SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-125.01 MAY AMSAT-NA PRESIDENT'S LETTER AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 125.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 05, 2002 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-125.01 Several times each year ANS will feature information from AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH. This feature is known as the President's Letter. The following is the May 2002 installment: A lot can happen in the short space of one month. As I promised in my last President's Letter, I will now provide you with the latest up-to-date information on the April Board of Directors meeting, as well as the status of our two new satellite projects. First, let me say that a full set of the BOD minutes will be published in the AMSAT Journal later this year, which is our normal custom. The Board of Directors met on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - with the principal aim of reviewing the status of our ongoing satellite projects. The first part of the meeting was held at the offices of SpaceQuest in Fairfax, Virginia - where we were shown their facilities and their ideas for manufacturing the basic satellite bus for our new OSCAR-E (Echo) satellite. A similar satellite to Echo had already been manufactured at SpaceQuest, and was laid out on a bench for test purposes. A satellite model space frame had also been constructed for demonstration purposes and we now tentatively plan to have that model available for viewing in our AMSAT booth at Dayton. The amazing thing about Echo is the size reduction that has taken place by combining two of the main boards. Had Echo been built in the earlier days of amateur satellites, the overall size would have been far greater because of larger component sizes and the lower efficiency of the solar cells. Put another way, the satellite would have needed a much greater surface area to produce the same amount of onboard power. After viewing the SpaceQuest facilities, the Board met again in Washington, DC, where we were given a full technical briefing on the Echo satellite. I will not repeat the briefing here, but, rather, will refer you to the next issue of the AMSAT Journal where a complete technical article about the satellite (by Rick Hambly, W2GPS) will be published. We are also making tentative plans to place at least some of this material on the AMSAT web page for more immediate viewing. In the afternoon, the BOD re-assembled in Silver Spring, at the AMSAT Offices. At this time a lengthy discussion took place on the Eagle project, including a detailed review of both the available and anticipated resources (people and funding) for that effort. What follows are some of the major points of that discussion: 1) Since September 11, 2001 donations and funding for not-for-profit charities has slowed down considerably, and AMSAT, too, has "felt the pinch". The slowdown has been particularly true for donations of money, time and effort from technical people and organizations. And, as you well know, donations from these sources have traditionally been the lifeblood of AMSAT. 2) In spite of a continuing search for a near-term, affordable launch for Eagle, we have yet to find one. However, we shall keep looking and will continue to negotiate. 3) During the past year, various innovative ideas have come to light among AMSAT's experimenters which would enable Eagle to be smaller in size, lower in weight and thus easier (but not necessarily lower in cost) to launch. These improvements could all be incorporated into the design without drastically sacrificing on-orbit capability. In light of the fiscal realities we are now facing, we believe it is prudent to build Eagle to these newer parameters, as doing so would give us the flexibility to fly Eagle on several launch vehicles. 4) Newly proposed regulations by the FCC may also require that Eagle have the capability to be de-orbited (subsequently brought back to Earth). This would require Eagle to carry additional propulsion capability, thus making the satellite somewhat larger and heavier?or, we may have to reduce its planned payload to compensate for the added propulsion mass. 5) Our goal is to still put Eagle into an elliptical (GTO) orbit, similar to the current AO-40 orbit, but with a somewhat lower apogee. 6) Our plans still call for Eagle to have transponders in U, V, L and S bands, thus meeting the much requested "high altitude Mode B" requirement. In addition, we'd also like Eagle to carry some experimental equipment - yet to be decided. 7) The design phase for Eagle is now scheduled to run into the fall of 2003, at which time the design would be "frozen", unless major problems occur during subsequent building and testing phases of the project. 8) Assuming we then have both the fiscal and people resources available, component building could commence upon completion of the design phase, and, if all went well in the component building phase (again assuming we have the resources available), full scale integration of the satellite could occur as early as 2005. 