Posted: Sun Sep 18, 1988 4:07 AM GMT Msg: NGII-3742-8748 From: VRIP To: IS Subj: Revised ANS.261 SB ALL @ AMSAT $ANS-261.01 AMSAT Weekend News Part 1 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 261.01 FROM WA2LQQ WARWICK, NY September 17, 1988 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT SPACE OPERATIONS AO-13 operations continue normally. The current operating schedule will remain in effect until September 21. After that, a new schedule will be installed which will reflect the spacecraft attitude change which commences September 19. The new schedule as announced by AMSAT-DL spokesman DB2OS is detailed below. Spacecraft reorientation will require only a few orbits. AO-10 is out of service for an indeterminate period due to poor sun angles. Its beacon has occasionally been heard recently sending garbled PSK telemetry. This indicates the spacecraft IHU is powering down during eclipses and when re-powered, logic circuits assume an indeterminate state. Occasionally the PSK beacon will be commanded by a chance logic state. ENGINEERING TESTS [Revised copy] The first Mode S transponder tests were successfully performed beginning at about 2025 UTC, September 17. Mode S transponder Project Manager Bill McCaa, K0RZ, says three stations were on during the first test run. They were Barry, VE4MA; Al, WB5LUA and Bill, K0RZ. Mode S uses an uplink at 435 MHz and produces a downlink at 2.4 GHz. Both CW and SSB QSOs were tried. The first Mode S QSO is believed to have been a CW QWSO between K0RZ and VE4MA. K0RZ says the measured uplink bandwidth was 35 kHz ranging from 435.602 to 435.637 MHz. The measured downlink was 2400.717 to 2400.751 MHz Bill said. The Mode S transponder was activated under software control from MA 123 thru 134. The AO-13 Mode S beacon tests performed last week were highly successful according to K0RZ. Bill says with the exception of the actual beacon frequency, all was as expected. More than a dozen stations around the world have reported successfully hearing the 2.4 GHz beacon. Recent reports suggest good to excellent results may be obtained from very modest antennas. DF5DP used only a 20 dB gain yagi. K0RZ used a 3 foot mesh dish converted from MDS (2.2 GHz) service. Mode L radar QRM tests performed September 9 were inconclusive. The test will be repeated soon. AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-NA express their thanks to all who submitted telemetry reports on the Mode L AGC levels. They have been quite helpful. The establishment of an automated system on AO-13 for logging AGC levels has been successfully demonstrated and further telemetry inputs from listeners will be requested only as needed. /EX SB ALL @ AMSAT $ANS-261.02 AMSAT Weekend News Part 2 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 261.02 FROM WA2LQQ WARWICK, NY September 17, 1988 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT OPERATING ACTIVITIES AND USER INTERESTS * Shuttle Coverage * Extensive shuttle launch coverage is planned by various Amateur Radio clubs and groups. According to Goddard Amateur Radio Club president Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, the Goddard Club will air the launch and mission progress on numerous HF and VHF frequencies. In addition, the Goddard Club has coordinated AO-13 links with AMSAT-VP of User Operations WA5ZIB, so those with AO-13 Mode B receive capability anywhere in the footprint will have shuttle audio available. Launch is scheduled for September 29 NASA says. The club is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland just north of Washington, DC. WA3NAN will operate on AO-13 Mode B with a downlink frequency of 145.945 MHz (primary) or 145.955 MHz (alternate). Other frequencies include: 3.860, 7.185, 21.395, 28.650, 147.45 MHz. The Goddard Club will run 3 or 4 of the HF frequencies at a time. Band conditions will determine which frequencies are actually used. For those in the Washington area, there is good news about receiving shuttle video via ATV. Plans call for a TVRO system to link to a local ATV repeater or to transmit ATV directly. The NASA Select channel on a commercial satellite would then be distributed locally. Further information may be obtained directly from KA3HDO at 301-577-0271 evenings. * Other Ops News * In other satellite user news, WA5ZIB says the first trial run of the