HAM Radio 3/hamradioversion3.0examsandprograms1992.iso/news/amsat056/amsat056.txt

Text File | 1989-04-07 | 18KB | 385 lines

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*                                                                        *
*    THIS IS THE WD0GML-AMSAT-ST.LOUIS BBS 24HR 7DAY AT [phone]    *
*                            300/1200/2400 BAUD                          *
*                         Mike Parisey WD0GML SYSOP                      *
*                         Norm Newman NZ0Z Co-SYSOP                      *
*                                                                        *
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SB ALL @ AMSAT   $ANS-056.01
AMSAT GROUND STATIONS NEEDED #1

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 056.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD FEBRUARY 25, 1989
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

All Amateurs Are Invited To Become A AMSAT Ground Command Station, Part I

AMSAT-NA is forming a layered satellite "ground command station" organization
to ensure the continuing availability of interested and trained spacecraft
ground control operators.  Immediate needs include the identification of
command stations for the first Microsat series.  Amateurs all around the world
are needed for this organization.  Long term needs include future PHASE-II,
PHASE-III and PHASE-IV missions.  Courtney Duncan, N5BF, AMSAT-NA
Vice-President of Operations, has appointed Ralph Wallio, W0RPK, as AMSAT
Command Station Development Manager.

Command station responsibilities and access will be categorized to recognize
proof of interest, long term reliability and to provide for access needs.
Organizational layers are evolving as follows:

Level-0:    Individuals have expressed interest, are OSCAR
            capable, and have completed and forwarded an
            application.  An information package will be sent
            including expectations and availability of required
            hardware and software.  Inactive level-0 status is
            limited to one year.

Level-1:    Promotion to level-1 will require demonstrated
            interest and capability to regularly and routinely
            copy telemetry from UO-9, UO-11, FO-12, AO-13, RS-
            10/11 and/or future objects in the OSCAR series.
            Certificates including individual spacecraft
            endorsements will keep track of and honor successful
            efforts.

Level-2:    Promotion to level-2 will require performance
            demonstrating reliable and continuing interest in the
            health and welfare of OSCAR spacecraft.  Telemetry
            acquisition and analysis will have to continue for a
            satisfactory period and an extraordinary effort such
            as publishing articles concerning spacecraft systems
            or compiled history and analysis of system performance
            will be required.

Level-3:    Microsat payload operations, is discussed below.

Level-4:    Individuals making satisfactory progress through levels-
            0-2 above will be considered for acceptance as active
            Microsat engineering command station operators.  These
            operators will be responsible for spacecraft-shell
            health and functions including power systems, RF
            systems and orientation.  Level-4 command stations
            will report to a chief of command stations, not yet
            named.

Level-5:    Developers of spacecraft systems and payloads will
            have level-5 spacecraft access and will provide
            direction to level-3 and 4 operational controllers.

/EX
SB ALL @ AMSAT   $ANS-056.02
AMSAT GROUND STATIONS NEEDED #2

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 056.02 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD FEBRUARY 25, 1989
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

All Amateurs Are Invited To Become a AMSAT Ground Station, Part II

Each of the Microsats has its own particular operational emphasis or
"payload."  These payloads are complex scientific, engineering, or educational
tools in themselves and will be managed primarily by Level-3 command
operators.  These will work with team leaders for each of the individual
missions and with the Microsat engineering command group.  Level-3 operators
will not be responsible for actual satellite bus systems.

Stations at Level-3 will be system operators for the packet bulletin boards,
will upload voice messages to DOVE, and will utilize the WEBERSAT camera and
other experiments, as examples of their duties in the first group of missions.

Payload operators are encouraged but not required to participate in level-0
through 2 monitoring activities.  Inasmuch as their primary interest is the
payload itself, they will be selected and tasked according to their historic
participation in relevant activities.  For instance, terrestrial PBBS
operators who are also satellite equipped will be considered for packsat PBBS
sysop duties and educators with an interest in the DOVE mission who are
satellite equipped will be considered for DOVE voice message uploading duty.