9) Finally, if we have located both a suitable launch by then and also have funds available to pay for it, Eagle could be lofted into orbit as early as 2006. In the interim, we believe the construction and launch of OSCAR Echo, now tentatively anticipated to take place much sooner than Eagle, (possibly as early as late 2003) will provide us with valuable on-orbit data on a number of innovative new satellite component designs. This includes a new internal housekeeping unit (IHU-2) - designed to meet the requirements of the next generation of AMSAT satellites. Flying the IHU-2 design on Echo as an on-board experiment may also provide us with critical, flight experience for future satellites. Our experimenters would also like to get a little more experience with some emerging digital voice communications concepts (via Echo) before "freezing" them into the subsequent Eagle design. Before we enter the each new phase of the Eagle project, a detailed financial review will take place among our experimenters, project managers and the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors. Thanks to the generosity of President's Club donors and to those who have donated outside of the Presidents Club, we can now proceed with the design stage for Eagle as we continue to hunt for an affordable GTO launch. Unfortunately, the component building and integration stages for Eagle are not yet funded. Current estimates indicate a cost of some $600,000 for completing the design, building, integration and testing phases. This expense would all be in addition to the cost of a launch, and, as I have already discussed, unless a suitable launch can be secured at well below current commercial market rates, the launch costs alone for Eagle will almost certainly exceed the costs of the previous four phases of the project combined. Other discussions at the BOD meeting concerned cooperation with other AMSAT organizations regarding the de-orbit issue, a committee to look at the possibility of electronically publishing and distributing the AMSAT Journal, the function of the Project Committee, as well as AMSAT-NA's communications and business development efforts. Details of all of these discussions will be found in the minutes of the Board meeting and will be the subject of several announcements in the near future. I am looking forward to seeing many of you in Dayton! I will try and spend as much time as possible at the AMSAT booth during Hamvention. Eagle and Oscar-Echo will be two of the subjects to be discussed at the Dayton AMSAT Forum Why not stop by the booth, so we can have an eyeball contact? 73, Robin Haighton VE3FRH President AMSAT-NA [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-125.02 CALL FOR PAPERS AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 125.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 05, 2002 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-125.02 Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 21st Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 13-15, 2002 in Denver, Colorado. Annual conference proceedings are published by the ARRL. Presentation at the conference is not required for publication. Submission of papers is due by August 5th, 2002. The ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work, and present new ideas and techniques. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and software advances, theories, experimental results, and practical applications. Topics will include software-defined radio, digital voice satellite communications, global position systems, APRS, digital signal processing, HF digital modes, Internet interoperability with Amateur Radio networks, spread spectrum systems, and much more. Conference registration details and updates, along with more information are available at: http://www.tapr.org/dcc [ANS thanks the ARRL for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-125.03 RS-21 DEORBIT AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 125.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 05, 2002 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-125.03 Alex Papkov at Kaluga Ground Control in Russia reported to ANS that RS-21 has re-entered the atmosphere. Papkov provided the following announcement: Trajectory calculation of lowering of the microsatellite, using the last navigation data, gives its atmospheric re-entry on orbit 711, somewhere above the Pacific Ocean. Thus, the microsatellite Kolibri-2000/RS-21 has successfully completed the operation and has stopped any physical existence. We consider all aspects of this mission to have been a success. Collaboration between Australian high school students, Russian Space scientists and Russian high school students has been a highlight. The satellite's formal name was the Russian-Australian Scientific and Educational Microsatellite. (end) Radio Sport RS-21, was remotely launched on March 20, 2002 from a Russian Progress M-1-7 launcher. During its lifetime, RS-21 sent telemetry data and digitally recorded voice messages in a circular orbit just over 200 miles above the Earth. More information about the satellite can be found at: http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2001/12/16/1/ [ANS thanks Alex Papkov for this information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-125.04 ANS IN BRIEF AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 125.