SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-240.01 PHASE 3D LAUNCH UPDATE AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 240.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 27, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-240.01 AMSAT-DL Vice-President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, recently informed ANS that the Phase 3D satellite "will be launched at the end of October or beginning of November." As ANS has earlier reported, Ariane 5 launches had been postponed until several components could be checked aboard the launcher. DB2OS reports that Arianespace re-assigned the launch numbers. "There will be two more Ariane 4 and one Ariane 5 launches," said Peter, "but because Arianespace did not yet publish the new official launch manifest, I can't be more precise." DB2OS told ANS to expect more news after the AR-506 launch, currently scheduled for September 14th. "We are indeed on AR-507, " said Peter ..."and the Phase 3-D launch campaign should start on September 11th in Kourou!" Stay tuned to ANS for further information. [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL Vice-President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, and AMSAT-NA president Keith Baker, KB1SF, for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-240.02 AO-27 SOFTWARE RELOAD AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 240.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 27, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-240.02 Chuck Wyrick, N4USI, reported to ANS that satellite operators worldwide are being asked not to use the popular, FM-satellite, AO-27. The satellite uplink is not available as ground controllers attempt to reload a command software program following a late July software crash. The request comes as ground control stations attempt to bring the satellite' back to life. ''The FM analog repeater is turned off, so you will not be heard and you will interfere with the software upload process,'' Wyrick said in asking for the cooperation of the Amateur Radio community. ANS has carried the following AO-27 report in recent bulleting sets: AMRAD AO-27 Uplink 145.850 MHz FM Downlink 436.795 MHz FM Status: Software updates underway. Software upgrades to AO-27 are currently underway. Satellite operators are asked to refrain from transmitting on the uplink. Resumption of service will be announced on the AMSAT-BB and in ANS. 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 TEPR AO-27 operations (at): http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/ao27.html The satellite's CPU rebooted after controllers tried to run uploaded high-level code. Ground controllers still are at a loss to explain the reboot, but Wyrick says they are looking into several leads. The AO-27 exciter on 435.797 MHz is turned on full-time and operates at low power during uploads. N4USI also requested that hams not flood controllers with e-mail asking when AO-27 is going to be back on-line. Ground controllers are working as fast as they can to return AO-27 back to operation. AO-27, a project of AMRAD, was launched in September 1993. Stay tuned to ANS for further details. [ANS thanks Chuck Wyrick, N4USI, and the ARRL for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-240.03 ANS IN BRIEF HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 240.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 27, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-240.03 ANS news in brief this week includes the following: ** The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for August was AMSAT's Ray Soifer, W2RS, for his article on UO-14. Congratulations, Ray from ANS! -ARRL Letter, Keith, KB1SF ** A major exhibition on Chinese space technology officially opened August 21st in Hong Kong. Among the exhibits was a full-scale mockup of the Shenzhou manned capsule, which made its first ever public appearance worldwide. View the complete story at the following URL: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-00zx.html. -SpaceDaily ** Radio Amateurs of Canada has asked Industry Canada - the Canadian equivalent of the FCC - to discontinue that country's 12 WPM Morse code requirement in favor of a 5 WPM test. During the past year, RAC says it has consulted with the Canadian Amateur community on the issue, and the RAC Board has concluded that a majority of Canadian Amateurs support dropping the 12 WPM Morse test. -ARRL Letter ** China's first microsatellite Tsinghua-1 is performing without problems according to Tsinghua University. On June 28th a Russian Kosmos-3M rocket launched the microsat from the Plesestk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The small bird is in a polar sunsynchronous orbit of 700 km. -SpaceDaily ** The ARRL Board of Directors recently elected Marshall Quiat, AG0X, of Denver, Colorado, as an Honorary Vice President. Quiat, 78, recently stepped down as Rocky Mountain Vice Director for health reasons. The Board vote was unanimous. -ARRL ** NASA researchers have new insights into the mysteries of Arctic sea ice, thanks to the unique abilities of Canada's RADARSAT satellite. The Arctic is the smallest of the world's four oceans, but it may play a large role in helping scientists monitor Earth's climate shifts. More information is available at: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/arctic-00a.html. -SpaceDaily ** The launch of an RS-20 rocket that was to put five foreign satellites into orbit has been rescheduled as this edition of ANS was going to press. The rocket was scheduled for launch from Kazakhstan's Baikonur launch center, but computers blocked the launch due to a problem with the pre-launch program. Specialists do not believe the problems to be significant. -Florida Today ** International Space Station flight controllers resumed the transfer of propellants from tanks aboard the Progress cargo supply craft to tanks aboard the station's Zvezda module. Controllers also made other preparations for the planned arrival of the Space Shuttle Atlantis early next month. -SpaceDaily ** The FCC has denied a petition that would have amended the FCC's Part 95 rules to permit DXing on the 11-meter Citizens Band. The petition sought to amend rules that prohibit communications or attempts to communicate with CB stations more than 250-km away and to contact stations in other countries. The ARRL commented in opposition to the petition. The FCC agreed with the ARRL and said it did not intend to create a service paralleling the Amateur Service when it authorized the Citizens Radio Service. -ARRL Letter ** Vandenberg Air Force Base launched a Titan IV-B rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East recently, the 1,800th launch conducted at the California base since beginning in 1958. The rocket carried a National Reconnaissance Office satellite into orbit and payload-booster separation was successful nine minutes after lift-off. -SpaceDaily ** Members in five ARRL divisions have nominated candidates for the positions of ARRL Director and Vice Director, and balloting is set for contested positions in three divisions. The ARRL Election Committee has reviewed the nominations and declared all of the candidates to be eligible. -ARRL ** Shuttles Atlantis and Discovery are on target to keep their upcoming dates with the International Space Station, Kennedy Space Center officials said. With weather and technical concerns subsiding, Atlantis is scheduled to launch September 8th and Discovery on October 5th, as planned. KSC managers briefly considered moving Atlantis from Launch Pad 39B as Hurricane Debby posed a possible threat to the Space Coast. Debby no longer appears to be a problem for the Cape. -Florida Today --ANS BULLETIN END--- /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-240.04 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 1 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 240.