Communication and interaction between members of levels-0 through level-2 will
be via sub-group access to the WD0GML-AMSAT dial-in BBS and through HF or
Phase III nets where new members will be recruited.  Dial-in capability will
be required.  HF or satellite net participation will be optional.

Information and application packets are now available.  Please sent a
business-sized SASE to: Ralph Wallio, W0RPK, 1250 Highway G24, Indianola, Iowa
50125.

/EX
SB ALL @ AMSAT   $ANS-056.03
AO-10 AVAILABLE FOR OPERATION

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 056.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD FEBRUARY 25, 1989
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

OSCAR-10 Available For Use Whenever In View

According to AMSAT Ground Command Station, VK5AGR, AO-10 is available for
users whenever it is in view of your QTH.  However, please do not use AO-10 if
you hear FMing on the transponder.  AO-10 will not be experiencing solar
eclipsing until April.  Before that happens though, the sun angles will be
changing rapidly and the power output from the solar cells will be dropping.
VK5AGR predicts that AO-10 will may go "dormant" before that time and use of
AO-10 will have to be curtailed.  But until FMing on the transponder occurs,
all are encouraged to use AO-10.

/EX
SB ALL @ AMSAT   $ANS-056.04
MICROSAT PROGRESS REPORT #1

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 056.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD FEBRUARY 25, 1989
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

MICROSAT Progress Report #1: Mechanical & Electrical Assembly Tasks Going Well

Jeff Zerr, AMSAT-NA's Engineer-in-Charge of Mechanical Assembly, presents the
the first of a series of brief progress reports which are intended to keep
AMSAT members informed of the progress being made in building the four
MICROSAT satellites to be launched this summer.  The following are the
"highlights" of the progress made up to this point:

1) The aluminium frames which make up the modules are completed and are being
fit checked and final machining is being accomplished.  Holes are being
drilled for 25 pin D subminature connectors.

2) Solar cells are being glued to the honey-combed aluminium side pannels and
the the wiring connecting the solar cells will start this week.

3) Jon Bloom, KE3D, of the ARRL, is completing the Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
layout design for the Battery Charge Regulator (BCR) and he will be sending it
to Boulder, CO next week for a fit check.

4) Matjaz Vidmar, YT3MV, who is a Fullbright Scholar at Colorado University
and is assisting AMSAT-NA, is putting the finishing touches on the PCB layout
for the BPSK Packet Transmitters. Also, Matjaz is working on the design of a
Mode S module which is being considered as an additional transmitter for the
packet "store-and-forward" MICROSATs.

5) Bob Stricklin is finishing the PCB's for the Addressable Asynchronous
Receiver Transmitter (AART).  The AART acts a computer "bus" between the
modules and was conceived as a way of minimizing the number of wires in
satellites.

6) The batteries for all the MICROSATs are being shipped from Ottawa, Canada
next week to Boulder, CO for installation into their "cradles."  Larry Kayzer
and Stan Kasmeric in Ottawa are doing the battery testing and the charging and
battery matching tasks.  Dick Sunderland will be in perform the mounting of
the batteries into their "cradles" in the power modules.  The power modules
and the "cradles" are being built by Craig and Tom Stevens.

7) Tom Clark, W3IWI, and Dick Daniels, W4PUJ, are doing the reciever design
and the PCB layouts in the Washington, DC area.

8) Tom McIntyre in Iowa is doing the "delren" mechanical block design and
construction; the mechanical blocks are designed to provide a "platform" to
mount the PCB's in the aluminium frames.  Delren is a special kind of "teflon"
material used in spacecraft and is easy to work with.

In considering each of these tasks, keep in mind that they must be done four
times!  The "target" date for the final mechanical assembly and electrical
"check-out" of ALL of the MICROSAT's is being planned for the mid-April time
frame.  AMSAT-NA is working towards a launch date of June 15, 1989.