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 05, 2002 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-125.04 ANS news in brief this week includes the following: ** The March issue of the Monitoring System Newsletter discussed heavy interference on 20 meters, caused by what appeared to be a faulty transmitter of Radio Portugal. The station accepted that they had a problem and eventually the faulty transmitter was removed from service. -IARU ** China will put its first astronauts into space within two years and launch another unmanned test flight by the end of 2002 following the successful third mission in its fledgling space program, leading space officials said Tuesday. -SpaceDaily ** The 2001 AMSAT Symposium awards included a presentation to Lou McFadin, W5DID, for his generous contribution of time and effort during the Phase 3D launch campaign. His willingness to sacrifice personal time for this endeavor is greatly appreciated by hams the world over. -ANS ** A new NASA computer model can now tell exactly where in the world rain or snow that provides local water originated. Scientists can use this water vapor tracer to improve rainfall and drought forecasts and gain a deeper understanding of climate change. In addition, scientists now have the capability to document atmospheric and climate change at locations nearly anywhere in the world, thanks to a new mobile atmospheric monitoring system. -SpaceDaily ** AMSAT-NA's Bdale Garbee, KB0G, has been elected the Debian Project Leader. Debian Linux is among the best known Linux distribution systems, which contain Linux kernel, utilities, and other application packages. Debian has excellent support for many popular Amateur Radio modes such as CW, RTTY, packet radio, APRS and PSK-31. KB0G is an AMSAT-NA Life Member, past officer of TAPR, project leader for the AO-40 GPS receiver experiment, and one of the developers of the RUDAK digital communications processor on AO-40. -Maggie, K3XS/AR Newsline ** Ongoing planet searches continue to turn up new discoveries almost monthly, many of them far more strange than anyone had imagined. All of the planets discovered to date are gas giants, incapable of supporting life as we know it. -SpaceDaily ** Amateur Radio was represented at this year's National Association of Broadcasters convention, as the ARRL booth was staffed by local volunteers. NAB Vice President for Science and Technology, John Marino, KR1O, emceed a reception at the convention. -ARRL ** Engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center have begun a series of engine tests on a new breed of space propulsion: a Reaction Control Engine developed for the Space Launch Initiative - a technology development effort to establish reliable, affordable space access. -SpaceDaily ** ESA astronaut Frank De Winne will fly to the International Space Station in October as a flight engineer on a Soyuz taxi flight, a 10-day Mission. The main purposes of the mission will be to exchange the Station's Soyuz vehicle, which serves as the main emergency rescue craft for the Station's crew. -ESA ** Fire extinguishers, skin cancer detectors and a record-breaking solar car are all recent examples of new products on Earth made possible thanks to space technology. ESA recently presented these, and many more space spin-offs, to non-space industry representatives from all over the world at the Hanover Fair in Germany. -SpaceDaily ** AMSAT-NA's Executive Vice President Keith Baker, KB1SF, recently announced that AMSAT-NA is now accepting orders for AMSAT's various printed, hardware and software items on-line, via a secure credit card link. In addition, a new toll-free number at AMSAT-NA Headquarters in Maryland has been launched to help make telephone ordering of these offerings that much easier. Visit the AMSAT-NA web site for more information. -ANS --ANS BULLETIN END--- /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-125.05 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 1 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 125.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 05, 2002 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-125.05 Phase 3D / AMSAT OSCAR 40 / AO-40 Launched: November 16, 2000 aboard an Ariane 5 launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Currently, the U/L-1 to S-2 passband is active (various times) Uplink U-band 435.550 - 435.800 MHz CW/SSB L1-band 1269.250 - 1269.500 MHz CW/SSB L2-band 1268.325 - 1268.575 MHz CW/SSB Downlink S-band 2401.225 - 2401.475 MHz CW/SSB K-band 24,048.025 - 24,048.275 MHz CW/SSB Yoshi JF6BCC/JD1, was active on AO-40 recently. Mike, N1JEZ, reports several successful QSO's using the K-band downlink of AO-40, with Jerry, K5OE. Amato, I6PNN, recently completed a K-band contact with I8CVS, using a 120-cm dish and circular polarized feed. Command station W4SM reports that we are close to ALON/ALAT = 0/0, and command stations we will begin minor tweaking and station keeping. As