ZRO test will be held September 24 and 25 UTC. This will be a practice run for equipment and procedure check-out only. The Mode B practice run will begin at 2330 UTC. The Mode L ZRO practice run will follow beginning at 0200 UTC 25 September. (Saturday evening in the U.S.). For a free ZRO brochure, send WA5ZIB a business sized SASE with 45 cents postage. Send to Andy MacAllister, WA5ZIB, 14714 Knightsway, Houston TX 77083. Initial details of the new Russian satellite RS-12/13 are emerging. Reports say it's very similar to RS-10/11. It will be launched in 1989 piggyback with a maritime navigation payload into a 1000 km polar orbit inclined 83 degrees. The period at 1000 km will be about 105 minutes. Modes included will be A, K, KA, T and KT. "Robot" transponders will operate on each of the modes too. Details in ASR. Thanks to RS3A and AMSAT-DL for this info. /EX SB ALL @ AMSAT $ANS-261.03 AMSAT Weekend News Part 3 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 261.03 FROM WA2LQQ WARWICK, NY September 17, 1988 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT OPERATING ACTIVITIES AND USER INTERESTS (Continued) * Chicken Little II * In June, 1982, AMSAT sponsored the first Chicken Little contest. The object of the contest was to predict the re-entry of a small, student-built Russian satellite called ISKRA-2. ISKRA, which means "spark" was built by students at the Moscow Aviation Institute. The 28 kg spacecraft was manually deployed from Salyut-7 by Cosmonauts Berezovoy and Lebedev at 11:07 UTC, May 17, 1982. The Chicken Little contest asked participants to predict as accurately as possible ISKRA-2's exact time of re-entry. The actual burnout time was determined to be 00:19 UTC on July 9, 1982. The closest "guesstimate" was made by Buzz Eggebrecht, W4BE, who missed the exact time by only 5 hours. Now AMSAT has announced Chicken Little II (CL-II). The name Chicken Little comes from the children's story about a barnyard where one very nervous fowl runs about yelling "The sky's falling" when all that's really happened is he's been clunked on the head by the old fox. Now the sky isn't really falling but a huge Russian spacecraft known as COSMOS 1900 quite apparently is! Thus, it's time for Chicken Little II. Cosmos 1900 was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 12, 1987, atop an SL-12 launch vehicle into a 65 degree inclined orbit. The RORSAT, or Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite, contains a nuclear power reactor which was designed to be raised to a higher orbit prior to a premature reentry into the earth's atmosphere. COSMOS 1900 began to de-orbit last spring but Soviet ground controllers were unable to eject the reactor as planned. The satellite is doomed to a fiery reentry sometime in October experts predict. In mid-September COSMOS 1900 was losing nearly 1 kilometer per day. Of course, many factors will come into play in the weeks ahead making the exact determination of re-entry a difficult task. Recall in January, 1978, COSMOS 954 disintegrated over Canadian territory spreading radioactive debris across a sparsely populated region. In the weeks ahead, news media will be covering this story in great detail. CL-II is an invitation for AMSAT members to calculate the reentry time and for the omniscient "prophet of doom" to win a new GaAsFET pre-amplifier for OSCAR use in the process. Here are the rules: 1. The winner is the individual who most accurately predicts the date and time of reentry. 2. Enter as many times as you care to. Only one guess per entry letter or postcard. Entry must include name, address, callsign and AMSAT member number along with your guess to the nearest second. 3. Entries must be postmarked not later than seven calendar days prior to the official re-entry time. 4. Use of government resources is prohibited except that publicly available orbital data is OK. 5. Decision of the judges is final. No entries will be returned and are the property of AMSAT. 