SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.01 AO-40 Update AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.01 From AMSAT HQ Silver Spring, MD. June 29, 2003 To All Radio Amateurs BID: $ANS-180.01 ALON/ALAT is moving slowly forward and within two orbits should be: ALON/ALAT >350/0 In anticipation of ALON reaching 350, the schedule has been lengthened to leave the passband on until MA=220. Estimated ALON/ALAT for June 28 is 353/0 N QST AMSAT AO-40 SCHEDULE 2003-06-24 MA 002 030 220 244 002 ---------7-----1-----5-----0-----7 S2/K-Tx | S | S | S | S | MB | * | * | * | * | RUDAK | | | | | V/U-Rx | U | U | U | V | Uplink | | UL1 | | | [ANS thanks Stacey, W4SM, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.02 FO-29 Reactivated AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.02 From AMSAT HQ Silver Spring, MD. June 29, 2003 To All Radio Amateurs BID: $ANS-180.02 Yuki, JH3DJX, reports that FO-29 was reactivated by JARL control station on orbit#-33721. The satellite is currently operating mode JA and downlink signals from FO-29 have been very good . [ANS thanks Yuki, JH3DJX, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.03 Challenger Center ARISS Contact AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.03 From AMSAT HQ Silver Spring, MD. June 29, 2003 To All Radio Amateurs BID: $ANS-180.03 The Challenger Center in Hammond, IN had a successful ARISS afternoon contact on 2003-06-26.Congrats Ed Lu, W9PUC Purdue University Calumet radio club, the Challenger Center, Ed K9TZT the ham coordinator, Mark K9MQ the control op, and the rest of the crew from the Lake County Amateur Radio Club. Check out the web page for the Challenger Center in Hammond, Indiana ARISS contact. http://media1.calumet.purdue.edu:8080/ramgen/encoder/nasalive.ram You will probably need to get the latest RealOne Player (formerly RealPlayer). ARISS Contact Schedule and Successful school list updated 2003-06-25 21:00 UTC Check out Ed Lu's web page: http://www.edlu.com/ The latest ARISS announcement and successful school list is now available on the ARISS web site. Several ways to get there. Latest ARISS announcements and news http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Successful school list http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf or http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov The GSFC website is having problems. Go directly to the RAC site. click on English (sorry I don't know French) you are now at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/ click on News [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.04 Lesotho DXpedition plans AO-40 operation AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.04 From AMSAT HQ Silver Spring, MD. June 29, 2003 To All Radio Amateurs BID: $ANS-180.04 The July 18-25 Lesotho 7P8 DXpedition sponsored by the Lone Star DX Association and the Texas DX Society has added amateur satellite mode to its planned operations, DXpedition Leader Charles Frost, K5LBU/7P8TA has announced. The operation will be on the AO-40 satellite mode U/S. Equipment including antennas and a down converter were donated by Wayne Estes, W9AE, and a spare down converter donated by Bruce Paige, KK5DO. Paige, QSL manager for the recent P5/4L4FN operation from North Korea, is also providing pre-DXpedition satellite training in Houston. Paige is AMSAT VP of User Services & ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC). For additional 7P8 satellite information and news click on http://www.amsatnet.com "We're glad to offer such a needed mode from Lesotho," Frost said, adding that those wanting to make a contact with the DXpedition "take it easy on us because none of us are satellite operators, but we are willing to try our best at giving everyone who wants one a 7P8 QSO." Besides Frost, the operators include: Igor Zdorov of Minneapolis MN, W0IZ/7P8IZ; Dave Anderson of Ashville NC K4SV/7P8DA; Madison Jones of Houston TX, W5MJ/7P8MJ; Neil King of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia Canada VA7DX/7P8NK; and Tom Anderson of Colleyville TX, WW5L/7P8TA, on the all modes, all band team July 18-25 from Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho. K4SV and VA7DX will also be operating from 3DA after 7P8. Callsigns will be 3DA0SV for Dave Anderson K4SV and 3DA0WC for Neil King, VA7DX. QSL via home calls. Operations will be will be at the Hotel Mount Maluti http://www.seelesotho.com/mountmaluti.htm near Mohale's Hoe (30.16 S and 27.48 E). Equipment includes Tribanders for 10-15-20, a 2 element WARC Band antenna, a log periodic, a 40-80-160 vertical, and Alpha Delta 40/80/160 dipoles. Kenwood TS850S, ICOM 706MKIIg and 756 PRO, plus 600 and 1 kW amps. Most of the equipment is already in country. QSLs will be handled by each operator separately via their home calls as each will have their own 7P8 call. QSL routes are: 7P8CF--K5LBU--Frosty; 7P8TA--WW5L--Tom; 7P8MJ--W5MJ--Madison; 7P8NK--VA7DX--Neil; 7P9DA--K4SV--Dave; and 7P8IZ--W0IZ--Igor. Andre van Wyck, ZS6WPX, is the on-scene coordinator of the DXpedition. Commercial equipment donors include Tennadyne Antennas, Array Solutions, and AY-Technologies. For additional information contact Frost at frosty1@pdq.net or Tom Anderson at WW5L@gte.net. [ANS thanks Charles, K5LBU, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.05 UK expanded satellite access proposal AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.05 From AMSAT HQ Silver Spring, MD. June 29, 2003 To All Radio Amateurs BID: $ANS-180.05 Currently access to the amateur satellite service in the UK is only available to holders of full licenses and that at present the foundation and intermediate license holders cannot operate via satellites. AMSAT-UK has been lobbying strongly to change this situation and to allow all UK amateurs access to our part of the hobby. The new intermediate level exam includes questions on satellites and it is the Radio Communication Agency's (RA) intention to amend the Intermediate License accordingly. The RA has just launched a consultation document which requests comments