control holds ALON essentially constant, the solar angles will begin to improve. The RUDAK slot needs to be re-activated as soon as possible, gathering CEDEX and GPS data. As before, when RUDAK is active, the middle beacon and passbands will be off. Updates will be posted in ANS, AMSAT-NA BB and on the AO-40 message blocks. AO-40 experimental transponder operation started on May 05, 2001 at approximately 08:00 UTC when the U-band and L1-band uplinks were connected to the S-2 transmitter passband downlink via the Matrix switch. Some 58 DXCC countries were QRV on AO-40 in 2001. Ground stations capturing telemetry from AO-40 are asked to send a copy of the data to the AO-40 archive at: ao40-archive@amsat.org. For the current transponder-operating schedule visit: http://www.amsat-dl.org/journal/adlj-p3d.htm [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA, AMSAT-DL and the ARRL for this information] INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION/ARISS Worldwide packet uplink: 145.990 MHz Region 1 voice uplink: 145.200 MHz Region 2/3 voice uplink: 144.490 MHz Worldwide downlink: 145.800 MHz TNC callsign RS0ISS ARISS initial station launched September 2000 aboard shuttle Atlantis. ARISS is made up of delegates from major national Amateur Radio organizations, including AMSAT. Status: Operational. ISS packet activity has resumed. Although the mailbox function has been activated, ground stations are discouraged from using it. Currently, there is no computer hooked up to the packet system. Several stations report recent voice activity from ISS, including KB2M, KK5DO, K3LTM, KB3BRT, and KD4SFF. CT1EAT, IT9GSV, and IK1SLD reported Roberto Vittori, IZ6ERU, was active recently from ISS in contact with Italian hams. The latest ARISS announcements and successful school list is available at: http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov An archive of school contacts can be found at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/505064.asp NASA information on the ISS station can be found at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/radio/ The ISS daily crew schedule (which gives an idea when crew members have free time and may be available for Amateur Radio operations) can be found at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/timelines/2001/may/index.html A detailed breakdown of the antenna installation with some great pictures and diagrams (depicting the entire ISS ham system including antenna's) can be downloaded at: http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/EVAs/amsat01.pdf U.S. callsign: NA1SS Russian callsigns: RS0ISS, RZ3DZR The QSL routes for W/VE stations working NA1SS aboard the International Space Station: U.S. stations (a SASE is required to get a QSL in return): Margie Bourgoin, KC1DCO Attn: ARISS Expedition-1 (or 2, 3) QSL ARRL, 225 Main Street Newington, Connecticut 06111 Canadian stations: Radio Amateurs of Canada Attn: ARISS Expedition-1 (or 2, 3) QSL 720 Belfast Road, Suite 217 Ottawa, Ontario KEG 0Z5 European stations (a SASE and 2 IRC's are required to get a QSL in return). AMSAT-France 14 bis, rue des Gourlis 92500 Rueil Malmaison France [ANS thanks Will Marchant, KC6ROL, and Jean-Louis Rault, F6AGR, for this information] RADIO SPORT RS-12 Uplink 21.210 to 21.250 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 29.410 to 29.450 MHz CW/SSB Beacon 29.408 MHz Robot 29.454 MHz Launched: February 5, 1991 aboard a Russian Cosmos C launcher Status: RS-12 was placed in Mode-K on February 19, 2002. The latest information on 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 [ANS thanks Kevin Manzer, AC5DK, for RS-12 information] RADIO SPORT RS-13 Uplink 21.260 to 21.300 MHz CW/SSB Downlink 145.860 to 145.900 MHz CW/SSB Beacon 145.860 MHz Robot 145.908 MHz Launched: February 5, 1991 aboard a Russian Cosmos C launcher Status: RS-13 was re-activated in Mode-T on February 19, 2002. The latest information on 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 [ANS thanks Kevin Manzer, AC5DK, for this information] 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) Launched: December 26, 1994 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Status: Semi-operational, mode-A, using a 2-meter uplink and a 10-meter downlink Dave, WB6LLO, has operating information for both RS-15 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 [ANS thanks Dave Guimont, WB6LLO, for this information] 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) Launched: June 16, 1983 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Semi-operational, mode-B. AO-10 has been locked into a 70-cm uplink and a 2-meter downlink for several years. 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 Launched: September 26, 1993 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Operational, mode J. AO-27 control operator Michael Wyrick, N3UC (former N4USI), reports AO-27 has been turn off to condition the batteries. Earlier this month, the control operators noticed that AO-27's batteries had become very low and was causing the transmitter to turn off early during the passes. The on-board software was turning the transmitters off to keep the batteries from becoming too low to keep the CPU running. Currently, AO-27's Amateur Radio 'bent-pipe' transmitter is off in hopes of getting enough charge to the batteries. At that time, the transmitter will resume normal FM repeater operation. At times the control stations will turn the transmitter on to collect 1200-baud AFSK telemetry. An AO-27 question-and-answer page is available on the AMSAT-NA web site, with updates by Ray, W2RS. 