6. Entries must be mailed to AMSAT, CL-II, P.O. Box 27, Washington DC, 20044. To assist in tracking COSMOS 1900, orbital elements will be included in the normal AMSAT Orbital Prediction Bulletin releases until de-orbit. The following is a recent set: 1 18665U 87101 A 88257.56414734 .00209291 2 18665 64.9565 263.5829 0015388 281.8493 78.0928 16.24918659 4444 /EX SB ALL @ AMSAT $ANS-261.04 AMSAT Weekend News Part 4 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 261.04 FROM WA2LQQ WARWICK, NY September 17, 1988 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT OPERATING ACTIVITIES AND USER INTERESTS (Continued) * SEN Schedule * The next session of the Space Education Net (SEN) has been scheduled for Sunday September 25 UTC. The Mode B session will run from 0000 to 0100 UTC. The downlink frequency will be 145.960 MHz. The Mode L session will follow from 0200 to 0300 UTC. The Mode L downlink frequency will be 435.900 MHz. Recall that these times are Saturday evening in the U.S. Test transmissions of Slow Scan TV will continue. Two black and white SSTV formats will be used for these tests. The standard 8 second format and the 34 second high resolution format will be transmitted. Later tests will include high resolution color SSTV. The SEN encourages all stations not equipped for SSTV to invite another amateur to bring Slow Scan converter to an AO-13 station. The addition of video will add a new dimension to the Space Education Nets. Additional Net Control Stations are needed for the SEN. If you would like to assist the SEN in this important position please volunteer today. Contact K.O. Learner, K9PVW at P.O. Box 5006, Kokomo, IN 46904 or via packet @KD9BT with your SEN questions or comments or to volunteer to assist the SEN. Check-ins and participants are invited for both sessions. * Other Ops News * Another in a series of balloon-borne radio experiments is on tap from the mid-west. Bill, WB8ELK, says the next flight of a helium filled balloon carrying Amateur Radio equipment will be launched from Greensburg, Illinois, at 7:00 AM Eastern time, October 1. A 2 meter CW beacon will transmit on 144.340 MHz using vertical polarization. A fast-scan TV signal will be transmitted on 439.250 MHz using horizontal polarization. Last spring, a similar balloon attained an altitude in excess of 100,000 feet. Its radio beacons were heard from Canada to Iowa. Support nets will operate on 3871 kHz and perhaps 7155 kHz. The beacons will operate under the callsign W9PRD. Further details next week. Steve, KI7L, and Wally, W7KRC, of Salt Lake City, Utah, are planning an OSCAR DX-pedition to Wyoming on September 24th. They will be on AO-13 Modes B and J for 6-8 hours starting at approximately 1800 UTC. Look for them near the upper end of the passband. Updates to this info will be provided later in the week. UA0ALA, Anatol, has been on AO-13, Mode B, from his QTH in the eastern Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. Watch for his strong SSB signal. /EX SB ALL @ AMSAT $ANS-261.05 AMSAT Weekend News Part 5 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 261.05 FROM WA2LQQ WARWICK, NY September 17, 1988 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT CONFERENCES OF INTEREST TO AMSAT MEMBERS The Second Annual Small Satellite conference will be held at Utah State University, Logan Utah, September 18 thru 21. AMSAT, Weber State College and the University of Surrey will be represented. Call 801-750-1696 for details. The 7th ARRL Amateur Radio Computer Networking conference will be held October 1 at the Applied Physics Lab of Johns Hopkins near Laurel, Maryland. Contact Mary Weinberg at ARRL HQ, 203-666-1541, for details. The 4th Annual Midwest Space Development Conference will be held in Dayton Ohio, September 30 through October 2. The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn on I-675 across from Wright State University. For further information, call 513-873-3232. Planning for AMSAT's 6th Space Symposium is proceeding well according to organizer Byron Lindsey, W4BIW. This year's event will be held at the Atlanta Airport Marriott Hotel November 11, 12 and 13. The event is being co-hosted by AMSAT and the Atlanta Radio Club. Hotel reservations at the Marriott may be made by calling 404-766-7900. Ask for the space symposium discount rate. Discount airline fares may be obtained by calling the GIT Travel Agency at 800-228-1777. More information will follow in subsequent bulletins. Meanwhile, you may contact W4BIW in Decatur for further information. SHORT BURST ITEMS AMSAT has re-instituted its traditional orbit sponsor program for support of operations by satellite users. AMSAT HQ has the details: 301-589-6062. First Day Club certificate