/EX
SB ALL @ AMSAT  $ANS-056.05
PRELIMINARY MICROSAT ORBITAL SET

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 056.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD FEBRUARY 25, 1989
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

PRELIMINARY MICROSAT ORBITAL SET

All four AMSAT-NA MICROSAT satellites are being planned to be launched this
summer from Kourou, Fr. Guiana aboard an ARIANE-4 rocket.  The MICROSAT's will
be a secondary payload with the SPOT-2 satellite being the primary payload.
Being launched along with the MICROSAT's will be the University of Surrey's
UOSAT-D and UOSAT-E satellites.  The following set of Keplerian elements is
preliminary and is being provided so that you can visualize what the orbit of
the MICROSAT's will "look" like at your QTH.

Epoch               June 15, 1989 01:42:13 UTC (time of launch)
                    166.070983796
Inclination         98.7376 deg    (changes with day & time of launch)
RAAN                240.17746 deg
Eccentricity        0.001338
Arg. of Perigee     108.2000 deg
Mean Anomaly        257.5000 deg
Mean Motion         14.19889 rev/day
Drag Factor         1.0e-07 rev/day/day

If there is a delay or change in the launch time, the only orbital element
which subject to change will be the Right Ascension of the Accending Node
(RAAN) and the Epoch. The formula to use to calculate the RAAN if there is a
launch delay is the following:

RAAN = 77.50451 + 0.98561228*T deg

where T is the number of days between 01/01/50 at 00:00:00 UTC and the date
and time of the launch.  Note that RAAN is an angle between 0 and 360 degrees
and thus it will be necessary to "normalize" it to that range when making that
particular calculation.

/EX
SB ALL @ AMSAT  $ANS-056.06
Short Bursts

HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 056.05 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD FEBRUARY 25, 1989
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT

Short Bursts

Dr. Dave Filmer, WB9QPG, has been appointed as Regional Coordinator for the
Great Lakes Region.  The Great Lakes Region consists of the states of
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.  Dave replaces Larry Koziel,
K8MU, who has resigned due to increased travel requirements in his job.  We
will miss Larry, but we would also like to extend a special welcome to Dave
Filmer to the AMSAT-NA Field Operations Team.

Ron Curry, WA4GSS, has been appointed as Regional Coordinator for the
Mid-South Region, consisting of the states of Kentucky, tennessee,
Mississippi, and Alabama.  Ron replaces Mac Jordan, W4DAQ, who has resigned
due to family health reasons.  Mac served well as Regional Coordinatogr and we
are sure Ron will follow in his footsteps.  Welcome Ron!

Roy Robinson, K4EDU, has assumed the important responsibilities of primary Net
Control Station (NCS) for the Tuesday Night East Coast 75 Meter Net.  Roy will
continue the tradition of disseminating the latest news concerning the Amateur
Radio Satellite Program with this popular net.  Byron Lindsey, W4BIW, will
serve as a back-up NCS.

The ZRO Tests via AMSAT-OSCAR-13 continue.  Before the satellite reorientation
which is to planned in mid-March happens, an additional Mode B ZRO Test has
been added.  The current schedule now includes:

     Saturday, March 4, 1989 at 07:00 UTC
     Sunday,   March 5, 1989 at 15:00 UTC

The downlink frequency will be 145.840 MHz.  Levels Z-0 through Z-9 will be
sent.  Please do not transmit near the downlink frequency during the Test.
QRM of any kind is disastrous for the participants as they listen for returns
of the CW signals which are being transmitted to AO-13's Mode B transponder at
power levels in the milliwatt range!  All reception reports should include a
s.a.s.e. if a reply is requested.  Send your ZRO report to: Andy MacAllister,
WA5ZIB, 14714 Knightsway, Houston, TX 77083.  For those who would like a
"Technical Achievement Award Certificate" for their participation, write to
AMSAT, P.O. Box 27, Washington, DC, 20044 or call [phone].
Certificates for the ZRO Test on Feb. 4th and 25th have been delayed but will
be sent soon.  Good luck!

/EX

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
THE FOLLOWING ADDED BY WD0GML-AMSAT-ST.LOUIS [phone] 24hr 7day
300/1200/2400 baud. This section may have additions through the week!

NO-CODE COMMENTS:

If you have any comments regarding the no-code issue which
you would like to have considered in AMSAT recommendations
to the ARRL Study Committee, please send them to me no later
than March 1st.  The League's study committee is scheduled
to meet on the issue in the first week of March and time
is needed to consolidate AMSAT thinking on the issue and
get it to the committe PRIOR to their arrival at the meeeting.