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 On Saturday, March 30, 2002, the TEPR states on AO-27 were reset as follows: TEPR 4 - 50 TEPR 5 - 90 [ANS thanks AMRAD for AO-27 information] UO-14 Uplink 145.975 MHz FM Downlink 435.070 MHz FM Launched: January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Operational, mode J Tim, KG8OC, features UO-14 information on the Michigan AMSAT web site - point your web browser to the following URL: http://www.qsl.net/kg8oc Ray, W2RS, has revised the AO-27 FAQ on < www.amsat.org > to include information on UO-14. [ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for UO-14 information] SO-41 SAUDISAT-1A Uplink 145.850 MHz Downlink 436.775 MHz Broadcast Callsign SASAT1-11 BBS SASAT1-12 Launched: September 26, 2000 aboard a converted Soviet ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Status: operational Jerry, K5OE, reports "SO-41 is very sensitive to uplink polarity, with fast and complete QSB while the downlink signal strength remains relatively constant and does not seem particularly sensitive to polarity. This behavior makes the satellite quite difficult to work unless you have both circular-polarity switching capability and full-duplex capability (to hear the effect of switching)." One of two ham satellites from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia built by the Space Research Institute at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The spacecraft is operating in Mode-J, currently configured as an analog FM voice repeater. The spacecraft will operate in this mode intermittently, as power and spacecraft experiments permit. SO-41's downlink RF power is 1-watt with left-hand circular polarization. The uplink antenna (located on top of the spacecraft) is linear in polarization. [ANS thanks Turki Al-Saud 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 Launched: February 07, 1990 by an H1 launcher from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Status: Operational. FO-20 is in mode JA continuously Tak, JA2PKI, reported FO-20 control station operators believe that the UVC (Under Voltage Controller) now is regulating the transponder. The controller monitors battery voltage and tries to protect the batteries from over discharge. [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamoto, JJ1WTK, for the FO-20 status reports] JAS-2 FO-29 Launched: August 17, 1996, by an H-2 launcher from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Status: Operational Voice/CW Mode JA Uplink 145.90 to 146.00 MHz CW/LSB Downlink 435.80 to 435.90 MHz CW/USB Digital Mode JD Uplink 145.850 145.870 145.910 MHz FM Downlink 435.910 MHz 1200-baud BPSK or 9600-baud FSK Callsign 8J1JCS Digitalker 435.910 MHz Last reported, the JARL FO-29 command station announced the operation schedule of FO-29 as mode JA through June 30, 2002. 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-125.06 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 2 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 125.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 05, 2002 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-125.06 PCSAT NO-44 Uplink/downlink 145.827 MHz 1200 baud AX-25 AFSK via PCSAT-1 Aux/Uplink 435.250 MHz 9600 baud via PCSAT-2 (off) APRS Downlink 144.390 MHz (Region 2) Launched: September 30, 2001 aboard an Athena-1 rocket from the Kodiak, Alaska launch complex. Status: Operational Recently, PCSat has enjoyed about 10% more sun time and has even had a positive power budget for GPS receiver usage. PCSat is operating normally. In mid-May, the satellite will go through another period of poor illumination, but should be in full sun by June and will be in great shape for summer travelers! PCSat is a 1200-baud APRS digipeater designed for use by stations using hand-held or mobile transceivers. Downlinks feed a central web site < http://pcsat.aprs.org >. The APRS-equipped PCSat was built by midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy under the guidance of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR. For more information, visit the PCSat web site at: http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/pcsat.html [ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for PCSat information] TIUNGSAT-1 MO-46 Uplink 145.850 or 145.925 MHz 9600-baud FSK Downlink 437.325 MHz Broadcast callsign MYSAT3-11 BBS MYSAT3-12 Launched: September 26, 2000 aboard a converted Soviet ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Status: Operational at 38k4-baud FSK TiungSat-1 is Malaysia's first micro-satellite and in addition to commercial land and weather imaging payloads offers FM and FSK Amateur Radio communication. TiungSat-1, named