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 27, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-240.04 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 146.00 MHz CW/SSB Beacon 29.458 MHz Robot Uplink 145.840 MHz Robot Downlink 29.504 MHz Status: 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 RS-12/13 Satellite Operators page at: 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) Status: 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) Status: 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. John, K6YK reports EB1FG has been active. K5OE worked TF3MLT. 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 Status: Software updates underway. Software upgrades to AO-27 are currently underway. Satellite operators are asked to refrain from transmitting on the AO-27 uplink. Resumption of service will be announced on the AMSAT-BB and in ANS. 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 TEPR AO-27 operations (at): http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/n7hpr/ao27.html Chuck, KM4NZ, reset the TEPR states (on 7/26/00) as follows: TEPR 4 46 TEPR 5 82 [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 Status: Operational, mode J. UO-14 was launched in January 1990 and has returned to Amateur Radio operation after many years of commercial service. Tim, KG8OC, has updated the Michigan AMSAT Information site to include 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 Mode J Uplink: 145.825 MHz FM Mode J Downlink: 436.250 MHz FM Status: Operational. Peter, VA3PKH, reports SunSat is currently in mode J. The voice repeater is active for 14 minutes at a time. Weekday operations may be cancelled to support the non-ham payloads. SunSat was launched February 23, 1999 aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 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 in addition to Mode J operation. 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 145.90 to 146.00 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 435.80 to 435.90 MHz CW/USB Status: Operational. FO-20 is in mode JA continuously. JAS-1b (FO-20) was launched in February 1990. OZ1MY reports the beacon on FO-20 is working again, mostly in CW. [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-20 status reports] JAS-2 FO-29 Voice/CW Mode JA Uplink 145.90 to 146.00 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 435.80 to 435.90 MHz CW/USB Status: Operational, rotated with a digital mode and a digi-talker. JAS-2 was successfully launched on August 17, 1996, by an H-II launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. 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 JARL FO-29 command station has announced the following operation schedule of FO-29: through - Aug 31st - Digi-talker (except mode JA every Wednesday) September 1-10 - JA September 11-17 - JD1200 mailbox operation September 18-24 - JA Sept. 25-Oct. 1 - JD1200 mailbox operation October 2-6 - JA Oct. 7- Nov. 5 - Digi-talker (except mode JA every Wednesday) Mike, KF4FDJ, has put together a very informative document on FO-29, addressing the analog, digital and digi-talker modes. To obtain a copy e-mail Mike at: kf4fdj@amsat.org. Mineo, JE9PEL, has a FO-29 satellite telemetry analysis program that will automatically analyze all digital telemetry from the satellite (such as current, voltage and temperature). The JE9PEL FO-29/shareware is available at the following URL: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-29 status reports] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-240.05 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 2 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 240.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 27, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-240.05 KITSAT KO-23 Uplink 145.900 MHz FM (9600 baud FSK) Downlink 435.175 MHz FM Status: Non-operational. Alan, KE6QIS, reports KO-23 is (again) operational. KyungHee Kim, HL0ENJ, reports (from the KO-23 control team) that part of the problem with non-operation has been the power budget aboard the satellite. [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 Status: Operational. [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 Status: Operational. Richard, G3RWL, reports that both uplinks are currently available. 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 Status: 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. 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) Status: Semi-operational. The CW beacon is sending eight telemetry channels and one status channel. No BBS service is available. The digipeater is not 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/ 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 Status: 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. Dirk, ON1DLL, reports that the satellite is currently transmitting telemetry along with a brief text announcement. The text reads: June 2000, S-Band off, PSK TX power 1.5 watts, Digi-peater is on. >From the AO-16 Command Team (WJ9F). A WOD collection of satellite 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) Status: 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 Status: Unknown (unofficially in full sunlight illumination) Bill, KK2L, reports no signals from UO-36 recently. 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 has demonstrated on UO-36 the ability to use standard Internet protocols to communicate with an orbiting spacecraft (just like any node on the Internet). NASA has been developing this project by working with the commercial payload aboard UoSAT-12. The BBS is open, although uploading and downloading may be disabled at times. The VK5HI viewer shareware for UO-36 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 Status: Semi-operational, the digipeater function is on and open for APRS users. IO-26 was launched on the September 26, 1993. [ANS thanks ITAMSAT Project Manager Alberto E. Zagni, I2KBD, for IO-26 information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-240.06 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 3 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 240.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 27, 2000 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-240.06 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 Status: Non-operational. No operation in 2000 has been observed. TECHSAT-1B GO-32 Downlink 435.225 MHz using HDLC telemetry Status: Non-operational. Efforts were reported to be underway to bring GO-32 on line, however, no 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 transmit a 9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (for a continuous 3 seconds in length) on 435.225 MHz. The TechSat team has a home page about TechSat. To view the site, point your web browser to: http://techsat.internet-zahav.net/ PANSAT PO-34 Status: Unknown. 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 (the story 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) Status: Unmanned. Currently, there is no human habitation aboard the station and the onboard 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 of 141.3 Hz Downlink 437.950 MHz FM Status: 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 Status: 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 Status: 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) Status: 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) Status: Non-operational. The satellite is not currently available for uplink transmissions and the 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