requests continue to arrive. Due to numerous late submissions, certificate mailing will be delayed slightly. Mike Parisey, WD0GML, says his BBS system is now operational on 2400 as well as 1200 and 300 baud. He also now has a tracking program up and running on the board. The BBS system is located near St.Louis and is assuming the traffic load from the W0RPK BBS which has been phased out. Reach the WD0GML BBS at 315-447-3003. WORLD SPACE NEWS SUMMARY NASA has announced the launch date for the shuttle Discovery last Friday. The launch will take place September 29 NASA says. The announcement was delayed a day to see what effect hurricane Gilbert might have on the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The hurricane went well south of Houston and did not disrupt launch preparations. Arianespace has logged another successful launch but one of the payloads is having problems. The V-25 mission, an Ariane 3 rocket, lifted off from the pad in Kourou Thursday evening, September 8 at 2300 UTC carrying the G-STAR III and SBS-5 large commercial communications satellites. While SBS-5 is doing well, the G-STAR payload has experienced an apparent kick motor failure and may be lost. The U.S. government has given approval for the launch of three large commercial communications satellites by the People's Republic of China. Previously satellite owners were prohibited from exporting their satellites to the PRC. The decision in the Chinese launcher case does not immediately affect possible western satellite launches by the Soviet Union which the U.S. government current prohibits under all circumstances. /EX SB ALL @ AMSAT $ANS-261.06 AMSAT Weekend News Part 6 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 261.06 FROM WA2LQQ WARWICK, NY September 17, 1988 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT SATELLITE OPERATING SCHEDULES Here is the AO-13 operating schedule currently in use. This schedule will remain in effect until September 21 when a new schedule will be implemented. Deviations from this schedule may occur to facilitate important engineering tests. Operating Schedule: V3.2 10Sep88 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mode | From | Thru | Remarks | Duration | | |(Inclus)| (Inclus)| | MA Minutes| |========|========|=========|==================================== | Off | MA 241 | MA 002 | Solar eclipse window | 18 48.3 | | Mode B | MA 003 | MA 099 | | 97 260.2 | | Mode L | MA 100 | MA 150 | Mode JL optional | 51 136.8 | | Mode B | MA 151 | MA 240 | | 90 241.4 | | Mode S | MA 123 | MA 134 | Beacon; Xpndr 9/17,18| 12 32.2 | | RUDAK | | | Testing; ops pending | | +--------------------------------------------------+------------| Mode S beacon will run concurrent with Mode L but, for power budget reasons, will cause Mode J to be turned off during Mode S beacon operations. On or about 19 September, the attitude will be changed to BLON=210 and BLAT=+5 to respond to seasonal sun angle changes says DB2OS. Tentative Operating Schedule: V4.0 Effective 21Sep88 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mode | From | Thru | Remarks | Duration | | |(Inclus)| (Inclus)| | MA Minutes| |========|========|=========|==================================== | Off | MA 241 | MA 002 | Solar eclipse window | 18 48.3 | | Mode B | MA 003 | MA 150 | | 148 397.0 | | Mode L | MA 151 | MA 200 | Mode JL optional | 50 134.1 | | Mode B | MA 201 | MA 240 | | 40 107.3 | | Mode S | | | Test window TBA* | | | RUDAK | | | Status unknown | | +--------------------------------------------------+------------| *The new Mode S test window is To Be Announced. RS-11 will be operating Tuesday thru Friday on Mode KA and weekends on Mode A. There is no RS-10 operation currently. * FO-12 * Here is the FO-12 operating schedule for September as provided by JARL. Mode Beginning Date Time DI 18 0435 JD 21 0355 DI 22 0301 JD 24 0314 DI 25 0220 JA 27 0234 D 28 Sep 0140 JA 01 Oct 0100 D 03 0113 JA 04 2325 D 06 0032 JA 08 1339 D 09 2258 JD 12 1406 DI 13 1312 JD 15 1325 DI 16 1231 JD 18 Oct 1245 JD = Digital mode JA = Analog mode D = All systems off DI = Systems off except CPU and memory The transponders will be off at other times. The actual operating schedule may change due to unexpected situations such as variations in available power. Mode JA Beacon: 435.795 MHz. Mode JD Beacon: 435.910 MHz. /EX