after the mynah bird of Malaysia, was developed as a collaborative effort between the Malaysian government and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. [ANS thanks Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, for this information] UOSAT UO-22 Uplink 145.900 or 145.975 MHz FM 9600-baud FSK Downlink 435.120 MHz FM Broadcast Callsign UOSAT5-11 BBS UOSAT5-12 Launched: July 17, 1991 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Operational Jim, AA7KC, reports UO-22 is operational with good downlink efficiency. Satellite gateway stations from many parts of the world are represented. KE0LX recently placed an interesting display of South Pole weather on the satellite. Jerry, K5OE, reports "UO-22's only active uplink is now 145.900 MHz. That is a change from the last two months where only the 145.975 MHz uplink has worked well. The message on the downlink to use both uplinks is in error." 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 information and Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for status information] OSCAR-11 Downlink 145.825 MHz FM (1200-baud AFSK) Mode-S Beacon 2401.500 MHz Launched: March 1, 1984 by a Delta-Thor rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Status: Operational During the past year OSCAR-11 has operated continuously on both VHF and S band, with very little ground control needed. During the period 08-March 08-April 2002, consistent signals have been received from the 145.826 MHz beacon. The internal temperatures have decreased slightly. They are now 3.2C and 1.6C for battery and telemetry electronics respectively. The battery voltage observed during daylight passes has also decreased slightly. The average value observed was 13.6 with a range of 13.3 to 13.9 volts. The spin period has drifted between 233 and 315 seconds. The attitude is controlled solely by the gravity boom gradient. The operating schedule is unchanged. 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] 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 Broadcast Callsign: PACSAT-11 BBS PACSAT-12 Launched: January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Semi-operational, the digipeater command is on. Telemetry is as follows: uptime is 812/17:40:56. Time is Sun May 05 21:26:19 2002 +10V Bus 10.100 V +Z Array V 0.205 V +X (RX) Temp -9.683 D RX Temp 3.629 D Bat 1 V 1.210 V Bat 2 V 1.154 V Bat 3 V 1.183 V Bat 4 V 1.234 V Bat 5 V 1.204 V Bat 6 V 1.194 V Bat 7 V 1.204 V Bat 8 V 1.232 V PSK TX RF Out 0.747 W +Z Array Temp -14.524 D +Y Array Temp -24.811 D PSK TX HPA Tmp -1.212 D A WOD collection of current graphics along with general information and telemetry samples can be found at: www.telecable.es/personales/ea1bcu [ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for AO-16 status information] ITAMSAT IO-26 Uplink 145.875 145.900 145.925 145.950 MHz FM (1200-baud) Downlink 435.822 MHz SSB Broadcast Callsign ITMSAT-11 BBS ITMSAT-12 Launched: September 26, 1993 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Semi-operational, the digipeater function is on and open for APRS users. [ANS thanks ITAMSAT Project Manager Alberto E. Zagni, I2KBD, for IO-26 information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-125.07 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT PART 3 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 125.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 05, 2002 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-125.07 THE FOLLOWING ARE IN ORBIT BUT ARE NON-OPERATIONAL OR SEMI-OPERATIONAL AT THIS TIME: KITSAT KO-23 Uplink 145.900 MHz FM (9600-baud FSK) Downlink 435.170 MHz FM Broadcast Callsign HLO1-11 BBS HLO1-12 Launched: August 10, 1992 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Non-operational. Jim, AA7KC, reports that KO-23's downlink transmitter continues in a non-operational status. [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 Broadcast Callsign HL02-11 BBS HL02-12 Launched: September 26, 1993 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Semi-operational Jim, AA7KC, reports KO-25 is essentially non-operational due to very low downlink efficiencies. Jim reports there have been a few contacts displayed on the satellite, but downlink efficiency continues to be poor. [ANS thanks Jim Weisenberger, AA7KC, for this information] UoSAT-12 UO-36 Uplink 145.960 MHz (9600-baud FSK) Downlink 437.025 MHz 437.400 MHz Broadcast Callsign UO121-11 BBS UO121-12 Launched: April 21, 1999 by a Russian launcher from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Status: Unknown UO-36 celebrates its 3rd year space this month! UO-36 carries a number of imaging payloads, digital store-and-forward communications and mode L/S transponders. Paul, KB2SHU, tells ANS that UO-36 has not been operational (over North America) since late July 2001. In addition, Sangat, 9M2SS, reports he has not copied UO-36 since July 30, 2001. 