on this proposal before July 11th It can be found at: http://www.radio.gov.uk/topics/amateur/consult/condoc-morse-75ghz-sats-rev120603.doc AMSAT-UK is encouraging all UK amateurs could respond stating that they are in favour of the change! Comments can be sent by email to: amateurcb@ra.gsi.gov.uk or by letter to: Amateur Section Radiocommunications Agency Wyndham House 189 Marsh Wall London E14 9SX A short email stating that you support the proposed changes to allow intermediate licensees satellite access is all that is required! It remains AMSAT-UK policy to press for access for Foundation License holders at the earliest possible opportunity and if you agree with this it might be good to say so. [ANS thanks Jim, G3WGM, AMSAT-UK Hon. Secretary, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.06 New PREDICT version released AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.06 From AMSAT HQ Silver Spring, MD. June 29, 2003 To All Radio Amateurs BID: $ANS-180.06 PREDICT version 2.2.2, a satellite tracking and orbital prediction application for the Linux and Unix operating systems, has been released. This release corrects several small bugs and adds several new features over the previous version. Some of the important changes include: * Fixed a bug that caused GET_SAT (UDP socket) requests to fail after GET_DOPPLER requests were issued. (Tnx: KF6RFX) * Fixed a bug in "earthtrack" where latitude and longitude options sent to "xplanet" were reversed under certain circumstances. (Tnx: ZL2BSJ) * "earthtrack" has been modified to work with "xplanet" version 1.0 and later. Compatibility for versions of "xplanet" prior to 1.0 is retained through an earlier version of "earthtrack" that has been moved into an "old_version" directory. * Orbital phase, eclipse depth, and squint angle data has been appended to the information returned to UDP client applications in response to the GET_SAT command. * Moon tracking code was replaced with a more precise algorithm based on Meeus' method. * Added a lunar prediction mode that predicts "passes" of the Moon. * Added a solar prediction mode that predicts "passes" of the Sun. * Added "MoonTracker", a small utility that runs in the background and directs an AZ/EL antenna array toward the position of the Moon (for EME communications). * The Moon's declination, Greenwich hour angle, and right ascension have been appended to the information returned to UDP clients in response to the GET_MOON command. * The Sun's declination, Greenwich hour angle, and right ascension have been appended to the information returned to UDP clients in response to the GET_SUN command. * PREDICT now returns orbital data in NASA Two-Line format to UDP clients in response to the GET_TLE command. * Added a new UDP socket command (GET_MODE) to return PREDICT's current tracking mode (single, multi, none) to networked clients. If PREDICT is operating in Single Satellite tracking mode, then the name of the satellite currently being tracked is returned by GET_MODE. * In Main Menu option [G] (Edit Ground Station Information), ground station latitude and longitude may now be entered in degree, minute, second (DMS) format in addition to decimal degrees. * The "vocalizer" feature was dramatically improved. Sound samples are now read from ubiquitous .wav files, making it easier for users to create samples of their own, even in languages other than English. PREDICT now articulates numeric values in their entirety (i.e.: "three hundred forty nine";) instead of articulating each digit individually ("three four nine";) as was done previously. Alarms and additional announcements were added to alert a visual observer when a spacecraft is visible, when it enters into sunlight, and when it enters into eclipse. * Added "fodtrack", written by Luc Langermann, LX1GT. This utility permits AZ/EL antenna control using the Fodtrack hardware interface via the parallel port. * Added titles to windows when PREDICT is run under X. * The latest version of "gsat" (1.1.0) has been included. * Several other coding changes were made. Linux-specific code was removed in an effort to allow easier compilation under FreeBSD, MacOS X, and other Unixes in general. * PREDICT's main menu was expanded to handle the additional program options. The main menu also now displays the text "Server Mode" when the program is invoked in socket server mode (-s). * Program documentation was updated. PREDICT may be downloaded from: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftp/software/Linux/predict-2.2.2.tar.gz Further information on PREDICT is available at: http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/predict.html [ANS thanks John, KD2BD, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-180.07 This Week's News in Brief AMSAT News Service Bulletin 180.07 From AMSAT HQ Silver Spring, MD. June 29, 2003 To All Radio Amateurs BID: $ANS-180.07 ** Japan is set to give its final green-light next month to a joint project with the European Space Agency to land mankind's first probe on Mercury, officials said. --SpaceDaily ** The high-speed impact of a piece of foam insulation hitting Columbia's left wing is the "most probable cause" of the shuttle's burn up on reentry into Earth's atmosphere February 1 and the deaths of its seven astronauts, investigators said. --SpaceDaily ** The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft expects to experience a blackout in the transmission of its scientific data during the week of 22 June 2003. This is estimated to last for about two and a half to three weeks. If the problem is not solved, the Earth will be left outside the HGA beam on a periodic basis, with similar blackouts occurring every three months. --SpaceDaily ** Japan's NTT Data Corp. said Thursday it has successfully linked thousands of computers on the Internet to finish a task in 132 days that would take a single computer 611 years. It marked Japan's first test of "grid computing" -- where linked computers share small parts of mammoth calculations -- sales of the processing power would go ahead by next arch. --SpaceDaily /EX