SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-298.01 UO-22 near demise AMSAT News Service Bulletin 298.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 24, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-298.01 Latest News From AMSAT - UK AMSAT-UK have been informed by SSTL that UO-22 is not in good shape, and its looks as though its useful life may be over. The SSTL Ground Station control centre at the University of Surrey have attempted several times in recent weeks to reactivate the satellite. After one attempt it did come back to life, but only briefly. Other attempts have failed completely. As time permitts, the Control Station may make further attempts at reactivation, but it seems unlikely that they will be completely successful. The cause if the satellite's demise is unknown, but may be related to the batteries which have been in space for more than 10 years, or to the fact that the satellite is very hot due to the orbit preccessing such that it is generall in full sunlight. The elevated temparature was causing problems with the receivers, as well as the battery. UO-22 was laaunched in July 1991 from Kourou, French Guiana, and served for many years as the store and forward satellite for the Amateur Radio Packet Radio world wide SatGate service, which linked packet radio networks in many countries. For further information contact g3wgm@amsat.org [ANS thanks g3wgm for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-298.02 OSCAR ZERO AMSAT News Service Bulletin 298.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 24, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-298.02 OSCAR ZERO is set to give all a treat pass on Oct 27. During the night there will be an total eclipse of the moon, or as we know it-OSCAR ZERO. It will take hours for it to happen and will be viewable in most of North America. You can find more about it at many astronomical web sites along with info on the mechanics behind this natural event. Track the moon -OSCAR ZERO- on NOVA! [ANS thanks Dee, NB2F for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-298.03 ECHO Schedule AMSAT News Service Bulletin 298.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 24, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-298.03 Echo November Schedule will be completed over the weekend and published on the Echo Page at the Amsat Website by Monday, October 25th. Soon we will test a new mode on Echo. We plan to configure both UHF transmitters into FM repeater mode, therefore having two FM repeaters operating at the same time on the satellite. Check the November Schedule, when published, for the date of this test. The second FM repeater will be for low power stations only. The repeater on 435.300 will be open to all stations, as it has been to date. If your station does not fit into the low power description, then please do not use the 2nd repeater. To attempt to keep this simple a low power station will be defined as a station which can deliver no more than 10 watts to a vertical or handheld antenna. Some examples of Low Power Stations: 1) Using an HT (barefoot, no amplifier) with 10 watts or less output into any type of vertical whip antenna (rubber duck, etc) or handheld beam antenna (arrow type). 2) Using a mobile station with 10 watts or less output into car mounted mobile whip antenna(s). 3) Using a base station at 10 watts output into a vertical omnidirectional antenna on the side of the house. Examples that are NOT Low Power Stations: 1) Any type of high gain beam antenna, KLM, M2, Cushcraft, etc. 2) Any station transmitting over 10 watts into any type of antenna. How well we operate the satellite within these guidelines will determine how much we can run this mode in the future. ECHO COMMAND TEAM [ANS thanks KE4AZN for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-298.04 ARISS Status - 18-Oct-2004 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 298.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 24, 2004 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-298.04 ARISS Status October 18, 2004 1. Upcoming School Contacts Porin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, Pori Senior High Shool, in Pori, Finland has been scheduled for an ARISS contact with taxi flight cosmonaut, Yuri Shargin. It will take place on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 at 07:13 UTC. Questions planned for the contact can be found on the ARISS Europe website. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2004_10_13.htm A second ARISS contact has been scheduled with Yuri Shargin. He will speak with students at the Space Expo in Hasselt, Belgium on October 22, 2004 at 08:38 UTC via the telebridge station ON4ISS. Shargin will use the callsign RS0ISS. 2. AMSAT and ARISS International Meetings Held The AMSAT and ARISS joint meetings were held October 8 ñ12 in Arlington, Virginia. ARISS U.S. member Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, made a contact with astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, who congratulated AMSAT on its 35th anniversary. ARRL covered the event in an article, ìGreeting from Space, Change of Guard Highlight AMSAT-NA Gathering.î A link to the audio of the contact is included in the story. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/10/11/1/?nc=1 3. New Satellite Proposed by Russians During the AMSAT/ARISS meetings, ARISS Russia member Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, gave presentations on a new satellite proposed by the Russians. The satellite is to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. A spacesuit is to be used to house amateur radio equipment including slow scan television (SSTV). Because the satellite will be launched in October 2005, and time is limited, the satellite will be simplistic in nature. If this approach works, another, more complex spacesuit satellite will be launched in 2007, commemorating 50 years since the launch of the first satellite. See ìRussia Proposes SuitSATî at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/updates/ 4. ARRL Article on Expedition 10 Crew The ARRL ran a web story on the new crew headed for the ISS. The article, entitled, ìExpedition 10 heads to ISS; space station ham gear in repeater modeî can be found at: http://www.arrl.org/ [ANS thanks Carol for the above information] /EX