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 UO-36 information] TMSAT-1 TO-31 Uplink 145.925 MHz (9600-baud FSK) Downlink 436.925 MHz (9600-baud FSK) Broadcast Callsign: TMSAT1-11 BBS TMSAT1-12 Launched: July 10, 1998 by a Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Status: Non-operational, no data downlinked since December 18, 2000. Chris G7UPN, (UoSAT operations manager) reports the following to ANS: The TO-31 downlink will be off over most areas, with the exception of Europe and Thailand. 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] 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) Broadcast Callsign LUSAT-11 BBS LUSAT-12 Launched: January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Beacon only. The CW beacon is sending eight telemetry channels and one status channel on 437.126 MHz. No BBS service is available. The digipeater is not active. Telemetry is as follows: Time is Wed Jan 25 20:58:00 2002 LUSAT HIHI 60 CW-Code: ava abv aav adb at4 ab6 ttu aae 5V-reg.: 4.85 V 8.5V-reg: 6.44 V 10V-Bat: 11.07 V 10V-Curr: 123.2 mA TX-Pwr : 0.977 W TX-Temp.: 7.68 ?C +Z-Sol.: 0.30 V Box-Temp: 11.39 ?C CW-Code: ava abv aa4 adb ate abe ttu aee 5V-reg.: 4.85 V 8.5V-reg: 8.68 V 10V-Bat: 11.07 V 10V-Curr: 122.5 mA TX-Pwr : 0.977 W TX-Temp.: 7.33 ?C +Z-Sol.: 0.30 V Box-Temp: 11.04 ?C CW-Code: ava abv aae adb at6 abe ttu aee 5V-reg.: 4.85 V 8.5V-reg: 8.68 V 10V-Bat: 11.07 V 10V-Curr: 122.5 mA TX-Pwr : 0.977 W TX-Temp.: 6.97 ?C +Z-Sol.: 0.30 V Box-Temp: 10.68 ?C General information and telemetry samples can be found at: www.telecable.es/personales/ea1bcu [ANS thanks Miguel Menendez, EA1BCU, for LO-19 status information] SO-42 SAUDISAT-1B Uplink to be released Downlink 436.075 MHz Broadcast Callsign SASAT2-11 BBS SASAT2-12 Launched: September 26, 2000 aboard a converted Soviet ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Status: Unknown, ANS has received no additional information. When/if operational, SaudiSat-1B will operate as 9600-baud digital store-and-forward systems as well analog FM repeater mode capability. One of two new ham satellites from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia built by the Space Research Institute at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. SUNSAT SO-35 Launched: February 23, 1999 by a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Status: Non-operational The SunSat team released the following statement, dated February 1, 2001: We regret to announce that the last communication with SunSat from our ground station at the Electronic Systems Laboratory at Stellenbosch University took place recently. We are certain, after having performed several tests since the last contact, that an irreversible, physical failure has occurred on the satellite. It is therefore unlikely that we will have any further contact with SunSat, apart from the occasional visual sighting by telescope! When it was operational the SunSat package included 1200 and 9600 baud digital store-and-forward capability and a voice 'parrot' repeater system in addition to Mode B/J operation with two VHF and two UHF transmit-receive systems. For more information on SunSat visit the following URL: http://sunsat.ee.sun.ac.za [ANS thanks Garth Milne, ZR1AFH, for this information] TECHSAT-1B GO-32 Downlink 435.225 MHz using HDLC telemetry Launched: July 10, 1998 by a Russian Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Status: Semi-operational. Last reported, the satellite does transmit a 9600-baud burst every 30 seconds (the GO-32 beacon sends one short telemetry status transmission of 44 bytes) and upon request the complete telemetry buffer. [ANS has no further information] PANSAT PO-34 Uplink/downlink frequency (listed on the PanSat web site) 436.500 MHz Launched: October 30, 1998 by the Shuttle Discovery. Status: Unknown The satellite is not available for general uplink transmissions. The Naval Postgraduate School developed PanSat. At the time of launch, PanSat spread-spectrum digital transponders were to be available to Amateur Radio operators along with software to utilize this technology. The satellite is still operating, however, the spread spectrum packet radio portion never took place. The spacecraft is now beyond it's initial 2-year mission life, but telemetry records are still being downloaded. 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 has no further information] DOVE DO-17 Downlink 145.825 MHz FM (1200-baud AFSK) 2401.220 MHz Launched: January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. 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. [ANS has no further information] WEBERSAT WO-18 Downlink 437.104 MHz SSB (1200 baud PSK AX.25) Launched: January 22, 1990 by an Ariane launcher from Kourou, French Guiana. Status: Non-operational. WO-18 was last reported to be in MBL mode after a software crash. [ANS has no further information] SEDSAT-1 SO-33 Downlink 437.910 MHz FM (9600-baud FSK) Launched: October 24, 1998 by a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Status: Semi-operational. The satellite is not currently available for uplink transmissions and the image and transponder recovery efforts have been unsuccessful. SedSat-1 signifies Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (satellite number one). 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://seds.uah.edu/projects/sedsat/sedsat.htm [ANS has no further information] /EX