You may send you comments to me via the mail at this address:

          John Champa, K8OCL
          AMSAT-NA Executive Vice President
          7800 Hartwell Street
          Dearborn,  MI 48126-1122

Or via telemail at the normal address (JCHAMPA).  Thnak you.

SPECIAL SATELLITE ISSUE OF 73:

     The special satellite issue of "73 Amateur Radio" is nearing
completion, but there are still a few items to be addressed.  They
are retaining the "Letters" column, and would like to have some
amateur-satellite related submissions.
     If you have some comments or short items you feel need airing
via this medium, please send it to:
     Bryan Hastings, NS1B
     Editor-in-Chief
     73 Amateur Radio
     WGE Center
     70 Route 202 North
     Peterborough, NH   03458-1194
Since time is short, you can also send material via CompuServe
(70310,775), MCI Mail (WGEPUB) and GEnie (B.HASTINGS3).
     An example of a good item to submit might be a commentary
on how terrestrial FM'ers on 10 Meters QRM the RS downlink.  A list
of frequencies to avoid would be appropriate.
     Many controversial topics and information show up here on
T-Mail.  Please consider sending some to "73" for distribution
to the rest of the amateur community.
     73 de Andy MacAllister, WA5ZIB
           AMSAT VP User Operations

MIR, U4MIR OPERATIONS:

With the renewed interest in amateur radio activities from the
Soviet Space Station MIR, I thought it might be timely to provide
everyone with an update as to "Who's on first" as well as a
review of what's coming up in the next few months aboard MIR.

Currently aboard the station are Mission Commander Alexander
Alexandrovich Volkov (U4MIR), Physician Valeri Poliakov (U3MIR),
and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalov (????U5MIR????).  Volkov and
Krikalov have been aboard since November, having arrived on Soyuz
TM7 while Poliakov arrived in September aboard Soyuz TM6.
All three crew members are to return to Earth in April after the
arrival of the replacement crew.  While Volkov and Krikalov have
been scheduled all along for the April return, the decision to
bring Poliakov back as well was made only recently.

Soyuz TM8, currently set for launch on the 19th of April, will
bring to MIR the replacement crew of Alexander Stepanovich
Viktorenko, Mission Commander, and Alexander Alexandrovich
Serebrov, the Flight Engineer. Both are currently in training for
the mission and are receiving Amateur Radio instruction as well.

As noted above, it would seem likely that Sergei Krikalov has
been assigned the call U5MIR, although there are no reports that
I am aware of regarding activity from him.  U3 and U4 have very
weak skills in English and perhaps this is the case as well with
Krikalov.

If the pattern continues, then we might expect U6 and U7MIR to
appear in late April.  I am not certain as to a third crew member
for the next mission--we'll have to see.

While the MIR program has been geared to long duration missions
of up to a year, the current program calls for six month stays.
The Soviets have stated that they will later work up to 18 month
missions after they have had time to review the long term effects
of lengthy missions on crew members after return to Earth.  As
listeners will recall, Musa Manarov (U2MIR) was aboard MIR for a
full year.

Soon after the new crew arrives,  an additional module is due for
launch.  This unit, which will serve primarily as a sevice
module, will be nearly as big as MIR itself (21 metric tons) and
will contain the Soviet's first Manned Maneuvering Unit.
Additionally, the module will carry a remote manipulator arm
which will allow repositioning of the module after docking.
Later in the year, another module of similar size is scheduled
for launch as well.

Activities on Friday included a course-correcting burn using the
Progress-40 cargo ship's engines, an Electrocardiogram performed
on Volkov by Dr. Poliakov, body and muscle measurements of Volkov
and Krikalov, and finally a dinner celebrating Soviet Army and
Navy day.  Our currently active ham, U4MIR, was the guest of
honor as he is a Colonel in the Soviet Air Force.


Good luck working U3MIR, U4MIR, and perhaps U5MIR (?).

73,
Ed O'Grady  KC2ZF