Tmp 7.260 D Total Array C= 0.314 Bat Ch Cur=-0.038 Ifb= 0.074 I+10V= 0.300 TX:1008 BCR:85 PWRC:05C BT:1E WC:25 EDAC:10 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. Tom, N0NTX, reports that UO-36 reception has recently been very good with several passes exceeding 98% data throughput. 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-184.07 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 3 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 184.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 02, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-184.07 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 145.985 MHz (FM) voice and SSTV (Robot 36 Mode) AMSAT's Bruce Paige, KK5DO, reported that two cosmonauts --Sergei Zalyotin and Alexandr Kaleri-- arrived on the Russian Mir space station after an April 4, 2000 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the successful docking with Mir. After just over two months in space the cosmonauts returned to Earth in June. During their stay the ham radio equipment aboard Mir was activated in a very limited fashion. Currently, there is no human habitation aboard the station and the Amateur Radio equipment has been turned off. Several news agencies have reported that Mir in now on 'autopilot'. Stay tuned to ANS for further details. 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